Thursday 11 November 2010

My So-Called Haunting by Tamsyn Murray



September 2010, Piccadilly Press
206 pages, Paperback
Review copy 


Young Adult, Paranormal 


Ghosts with issues, teen romance, humour, tissues needed 


Summary from Piccadilly 

How many times do I have to ask you to knock?' I yelled at Mary as she drifted through the door of my room and looked me up and down.
     'Thou resemblest a strumpet,' she said, staring pointedly at my thigh-skimming skirt.
     Sometimes I had trouble understanding Mary’s weird babbling, but in this case I was getting her loud and clear. Suddenly, my mood was blacker than a vampire’s soul.

Skye, a fourteen-year-old psychic, is stressed out. Not only is the ghost of a sixteenth-century witch giving her fashion tips, but she’s struggling to settle into life with her aunt, and is developing a crush on the most unattainable boy in the school, Nico.

When her aunt asks for her help with a troubled teen ghost called Dontay, she's glad of the distraction. But then Nico starts paying her attention, and she's soon facing a battle to keep her love life and her psychic life separate.
As things get ever more complicated, it looks as though Dontay’s past might cost Skye her future.



Nayuleska's thoughts 
I haven't read the previous book for several months, but that didn't matter. MSH uses the same world, but slightly different characters. Skye is hilarious. I beamed at the book as problem after problem stacked up in Skye's life. Her reaction to the problems and the way she thinks is similar to me. Mary is an extremely funny ghost. She isn't as mean as she sounds, and plays an important role later on. I enjoyed having Skye be uncomfortable with both people at school and ghosts. 


Skye finds it a bit tricky dealing with Dontay because so that she looks sane, sometimes she has to ignore him (otherwise people would think there's something wrong with her). Naturally she doesn't like having an ability that makes her different to other people. To both my surprise and Skye's Aunt's, Skye learns to enjoy her psychic abilities, and feels she has a purpose. There are down sides to be a psychic, but there are some positive ones too. 


What was really nice was how Jeremy from MSA is linked in Skye's life. I liked finding out what happened next to him, and how his encounter with Lucy changed him for the better. Although he does have a few annoying habits which Skye picks up on! 


I really like this cover - it's effective, and reminds me of pink-highlighter. This in turn reminds me of Skye's character, bright and bubbly. 


Final conclusion 
Everything that could go wrong, does go wrong for poor Skye, but by the end she learns how to ride the tough times out. This is a book for when you need cheering up. 


Roll on the next book, My So-Called Phantom Lovelife 


Make sure you check out the first book, My So-Called Afterlife, and Tamysn's other series involving a bunny escapologist called Harriet:  Stunt Bunny: Showbiz Sensation

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