Ghost Wood Song

Shady Grove wants nothing more than to be a good enough musician to play in a bluegrass band with her friends, and she wishes her daddy’s fiddle hadn’t drown in the lake with him 5 years ago. It was a special instrument that, when played just right, could call the dead, and there’s a good chance Shady would be able to use it since she already can sense the ghosts all around her in her daddy’s childhood home and in the woods surrounding it. That seems an impossible dream, though, until her stepdad is murdered and her brother is blamed. It’s then that the ghosts start calling her to find her daddy’s fiddle, and she’s determined to do just that so she can use it to find out who really committed the crime. But there’s a show more reason her family hid the fiddle and lied to her about it – the cost of playing it is higher than she can imagine…

This YA novel has it all: bisexual bluegrass-playing teens, multiple murder mysteries, a fiddle that can raise the dead, and spooky atmosphere for miles. What more could you possibly need in a fall read?! I adored it. show less

This was a highly anticipated read for me this year, and it did not disappoint! First things first. The cover. Absolutely frickin’ gorgeous. It captures the story’s intrigue and grit without being overwhelming or childish. I was swooning the moment I set eyes on it.

Secondly – the story itself. Ghost Wood Song is Erica Waters’ debut novel, classified as a young adult fantasy with LGBT elements. Couple that with an interesting book summary, and you get high expectations from me, myself, and I. Waters took my expectations, blew them out of the water and sent them to outer space, I was that impressed with this book.

Shady Grove is the main character in this story, a teenager who, like her deceased father, can summon ghosts with his show more fiddle. This inevitably leads to trouble down the road, but she must use these skills to help try to clear the name of her brother, who’s gotten himself into a spot of “accused of murder” issues. This is an incredibly atmospheric and gritty book, the haunting lyricism of the story winding a suspenseful and compelling tale that you just. can’t. put. down.

No matter how much we like each other, sometimes it’s not enough to want to be together.

The book is filled with nostalgia, music, and teenage angst that feels relevant and real, and doesn’t consume the story or become Shady’s identity. Waters drops solid advice and words of wisdom to the reader, which is relevant to ALL ages and made the book feel universal at times. That was probably my second favorite part of the book – the teenage elements were never the main focus of the story. They were introduced naturally, and pulled the reader along without taking away from the main plot.

Bluegrass lyrics are almost always about death, loss, and unrequited love, but the music – the noise we make with our banjos and our fiddles – is joyful. The dead are always with us, even after their ghosts move on, but it’s the life pulsing through our veins that makes the music.

My most favorite part of the story though was how central music was. As a musician myself, I was utterly absorbed in how thoroughly music was integrated into the lives of each character; it moved the plot forward in the best way, and it reignited my love of bluegrass with a fierce passion. Coupled with the lyrical nature of the storytelling and the vivid depictions of the environment, and it transported me directly into the story.

When it comes down to it, this was a solid book with a dynamic cast and imaginative setting. I would 100% recommend this to anyone interested in ghosts, music, and Southern Gothic themes.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

This is what evil is - not some unnatural force, not demons or devils. It's this right here - a man clinging so hard to hate it's worth dying for.

It happened again. A book I'll happily recommend to people if they want a spooky, powerful little story, but sadly I don't love it for myself :') I'm really into all the themes it worked with, especially the more complex side of anger and grief, as I don't see that very often. Nor do I read about this corner of Florida with bluegrass, trailer parks, twanging accents, and cowboy boots. That was very different and felt so oddly cozy even in a relatively tense and scary story. The immersion was absolutely top-notch.

But it felt like there just wasn't enough plot for nearly 400 pages. It dragged show more its feet so much and so weirdly conveniently, that by halfway through I was certain we had to be near the end. The multiple secret reveals felt repetitive rather than complex and intertwined. I just got a little tired.

Regardless. For the setting and the emotional heft alone, recommend it. show less

this is one of those times when i read a ya book and i go... i'm not the target audience for this one. it doesn't happen with all ya books, but occasionally (not at all a knock on the book!) there is one that reads a little younger, or has certain themes that i just go, hm, not for me.

this book is gonna be fantastic for a teenage bisexual who likes spooky things. unfortunetly, i am an adult lesbian. i didn't care at all abt shady and cedar's romance, and wanted her to work it out with sarah somehow or get together with rose the whole time. plus... i think i get frusturated sometimes with how much ya seems to like, be required to have a side romance story when a story doesn't rlly call for it?? like, shady is GOING THROUGH IT with her show more family, and that's what drew me to the book, and every time they paused for the romance stuff i lost a little interest. i don't think it was necessary. you could have taken out her romance issues with sarah, and left cedar just a new friend and the story would hardly change.

it was a perfectly fine debut, but coming off the other book i've read by erica waters (a fantastic ya sapphic dark academia that i loved listening to the audiobook last year) it left me a little dissapointed.

i think other ppl would love it, but it was just fine/not quite for me, unfortunetly. on a real scale it's like a 2.5, but that feels mean bc it was def a case of "oh, this was not written with me in mind, and the ppl it's written for will probably have a great time". show less

I really enjoyed this- usually I’m skeptical of books over 300 pages, but the author wrote side stories that I was invested in. I actually cared for the characters and wanted to know what would happen and how. I thought it was legit creepy too, and loved how the Frank and Jim story wrapped up, showing that anger and fury can last a lifetime- and maybe beyond. But she shows that with love as well.

I think that GHOST WOOD SONG should get some brownie points for being unique and interesting in theory, but as a story, this one failed to draw me in. The characters were closed off, the protagonist succeeded without any true struggles or setbacks, and the descriptions were bare and failed to be immersive. Going in, I was thrilled that this was a ghost story, but that's just its secondary purpose. GHOST WOOD SONG is a story about family and loyalty and any ghosts you find along the way are more tools to drive this purpose than meaningful hauntings.

This is the type of book I'd recommend to someone looking for a book that's a *little* spooky, but not too much. It's a good seasonal read, but it's a bit slow. The tempo doesn't flux and the show more action never really rose. It's not a book that kept me on the edge of my seat. However, the ghost-raising fiddle was an interesting idea, and I don't think I've ever read a book that sent so much love out to bluegrass, so it has some unique elements going for it. Not for me, but maybe someone else will like it.

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Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I got through NetGalley to review.

Story (4/5): When Shady’s brother is accused of killing her stepfather, Shady is determined to prove her brother’s innocence. To do this she decides to track down her father’s missing fiddle and see if she can call her stepfather’s ghost to her. This was an engaging story with a well done murder mystery as the main driver. Shady’s ability to use her father’s cursed fiddle to call ghosts to her adds a supernatural aspect to the story.

Characters (4/5): I enjoyed Shady and the characters surrounding her. They are all a bit damaged and all trying to eke out a living in poor rural Texas. The majority of the characters are trying to make the show more best of a non-ideal situation. While I wasn’t particularly drawn to any of them, I did enjoy reading about them...kind of like people are drawn to gape at any disaster in the making. Shady is bi-sexual and this is discussed quite a bit, there is a bit of a love triangle between Shady her best friend Sarah and a boy in another band in town.

Setting (4/5): The book was set in a poor rural Texan town. The setting was fine and did drive some aspects of the story background.

Writing Style (4/5): This book was well written and very easy to read. I had no issues staying engaging in the story and was curious as to how the mystery would play out up until the very end of the story. The whole story is told from Shady’s perspective.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was an easy read that was engaging and had some intriguing supernatural elements to it. The mystery really drives the story and keeps the reader engaged. I like that there was so much in here about playing music as well. While I didn’t love this, I did like it, and thought the way the supernatural aspects were tied to both music and a murder mystery was unique. show less