Unraveling Isobel

December 5, 2011
When Isobel’s mother marries a recent widower after a whirlwind courtship, the high school senior is angry about moving from Seattle to her stepfather’s crumbling estate on a nearby island. Soon, she is upset for another reason: she thinks she is being haunted by the ghost of her stepfather’s young daughter. “Avenge her death?” quick Isobel quips, discussing the strange occurrences with her best friend. “Does she think I’m some sort of teen version of Chuck Norris?” Meanwhile, Isobel’s stepfather is persuading her mother that Isobel is mentally unstable, just like her biological father. An old mansion near a stormy ocean is a spine-tingling setting for this ghost story,
especially when Isobel learns about other suspicious events that have taken place there. Cook (The Education of Hailey
Kendrick) sometimes relies on overly familiar devices (such as when Isobel and her new friends try out a Ouija board during a slumber party), but Isobel’s sass and her steamy romance with her new stepbrother will help readers race toward the dramatic conclusion, even if the
climax predictably occurs on a cliff during a rainstorm. Ages 14–up. Agent:
FinePrint Literary Management. (Jan.) ■

December 1, 2011
This blend of paranormal romance, murder mystery and quirky, coming-of-age narrative offers tasty moments, but the elements prove incompatible, leaving a bad taste in mouths. Thanks to her mother's abrupt remarriage, Isobel, a budding artist, must finish high school on a small island in the Pacific Northwest where her new stepfather, Richard Wickham, and his gorgeous son, Nathaniel, reside in an incongruously Gothic mansion with a troubled history. Past residents and visitors have disappeared here, including--seven months ago--Richard's wife and daughter. Nate and Isobel's mutual resentment quickly morphs into mutual attraction, complicated by the attentions to Nate of Nicole, the island's über cheerleader and social queen bee. Not nice, but Isobel has bigger worries, like the ghost appearing in her bedroom who wants something from her and Richard's growing conviction that Isobel has inherited her father's schizophrenia. Veering between breezy, humorous teen and shivery paranormality, Isobel's voice--that snarky tone of humorous exasperation so common in YA literature--clashes with the increasingly serious, violent subject matter: troubled ghosts, brutal crimes and "lessons learned" about mental illness, standing up to bullies and overcoming fear. As she did in The Education of Hailey Kendrick (2011), Cook gives readers a fast-paced plot, likable narrator and interesting characters, but even first-rate ingredients can't save a flawed recipe. (Suspense. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Seventeen-year-old Isobel inherited her father's artistic talent. Now she's worried that she inherited his mental instability as well. Shortly after her mother marries Richard Wickham and moves them to their new home, a sprawling ancestral mansion by the sea, Isobel begins seeing the ghost of a young girl. This apparition is Evelyn, Isobel's mentally challenged stepsister, who perished in a mysterious boating accident, along with Dick's first wife, only months earlier. As the weeks pass, Isobel is disturbed by local gossip connecting the Wickham family with a string of local deaths and disappearances. With the help of Nate, her sexy new stepbrother, Isobel uncovers shocking evidence suggesting that Evelyn's death was no accident-and that her new stepfather may be to blame. What's more, Isobel may be his next target. She learns that some people will stop at nothing to preserve family pride. Although the protagonist's bitingly sarcastic approach to life loses some of its punch early on, the teen will quickly endear herself to readers. Cook combines the perfect mix of mystery and romance to create a delightfully creepy chick lit-y ghost story that will hook readers and keep them engrossed long into the night-preferably with the lights on.-Alissa J. LeMerise, Oxford Public Library, MI

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2012
Grades 8-10 Isobel's mom gets remarried to a creepy, rich jerk named Richard. And he has a son. A quiet, sullen, but very attractive son named Nathaniel. Then the creepy, rich jerk decides to move the whole happy family to his secluded island estatea notoriously haunted estate where Nathaniel's mother and sister died and other mysterious accidents have occurred. If that wasn't enough, Isobel is starting to believe that Nathaniel's deceased sister is trying to send her a message that the deaths weren't an accident. Cook manages to transform the whirlwind of tragic events into an addictive ghost story. Isobel and Nathaniel are compelling characters, and their blossoming relationship helps to lighten the dark around them. With an appealing small-town island setting, this will pull reads in and have them quickly turning pages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)