Customer Reviews

ghostgirl

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As sad as it is to admit, the cover of this book is what immediately grabbed my attention. Unfortunately, the cover is better than the book.

Student, Charlotte, feels invisible at her high school and courtesy of a freak accident, literally becomes invisible following her death when she becomes a ghost.

The plot of Ghost Girl is stellar and seems like it should be a great read. Unfortunately, it falls short of expectations.

First, the book is riddled with corny death jokes. They're everywhere and seem to pop up at every other paragraph. Most of these jokes are eye-rolling, groan-inducing, and due to the vast number of them present, become irritating quickly.


Second, and this may be my personal peeve, but the author, or should I say "Charlotte" belittles genuine illnesses. I.E., one student ghost was said to have died from self injury. The moral of this student's story is that she she didn't cut herself well-enough and died from not being half-hearted in her attempts.
Charlotte later picks at her enemy for being anorexic.

Ignoring my personal distastes for the books, one of the primary reasons Ghost Girl is receiving two stars is while the plot is wonderful, the characters are not. They're one dimensional and fit the archetypal role to a tee.
Charlotte is the typical poor "nobody notices me, everybody hates me" girl. She sticks so closely to this role, in fact, that she becomes quite irritating and near impossible to relate to or even like. Charlotte's incessant tendency to judge and demean everyone around her while still having the audacity to pull the "woe is me, nobody understands me" card is off-putting.


While Charlotte is the main character and the entire text is about her, I felt that I didn't know her - nor did I particularly care to.

Petula, Charlotte's enemy, is also a flat character and sticks to the pretentious bully archetype. Her characterization is also over-dramatized and thus difficult to believe. It would have been wonderful if Hurley had offered some explanation for why Petula is the way she is, does Petula grow, what does she offer? Instead, she's flat, boring and extremely predictable - as most of the characters are.

In Ghost Girl, there's almost no mention of parents or family. Hurley's excuse for this? Because teens are too self-centered to have concern for their family. This seemed like a weak excuse and as if this "rule" may have been added as a fleeting afterthought.

It also seemed as if Ghost Girl had no editor. The number of mistakes throughout the book were numerous. For example, during Charlotte's criticism of anorexics, she mentioned "BMI index", which translates to "body mass index index." There are also several times when Hurley described a comment as "sarcastic" when it did not fit the definition of sarcasm. In fact, it seemed like every comment that every character made was "sarcastic," as each bit of conversation would end with "she said with sarcasm." or "she said, sarcastically."
This is without including the vast number of grammatical errors.

Finally, Hurley breaks several of the rules she sets for ghosts. Earlier in the book, it states that ghosts are unable to physically interact with the living or objects in the livings' time, and her body simply goes through objects or people she tries to touch. Later, Charlotte is hugging her crush and receives a "make-under" by a living person. The objects used don't "pass" through her and she's able to touch her crush and the other living person.

Also, Hurley states that Charlotte's real name is Charles early on in the text and she changed her name to Charlotte during her "make-over" attempt that year in high school. However, nobody recognized her as "Charles", students she says she's known for years prior to her name change all automatically know her "new name" is Charlotte and when she dies, the ghosts know of her new name as well, despite that this name-change is relatively new and she never appears to inform anyone of it.

Inconsistencies such as the above are all through the text. One minute Hurley makes a rule for Charlotte or states a fact about Charlotte, ten pages later the rule is broken and the fact, no longer existent.

The actual tone of the book is irregular. It passes through humble and full of awe to corny and conceited. While Charlotte is supposedly invisible and has little self-esteem, she manages to look down her nose at everyone.

To summarize, I loved the plot and was greatly looking forward to reading this book. However, it was such a disappointment that I plan to return it after I locate the receipt.
The characters are predictable and extremely irritating. The death puns, also irritating. And the plot never seemed to thoroughly develop.

If you're looking for an engrossing book that will leave you entranced. Keep looking.
This isn't it.

"Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
And if I should die before I awake,
I pray the popular attend my wake."

This is the year for Charlotte Usher. The year that she's finally going to be noticed. She's finally going to have what she's always wanted: to be a popular girl and fit in with the head cheerleader in the school, Petula Kensington. She feels that the first day of school will be the start of her new life. She'll finally have the attention of the most popular guy in school, Damen. Who is, of course, Petula's boyfriend.

In a way she does start a new life. Although it's actually her afterlife. Poor Charlotte chokes on a red gummy bear just before she leaves her first period physics class and dies. Her hopes of starting over fresh and finally being noticed for once are all crushed in an instant. Especially when she finds out that she still has to graduate even though she's dead! There's a whole class of students from her school who have died and are still attending classes there.

Charlotte isn't giving up, though. She's still determined to win over Damen. And with the help of Scarlet Kensington (Petula's younger sister) she's sure she'll be able to do it. Scarlet can actually see Charlotte and Charlotte isn't about to let that fact go to waste. She figures she can hang out in Scarlet's body and get through to Damen that way. But her new dead classmates aren't liking Charlotte's plans too much and are making it incredibly hard for her to get anything done. Plus, the more time Scarlet spends time with Damen (when Charlotte isn't in her body, that is) the more Scarlet is starting to like Damen herself.

Charlotte is determined to be noticed. She thinks that if she can just get noticed and be popular that she'll finally move on. But is popularity really what Charlotte needs? Or is it just finally realizing that you don't have to be the center of attention to matter?

This book was great. I couldn't really guess what would happen throughout the book, which I always like. Poor Charlotte has such a rough time! Especially in the beginning of her afterlife. But she pulls through and even learns a valuable lesson along the way. I loved Scarlet's character. The way she acts towards her sister is hilarious. They are total opposites in every way. I loved all the nicknames the other dead students have, too. And I thought the ending was cute. It might not have been totally realistic, but then again this book wasn't really all that realistic in the first place. So I thought the ending fit pretty perfectly. I highly suggest checking this book out.

Reviewed by: Breanna F.

I was not a fan of this book. I liked the actual writing and I liked the concept, I think it was just because I didn't like that main character. There are characters who are unpopular because other kids are mean or they are shy, and then there are people who are unpopular because they try to hard and annoy people. Charlotte is in the second group. She is selfish (even when dead) and only interested in a boy. Even at the end, she doesn't really redeem herself...she wants a boy to kiss her. Maybe if she was supposed to be a middle schooler it might be okay, but she is immature and annoying in every way.

There ARE some positives of this book. Parts of the book are funny, the pop culture references are clever, and the writing is fantastic, i just greatly disliked the main character.

The best thing about the book is the design. It is a beautiful book. It is longer than most books to look like a coffin. It has a cutout on the cover that is very appealing. The inside has two-color on every page. It is a great design and Hachette needs to be complimented on it.

The concept of this book is interesting and it's why I purchased it. I was remembering a book by Christopher Pike that I'd read around 10 or 12 years ago...I believe the title was "Remember Me." "Ghostgirl" sounded like it might be similarly interesting.

I was wrong.

As I said, the concept could have made for a great book, and that's the only reason I gave it two stars. Other than the fact that the author had an interesting idea, the book stinks. There may be a few very mild spoilers in this review, as I had to describe some specifics to get across a point; however, nothing major would be spoiled by reading (except maybe your desire to purchase the book).

Character development is slim to nil. Hurley gives us virtually nothing in background on any of her characters, including the main character Charlotte. I didn't like any of the characters, mainly due to the fact that I knew nothing beyond the most shallow of their motives for doing anything. Hurley does a lot of "telling" and very little "showing."

The level of language used in this book is appropriate for someone at about a 5th to 6th grade reading level; yet the content in the book would be entirely inappropriate for someone of that age. I wrote better than Hurley when I was 11 and I would be embarrassed to even show someone this book and say I wrote it now. The feeling the book gives is not that Hurley is trying to write at this level; more like she had a deadline to turn in her manuscript and wrote this book in a hurry the night before.

Cultural references are important, but Hurley mentions so many currently popular bands, Myspace, and other pop phonomena that it seems like she's name-dropping or trying to prove that she still "understands what it's like to be teenage girl." Her over-use of these references comes off as grasping at straws, trying to appeal to the "younger set."

There are often times when the plot just doesn't make sense, again giving the feeling that Hurley was writing the book the night before the deadline, just to get finished in time. Ideas are mentioned but not explained or fleshed out; specifically the concept of a prophesied "The One" that is mentioned once in the book until the end and is never explained in any way.

Finally, I think it's completely insulting to imply that all teenagers who die are too shallow and self-absorbed to miss their families. It's also an extremely obvious and pathetic way to write off the need to describe the families and the deeper emotions kids might be feeling upon death.

Like most of the reviewers here, I do have to say that I picked up this book because of its stunning cover and art. The designers really outdid themselves with this. Unfortunately that is basically the only great thing about this book.

The characters, particularly our heroine Charlotte, are completely one-dimensional. I have no problem with teenagers (or adults really) acting stupidly, but there's a complete lack of any rational thinking in this book.

I also have to echo many other reviewers about the dearth of adults in this book. I counted only 5 or 6 adult characters, only one of whom (Mr. Brain) could even be called a supporting character. I find it very hard to believe that not a single teenager in this book has a relationship with their parents. Even though we spend quite a bit of time in Scarlet and Petula's home, their parents are completely absent. Charlotte even mentions that she lived with a "court-appointed guardian," but there is no mention of why (p. 110). When I read this, I thought this might explain some of Charlotte's attachment issues (particularly since it is suggested that said guardian didn't pay much attention to her), but this was never explored in the book. We never even learn what happened to her biological parents.

But the real reason I'm reviewing this book is the way it treats young people with serious disabilities. The book seems to suggest that Suzy the scratcher couldn't "commit" to ending her life in one fell swoop (p.82)? Does Ms. Hurley not realize that there is a very high probability that someone reading her book is a self-mutilator, since this book is geared toward teenage girls? What kind of message does this send to them? While all self harm is a serious medical issue, it is not always an attempt at suicide.

Then... the part of the book that made me mad I actually finished it: In the epilogue we discover that Sam Wolfe, a very minor character who was a mentally-challenged member of the A/V Club, is not actually mentally-challenged. No! He's just been pretending this whole time (presumably for his entire academic career?) because it's "survival of the fitting in" (p. 327). How in the world does this make any sense? We're supposed to believe that Sam is actually perfectly bright (he's shown reading the Wall Street Journal in the epilogue, and we all know that not a single mentally-challenged person would ever be able to read the WSJ </sarcasm>), but that he's pretending to be disabled because this would make him fit in and become less of a target for jocks and queen bees. How does setting yourself apart help you fit in? Practically the only times we see Sam he is being ridiculed by Petula or abused by Bradley Grayson, a lacrosse jock. I'm sorry but this is just insulting, and completely unnecessary. Sam's character actually seemed like one of the most believable in the book. He was a mentally-challenged student who got a lot of flack from the more popular kids, a story I'm sure reflects the lives of some, if not most, real mentally-challenged young adults. There was no need for his character to receive "redemption" (if that's what we can call this misguided portion of the epilogue). God forbid there be a truly mentally-challenged character in a young adult book.

I know this is a very minor point, but added with the lackluster plot and paper-thin characters, this last straw was simply too much. I do not recommend this book for anyone, particularly the young adults it was written for.

But it's definitely up there on the list.

I liked the idea of the book. I also liked the cover and the pages. Yeah, I'll admit that it's what originally caught my attention. There was just no depth, in my opinion. I found myself waiting for something great to happen and nothing did. And the ending was a major disappointment. I might even call it a cop out.

I was expecting so much more from this book, especially since all the reviews I had read said it was great and even amazing. There's nothing amazing about it.

Ghostgirl is a fun look at what the afterlife might look like for a young teenage girl. In this book Charlotte Usher spends her entire summer figuring out a plan to be less a part of the woodwork and more a part of the popular crowd including the cutest boy in school for a boyfriend. All seems to be going her way, until after her first class she chokes on a gummy bear and dies. Her job now is to figure out what is holding her back from moving on to the next phase of the afterlife. Charlotte becomes part of a group of teens that have passed away that still have unfinished business. All the teens must figure out what is keeping them here and work together before they can move on. Charlotte is stuck between wanting to keep her goals set on getting Damen (the boy) or figuring out what she needs to do to move on in the afterlife.

The story is a fun read, although somewhat predictable in nature. I enjoyed watching Charlotte's antics as she learned to deal with being dead and dealing with the fact that Damen was not hers for the taking.

By Kerri J. Busteed
Author of Will's First Hunt Will's First Hunt

Warning -- this is not a serious, depressing book about death or the afterlife -- it's a fun, campy romp about a girl who dies (by choking to death on a gummy bear in an empty classroom)and whose passing is barely noticed because she was such a nonentity at her high school.

Charlotte spent the entire summer before senior year making herself over with the sole intent of gaining the attention of one of the most popular boys at school, Damen Dylan. Her "Popular Plan" included changing the way she looked and acted to become not only noticed, but envied, and thus part of the "in" crowd at Hawthorne High. Part of her goal included being asked to the Fall Ball and receiving the legendary Midnight Kiss from that boy of her dreams. Unfortunately, everything goes awry on the first day of school and Charlotte finds herself in Dead Ed trying to figure out how she's going to get her true love from beyond the grave. She decides to possess a living girl, Scarlet - a goth teen who is the complete opposite of the cheerleader crowd and the younger sister of Petula, one of the most envied in the school -- and Petula is the girl who just happens to have the boyfriend that Charlotte craves. Havoc and confusion ensue as Charlotte and Scarlet both fall head over heels for Damen (sensitive, dumb jock?) and both arrive at a realization about themselves that neither anticipates.

Parts of the book are laugh out loud funny as the satirical and pop references combine to create the puns that drive the story. Colorful "dead" characters (nicknamed for the method or cause of death) and stereotypical live high school kids mix it up in some amusing ways, but after all the effort at being clever, sometimes the joke falls flat and it all gets a little tedious at the end.

This story wraps up nicely -- but there's a hint that the saga will continue and it does in ghostgirl: Homecoming and a third book just released, ghostgirl: Lovesick. I might skim those two to see what happens in the further adventures of the dead Charlotte Usher.

The cutout black, pink and silver cover is enticing and unusual making this one book that teens will pick up and check out! Enjoy a few laughs.

No one really remembers much about Charlotte Usher, except that she's the nerdy girl who died choking on a gummy bear in physics. Not exactly the image she was going for. In fact, Charlotte's quest to create a new image for herself, a popular, trendy, better coiffed one is the very thing that ruined (quite permanently) her life and it continues to be the cause of her ruin in death.

Every school has the "it" girls. For Hawthorne High the elite are headed by Petula and her doting butt kissers, the Wendys. Petula, blessed not only with money, popularity, and perfect hair, is also the girlfriend of the school's hottest football star, Damen. Charlotte idolizes Petula, but more importantly, she covets her boyfriend. So it has to be fate that caused Charlotte and Damen to become lab partners in physics right?

Wrong.

And now Charlotte's dead and she's really annoyed. She was suppose to come back to school, with her new makeover, become popular and get the guy. Death may have caused a little set back but it's no match for her determination and if she can't get what she wanted in life, well by ghost she's going to get it, and him, in death.

I picked this up on a whim at the library, due mostly to it's awesome packaging and insanely kick-ass cover. It's this slim, thick, hardback book with silver edged paper with a cut-out silhouette on the cover. Couldn't help myself. I'm a sucker for something shiny. The biggest thing the book has going for it came with reading it- it's VERY good. Morbidly funny and full of all the teen stereotypes I fondly remember from high school, I just loved it. It poked a lot of fun at teenagers at that age, and it was admittedly dead (haha) on. It is a rather ridiculous time in life and I enjoyed the trip back in time.

Hurley tells a great story, but her writing really stands out in the little moral lessons she's trying to impart, not only to Charlotte but the reader as well. The character of Charlotte is wholly unlikable, but that's the point. The fact that she ends up tolerable and maybe even having learned a little stays true to the story in that, at that age, we never really got it.

At least that's why I took away from the story. But then again I'm an old person reading this so I'm in on the joke. Totally going to read the next one.

Before I even began reading ghostgirl, I fell in love with the format--the elongated cover/page size, the style, even the font. The little blurbs between chapters were spectacular and to me, the best parts of the book. About the book itself though, I don't know, there were times when Charlotte severely annoyed me, but I do have to admit that the portrayal of high school was eerily accurate. She did get on my nerves though when she was dead and still obsessing over some random guy, because seriously? Nobody on this earth is that shallow. I hoped that she would grow out of this, and she did, eventually, but for the majority of the book, this drove me insane. She was giving teenage girls a bad name everywhere; Charlotte Usher: Dead Teenage Ditz. The plot was unique, though, and for the most part, a pleasure to read. I did enjoy the concurrent storylines, but I felt the ultimate ending was really rushed and a bit too miraculous to be true. There's one other thing I'd like to mention before ending this one. Throughout the entire book, I felt like it was trying too hard to appeal to the wrong demographic. Charlotte Usher is a typical teen, but with the black cover [and yes, people, particularly teens, judge books by their covers] and depressing silhouettes and seemingly desperate music references, it singles out a more "gothy" teen audience, when in reality, I think this is a book many other teens would enjoy, but would hesitate to pick up.

Rating: 3.5/5