Series: n/a
Format: ARC (thank you, Harper!)
Rose Asher believes in ghosts. She should, since she has one for a best friend: Logan, her annoying, Netflix-addicted brother, who is forever stuck at fifteen. But Rose is growing up, and when an old friend moves back to Laguna Canyon and appears in her drama class, things get complicated.
Jamie Aldridge is charming, confident, and a painful reminder of the life Rose has been missing out on since her brother’s death. She watches as Jamie easily rejoins their former friends–a group of magnificently silly theater nerds–while avoiding her so intensely that it must be deliberate.
Yet when the two of them unexpectedly cross paths, Rose learns that Jamie has a secret of his own, one that changes everything. Rose finds herself drawn back into her old life–and to Jamie. But she quickly starts to suspect that he isn’t telling her the whole truth.
All Rose knows is that it’s becoming harder to choose between the boy who makes her feel alive and the brother she isn’t ready to lose.
INVISIBLE GHOSTS is a melancholy love story that deals with grief, loss, and first romances. This novel follows Rose, whose older brother Logan died a few years prior. When her childhood friend Jamie returns to their town and they start to rebond, they grapple with the relationship they have with Logan, who occasionally comes back as a ghost.
This standalone covers a few themes which I enjoyed, such as first love and grief. Jamie and Rose develop a relationship throughout the novel, which I thought was sweet, and they also help each other out in terms of dealing with the loss of a loved one. Additionally, if you enjoy theater, I would definitely pick this novel up, as many of the characters are involved in theater and show production.
My only reservation is that I felt like there wasn’t much of a plot, besides the return of Jamie to Rose’s school and neighborhood. Nothing much really happens until maybe half the book, during which Jamie and Rose go through some relationship issues and eventually hash it out and they deal with Logan and his increasingly dangerous appearances.
Overall, INVISIBLE GHOSTS had some significant themes throughout the novel and I enjoyed the paranormal aspect, but the plot was lacking. I think that if you enjoy theater and place emphasis on the grief and healing aspect of the book, you would probably enjoy this more than I did.
Thank you to Harper for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Alice is an 18 year old college student who loves the oxford comma, television shows, and the company of dogs. She finds writing in the third person odd yet enjoyable. You can find her scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, and forever organizing her shelves on Goodreads.
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