Dan Rice

This was an interesting story with a unique premise, characters you won't soon forget, and a kick-ass teen FMC trying to navigate high school, making this perfect for YA readers who enjoy a hint of horror and suspense. As someone who loved ghost stories from when I was young, and have always struggled with math, I wish I'd have found a ghost to help me with my math classes like Zuri did! Even though she's had a hard life, Zuri has a lot of inner strength that shines through from start to show more finish, although she's still human, and has worries and fears that are normal not just for a teen, but because of her past. The bonds of friendship that form feel natural, and heartwarming. The story didn't dive right into the hauntings, and I enjoyed getting to know Zuri and her mom a little before we really got into the ghostly bits. Overall, definitely recommend! show less

I wish I liked this book better. I love stories with dragons and magic, but this one fell flat for me. I'm willing to forgive the multiple typos and weird sentences because it was an advance copy and I can hope they'll be fixed (though there were more than I would have expected at this stage in the publishing process). But they did make reading it more of a struggle. It's hard to stay immersed in a book when characters are saying things that don't make sense or include really weird show more typos/artifacts of speech to text. But more than that, I found most of the characters unlikeable. The first chapter is from a character's point of view who I started to like. Then she was basically put into a magical coma and didn't show up again for 8 chapters. When she did show up again, she had no dialogue and very little action until near the end of the book. Then she was given one more short POV chapter and as far as you know at the end of the book, she may be dead. The character whose death sets off the plot seems to be a terrible person, but everyone in the book is devastated by his death. While the male main character seemed to be more devastated by the fact that now he had to take on the Overlord's duties, he didn't seem to have any sort of conflicted emotions about the fact that his abusive father was now dead. The female main character was better. I almost liked her. But her insistence on being included in missions that required mobility while suffering from an injury just made me roll my eyes. This girl was willing to cripple herself rather than let someone more capable handle the work. And it doesn't really make it much better just because she seemed to pull it all off. Some of the side characters were interesting, but for the first book in a series, there was a LOT of death. Almost everyone cool was killed off, and hardly any of them got cool or heroic deaths. And on top of all that, I really really did not like the scenes from the villain's POV. He was not a complicated villain. He was not morally gray. He enjoyed torturing people for fun. So no thanks, i don't want to be privy to his thoughts.

There were a lot of seeds of cool things in this book. The world was very reminiscent of Terry Brooks' Shannara, a fantasy world with magic layered over a post-cataclysmic tech world. Ruins of automobiles and skyscrapers mixed with dragons was kind of cool. I never quite understood what the Hallowed Hall was that they kept referencing, but perhaps that was left purposely vague for some plot point in a future book. I don't know if the book was purposely anti-monotheistic, or if that's just the world he created. But the "good guys" follow multiple gods and the villain follows a One True God. So as a Christian, I wasn't much of a fan of that tone, but that is more about me than the novel, so that's not going to bother everyone.

If you like dragons and magic, and you're maybe a fan of Terry Brooks' Shannara books, you might like this. I didn't. But I saw decent bones in there. So someone who is less annoyed by a smart and strong woman making stupid decisions might love this. Someone less bothered by scenes from the villain's POV might love this. Someone less bothered by a child being wholly devastated by the loss of an abusive parent might love this. Someone less bothered by the Kill Your Gays trope and Fridging, might love this. It just seemed to contain all the little things that annoy me. show less

I had never heard of this series before I won a copy of this book from LibraryThing. It has so many things that I love in books I read. I love reading books where one or more of the main characters are underdogs. We have Luis who loves math but gets bullied. We have Zuri who practices mixed martial arts. She and her mother have moved to Pinedale to get away from her father who is very violent. She actually saves Luis from the bullies and they become best friends. Then of course who doesn’t show more love stories that have ghosts. Zuri meets one in her school library. Zuri has a ghost friend she meets in the library and helps her with her math. I wish I had a ghost when I was in school to help me with my math. As I read I learned there was an evil entity in the sub-basement. I have had a fear of basements since I was about ten years old. Zuri, Luis and many of the other ghosts in the school decided to help Zuri protect the ghost helping her with her math. Here is why teens will love this book. It deals with so many issues they often deal with. Zuri has to deal with not only a violent father, but also with racism. Then there is Luis who has to deal with bullies. They can identify with and relate with so much in this book. Of course this is a great book for anyone who loves reading about people who overcome major obstacles in their lives and especially for those who love ghost stories. I would most definitely recommend this book. show less

I thought the premise for this book was interesting, which is what made me pick it up. Overall, it's an interesting read, but at times I wish the story had moved along a little quicker and a little more smoothly. I really liked Allison as a character, she was very true to how you'd expect a teenager to act, and at times react to things. Although I would have liked to see the dragons introduced a little sooner, once they were, I'd say the tension really starts to build. (After all, it's not show more as if everyone can say them). Overall, a fun read. show less