Book Review: City of Ghosts

 

Book Review: City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab 

Goodreads Description: Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself. 

My Review: If there's one thing Schwab has always been good at, it's atmosphere. And City of Ghosts has that to spare. 

If there's one thing Schwab has always struggled with, it's humour. Which could have saved City of Ghosts from its pallid existence. 

The book is good, don't get me wrong, but there's nothing in the book that sinks its teeth into the reader and makes them care. There isn't enough character to make this book great. Cassidy and her ghost sidekick are simply bumbling through their time in Scotland without any real direction or motivation. They're largely dragged along by the events of the plot, or rather, Cassidy's parents as they bring her to each filming location filled with creepy specters. While there is plenty of tension, and clearly defined stakes which Schwab wasn't afraid to raise, this book lacked an emotional core that made me invest in the characters. This may be due to the fact that every character was kind of... flat. Cassidy's parents were simply caricatures of TV hosts, Findley played the role of "good adult who sort of understands the magic," and the brief glimpses we see of Lara don't give us enough to show her as a fully formed character. Cassidy is arguably the most developed, and still she comes across as flat, uninteresting, and without passion. Even if Schwab wanted to skip the deeper emotional notes, a little humour would have made the reader just as invested in these characters, and would have made more sense for a middle grade audience. 

Since I know Schwab can do better, character-wise, I'm tempted to blame the faults on it being a middle grade book, or rather, Schwab underestimating middle grade fiction. Just because a book is for children, doesn't mean it needs to be stripped of complexity or character. 

As far as middle grade goes, this book is VERY MG. I would even put it at the lower level of middle grade, more suited for 8-10 year olds than 12 year olds. Part of this is due to the simplicity of the story. Not only were the characters very straight forward, but the plot went straight from point a to b without any interesting twists, which may make it easier for a younger reader to follow. As well, Schwab's writing style was parred down to reflect the reading level she targeted. Schwab is known for flowery prose and atmospheric descriptions, which has been dialed back in this book to simpler sentences and straight to the point descriptions. It was fascinating to see how Schwab adjusted her style for the audience, although she tends to slip into telling over showing more than I think is necessary. 

The only other complaint I 'd have is the Harry Potter references REALLY date the book. I'd like to think Schwab wouldn't put in so many references if the book was written today, with JK Rowling outing herself as transphobic, but as it stands the references were in poor taste. I wouldn't have minded if there was only one or two, but they were peppered throughout the book. As well, the Harry Potter books themselves are a far more interesting world and story than City of Ghosts, so the constant references only reminded me how much more interesting the story could be. Hopefully next time Schwab will put more effort into worldbuilding so she won't have to reference other fantastical worlds to compensate. 

TL;DR: 3/5 stars. City of Ghosts was good, but certainly nothing to write home about.