Ghost of a Chance

It is Eva’s 16th birthday, but there is no celebration. No one wishes her happy birthday, not even her grandfather, but she is used to being neglected and ignored a lot of the time – though Grandfather cares about her, he is very old and in poor health, and her birthday isn’t seen as a very happy occasion, as Eva’s mother died on the same day she was born. It is some time before she realises she is invisible to all around her and finds herself talking to ghosts – it seems she is one too. She is assumed to have killed herself like her mother. Eva doesn’t believe that and sets out to investigate her own murder.

This young adult ghost story/mystery is not particularly original but Lassiter’s mixture of ingredients borrowed show more from all over the place was an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Eva is an orphan, who lives in a decaying stately home with her grandfather. She is an imaginative person who likes to read and has been able to see ghosts all her life – she remembers playing with an 18th century little boy. There are lots of scheming relatives, aunts and cousins, who are hoping for a good inheritance when the old man dies and have no time for Eva. Now Grandfather has been taken to hospital and they are already coming in and arranging tour parties around the House. Her cousin Felix, just a little older than Eva, confidently expects to be the heir and is looking around for her body. He is a truly nasty character I loved to hate – perhaps he is a bit obvious and two-dimensional, but this is a modern fairy tale and the villains in fairy tales are rarely rounded characters.

There is more about class in this story than I remember in the children’s stories of historic houses and ghosts I read when I was young. Maggie is a resentful ghost servant girl who is suspicious of Eva as one of the Chance family who exploited her when she was alive. Among the living there are brother and sister Kyra and Kyle, locals who have come to work at the House – they can see Eva. Kyra bullied Eva when they were at school together, but Eva sees another side of her now. Eva must forge new links with these unlikely allies if she is not only to find out what happened to her but to prevent further bad things happening.

There are a quite a few twists and turns in the story - while there is nothing particularly astonishing, I enjoyed the read and think lots of teenagers would too. show less

Sometimes when you get a book to review that you didn't really know much about there's the risk of it turning out rather badly and then what the hell do you do? But I am very happy to say that this was not the case with Ghost of a Chance- no sirree I was most pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, I actually re-read it a couple of days ago and although I knew how it ended I still really loved the story and the characters.

Living in a crumbling old mansion, with centuries of family history Eva Chance is the black sheep of the family prowling about the House and gardens like a wild thing. It's on the day of her 16th birthday - April Fool's Day that she finds out something very shocking - she's in fact dead and somehow hadn't show more noticed. She's now got to try and discover who killed her and when most people can't see her it's gonna be a bit difficult without help.

That's where Kyra and her twin brother Kyle come in - when they begin to notice the strange things going on at the Chance House it becomes apparent that something supernatural is the cause and despite the fact that Kyra used to pick on Eva for being a bit weird, they both want to help her find out what happened to her.

This book had two great features going for it - really interesting characters that you could love even if they could be irritating (I'm looking at you Felix), and one heck of a mystery coupled in with all the creepiness of the House Ghosts. I had no clue how the book was gonna end and I was damn surprised when I found out and I loved it! The supernatural aspects of the story worked really well with the realistic aspects and overall the book was executed rather fabulously.

I found all the gruesome Chance family history fascinating and how it ties into the various ghosts which occupy the House. I'm sure anyone who's been to a supposedly haunted house would get a scary thrill from this aspect of the book. The tension from not knowing who is behind the attacks on the Chance family members makes for a very exciting read and I was determined not to put the book down until I'd finished it.

Overall a refreshingly unusual YA read with a wonderful mix of mystery, history and characters, and a really great ending that left me wanting to see more about Eva, Kyle and Kyra. Plus I gotta mention Nathan - the cutest five-yr old that I've read about in ages- on the three occasions that he appeared in the story I was grinning at how adorable and sensible he was compared to all those silly adults who smiled indulgently at the idea of a ghost in wellies :P show less

This, if it’s not too contradictory a description for a ghost-cum-detective story, is a delightful novel, often deeply satisfying and always captivating. The narrative is set within the span of a month, from April Fool’s Day to May Eve, and features the ghost of young Eva, who has to act as a kind of detective to uncover the details of her own murder. Good detective stories include a cast of suspects and a shoal of red herrings, and we get plenty of both here. Ghost stories, by definition, must offer us a closetful of skeletons, spooks and denizens of the spirit world and there are enough here too for all the proverbial hairs on your neck. Particularly memorable are the maid Maggie, the Witch and, most chilling of all, the Stalker, show more who feeds off other ghosts.

What I like about this book is the various levels at which the intelligent reader can connect with it. The setting is the classic aristocratic pile and associated estate, but the author hints that she knows this conceit is open to parody by including references to Cluedo. Some of the younger characters are only dimly aware of Shakespeare, but Rhiannon Lassiter ensures that we take on board her nods to The Tempest, Hamlet and, above all, to King Lear as parallels in the plot. And I like her play on words where, for example, the young Evangeline’s name suggest that she is truly a messenger to the living concerning the dark happenings in the House.

Lassiter has also written that “Diana Wynne Jones will always be on my top ten” of favourite authors, and so I can’t help being reminded of a couple of examples from that writer’s work which must have had some influence on Ghost of a Chance. First, Jones’ The Time of the Ghost, partly based on incidents in the author’s childhood and which includes one character who experiences events as a ghost. Secondly, while the rather trite title must have suggested Eva Chance’s surname, word association drew me to the young Christopher Chant of Jones’ Chrestomanci books as a possible influence on Lassiter’s choice for Eva’s family name.

It’s probably churlish to say that there are the odd awkward explanatory passages, or that one or two characters, such as twins Kyle and Kyra and Eva’s cousin Felix, don’t always ring true as realistic and convincing individuals; I can’t excuse these by noting that this novel is ‘just’ written for young adults, because that’s unfair both to author and to the intended readership. However these caveats are more than outweighed by the instances of fine prose poetry and atmospheric descriptions, plus its overall readability and un-put-down-able qualities. An acid test for any reviewer is whether they would be willing to re-read a book for pleasure; in the case of Ghost of a Chance the answer is certainly in the affirmative.

http://wp.me/s2oNj1-chance show less

Ah, this book reminded me so much of my first reading experiences that I couldn't help but love it. When I was much younger and had read more of The Babysitters' Club and Sweet Valley High than was probably healthy, I turned to the somewhat darker Goosebumps series by R.L.Stine, including such classics as Say Cheese and Die and Monster Blood. Anyone else read this? No? Just me then...

What I loved about those books, and indeed this one, was the unashamed use of the supernatural. I'm sure I've made this point before but I respect authors who will weave the supernatural into a story so tightly that it just seems to belong, rather than wasting time on characters who don't want to believe etc or worrying about whether the book is show more 'realistic'. The ghosts in this book are exactly that. Eva finds herself a ghost despite having no recollection at all about how she died. Rather than spending endless pages pondering the nature of the soul or not believing her predicament, there's good balance and timing for the phasing of reluctance into acceptance.

One strong point is Lassiter's expansion on what could have been a cheesy ghost theme. The ghosts of the House are varied and unique. Some ghosts were nothing more than a single feature, like 'The Stalker' that has nothing but the desire to kill other ghosts, while others retain their personalities and 'grip' on the world, like Eva. I found myself drawn into the tangled web of the ghosts in spite of myself and felt like that made it more than normal.

Obviously I couldn't review this book without mentioning Eva. Eva Chance is a social outcast and something of a recluse. Bullied by her schoolmates, she has all but retreated to the House. Her aching loneliness tugged at even my old heartstrings and it reminded me of all the harsh points about being a teenager. Eva's family and its history (which is suitably tortured...) make for great back story too.

Outside of the Chance family are Kyle and Kyra, employed to spruce the House up in time for the tourist season. Kyle is kind of sweet and features nicely as a 'white knight' type figure. Kyra, however, was a weak link for me. She is Eva's nemesis, so much as teenagers can have nemeses and is actually rather irritating to read. She is everything a stereotypical teenage character shouldn't be - arrogant, rude, ignorant and a bully. Still, her ability to annoy is dampened by the curiosities of those around her so it's not all bad!

The mystery element plays nicely alongside the ghost story and make for a tale worthy of any teenager's time. My only real criticism was that the ending (that I obviously won't give away) was a little too convenient for my taste. I would guess, however, that that is largely as a result of it being a story for younger readers so I won't grumble too much.

A final noteworthy point: I stayed up late because I had to read the end of this book. To anyone who knows me, this is high praise indeed. I require at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night or I am unfit for polite society. With this, I was gripped and tugged on into the darkness by that same urge that kept the teenage me huddled under a duvet turning pages feverishly. I accept that it might have been an exercise in reminiscing but golly it was fun!

Overall: I would definitely recommend this to early-late teens looking for something a bit more mature and (I'll admit it) creepy! It's very much a 'YA' book but a great one for the genre that offers something new in a paranormal sphere dominated by vampires and werewolves - I won't be passing it on to the adults in my life but I'll almost definitely give my copy to a younger cousin at some point for her to enjoy as an introduction to something new. Read it late at night for maximum "enjoyment"! show less

Part ghost story, part mystery and part Gothic romance, this book grabbed my attention from start to finish. From the opening prelude scene to the final denouement I was by turns chilled, thrilled and riveted. The shifting narrative viewpoint lent the plot a balance it might otherwise have lacked and allowed for the development of the main characters: Eva Chance herself, inhabitant of a ghost world, Kyra her former bullying classmate, now working in the Chance family home, a crumbling and haunted mansion and Kyle, twin brother of Kyra. Other members of the Chance family, both living and dead, are drawn with fine nuances of personality.

Ghost of a Chance is a very atmospheric read. In some sections a palpable feeling of malevolence seems show more to resonate from the pages and despite the overall length of the book the pace rarely faltered. Full of memorable imagery (though some of the images I could have done without, they were essential to the nature of the story) and with some beautifully poetic moments this is a book that rewarded and gripped me. It's not without fault - the prose is clunky in some places and there were a couple of characters that I found stereotpyedly one-dimensional - but it's a book I'll be recommending. show less

Much darker and more grown up than I was expecting! A proper ghost story set in modern times. Very enjoyable, a well managed spookiness, and well written.

Eva Chance is the surviving daughter of an unhappy mum, from a landed family now run out of funds. Brought up by her grandfather (with occasional visits from her aunts) in the country estate. At the occasion of the annual family gathering to discuss the forthcoming tourist season, Eva realises that people aren't just ignoring her, they can't actually see her, or hear her. Always a bit shy and retiring, she has now become a ghost. She quickly realises she is far from the only ghost in the mansion though. An early prank sees Eva sent to the cellars where the real trouble lies - one of show more the Chance's early ancestors has stored the relics of a witch dunking implements there. The bound remains of a real witch have cursed the house and family for generations. Eva decides maybe she can do something about it - but first she has to explore the supernatural world while maintaining a grip on the 'real' one, to prevent the Witch's plots to cause more misery to the remaining Chances.

The opening sections (and the rest of the book) that focuses on Eva is very well done. I initially expected some rehash of the popular paranormal based books, but this isn't - even though the basic themes could work that way. Instead Eva is very real both as a ghost and as a human. Where I felt the book could do with more work (or editing) is in the other characters. Especially when the text jumps (distractingly) to their POV. Given Eva's sense of surprise at becoming incorporeal, the remaining humans seem to take the appearance of ghosts remarkably calmly. There is nothing in the build-up explaining that ghosts are a normal part of their world, but they hardly seem shocked by it - although a few do disbelieve at first. It is also quite annoying when the POV switches around a lot. Any empathy you've built up for a character is lost, and the new characters don't get sufficiency of writing devoted to them for them to become any more than obvious cutouts. Some of the interaction between brother and sister was well done, but a lot remained somewhat wooden.

As with all such tales the ending is one of the key components to making an enjoyable book. Here too, it was good, but less than perfect. Although the identity of the culprit was well maintained for a while it did become guessable towards the latter third of the book. The "big twist" was very obvious, and I was only curious to see how the author managed it, not whether it was going to happen. The manifold plus sides of the story are the general atmosphere and world set-up. I liked the variety of ghosts and their abilities and powers. I liked Eva's determination and her motivation for it. The general continuity held together well, which can be very tricky to do, and quickly spoils a story when it goes wrong.

Overall - recommended, worth reading to anyone who enjoys ghosts stories. show less

Last Chance...
‘You know that girl, the one in my class? The one that died. She lived here.’

Lost Chance...

‘You’re dead, Eva Chance. You died and nobody noticed. You died and nobody cared.’

No more Chances left...

They said it was suicide, but Eva knows she was murdered. Now she inhabits a skewed ghost world along with the tortured and malevolent spirits of her family home. Solving the crime could end her existence — but if the killer isn’t found how many more will die?

This book had everything a classic ghost story should have: a creepy house, old legends, dotty occupants and resident ghosts.

I really liked Eva and enjoyed following her about as she tries to solve her own murder. I did feel the book was a bit drawn out at show more times but felt there was enough in it to hold my attention till the end. I didn’t guess the ending at all and had a nice twist.

Where books by the likes of Thomas Emson has given horror back to the adult, books like this have given the supernatural to the teenager.

I’m glad I had the chance to read this book but felt it was really more for the younger generation. I like my horror books to be a bit more gory but feel that this book would provide some thrills and chills. show less