City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Cass sees ghosts after she had a brush with death herself. The world beyond the Veil calls to her. She finds herself entering it, reliving ghosts' memories of their deaths, and attempting to take pictures of ghosts. Even her best friend is a ghost and stays with her most of the time. His name is Jacob and he saved her from drowning. When her parents whisk her away to Scotland so they can host a haunted places show, Cass learns much more than Jacob revealed to her about the Veil and her own power.

City of Ghosts is the perfect Halloween read. It's spooky, heartwarming, and suspenseful. Everything from the characters to the world building sucked me right in. Cass and Jacob are wonderful characters that have their own flaws and quirks. Cass is a lovely girl. I love her embracing being unpopular because being popular has loads of expectations and rules that she simply doesn't want. She has the power to speak to the dead and enter the Veil. She feels a scratching when a ghost is near and watches the memories they are trapped in. Jacob is an anomaly as a ghost who is aware of the world and interacts with the living in Cass. He has a sharp wit and makes funny comments no one else can hear. Together, they have rules like not entering the Veil alone, avoiding certain subjects, and respecting each other's needs and privacy. Their friendship is so lovely that it's rather heartbreaking when they have doubts because Jacob kept things from Cass.

The world building is awesome and detailed. Ghosts have the ability to read minds and be invisible to the living. Jacob doesn't have much power to interact with the living world, but others do. Ghosts who draw power from negative emotions like pain, anger, and regret can be very destructive, moving things and hurting people. The Veil isn't laid out as the real world is, but as a series of time capsules of varying size for each ghost trapped in it. There, Cass becomes less than alive and Jacob becomes more than dead. She thinks she knows what to expect from the Veil in Scotland, but ti's so oppressive with the dead that it sucks her in involuntarily. Almost everything she's learned is called into question especially when a ghost woman in a vibrant red cloak lures children to her. She also meets a ghost hunter whose goal is to release ghosts from the Veil, calling into question Cass's reason for having abilities. The whole thing is so well constructed and interesting that I wish the book was twice as long.

City of Ghosts put me nicely into the Halloween spirit. It has everything: creepy ghosts, lush Scottish landscapes, and beautiful friendships. Victoria Schwab has singular descriptions and metaphors that make her world come alive. This is a middle grade book that would blend in will with Holly Black's Doll Bones and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I hope it's the start of a series since there are things left open and of course a whole word of ghosts to explore.

My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins