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A review by caroleheidi
Haunt Me by Liz Kessler
3.0
3.5*
I so desperately wanted to love this book, and in some ways I did. But it just missed the mark for me somewhere along the way.
I found the idea of the story interesting and the way it handled sensitive subjects such as bullying, mental health, grief, suicide and drugs to name but a few, was brilliant. Gentle but honest and it felt truthful throughout, the characters behaving believably and consistently through the book.
I think my main problem with the book was that the first half dragged. I kept putting it down and not bothering to pick it up again, in contrast to the latter half of the book which I couldn't put down and raced through.
I tried to work out what I struggled with, beacuse nothing about it was bad as such, and the only thing I could come up with was that the two narrators of the first half, Joe and Erin, were incredibly similar. Despite switching between them to break up the story, they sort of blended together. This was why they got on so well, of course, but I almost felt like it could have done with being half as long so that I didn't get bogged down in their same-ness. Once Olly arrived to break them up I liked them all a bit more and the story seemed to find its feet and pick up pace.
I did enjoy Haunt Me and it left me feeling all fluffy and warm inside but it didn't blow me away. A great holiday read that is worth grabbing out of the library if you spot it, but probably not a book I'm going to remember forever.
I so desperately wanted to love this book, and in some ways I did. But it just missed the mark for me somewhere along the way.
I found the idea of the story interesting and the way it handled sensitive subjects such as bullying, mental health, grief, suicide and drugs to name but a few, was brilliant. Gentle but honest and it felt truthful throughout, the characters behaving believably and consistently through the book.
I think my main problem with the book was that the first half dragged. I kept putting it down and not bothering to pick it up again, in contrast to the latter half of the book which I couldn't put down and raced through.
I tried to work out what I struggled with, beacuse nothing about it was bad as such, and the only thing I could come up with was that the two narrators of the first half, Joe and Erin, were incredibly similar. Despite switching between them to break up the story, they sort of blended together. This was why they got on so well, of course, but I almost felt like it could have done with being half as long so that I didn't get bogged down in their same-ness. Once Olly arrived to break them up I liked them all a bit more and the story seemed to find its feet and pick up pace.
I did enjoy Haunt Me and it left me feeling all fluffy and warm inside but it didn't blow me away. A great holiday read that is worth grabbing out of the library if you spot it, but probably not a book I'm going to remember forever.