The Blue Lady by Eleanor Hawken (Children's, 11 years +, 9/10E) Competition has closed

June 2013, Hot Key Books, 208 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Content: supernatural, ghosts, ouiji board, mega scary parts

Summary from Hot Key Books

Fourteen-year-old Frankie Ward is used to being the new girl at school, but even she is unprepared for life at St Mark's College. Finding herself isolated from the rest of the girls, Frankie is drawn to flamboyant and dramatic Suzy, who captivates her with stories of 'The Blue Lady' - the ghost of an ex-St Mark's pupil who died in mysterious and tragic circumstances. One night Suzy persuades Frankie to help her contact The Blue Lady via an Ouija Board - and the girls unleash a terrifying spirit who seems set on destroying not only their friendship but Suzy's sanity. Determined to rescue her friend, Frankie enlists the help of Seb, a mysterious and alluring boy from sister-school St Hilda's. Seb is as interested in St Mark's past as Frankie - but does he have as many dark secrets as the school?

Nayuleska's thoughts

I was excited about reading these books for Eleanor as I'd enjoyed Sammy.... books, and despite the fact they had ghosts in I thought I could handle it. I mean, I've read so e pretty scary stories like Losing Poppy and other books by author which were brilliant, so I'd be fine.

I nearly wasn't fine. Over the last few months I've drifted towards cuter, less dark anime shows and books, a sign my tastes have changed a little. It turns out the same can be said for books. I did enjoy most of this book. I love the whole being at boarding school which Frankie becomes immersed in. She isn't popular due to being not that rich, but that's ok because she has Suzy. Suzy is a rebel, egging Frankie into doing things she wouldn't necessarily do. I can see how Frankie puts up with Suzy's eccentricities: Frankie doesn't want to be friendless at school, so by overlooking Suzy's negative points Frankie has someone to meet up with in between and after lessons, which makes her school life bearable. There is one nice teacher, and the boys that she and Suzy meet up with too.

Suzy part of the reason why the scary supernatural stuff happens, why I nearly quit reading the book, and why I will not be reading any more in this series, no matter how awesome they sound. I was not happy with the ouiji board, so I skimmed those parts. They were scary for me, as there are some things you shouldn't mess with that give me the heebie jeebies. Lets just say it's a good thing I only noticed the ouiji board set up on the cover which can only be seen in certain angles. There is the obvious scary parts, but a lot came from not knowing what was going on, the immense tension twanging about the pages and how odd Suzy gets. Frankie, sadly, gets similarly spooked by the strange goings on. She is braver (or more stupid) than me in delving into the supernatural, although to be fair it got to the point where she had no choice but to stay involved. I confess one of many scary parts was at the end when a certain character loses the plot - the ghosts at that point were almost like fluffy bunnies compared to that completely insane character. I'm sad that I'm unable to read the next book, The Grey Girl, which has Suzie as the main character because I do want to know what happens next. However, after reading a snippet it is better that I leave it for someone who can handle a high level of horror which in reality is probably very mild-I just get scared very easily. Sorry Eleanor! This is a well written story, with plot twists that I didn't see coming and which would benefit from more than 1 reading to see how the story looks when you know what happens.

Be sure to check out more on Eleanor's site.

Suggested read

I recommend Kate Cann's books, which I strongly suspect I couldn't read again while I'm so easy to scare, which start with Possessed (Young Adult, 10/10E)

Competition

Due to the scary nature of these books I'm offering copy of The Blue Lady 

 and The Grey Gril up for grabs! 

Competition has closed

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