I took me about 100 pages to get into this. I didn't love Whitcomb's writing, but once the plot hit its stride, I had trouble putting the book down. A gripper to be sure. And very romantic.

One more note: Even though this book is for teens, I think it might actually have more adult appeal because the characters are really old people in young people's bodies. ( )

A beautiful love story that captures the innocence and tenderness of the first time. This is possibly the best love story I ever read. Deep and playful. ( )

Re-listening. I liked the book well enough the first time around but I am only re-reading because I want to read the sequel. I try to avoid YA these days but again, sequel.

Re-listen complete and I have to say I liked it more the second time around. If you like YA, with the angst and the difficult parents and you like a bit of religion in your stories, maybe take a deeper look at this one.

It has "ghosts" but more like, life-after-death ghosts and not horror ghosts. I won't say who, but there are characters that are ghosts still in our realm and they possess the bodies of at-risk youth who have pretty much checked out of life. A lovely evolution of all characters involved. It had me sniffling and having too many feels by the end.

I have the sequel in my possession. I can't wait to see what happens next. ( )

Ending is a little weak compared to the rest of the book but I really liked it anyway. Very well-written. ( )

"The most compelling thing in my world, sir, is to be heard and seen by you."
He looked at me a long moment. "Then I am most beholden to you."

Firstly, this wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn close. I didn't love every character or every relationship or every situation. But after it all I was left with the feeling that this world was definitely something that could only exist in this book, and so the entirety of it, flaws and all, is something I'm never going to see again.

It just left me with such a good feeling and love of the atmosphere. I don't know. Everything in it felt strangely special.

The writing was really wonderful, with plenty of evocative and beautiful descriptions. I'm normally not fond of the trope where a single glance or facial expression tells the MC everything about how the person feels, but since Helen had spent over a hundred years doing nothing but people-watching, this kind of thing made perfect sense. Lines like "Dan cocked his head at me, as slow as a cannon changing targets", "He looked as if he had just remembered a joke but was not planning on repeating it", "'I just can't stand you lying,' she said, and although she looked at me now, I saw Dan shift as if ready to answer" and so on, are the kind of simple and accurate little nuances in conversation that Whitcomb delivered perfectly. These were the sorts of familiar but unique peeks into human interaction that made me love Gone Girl and I was really pleased to see them here again.

I'm not someone who easily likes main characters for some reason, but Helen's situation was just so interesting that it immediately drew me to her and all her jealously and her book snobbery that would be insufferable in any other scenario.

As for James, he felt more like a symbol for life than a person. Maybe this was on purpose, but also maybe it doesn't matter, because it didn't take anything away from him for me. As a person he was sweet and charming ("The way James lifted his hand to his brow, smiling at them but forgetting he had no hat to tip, made me want to kiss him" me too, Helen), but maybe I'm just old and cynical since I wasn't that invested in their romance. At least, it didn't feel like a love where they'd get married and have kids and whatnot, even in a world where that was possible. They felt like each other's perfect concepts of being alive again. I don't think this because it moved too fast or fell into any other romance book trappings...I don't expect two people who have been merely watching the world for ages to suddenly decide to take it carefully and slow when they have the chance to be with someone, whether that's just talking or having sex or whatnot.

MR. BROWN, HOWEVER. I was a little afraid that after Helen found a body, she'd let Mr. Brown vanish from the story, but his continuous return was somehow more satisfying and more touching to me than anything with James. Their relationship was something completely unique that could only have existed in this book and this writer's hands, and I loved every brief moment. Dear Miss Whitcomb I hope Mr. Brown is doing all right and he named his son something with a ton of silent letters.

I could probably go on and on about all the other characters... I wish we could have learned a little more about Jenny and Billy, but maybe me wanting that is yet another nod to the writing, because I don't feel like we didn't get enough but I'm still sitting here wanting to know more. I was weirdly surprised by the religious tones, and then more surprised that it didn't really get into it that much. Also surprised that we didn't learn much about how James and Billy resolved their, you know, Spoilers, but I guess that sends me to the idea that they weren't forever entwined like people would be, and death is pretty dang lonely. Speaking of, I think it managed the separation between Helen and James really well - they had so much to resolve for themselves and for their hosts that they couldn't always be together, even at the end of things.

(The official ebook has a painful amount of typos, btw. Are you kidding? You kept forgetting periods?)

I don't feel like I understood all that it was trying to tell me, and I think that it may not have gone to any great heights (or, well, depths), but I still really loved reading it and actually, for once in a very long time, felt completely immersed in a new world. ( )