Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

[description from amazon]

Cass McKenna much prefers ghosts over “breathers.” Ghosts are uncomplicated and dependable, and they know the dirt on everybody…and Cass loves dirt. She’s on a mission to expose the dirty secrets of the poseurs in her school.

But when the vice president of the student council discovers her secret, Cass’s whole scheme hangs in the balance. Tim wants her to help him contact his recently deceased mother, and Cass reluctantly agrees.

As Cass becomes increasingly entwined in Tim’s life, she’s surprised to realize he’s not so bad—and he needs help more desperately than anyone else suspects. Maybe it’s time to give the living another chance….

Review:

I'm not a big paranormal reader, but for some reason I always seek out ghost books. Perhaps its because when I was younger I watched so many episodes of Scariest Places on Earth that I'd rather get my ghost fix through books instead of freaky TV shows, but whatever the reason, I was really excited to read this book. And luckily, I wasn't disappointed with it.

Cass is a refreshingly rude character. Reading about nice girls gets a little old sometimes, so reading about Cass's desire to get away from people and intentionally alienate herself from them nice. Sometimes I wanted to slap her because she was being annoying and/or stupid, but her snark made up for all the annoying moments, as did her development. I loved how Cass didn't do a complete personality change in the book- her change was gradual and wasn't complete by the end. There's still plenty of changes Cass needs to make after the book ends, but she's aware of them and has already begun to make them. She's hopeful and motivated at the end, which really makes her actions believable.

I never understood why Cass had her ghost-seeing powers, or how she got them, but I didn't mind that much when I was reading because of how amusing her powers were. Her conversations with her ghost friends are funny and lead to plenty of shenanigans. No one reacts well to the gossip Cass tells them, which leads to plenty of drama that keeps things exciting while Cass helps Tim.

Speaking of Tim, I liked how I never knew what his deal was until the end. His emotions about his mother were well developed and believable, as were his feelings about Cass. There are plenty of ways the relationship between Tim and Cass could go, and the way it ended up was surprising and refreshing. But I don't want to spoil that part for you. ;)

Give Up the Ghost is a fun book with realistic characters, and I'm sure it will be a success because of how great it is.

8/10

Links: Megan's website/blog/twitter/the Give Up the Ghost trailer

Henry Holt/Hardcover/$16.99/Amazon/B&N/Borders/Indiebound