Eileen Cook
Release date: January 3rd, 2012
by Simon Pulse
Goodreads / Purchase
Isobel’s life is falling apart. Her mom just married some guy she met on the internet only three months before, and is moving them to his sprawling, gothic mansion off the coast of nowhere. Goodbye, best friend. Goodbye, social life. Hello, icky new stepfather, crunchy granola town, and unbelievably good-looking, officially off-limits stepbrother.
But on her first night in her new home, Isobel starts to fear that it isn’t only her life that’s unraveling—her sanity might be giving way too. Because either Isobel is losing her mind, just like her artist father did before her, or she’s seeing ghosts. Either way, Isobel’s fast on her way to being the talk of the town for all the wrong reasons.
*A copy was provided by Simon & Schuster for review purposes*
Humoristic
and creepy - what a great mix! Unraveling Isobel takes an eerie plot
with a sarcastic protagonist and balances it all together for an overall
enjoyable read.
She's sarcastic and she's feisty. Isobel is a fun protagonist who easily made me laugh with her quirky personality, but she's also smart. Finally a character who has guts to face things head on. Her interactions with Nathaniel were a joy to read as well. It was a situation that both had me cringing and longing. It's definitely an unusual relationship, but it's wonderful and real. As for Isobel's mother, she is very hard to grasp. I didn't like how she took her new husband's side (that she's known for three months) over her daughter's. I didn't like her attitude throughout the ordeal at all.
We're talking ghosts and intimidating step-fathers here. So the plot is fairly creepy with a lot of mystery, and the ghostly scenes were a lot of fun. However, the story didn't feel especially unique. Throughout the whole book I felt like I had heard it before. I knew what the big twists were long before they were revealed. The premise itself - ghost seeking closure, long time family curse, evil stepfather; it was all very familiar. So even though I enjoyed it in the moment, it wasn't particularly memorable. Maybe I have watched too many movies or read too many books *blasphemy*. Nonetheless, I still had a good time reading the story: It was plenty entertaining. The humor made it so it never had a dull moment and the intrigue kept me turning the pages eagerly.
Do you like to be spooked? Do you like to laugh? If so then I certainly recommend you give this one a try!
She's sarcastic and she's feisty. Isobel is a fun protagonist who easily made me laugh with her quirky personality, but she's also smart. Finally a character who has guts to face things head on. Her interactions with Nathaniel were a joy to read as well. It was a situation that both had me cringing and longing. It's definitely an unusual relationship, but it's wonderful and real. As for Isobel's mother, she is very hard to grasp. I didn't like how she took her new husband's side (that she's known for three months) over her daughter's. I didn't like her attitude throughout the ordeal at all.
We're talking ghosts and intimidating step-fathers here. So the plot is fairly creepy with a lot of mystery, and the ghostly scenes were a lot of fun. However, the story didn't feel especially unique. Throughout the whole book I felt like I had heard it before. I knew what the big twists were long before they were revealed. The premise itself - ghost seeking closure, long time family curse, evil stepfather; it was all very familiar. So even though I enjoyed it in the moment, it wasn't particularly memorable. Maybe I have watched too many movies or read too many books *blasphemy*. Nonetheless, I still had a good time reading the story: It was plenty entertaining. The humor made it so it never had a dull moment and the intrigue kept me turning the pages eagerly.
Do you like to be spooked? Do you like to laugh? If so then I certainly recommend you give this one a try!
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| 3 Hot Espressos |
