Getting Thin: A Ghost Story

by Kaiya Hart, Alicia Hart (Editor), Timothy Mann (Photographer)

When Roxy was alive, she was the perfect friend. When Roxy was alive, she was the girl everyone wanted to know. When Roxy was alive, she was the girl everyone fell in love with. The trouble is, Roxy isn't alive anymore and now she is looking for payback. Even if it means destroying her best friend in the process. This is a tale of Eva, one girl haunted by something more than just her best friend's tortured spirit. Her sanity is Getting Thin and she is starting to become the one person she never wanted to be. For Eva, Roxy is the key to finding herself and sometimes discovering who you really are isn't a good thing.

480 pages, Paperback

First published August 8, 2011

About the author

Kaiya Hart was born in 1977 in Villa Grove, Illinois and raised by wolves (the nice kind). She was married in 2001 to Tim Mann (and, consequently, the Air Force). Since then she has lived in Germany, Texas, and England, where the couple currently reside with their dogs and one cat. Most often, she is known as that crazy, quiet person lurking in corners at the parties.
Kaiya has been writing for 15 years, mostly for her own amusement since there are stories she wants to read that just haven't been written. She focuses on fantasy and horror, but 'writes whatever happens into her head' and doesn't limit herself to any one thing.
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Reviews

[Tammy Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing like a good ghost story. Spooky and atmospheric, you find yourself listening to every sound in the house and looking over your shoulder. Sitting around a campfire, gleefully awaiting to be scared to death by a spooky tale. Footsteps in the hall when you are alone in the house. Most of us just love to be creeped out by a ghost story. Yah, well, this just aint that story.
This particular story starts out as a charming yet bittersweet tale of a lonely, socially awkward and overweight teenager who longs for a friend. This young girl, Eva, gets a new neighbor and in the process, a new friend.
Roxy is the girl every social misfit wants to be. Athletic, vivacious, passionate and funny. The girl who can be captain of the cheerleading squad and dates the team quarterback. So when Eva sees Roxy moving in next door, she knows that Roxy is out of her league for friend material.
Roxy surprises her and over the summer they become as close as any two friends can be. Roxy introduces her love of running to Eva and before long Eva is no longer overweight but full of energy and happiness. Her happiness has nothing to do with her body but everything to do with Roxy. Their friendship is a delight to read about. Eva's change is heartwarming and as I read it felt like Getting Thin was shaping up to be a good YA read. Yup, sure. Until the darkness falls. Until Roxy is brutalized and murdered. Until Eva's world is torn apart by Roxy's death and she starts seeing glimpses of Roxy, who in spite of the lovely girl she was when she was alive, is a frightening and evil vision. Even to her best friend who still loves her.
Eva vows to avenge Roxy's death. In time she realizes who the killers are and is convinced Roxy wants her to make them all suffer a death as horrific as Roxy's was.
Followed and hounded by a police Detective, haunted by an evil and twisted version of her best friend, Eva is losing her grip on sanity. Eva is becoming an avenging angel and her targets are catching on.

Here is the book summary:
When Roxy was alive, she was the perfect friend. When Roxy was alive, she was the girl everyone wanted to know. When Roxy was alive, she was the girl everyone fell in love with. The trouble is, Roxy isn't alive anymore and now she is looking for payback. Even if it means destroying her best friend in the process. This is a tale of Eva, one girl haunted by something more than just her best friend's tortured spirit. Her sanity is Getting Thin and she is starting to become the one person she never wanted to be. For Eva, Roxy is the key to finding herself and sometimes discovering who you really are isn't a good thing.

This is not a YA. This is not a spooky ghost story. There is no gentle, otherworldly-atmosphere of restless ghosts who can't find peace and pass over. Instead, this story is gritty. It is hard. It is heart-breaking and frightening and it causes you to pass in to the mind of vengeance and become hopelessly taken for a ride that can't possibly end well.

I freaken' loved this book! This type of story, one in which can surprise and shock me, is why I read so much. The storytelling is brilliant! Kaiya Hart smoothly escorts her readers willingly in to hell on earth and smiles politely as we thank her profusely.

[Tanith Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I'll keep this simple. Once I'd started reading this book I literally could NOT put my kindle down until I'd finished it. I love ghost stories - everything from King to Poe - and this is one of the best I've read in a long time. Kaiya Hart has a beautiful way with words and her dreamy, descriptive prose lulls the reader into a false sense of security - before scaring the hell out of them. The story starts off simply: Frumpy, overweight teenager Eva meets Roxy, the girl everyone wants to be. At first, I thought this would be another touching coming-of-age YA story about the two girls' blossoming friendship. But - and there's a big BUT - just when I was in my comfort zone, Kaiya Hart throws twist after twist into the mix and I realized this is definitely NOT for the faint hearted. I don't want to give too much away, but lets just say that by the end I'd been taken on a major emotional rollar coaster ride. Would I recommend this book to my friends? Hell yeah! I'm going to tell everyone about it. And I'll be looking out for more books by the very talented Ms Hart.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She isn't blood or bone or living tissue anymore. She is all rage and nightmares."

Whew...what an intense ride Getting Thin was! Kaiya Hart has done a wonderful job with this novel.
I love a good ghost story but Getting This is so much more than that. It is about loneliness, friendship, acceptance, murder, anger, and revenge. Hart's writing is so descriptive I felt like I was sitting right there listening to Eva tell her story, like a cop listens to a criminals confession.

I felt sorry for Eva, always the invisible outsider. No one ever understands her, with the exception of her Uncle Sonny, until Roxie moves in next door. Roxie is Eva's breath of fresh air. when that air is suddenly taken from her in a brutal way, nothing will ever be the same again. Roxie wants revenge and there is no way Eva can deny her that.

There were parts that down right gave me the heebie-jeebies. There were parts that as I was reading in bed at night, that made me draw my feet back under the blankets. Here's an example:

"Then I saw a hand, grey and lined with black bruises at the wrist. The fingers closed over the window sill spider-like, each one coming down separately, the nails blackened and broken into jagged edges. I could see each bone beneath the loose skin, each one a slim ridge rising up as she used her hand to pull herself along the branches of the tree....I watched, barely breathing, as she heaved herself through the window one inch at a time with jerky little movements, as if her muscles were half frozen. her arms lifted and clawed and seized, searching for purpose in a world that didn't want her anymore. I couldn't look away when her head appeared."

How can you not have goosebumps after reading that? I think Getting Thin would be a great movie!

There were just a few grammatical errors, but the story is so captivating and addicting that I would still give Getting Thin more than five stars! Kaiya Hart can definitely write a good "ghost story"!

[FicTalk Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

As reviewed by Meg

Ok, so I need to sit down and have a little chit chat with Kaiya Hart on her marketing for this little gem, Getting Thin. Her husband contacted me in regards to reading this in exchange for a review, and I agreed, though I’ll admit I was really dubious of this one, and here’s why:

The Title: Once you read this, it makes PERFECT sense, but it’s a bit misleading. I was figuring it was a ghost story about a girl who was being haunted and stopped eating or some such nonsense. It didn’t intrigue me. I never even considered that the term “getting thin” was in relation to the MC’s sanity, and it is. And it fits. I would just…I’d try to find a way to market around that name.

The Cover: The cover also fits the story perfectly, ONCE you’ve read the book. If you haven’t read the book, the poorly lit, shadowy image of the back of a girl covered in blood holding a baseball bat amidst a tangle of leaves and limbs really doesn’t make much sense. Plus, from a professional photographer’s point of view? It’s too cluttered. Redo the image of the girl the same way, but without the insane tangle of limbs around her, and you’ll have a much more arresting cover page.

The Synopsis: Way too long, way too deep, and not really one that readers can glance at and go, “OH! That sounds cool!” You want your synopsis to be something that catches the eye in a millisecond, not something readers have to really think about. And as a reader, I studied that synopsis hardcore trying to figure out exactly how the book would go.

So…there you have it, Meg’s breakdown of what NOT to do when you have a brilliant book on your hands and want to market it to the world. Sorry, Hart, you kinda did all of these things. And normally, I would say that these are no big deal, if you had a crap book to share. But considering the absolutely brilliancy of Getting Thin, and how it pretty much took my preconceived notions and smushed them up into little bloody balls of nothingness as it blew my mind at the same time? Yeah, I’d take a step back, look at your marketing, and re-evaluate.

THAT BEING SAID! Let me review this little diamond in the rough:

Getting Thin is NOT about getting thin…well, not in the way you’re thinking though the character did originally start off as a chunkster and ended up being literally thin, but that wasn’t the point of the book. That was just the basis of her friendship with an awesome little cookie named Roxy who had a love for running, and shared that love with our MC, Eva. Getting Thin is about being haunted into insanity. And wow, it’s good. Basically, here’s the deal:

Eva’s a chunkster. She’s one of those typical MC’s who’s quiet, reserved, loves to read, and doesn’t have many friends. However, that’s where the similarities with Mary Sue MC’s ends. Eva is pretty much a book nerd with no friends, she’s not hot or glamorous or a diva in disguise (Hello, every female MC written in the past 5 years). Eva is just Eva. And she’s pretty bad ass in her own little way. She has a basket case Uncle who adores her, but is still insane, a bitchy sister who is all rage and protectiveness, a worrywart mom, and well…you don’t hear much about her dad or her other sister, but they’re there. Eva has NO friends. Zilch, zero, none. Then Roxy moves in next door.

Roxy is apparently Eva’s polar opposite. She’s all smiles, sunshine, and slim perfection. And she’s nice. Roxy immediately takes a liking to Eva, based on their mutual love for books, poetry, and things of the more eclectic nature. Roxy introduces Eva to the joys of running (which results in Eva really getting thin physically, not the premise of the book though) and Eva pretty much falls in friendship love with Roxy. Pretty sweet deal.

Then, let’s just be blunt and to the point here, Roxy is brutally raped and murdered at the end of the summer. And Eva. Loses. Her. Shit. Seriously. She “gets thin” in the brain.

Getting Thin is written in a very unique way. It’s from Eva’s point of view. And it’s basically like being told two stories at once. And Kaiya Hart pulled this duel storyline off like no one’s business. It starts off after everything has happened, though we have no idea what has happened or why. Eva is sitting on a rock, looking at the burnt out shell of an old mansion, pretty much lost in thought as she waits for someone to arrive. The only clue we’re given at first that anything is amiss is that she keeps referencing a rope swaying above her, creaking, meaning there’s some weight on the end. She thinks of Roxy, of how they met and their friendship came to be. Storyline one takes place at this rock, after every things been done. Nothing really changes, it’s just Eva sitting at a rock, with a dead body dangling above her, dripping blood everywhere, waiting on a detective to show up, and then once he’s there, story line two begins, and Eva slowly reveals to the readers, and to the detective, what exactly happened.

Each chapter starts with Eva at the rock, with dialogue between her and the detective, references to how life used to be, and to things that happened months prior. And then usually halfway through the chapter, we slip into the past (storyline two) as Eva tells us the story as she reveals it to the detective. It’s hard to explain, I don’t know how to do it, but I’m not kidding when I say give this a chance. The story line is brilliant, the characters are rock solid, the descriptions are eerie, chilling, and in many ways, beautiful. As I said in one of my updates on Goodreads, I never thought I’d read a description of murder that was actually beautiful. And it was.

I can’t say much more than this, without just ruining it all. Just, go get this book. Read Eva’s journey into insanity, watch her enact revenge on Roxy’s murderers, and then be absolutely astonished by the surprise twist at the end of the book.

Oh, and I forgot, there is a ghost. And she scared the snot out of me quite a few times. Thanks, Kaiya Hart, for a truly original and masterful ghost story.

[Megsly · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. I was not expecting this to be so amazing, but it was. Proof that you should never judge a book by its cover.... review to come soon.

[Book Lovers Never Go to Bed Alone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghost stories are making a comeback and I’m glad to see it. They are often heavier on the suspense and creepiness rather than the gore and bloodshed sort of horror. Getting Thin by Kaiya Hart is the story of an outsider who thinks she has finally found a place in the world. Eva is the model of the girl with no friends. Overweight, reads too much, and ponders the world too much, she meets a somewhat kindred soul in Roxy. Although personality-wise they could not be more different, they forge a bond over poetry and books. Roxy is brutally murdered however, and that changes everything.

Hart has a lovely way with words. Phrases such as “they killed her… out of fear for their own skins” and “the air seemed to shimmer with her unspoken, unseen threat” transport the reader into a kaleidoscope of vivid madness. We plummet into Eva’s descent; holding our breath all the way. This is a tale of darkness, insanity, pain, and anguish. Shattered friendship amidst the last fragments of hope tear at Eva’s soul. The story unfolds in small pieces through an ongoing dialogue with the investigating detective. Each chapter becomes more and more painful as the details of the crime and of the subsequent loss emerge. The fragmented narrative is challenging, but it becomes a powerful tool in conveying Eva’s slippery grasp of reality. This is not a novel of easy answers and quick summations. Hart pushes us into Eva’s madness and insanity is not a comfortable ride.

I’m torn as to the use of first person narrative. I read portions of the story again, and while the first person worked in certain places, it did not in others. Like most first person, Eva was a bit too omniscient at times although she is largely the unreliable narrator necessary in the construct of insanity. The characters leaned too close to stereotype for me as well. Are all outcast young girls overweight and entirely without friends? It seemed a bit extreme and the story could have succeeded just as well with more complexity to the girls.

In the ever-growing word of gore horror, Hart’s story is a breath of fresh air. In spite of its flaws, it’s refreshing to see female protagonists, psychological horror, and good old-fashioned, quality story-telling. Hart returns to the tradition of the uncertain narrative. What is reality? What has really happened here? This is a tale best read with the lights on.

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it just me or does the majority of fiction involving teenaged characters mostly take place in their heads? The writing itself is decent, as is the story, but there's so much repetitive mulling going on that it gets tiring real fast. I don't think the framing structure works well, because nothing really happens in it. I wonder if it might work better told simply and chronologically. The constant back and forth between timelines doesn't seem to serve any real purpose, because the twists aren't that surprising to begin with. That said, there is promise there. I think this would make a great short story or novella. But as a novel, it feels padded.