Bad Girl Gone

June 1, 2017
A 16-year-old discovers that she is a ghost and resolves to solve her own murder with the help of her new friends and their supernatural powers.Echo Stone experiences a rude awakening in a strange place she comes to learn is Middle House, an "orphanage" for ghosts of murder victims. The kids Echo meets there are "in-betweeners," stuck in a sort of purgatory until they resolve their issues, starting with the question of who murdered them. Bewildered but determined to find answers about her own death, Echo joins the ragtag band of ghostly teenagers, each endowed with unique powers in death, to participate in hauntings of their murderers and exact revenge. Bit by bit, memories of her life before death come back to her as she starts to piece together and investigate a list of suspects, coming to terms with her own actions in the process. A lackluster love triangle among Echo, her former boyfriend, Andy, and ghost love interest, Cole, feels tacked-on, frequently invoked but inorganically developed. Echo's voice is stilted and histrionic throughout, and the melodramatic turns of events feel forced and scripted. Most characters seem to default to white, though one is described as dark-skinned and another is implied to have mixed Asian heritage. Weak character development and monotonous plotting eclipse an otherwise intriguing premise. (Paranormal mystery. 16-18)

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Paranormal romance meets murder mystery in this YA tale. Echo Stone wakes up alone in a cold, dark room. This is her home now, she is told-a place called Middle House. Echo and a group of other children and teens were sent here one reason: they were all murdered. And now they all must find their killers and seek vengeance in order for their souls to be set free. Mathews uses this elaborate setup to take the protagonist on a posthumous journey of self-discovery. As Echo revisits her family and friends, she sees not only the pain that her death has brought them but also the ways in which her behavior, while she was alive, hurt people. In addition, she struggles to let go of her devoted boyfriend, Andy, even as she develops feelings for Cole, another Middle House resident. For all of its high stakes, this work has a decidedly unhurried pace; Echo spends as much time contemplating past choices as she does hunting her killer. Her efforts to help other children get their revenge add action to the narrative, but scenes in Middle House itself, when Echo and her friends have to come to the aid of their imperious leader, Miss Torvous, feel oddly out of place and distract from the larger story. VERDICT A good addition to any YA murder mystery collection.-Bobbi Parry, East Baton Rouge Parish School System, LA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.