Reviews

The Promise of Lost Things by Helene Dunbar

Only show reviews with written explanations

buriedinsatin's review against another edition

Go to review page

Had to return to library

norassick's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

solid book, characters were nice.
hit close home because beat up chevys and ghosts remind me of supernatural (&I'm currently watching) so yea fun stuff<3

ashleysumm's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

No one rests in peace here...

Welcome to St. Hilaire, a town where the dead never rests. In a town full of mediums, ghosts are called upon on a daily basis. Mediumship has become the main source of income for the town, pitting the residents against each other as they compete for business. Russ longs to be a good medium, and wants to make a good living while truly helping people. The is run by The Guild, a corrupt organization that trains young mediums and places special focus on the most promising students. Willow is one of the most powerful students among them, but she's tires of being a medium and wants to purge St. Hilaire of all ghosts, even if it leaves her town in financial ruin. Asher is grieving his sister's death, and is devastated when he and his parents have no luck with a medium in St. Hilaire. His parents are furious and ask Asher to help get dirt on the town, so he strikes up a friendship with Russ. When Asher begins to develop feelings for Russ, he's no longer sure he wants to go through with his parents' plan to take St. Hilaire down. As Russ, Willow, and Asher's intentions for the town intertwine into one big flurry of high emotions and severed bonds, could this be the end of the town after all?
This ghost story was very interesting and grabbed my attention right away. There were a lot of shady things happening in St. Hilaire and I was living for the drama. I couldn't wait to find out how everything would turn out at the end. I listened to the audiobook as well, and I really enjoyed the different narrators and I felt they portrayed their respective characters perfectly. I honestly shipped Russ and Asher despite the way their friendship started. I would recommend this YA novel to anyone who loves dramatic fiction with a touch of romance!

hollyk's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

When I picked this up, I was really hoping to love it. Medium town? Three people trying to achieve different things? Sounded perfect. But this book felt so underdeveloped in some areas. I still don't have answers for things that happened.

So what happened when they summoned the town founder? And how did she end up killing mediums? How did the Guild come to power? What's happening to it now?

. Willow really did not need her own chapters, considering she's the least developed character and the reveals about her don't come up until the end. You'd think she'd have thought about what she had done at least ONCE in between her self-righteous crusading and "Father Dearest"-ing. This ended up being more of a soap opera of teenage love triangles and not nearly enough ghosts, mediums, seances, and the like.