Dust to Dust by Melissa Walker

Series: Ashes Duology (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, death, ghosts, afterlife, hauntings, love

Setting: Charleston, South Carolina

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense, Callie

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 310 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Teagan

Summary/ product description: “Perfect for fans of If I Stay or Imaginary Girls, Dust to Dust is the mysterious, thoughtful, and poignant sequel to Melissa Walker's haunting and heartbreaking novel Ashes to Ashes.

When Callie McPhee miraculously recovers from a tragic accident that should have taken her life, she thought her connection to the ghost world would be severed forever. And that she would never see Thatcher—the ghost she fell in love with in the hereafter—again. But when she receives unexpected signs from Thatcher, she's led down a dark road toward the angry souls who once tried to steal her soul's energy for another chance at life.

Now Callie must prevent the real world and the spirit world from colliding, and that could mean saying good-bye to people she'd never imagined she'd lose.”

My Review:  Dust to Dust is the sequel to Ashes to Ashes and also the finale. It’s very different from the previous book, which was set in the afterlife called the Prism. Here we have the real-world setting of Charleston, South Carolina. We get to see more of Callie’s friends and school-life. We also get paranormal stuff like ghosts and poltergeists just like the previous book, but now Callie’s not one of there. She’s awake and alive, no longer in a coma.

I did enjoy the characters in this book. The story was character driven, but had a solid plot. We get a lot more of Carson, Callie’s best friend. Carson is very relatable and also obsessed with paranormal stuff and watched ghost hunting shows and supernatural TV and movies. She wants Callie to spill her experience and Callie gives in and Carson is super enthusiast about Callie getting her story out there. Callie rather keep it private.

There’s also Nick, Callie’s boyfriend who not really in love with her anymore. Thatcher who’s a spirit guide and the love interest of the previous book. Callie is still in love with him, but she can’t really interact with him outside of dreams. Dylan, a new character that has a crush on Carson, is kind of a bookish hipster who’s family owns a paranormal book store. He’s always quoting famous people.

This story is very fun a reminiscent of other paranormal stories I’ve read in the past. It’s not cliché but it’s like other ghost books I’ve read that include possessions or the afterlife. Like the Ghost Huntress series, or Hereafter by Tara Hudson. It’s got a lighter tone. Nothing too scary or dark. It’s romance and friendship and hard choices. It’s sometime bitter sweet. I also love the southern setting. Beautiful Creatures was the only other series that really gave me a taste of South Carolina. I actually have a cousin who moved there a while back, but I’ve never been father south the Kentucky. I’d recommend this series to those who want to read a really unique ghost story.

Cover Art Review: Looks like a Shadow Falls novel cover. Not very unique, but it sets a mood. I like the warm tones of orange and pink.

Endless by Kate Brian

Series: Shadowlands (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance/Mystery

Subjects: afterlife, death, horror, immortality, islands, limbo, love, supernatural

Setting: Juniper Landing, an island supposedly off the coast of South Carolina, but actually is an afterlife like Limbo

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Rory Miller/Thayer, and interludes from the person responsible for people being sent to the Shadowlands

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 324 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover 

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Hyperion & Alloy Entertainment

Summary/ product description: “An unthinkable betrayal threatens everyone Rory loves in the third installment of our dark, thrilling Shadowlands series from New York Times best-selling author Kate Brian.

Rory Miller didn't just fall in love with Tristan Parrish. She fell in love with the idea of forever. He was the one who told her the truth about her existence in Juniper Landing: that her mortal life is over, and she will now spend eternity on the island, helping others in limbo move on.

But like Juniper Landing, a bright island with dark secrets, Tristan is too good to be true. The mysterious, heartbreakingly beautiful boy Rory thought she knew is responsible for unthinkable evil-sending good souls to the Shadowlands in order to get himself a second chance at life on Earth. He has already claimed Rory's friend Aaron and her own father. She will do anything to save her family, even if it means going to hell and back.”

My Review:  The final book in the Shadowlands trilogy, Endless is an exciting and mysterious read. I didn’t really suspect how it would end. This is the kind of series in which you just have to go with it and enjoy it along the way. It’s not boring or slow. It’s sometimes creepy, but I loved the atmosphere of it. It’s a good series, and I’m assuming it’s over, unless the author does decide to make another book in this world.

My favorite part of this series has been the world building and the setting. We found out at the beginning of Hereafter that Juniper Landing is an island afterlife. It’s a kind of limbo for souls to make peace and move on. In this book Juniper Landing’s weather is chaotic and hurricane-like. It’s raining and foggy and the wind is always blowing toward the south when even a soul crosses the bridge.

People are still being sent to the Shadowlands instead of the light. Rory and the other Lifers believe Tristan is responsible for the imbalance, and that he contaminated the coins that are given to the Lifer to help souls cross over. Lifers are the people that stay on Juniper Landing to usher souls instead moving on themselves. The ferry to the island is destroyed and the new visitors a freaked out and suspicious that the island has no cell service and the injured can’t be hospitalized.

There’s a lifeguard named Liam who was on the ferry and he saves some kids. There are creepy blond twins that are especially suspicious. Rory is starting to develop a relationship with Joaquin and they even kiss. Without spoiling the plot, all I can say is I enjoyed this ending. I did not suspect who was causing people to go into the Shadowlands. I liked the characters still, and the romance. If you have not read the Shadowlands trilogy, then you should. It’s very difference from anything I’ve read. If you like books about the afterlife, like Alyson Noel’s books, The Immortals and the Riley Bloom series, then you’ll enjoy this.

Cover Art Review: Love the cover even if the girl on the front looks like Rory’s sister Darcy and not Rory herself. The sunset seascape and the crow are cool and creepy.

Ashes to Ashes by Melissa Walker

Series: Ashes Duology(bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, death, ghosts, afterlife, hauntings, love

Setting: Charleston, South Carolina, and also the Prism

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, present tense, Callie

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 325 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Katherine Teagan

Summary/ product description: “If I Stay meets the movie Ghost in this first book in a teen duology about a teenage-girl-turned-ghost who must cling to the echoes of her former life to save the people she left behind.

Ashes to Ashes is author Melissa Walker's sweeping, romantic, and emotionally rich story about the things that torment and tempt us, even from the Great Beyond. This book is perfect for fans of Die for Me and Imaginary Girls, and its breathtaking ending will leave readers anxiously awaiting the series conclusion, Dust to Dust.

When Callie's life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.”

My Review:  This book was actually pretty awesome. It’s not just another book about a girl who ends up in the afterlife. It has a different kind of take on being a ghost and haunting. It’s a quick, easy read and has some great characters and an interesting plot.

It starts out with Callie getting a new car from her dad, her taking it out for a spin, then going to a party with her friends, and then getting into a car accident on her way to her boyfriend Nick’s house. Then Callie wakes up in the afterlife or limbo dimension know as Prism. Thatcher becomes her guide and tells her that she must haunt her friends and father to help them move on. After she finishes her haunting she can move on to Solace, which is supposedly heaven.

The story is heart-wrenching a makes you think about life after death and love after death. Would you move on or stay on Earth? Callie doesn’t feel ready to move on. She’s unlike any new ghost Thatcher has dealt with. She has all her memories and emotions, whereas new ghosts usually have amnesia and are tranquil and numb. Callie is full of energy and life, and that attracts other ghosts. Some ghosts choose to stay on Earth and borrow energy from other ghost and mess around with the living as poltergeists.

There’s a bit of romance along the way. Callie’s living boyfriend Nick is going though a hard time since the accident. Thatcher and Callie start to develop a soul-deep relationship, a connection different than anything she experienced while alive. I really like Thatcher. He’s so serious at the beginning, but he seems like a nice, caring guy. A true southern gentleman. He’s doesn’t joke around like Nick liked to. Carson, Callie BFF, likes to do fake voodoo stuff and she tries to do a séance to get Callie back. That was one of the best parts. I kind of liked Reena as a character for a while. She’s not very trustworthy, though.

I also liked the setting. It’s set in Charleston, South Carolina. My cousin lives near there, but I’ve never been to the south. I read a few series set in South Carolina, like Beautiful Creatures.  This book was full of exciting event and revelations. The book ended with a big twist. To some people it was a twist at least. To me it was obvious since I found out she was unlike other ghosts. I saw a movie with a similar twist. I tend to guess the twist at the end within the first fifty page of a book. I’m right about 70% of the time.

I recommend this book if you enjoyed books like: Level 2/The Memory of After by Lenore Appelhans, Hereafter by Tara Hudson, The Catastrophe of You and Me, Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, The Soul Screamers series, TV shows like Supernatural, or movies like Just Like Heaven and Ghost. If you like ghost stories or paranormal romance in general, you can give this book a try.

Cover Art Review: Really simple but beautiful photo. Looks like the Hereafter by Tara Hudson cover.