This is Not a Ghost Story – Andrea Portes
This is Not a Ghost Story is a haunting tale, one where you don’t really know where up and down are or what is going on. You most definitely don’t know what is real and what isn’t and that is what makes it’s charm. However, there were some twists that took me aback which make me unsure how to rate this book. Hence, I am not going to give this one a star rating, just a written review.
Massive thanks to Harper360YA for sending me an ARC of This is Not a Ghost Story in exchange for a honest review. As usual, all opinions are my own.
PUBLICATION DATE: 17/11/20
SUMMARY: I am not welcome. Somehow I know that. Something doesn’t want me here.
Daffodil Franklin has plans for a quiet summer before her freshman year at college, and luckily, she’s found the job that can give her just that: housesitting a mansion for a wealthy couple.
But as the summer progresses and shadows lengthen, Daffodil comes to realize the house is more than it appears. The spacious home seems to close in on her, and as she takes the long road into town, she feels eyes on her the entire way, and something tugging her back.
What Daffodil doesn’t yet realize is that her job comes with a steep price. The house has a long-ago grudge it needs to settle . . . and Daffodil is the key to settling it. (from Harper Teen)
OPINIONS: Ever since finishing This is Not a Ghost Story a couple of days ago I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about it. I thought I knew what to write for most of the way through the book, and then the ending made me feel a completely different way about the story. I think I disagree with some of the fundamental messages that the ending itself sends, while I really enjoyed most of the book.
For the most part, This is Not a Ghost Story is a book about Daffodil, staying in a small town in the middle of nowhere, looking after a house. Except that a load of unexplainable things happen and you as a reader are captivated trying to figure out along with Daffodil whether something supernatural is going on or whether she is going crazy. This makes the book compelling and easy to read in a single sitting.
However, and this is where it might get a bit spoilery, so feel free to ignore this paragraph, the way the story resolved included some morals that I just don’t think I can go along with. The way love is portrayed as all-powerful and the ending is seen as rather positive keeps bugging me because I completely disagree. To me, it was upsetting, and I’m not sure if I would recommend the book to teens. As I said in the beginning, I haven’t been able to really pinpoint my feelings towards This is Not a Ghost Story ever since I finished reading it. It’s an odd one for sure, and it doesn’t help that I loved it for about 95% of the way.
If you want to have a read for yourself, you can add it to your Goodreads here, and pre-order a copy via Bookshop here. (affiliate link)