Book Talk: Give up the Ghost by Megan Crewe

I look forward to my book talks here on the Coaster. In my face-to-face reality it's not as fun talking books because, a) I only have one friend who reads (and I don't even have to quantify that because it's not an exaggeration), b) no one, and I mean no one in my family or extended family reads either, which leads to, c) if I fall completely in love with a book or author and need to share, the people around me look at me with huge, Precious Moments eyes and say, "Please don't start talking books, Diana." 

But that's a topic for another day. Today I'm excited because I get to share a truly outstanding book! Give up the Ghost by Megan Crewe is a debut novel but the crazy thing is I didn't know it was Ms. Crewe's first book when I read it. After I Googled her up to find links for this Book Talk I was stunned because she writes like someone who should have a backlist a mile long. The dialogue is so natural I could hear it, the characters were so real I felt like I knew them... even the dead people!

Should I do the disclaimer thing each time I do a Book Talk? Okay, in case you haven't read one of my talks before, I'm not so much interested in "reviewing" and giving this-many-stars and summarizing the plot...I just love talking books :)

So what I loved most about Give up the Ghost is the way you fall right into the story and instantly feel like part of Cass' life... like we'd been there since forever. There's no spoiler in revealing how the story starts with Cass chit-chatting with her dead big sis, who has great fashion advice btw, and the best is I didn't feel bogged down by some terrifying, frosty-breathed "I see dead people" reveal. Seeing dead people is awesome! 

Give up the Ghost has such an original take on the ghost-seeing storyline that from the first page it felt like I'd found a new spot in my brain to explore. It is a fast read, I couldn't believe how sadly fast I was getting through the story because I wanted it to last. And it didn't even have a huge romance (usually a prerequisite for me loving a book) but I didn't care! I just hope this isn't the only story we get to read about Cass and her ghostly powers.

The last thing I'll say about Give up the Ghost is that Ms. Crewe did a great job with balancing all the facets of Cass' character, because obviously she's grieving and that's part of her life, but she has to deal with high school drama and her parents AND the dead people (one being a sister who you can't exactly complain to Mom and Dad about), but even when all of that brings out her more sarcastic side, I always liked her. She's interesting and funny and one of those characters I forget is not a person in real life.

Edited to add:

I struggled with how to end this post. A big part of me wants to say, "Read this everyone!! You will a thousand per cent LOVE IT I PROMISE YOU GAAHHHH" but really, reading is so personal I find that a hard statement to make. Thanks to an early comment by Imogen over at Write About What? I got the idea to say this: if you're interested, take approximately three minutes out of your day and go to Amazon with this link HERE and read the first few pages. If you like what you see you will love the rest :)