Laura Whitcomb

EDIT: I wrote this review at 1am as soon as I finished the book, and twenty minutes later, I already feel like it's vague, awkward, and doesn't fully capture my feelings, but I'm gonna leave it stand until I write something better.

I adored this book, and read it extremely quickly (for me). It fits a lot into 200-ish pages, and has some truly gorgeous writing, and yet still felt streamlined and efficient.

This is an odd review for me because, on the surface there are quite few things about show more this novel that shouldn't work, and it feels strange to be writing 5-star review mentioning what might be considered flaws, but something about this book was more than the sum of its parts, and everything that worked and and spoke to me outweighed any quibbles I might have had.

There are definitely some parts of this book that could have valid criticism laid against it. Some may find certain messages a bit heavy handed, and there could be a lot said about consent and bodily autonomy, and while I didn't need some of the messy ends to be tied up, I can see it bothering others. I think these grey areas were handled in such a way that reading those parts felt appropriately and intentionally uncomfortable, though maybe a little easily dismissed. But overall, it all hung together just so, for me personally.

The supporting characters around Helen were written with varying degrees of depth and complexity, but given the economy of the book's length, they all served their purpose. James was likeable, but was kept at enough of a distance that I was never 100% sure of his intentions, which I thought was quite well done and clever, and really served to add to the build of tension. But, Helen herself was wistful and charming, and her observations of her hosts in particular were bittersweet and heartfelt.

Ultimately, I thought it was a beautiful story, and it's ruminations on loneliness and grief touched me in particular. show less

In this unique novel, narrator Helen is a ghost haunting a high school English teacher. It’s not “haunting” in the traditional sense of spooky noises and clanking chains, though; rather, she clings to human “hosts” to prevent herself from being dragged down into hell. Mr. Brown, the English teacher, is her fourth host, but so far he and all other living beings don’t know she exists. That is, until one of the students looks right at Helen and smiles at her. Thus begins a show more relationship between Helen and James, a spirit who has managed to enter the body of seventeen-year-old Billy Blake. As their feelings for each other deepen, Helen tries to unite herself with James by finding a body of her own. The two ghosts are now able to change the lives of two unhappy teenagers, as well as finding personal fulfillment in one another. But are they both ignoring their own ultimate destiny?

The premise of this book simultaneously intrigued me and made me really nervous. Ghosts possessing the bodies of “empty” teenagers? Spirits haunting humans because an implacable God won’t let them into heaven? I was skeptical, to say the least, but I ended up being engrossed by the book. Helen and James were great central characters, and I couldn’t help rooting for them. The possessing-people’s-bodies thing didn’t sit right with me initially, but as the plot unfolded I became more reconciled to the new developments. My gripe is that the book was too short – there were certain aspects that could (and should, in my opinion) have been developed much more. For example, what happened with Mr. Brown at the end? What was Helen’s husband (during her life) like? Oh, and a word of caution: there are some adult scenes in the novel, though not particularly graphic ones. Overall, though, this was a fast-paced read that was unlike anything I’d ever read before, and I’d recommend it, especially for fans of YA literature. show less

I'm not sure what I was expecting this book to be like, but that was not it.

I think I believed it would be more similar to standard YA fiction. I expected a ghost story with a romance, and based on the cover I thought it would be dark. I thought the ghost main characters would do things they shouldn't, and we would end the story having figured out exactly why they shouldn't. But that is not what this book is about.

Instead, it's a really, really well told story about Big Issues. But not in show more any cheesy, after school special way. It ends up being less "and everyone learned a valuable lesson that day," and more "a profound truth was exposed." Whitcomb has filled her story with complex characters making mistakes and offering small kindnesses and for the most part doing the best they can. And the thing that I liked best, about the characters specifically, is that we get parallel character studies between two people who could not seem more dissimilar. A working class young man who likes women and booze and who gives his little brother shit and never cleans the house. A stay-at-home mom with a pristine home who attends regular church meetings and prays with her daughter every morning, at every meal, and every evening.

Polar opposites. And yet, we discover that both of these characters are taking sole responsibility for holding their families together. The young man has taken the role of father and mother toward his younger brother, and sees himself failing. The mother holds on to her perfect family, and feels it slipping away. And I'm hiding this in a spoiler tag because Dan, the father of the upright, proper, Christian family is without doubt one of the biggest jerks I've read in a while. Which was perfectly exhibited by a Monopoly game, of all things. For family game night, the mother (Carol) puts out Monopoly. Her husband is the top hat, her daughter is the dog, and she selects the ship as her own token. But Dan the asshole puts the ship away and replaces it with the iron. Father, Mother, and, as he so lovingly refers to his daughter, Puppy. Gag.

Anyway. This is one of those teen novels that could easily be shelved in the adult section, with no one the wiser. It has some very sophisticated things to say about both grasping your life with both hands, and resolving your life once it's passed you by. Not at all the dark and mysterious, but ultimately fluffy, book I was half expecting. show less

"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 show more 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. show less