Book Review: The Ghost Road

The Ghost Road by Charis Cotter

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Canadian writer Charis Cotter starts out The Ghost Road with a strong description of the Maritimes of Canada. She describes a lovely setting that includes the natural area, cute lighthouses, cottage-type housing and the coastal shore. One of the best mood setting lines in the book is:

"You’re walking on a fairy path, my love, and just because you don’t believe in them, doesn’t mean they won’t come after you."

We start to get a sense of the magic that might lie just beyond or within the Canadian land. Unfortunately the first few chapters are easily the best part of the book.

Boring Mystery
I hate to say it but this was just a boring book. I know it's written for middle aged kids and all; but that doesn't mean that things have to happen so slow or be obvious. I had the book pegged for what was likely to happen very early on. I was about 85% correct. There's just no fun in a book that sets up a mystery but doesn't really churn that mystery throughout. I want to feel the mystery, have theories, experience the characters theories, etc. Instead in The Ghost Road I just knew how it would eventually end up.

Childish Writing
Again I come back to the idea that middle aged kids do not need to have their books written as though they are stupid. I like middle aged books that are easy to read with some larger words thrown in that the kids can learn. While I was a voracious reader as a child (as I am as an adult) and at 12 was into Lord of the Rings and The Eye of the World; I still think the average 12 year old reader can be given more credit. My 15-year-old nephew complained to me for years about how boring the books were in the middle-grade genre. He's a good reader but not more advanced per say than the average kid.
I also had a moment while reading Cotter's Canadian story that I had written pieces of this book when I was a pre-teen. I had an idea about a hill that held magic and secrets. Mine wasn't in the Maritimes but in my home area that includes foothills, prairies and the Rocky Mountains. The general premise was very similar to that of The Ghost Road. This is telling to me. If this book isn't smarter than 13-year-old me then it could definitely be improved!

Overall
While our lead girl characters are fairly well developed and there are some interesting moments in The Ghost Road; overall it's just too dull. A bit more magic is needed to really bring the story alive and off the page. The biggest improvements that need to be made are to make the mystery more complex; and to really add some juicy information into the book. Were Cotter to make the historical mystery more interesting and add some complexity to the writing and characters; then I think she could really have something here. As it is I'm probably being generous at 3 stars. However I did finish reading and didn't hate it; just found it very lack luster.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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