Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
        Abby is a normal teenager. She's normal to the point that I was a bit annoyed with her in the beginning, although I guess that speaks more to the isolated-oddball-turns-courageous-heroine trope that I was almost expecting from a YA fantasy novel than anything else. This is a normal teenager who does normal things, has normal relationships, and is trying to climb the social ladder and get a boyfriend (maybe both at the same time?), which I came to enjoy as I got to know her. Abby feels like a real person, and she's written with clarity and awareness.
        The action opens quickly but not is not rushed (which is a balance that should be appreciated) when Abby and her friend Deena come upon the scene of a crash. There is a fatality, a young man on a motorcycle, and Abby feels an incredible connection to him that she can't explain. His name is Seth. Soon after the crash, Abby starts to see him, she thinks, as a ghost. Soon, Abby is immersed into a new life with new-found magical powers, inherited from Seth, and a nebulous relationship with the ghost-boy's twin brother, Scott.
        The only reason that I take points off in this review is because I guessed the bad guy early, and that can make for a frustrating read in some parts. I will not tell you what the twist is, because it is a good one if you don't see it coming and I'm not a horrible, soul-crushing person like that. Obviously, if you figure out that twist early, it's very tempting to rush through the novel and not enjoy it the way the author intended. I guess I'm saying that I wish it had been disguised better, although I'm not sure how that should have been done.
        I also wish that the sister, Sarah, was given more time to tell her story, or that readers had been able to see that she comes to a happy end at the conclusion. Sarah is an interesting character who contributes her part to the story without seeming contrived or over-wrought. I would have loved to get more of her back story or more time for her character to develop. This is the problem when authors create well-developed supporting characters, darn attentive and hardworking craftspeople! If this character hadn't been as interesting, I wouldn't have missed her.
        This was a great novel that I enjoyed. The love story is simple and sweet - enough to flavor the story without over-powering it, and the conflict is interesting and multi-layered. Even though I knew how the story would need to end in order to give me the 'happy ending' that I wanted, there were some white-knuckle moments when I was holding onto my Kindle pretty tightly waiting to see if that would be what actually happened. The climax is well written and tense. And while I'm on the subject, I also really enjoyed the falling action. You know, this is the portion of the story in which the result of the major conflict are able to play out for the characters. In some novels, this can seem self-indulgent on the author's part, but not so in Carnie's writing. So many authors leave this out in novels (at least those that I've been reading lately), and I very much enjoyed seeing what happens AFTER the reader knows who "wins". In a complete side-note, I also enjoyed that fact that Carnie is a New Zealand author, who sets her novel, not surprisingly, in New Zealand. The casual cultural references were a unique and unexpected plus for me.
        I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre, especially those who enjoy magic and spells. This was absolutely worth my time. Although it was nice to take a break from a series and to get the feeling of closure and loose ends being tied up, I wish I could send more time with them!

Want to see what I mean? Buy a copy from Amazon here.