Level: Middle
Recommended Age: 12+
Genres: Adventure, Paranormal
Tags: Ghosts, British
Mature Content:

  - Mild violence: physical attacks and descriptions of death and drowning, with allusions to kidnapping.

Cassidy Blake almost drowned in a river, but a boy named Jacob saved her. The problem is Jacob is dead, and now Cassidy can see ghosts and travel back and forth between her world and the world of the dead. This makes her life in New York a bit tricky, but when her parents announce their summer plans to travel to the most haunted places in the world, Cassidy knows she’s in for a dangerous vacation.

Their week in Edinburgh is spooky, to put it mildly. And while her parents, the famous authors of a popular ghost series, film their new show in the most haunted spots in the city, Cassidy puts all her effort into resisting the pull from some determined Scottish ghosts. But not all ghosts are nice, and one especially has her sights set on Cassidy.

Review:

Ghost stories are always fun, especially ones set in such historically spooky places like Scotland. Cassidy’s control over her travel through the veil, the barrier that separates the living from the dead, quickly deteriorates when she arrives in Edinburgh.

For the first time since her near death experience, Cassidy meets another person who can communicate with ghosts. Lara is more knowledgeable about the purpose of their spooky talents, and Jacob is not pleased with Cassidy’s fascination with this new information. And while Cassidy expected to encounter angry spirits and haunted historical spots, she never anticipated learning so much about her purpose as someone who can communicate with ghosts.

Jacob is her best friend; but if a ghost is stuck, isn’t letting them move on the right thing to do?

While she struggles with her new knowledge, she tries not to draw the attention of powerful ghosts who have figured out how to steal the life force of unfortunate souls who cross their path. Ghosts are gaining strength from the living, and the ghost stories are perfect for a dark stormy night spent reading by the fireplace.

Edinburgh is definitely a city haunted by its history. They take pride in their ghost stories and bloody history. Cassidy’s parents’ obsession with ghosts and the history and science that plays into that is amusing and ironic, considering their daughter is the one who can actually see ghosts. They wouldn’t be so enthusiastic about exploring haunted places if they could actually see what was haunting it, which is why Cassidy is not always up for their adventures.

This is a fun book and a quick read, full of ghosty adventures and spooky stories perfect for stormy power outages.