City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Publication Date: August 28th, 2018
Rating: 5/5
Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.
When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.
I listened to the audiobook through SPOTIFY. Yes, that’s right. You can listen to it for free (like I did, which is why it took so long to finish) OR with your premium subscription if you have one!
(And if you want more Spotify Audiobook recommendations check out my post HERE)
Firs of all I’d like to say that I really loved the narrator for this book! She was fun and really brought the character to life and even changed the voices for Jacob and the other characters which made it engaging and easy to follow!
Obviously, I love everything by V.E. Schwab that I have read so far. She always does an amazing job with world-building and character building. I never feel so lost to where I don’t want to continue, but I’m never clued in completely, keeping the air of mystery of suspense! This was no different! I never felt like I was being given too much or too little information to understand what was happening, and it also didn’t feel like I was reading something that was too ‘young’ for me. It wasn’t an obviously middle grade book to me (I have no idea if that makes sense, but what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t feel like I had to dumb myself down to get to the middle grade level to enjoy the book).
The characters were obviously amazing. I loved our MCs Cassidy and Jacob. I loved how they communicated and their banter and friendship! I loved the mystery between them, and the little bits of tension and doubt as things started happening. I LOVED all the ‘side’ characters, especially because they didn’t feel like they were forced to be there because of plot. Everything was just NATURAL.
I don’t want to say too much because this was a fun experience to go in only knowing the bare minimum but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the dark, creepy vibe. It felt like Coraline where it’s meant to be a children’s movie, but it scares even a full grown adult! I’m definitely excited for the creepy adventures that lie ahead in Tunnel of Bones!
If you like ghost friends, old school photography, mind reading, graveyards and haunted castles you’ll definitely want to read this book! If you enjoy scary stories, not-so-dead-but-not-really-alive people, lots of Harry Potter references, making fun of American vs English language, and the irony of having ghost hunting parents when you have a ghost best friend… well, this is definitely going to be the book for you!
Star is All Booked Up 
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