Hello bookfriends!
Things are going slowly on the book front these days…After my exams my brain is a little bit fried, haha, but the results have thus far been pleasing so I suppose it’s worth it in the long run this education thing. Now, the book. Normally I don’t read ghost stories because I don’t believe in ghosts, but Mr. Henry asked me a rather long while back if I wanted to give his book a shot and I viewed it as a possibility to extend my genre horizon. The synopsis is borrowed from Goodreads:
Moody sixteen-year-old barista Devin Mulwray is doing his best to ignore bizarre manifestations at his job in the chilly Northern California town of Arcata. Already teased about his recurrent ‘phase-outs’, the last thing he needs is to get pegged as a guy who sees ghosts. It doesn’t help his state of mind that his boss is a sarcastic slacker, his single dad is always on the road with clients and local occult fan girl Nayra is spreading ‘ghost boy’ rumors about him online.
But when violent paranormal activity badly spooks teens at an abandoned estate, Devin’s pushed into investigating by his eccentric friends Clive, a budding composer, and Rex, a tech head excited by ghost hunting gadgetry. At first reluctant to get involved, Devin’s encouraged when Emily, one of the more empathetic girls at Grey Bluff High, is impressed with his daring.
I Was A Teenage Ghost Hunter is an amusing read fitting within the YA Ghost Story category. You get all the ‘standard’ ghost theories about how to fight them, why they appear, and what they can do. Add in a bit of teenage troubles like moody bosses, cute girls, and high school you have a good, humorous read waiting for you. I liked this combination because it tied the story to both the normal and the paranormal world. I must honestly admit that since I don’t believe in ghosts I had to try and put that away whilst reading the book and I managed it to some degree. Storywise I like the book’s progression which is steady and solid without much skipping about. There’s explanations and reason, to the point where one can have reason when it comes to ghosts, for why things happen which collects the story even better together. Quite a few unexpected events makes this a book full of surprises but I still think Henry has stuck well to his story. If you love ghost stories then I believe you’ll fancy this even more than I did but like I said I had a good time reading it and I found it amusing. Especially the characters!
Our main character Devin is a very well created character. He is a great example of the species known as teenager. He is moody due to the world surrounding him, good at school but no athlete, and he has friends that are overly excited about his so called ‘gift’. He himself is not so excited about this ‘gift’ and I really can’t blame him! I myself would have been highly annoyed if I had it. I loved the way Henry were able to portray Devin in a realistic yet humorous perspective cause I feel for Devin with this whole teenage, high school thing going on. Devin’s friends are quite an interesting bunch too. Clive is the slight odd ball of the group when it comes to interests and stuff. We get more than one flash of Clive’s more eccentric music taste which creates some rather funny situations if I may say so myself! Rex, Devin’s other buddy, is more a tech nerd in many aspects and does his best to encourage Devin and his ‘gift’. Together these three makes an iconic and funny trio who makes this whole book complete!
I Was A Teenage Ghost Hunter is a funny and well executed read! This is the first book of two, the other one came out in 2017, and in the second book you can follow Devin on his journey if you enjoy this first book. I’m still not convinced that ghost stories is my forte but its always fun to try something new, and I had a good time with this read! My recommendation is that if you want to try the YA Ghost Stories genre or just love it in general I think this is a good book to read!
Published: 2014
Genre: YA Ghost Stories
Theme: Ghosts, friends, adventure
– The Book Reader
TheBookReader 