The Ghost Files by Apryl Baker

Adulting sucks. That is all. This is the first book in The Ghost Files trilogy. It is a young adult novel but Baker does have some adult books. I got this book for free from Amazon, I have provided a link below to where you can see it on there and get if you want. It is the first book that I have read by Baker and I am undecided if I will read anything else.



Being a foster kid is hard enough. Being bounced from house to house gets old. You learn to toughen up or keep getting hurt, and fosters have to look out for one another. No one gets what you are going through but the other fosters. Now add being a teenager on top, and seeing ghosts, you have a recipe for wonderful things to happen. Mattie is dealing with all above and some more.

I very much enjoyed that I was sucked in from the first page. I really liked the flow of Bakers writing at the beginning. Mattie was a tough girl with problems but most of the time she kept things in check. She is easily someone that a young adult could find something to connect with. The build up of suspense was very good in this book. I wanted to find things out, and I didn't see a lot coming this time around. The romance that Mattie was experiencing wasn't the main point and I was very happy about that. Sometimes you just need a book with less of the romance and more of the ass kicking. I did laugh when Mattie and Dan started to get comfortable around each other. The ending I love to hate, it made me stop and go "whaaaaaaaa!?!?!".

It was also a dreaded CLIFFHANGER!! I have a few bones to pick with this book so pardon me. I don't care how tough a foster kid is (I know foster kids are tough, you have to be tough to make it through life for some in that situation), however it did not need to be brought up every other page. Along with "you strike first then ask questions as a foster kid". You were not allowed to forget for a second that Mattie was a foster, not like you would seeing as that is a main characteristic for Mattie. The other characters felt flat to me. If they weren't there to build or break Mattie they weren't really needed. The Ghost Files was not scary, but then again very few books are "scary" to me anymore. And for someone who "doesn't cry" Mattie really did cry. I knew right away who Mirror Boy was once one little memory was shared. I could hit a few more things but I think people get the gist.

For a book marked "horror" it really wasn't that scary. I did enjoy reading this book, but I do not see myself bothering to reread it. I can handle having it as a ebook and not a paperback. Despite everything I didn't like, I would recommend this to a younger audience, there are a few kissy scenes but nothing I am sure the kid isn't seeing in school. If I have as much issues with other books of Bakers, I really don't want to go through the trouble of reading them. I won't hate on those that like or love this book, it just wasn't for me. I want to read the second book but at the same time I really don't.

One more thing, this book was published in 2013, on GoodReads it says "soon to be a major motion picture"......when? Or did that stop?

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Page Count: Kindle app says 277 pages.

Price: Free on Amazon

Next Book: Sweet Surrender by Maya Banks

Thank you so much for reading this, I really do appreciate it :) I hope to have a YouTube video up eventually since I got something new!
~Jade

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The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Kaite Alender

This is not the first book for Alender, she has a decent amount of books published and more on the way. As far as I know this is a stand alone. There hasn't been any talk of another book. I do have a Youtube video up as well!



Delia just got bequeathed a "house". It's more like a mansion, though, that was a correction facility for women a long time ago. Her so-many-great-grandpa used to run the place but it was shut down once the women that were sent there quit getting better, and deaths started to occur. The correction facility was more like an asylum, none of the girls left once placed into its care. The house wants to keep the troubled in even after it was shut down. Delia gets trapped, and that's when she learns that the house is still very much alive. Ghosts are all over the place but you can't see them until something happens, and none of the ghosts can leave or move on. Nothing like spending eternity in a asylum, huh?

There was ghostly action! This is what I was looking for with Diary of a Haunting, but I know that these are two separate books. Hysteria starts off with a bang and I was wondering if things would continue to be good through the rest of the book. It was for the most part. I like that time moves differently when you are not human. Again, I love that the point of sibling love was made. You don't know how long you are going to have with your family or anyone and you shouldn't take things for granted. I was kept interested for the most part. I did like the ending, it felt right.

It took Delia half of the book to piece everything together though, but I almost knew right away how things were going to end up. This was the biggest thing that bugged me too. Things got a little dull because she couldn't see what was right in front of her face. Granted most people don't. It didn't really make me want to stop reading but I did want to skip ahead. I did see the end coming, Florence didn't trick me one bit! I would have been more surprised if it was someone else.

Overall I really did like this book, I didn't love it though. It isn't scary, so if that's what you are looking for you will have to look somewhere else. I do think everyone could like this book definitely young adults. Alender did a very good job and I would like to read more from her. I don't think another book will be coming out because of how the book ended but you never know. I don't exactly want to own this book, I know I could live without it.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Page Count: 329 pages (hardcover)

Price: $18.99

Next Book: Sweet Seduction by Maya Banks

Thank you for reading!
~Jade

You can also follow me on these sites: Facebook, Goodreads, Tumblr and now YouTube

Diary of a Haunting by M. Verano

As far as I can tell this is the first book published by Verano. There isn't much about him other than he is a professor in Idaho. I don't know if I will be reading anything else from him and I will get into why. If you didn't see, I have made a video of my thoughts on YouTube.



Paige moves from L.A. to Idaho with her mom and younger brother, after her parents divorce. The house that they move into is not right. Things happen and the house itself is infested with spiders, and flies. Little things happening become bigger things, and soon it's hell on wheels. But it is only just beginning and Paige has to dig deeper to find out the truth about things. Can she keep it together till then?

I don't have many things that I liked. I was not part of the people that enjoyed this book. I liked the diary format. It helped me finish this book because the entries were not long. I liked the ending but only because things got going finally. I also liked the editor's note and afterward. Verano tried to make the book seem like it was based on real events, I look for evidence but I didn't find anything. I also liked the front and back cover, but that's about it.

If you liked this book and do not want to see it torn up, please leave now. After a while I read the book to finish it and to see what happened. I wasn't excited, I read it to finish it. I wanted more ghostly action than there was. I think this was more of a possession then it was a haunting on Logan's part. Then just as everything started to get good, the book was over. I think that aggravated me the most. I was hooked at the end and then it was done. The book was dull for me. I didn't care to look deeply because I wasn't engaged to begin with. Verano has some serious making up to do for me to read anything else by him. I will give him one more chance but if I am not captured halfway through the book (which is being generous on my part) I will give up on him.

You either loved or hated this book, I feel, and I did not love this book. I was so excited for it and it didn't even come close. I do recommend this book to a younger audience. I don't see anything too bad in it that would make a more advanced reader in middle school cry. I definitely think it could have been a lot more better. I don't want to own this book and I for sure won't be rereading it.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Page Count: 313 pages (hardcover)

Price: $17.99

Next Book: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Thank you for reading!
~Jade


You can also follow me on these sites: Facebook, Goodreads, Tumblr and now YouTube