Creeeeeeepy.Shadowed Summer tells the story of a girl named Iris who comes into contact with Elijah Landry, a ghost. He's been their tiny town's mystery for years, and once he starts haunting Iris, she begins to slowly uncover the secrets of his death.
I like dark stuff. I like scary stuff. I like ghosts. Combine them all together, and I, um, like it. Obviously. But another thing Shadowed Summer had going for it was the setting. You could obviously tell the book was set in the South - it had a very southern feel to it, from both the dialect and characters. And the little town of Ondine really interested me, from the neighbor who sets off bombs in the river to the science-fiction-reading pastor. It created a very great, distinct setting.
I also liked the friendship triangle between Iris, Ben, and Collette - the three main characters. It was confusing and random, both the way Ben came into their circle and the way he effected it. It wasn't cliche at all, and I thought that was pretty dang refreshing.
There were only a few small problems I had with this book. One was that the characters, who were in the 14 age-range, seemed to act younger than they were. It had a very Middle Grade feel to it, but that could, in part, be because of the dialect. The second was the ending. The latter part of the book turned into more of a mystery, which I liked at first, until it was solved too abruptly. I wasn't altogether fond of the ending, but the book itself kept me biting my nails so much that it almost canceled the ending out.
Seriously, this book was scary. There were some scenes that definitely made me get goosebumps - especially reading it alone at night. I haven't read a book as creepy as this in a long time. And with the added setting, it made for a really great, homey tale. Loved this one.
If anyone has any other good YA ghost-story books (or even just horror ones!) to recommend, let me know in the comments.
