Book Title: City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake #1)
Author: Victoria Schwab
Genre: Fantasy
Lenght: 285
Release Date: August 2018
ISBN: 1407192760
Synopsis
They're here.
They're watching.
Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh. Here, graveyards, castles and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms.
But when Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift", she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil—and herself. And she'll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh. Here, graveyards, castles and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms.
But when Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift", she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil—and herself. And she'll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
My Review
I had never read anything by Victoria Schwab before but I had heard a good deal of praise about her writing. Cassidy Blake's adventures are mostly aimed at a younger audience, think middle grade, but I can say that even at my ripe age of nearly 30 I enjoyed this book just as much.
City of Ghosts, the first book in the Cassidy Blake series is fast paced, not hard to read but with enough mystery to keep us entertained and sitting in the edge of our seats through the nearly 300 pages.
Cassidy is a 13 (or is it 14?) years old teenager with uncommon parents and an even more uncommon best friend. While Cassidy's parents are ghost researchers, not hunters, Cassidy's best friend, Jacob, is a ghost. Cassidy ain't popular but she doesn't care much but as any other teen she longs for summer vacations because that means pretending to be more "normal" than what she actually is. Things take a turn when Cass's parents take on the change of hosting their won TV Show about the most paranormal cities on Earth, which takes the whole family, including their lazy cat Grim and even Jacob, from their little town in upstate New York to the bustling old streets of Edinburgh.
It's in Edinburgh that Cassidy's gift blooms, the same gift that came from a nearly dead experience about a year before the story takes place, and the same dead experience in which ghost Jacob saved Cass from and that connected the two of them.
Cassidy can walk between the world of the living and the world of those who are, well, stuck between stages. Let's call it The Veil. What she thinks it's just something that once in a while allows her to peak into past times is actually much more important than what she realizes until she meets Lara, pretty much a stuck-up-know-it-all Hermione.
Oh, have I mentioned how many mentions to Harry Potter this book has? I mean, it has A LOT! So, figure it out, Cassidy is a Gryffindor while Lara is a Ravenclaw. Who would have guessed?
Also, Cassidy always carries a vintage, very worn, analog camera which calls out to me so deeply because after all I am a photographer and this same pieces ends up taking a larger importance throughout the book.
The legends and myths of Edinburgh take an important role on thist first instalement of the series and seems like the perfect location to take of when it comes to the in-between world adventure of Cassidy Blake.
City of Ghosts, the first book in the Cassidy Blake series is fast paced, not hard to read but with enough mystery to keep us entertained and sitting in the edge of our seats through the nearly 300 pages.
Cassidy is a 13 (or is it 14?) years old teenager with uncommon parents and an even more uncommon best friend. While Cassidy's parents are ghost researchers, not hunters, Cassidy's best friend, Jacob, is a ghost. Cassidy ain't popular but she doesn't care much but as any other teen she longs for summer vacations because that means pretending to be more "normal" than what she actually is. Things take a turn when Cass's parents take on the change of hosting their won TV Show about the most paranormal cities on Earth, which takes the whole family, including their lazy cat Grim and even Jacob, from their little town in upstate New York to the bustling old streets of Edinburgh.
It's in Edinburgh that Cassidy's gift blooms, the same gift that came from a nearly dead experience about a year before the story takes place, and the same dead experience in which ghost Jacob saved Cass from and that connected the two of them.
Cassidy can walk between the world of the living and the world of those who are, well, stuck between stages. Let's call it The Veil. What she thinks it's just something that once in a while allows her to peak into past times is actually much more important than what she realizes until she meets Lara, pretty much a stuck-up-know-it-all Hermione.
Oh, have I mentioned how many mentions to Harry Potter this book has? I mean, it has A LOT! So, figure it out, Cassidy is a Gryffindor while Lara is a Ravenclaw. Who would have guessed?
Also, Cassidy always carries a vintage, very worn, analog camera which calls out to me so deeply because after all I am a photographer and this same pieces ends up taking a larger importance throughout the book.
The legends and myths of Edinburgh take an important role on thist first instalement of the series and seems like the perfect location to take of when it comes to the in-between world adventure of Cassidy Blake.
Final Thoughts
This is a fairly simple book but one that I truly enjoyed reading. Despite being aimed to children and younger teens it portrays some triggers and heavy contents such as death, especially of children, murder, loss of child and even abduction.
The writing is simple but well achieved, dialogs are good and I really enjoyed discovering the characters as the book moves forward. The character build-up along with the history of the places, legends and myths seems like a win-win combination if you're looking for an easy and fast read.
The writing is simple but well achieved, dialogs are good and I really enjoyed discovering the characters as the book moves forward. The character build-up along with the history of the places, legends and myths seems like a win-win combination if you're looking for an easy and fast read.
“People think that ghosts only come out at night, or on Halloween, when the world is dark and the walls are thin. But the truth is, ghosts are everywhere. In the bread aisle at your grocery store, in the middle of you grandmother's garden, in the front seat on your bus. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.”
My Rating
4.5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Shelfie
Joana C.
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