So she agrees lickity-split to let Charlotte possess her body, so she can hang out ghosts and learn her culture. Petula, the preppy, bitch cheerleader "You can't ban me from the dance! Isn't she chock-full of personality? And if that isn't enough, the writing: Dead kids have to take classes to learn how to be a ghost and move on and for plot reasons, it takes place in an occupied school building. No kidding, they have lunch break with living students, who obviously can't see them, and eat food served by ghostly cafeteria ladies.
Even in my wildest dreams, I can't make up something this ludicrous. View all 15 comments. Apr 17, Lissa added it Shelves: I really wanted to like this book. I wanted to like it so much that I got its two sequels, Lovesick and Homecoming out of the library at the same time. I put the book down at page The characters are boring and literally make no sense.
The writing is worse than juvenile. And there are errors in it that just make me want to tear my hair out: I was reading their interaction as if music was still screaming in her ears. It did not endear to me. The book tried too hard to be funny. What bothered me was that she decided to keep living her old life before she had any idea of how to do it.
It was ungraceful and unflattering. Charlotte was also an unlikeable character. Whatever his name was. Heaven forbid if any of us ask why. Why are the cheerleaders so mean to Charlotte? Why is that stupid house so important and why the crap do the ghost kids still go to the living school, side by side their fleshy counterparts? Oops, you're already dead View all 9 comments. Jan 05, Stacy rated it did not like it Recommended to Stacy by: I wanted to like this book. I really, really did! What a great premise!
Cliche, upon cliche, upon cliche. You see, here is our conversation: You see, I was expecting creepy ghosts and a scary plot but what did I get? A silly girl who choked on a freaking gummy bear? No even me, the clumsiest, stupidest person in the world do that. Why would I want to go to school after dying? NO, no, thanks, but no! Petula is the popular girl, a bitch, she is also Damen girlfriend… Well, Charlotte makes friends with Scarlet and uses her possesses her body to talk to Damen. Charlotte basically wastes her time on Damen, never paying attention to her dead friends and her duties as a part of their group: Oh, my thoughts whilst reading the book were pretty much like this: Oh, my god, I feel so stupid reading this thing.
Oh, puh- lease, go to the other side!!! Mommy I want milk!! Yeah, it was this… er, cute. Aug 07, Heather rated it did not like it Recommends it for: I really was excited about this book. Then I started reading.
Seriously, I kept saying, "Really? It felt like a screenplay switched to a book It had a lot of "Then she did this," "Then she did this," "Then she did this. I couldn't figure out if this book was supposed to be funny and light, or morbid. It would be serious and then switch to this unbelievable sc I really was excited about this book. It would be serious and then switch to this unbelievable scene from a B movie. I don't mean to sound harsh. I get excited for any author to get published because that's a pretty hard thing to do.
But I just thought it was going to be so much better than it was. Aug 05, Jennifer Wardrip rated it really liked it Shelves: Reviewed by Breanna F. The year that she's finally going to be noticed. She's finally going to have what she's always wanted: She feels that the first day of school will be the start of her new life.
She'll finally h Reviewed by Breanna F. She'll finally have the attention of the most popular guy in school, Damen. Who is, of course, Petula's boyfriend. In a way she does start a new life. Although it's actually her afterlife. Poor Charlotte chokes on a red gummy bear just before she leaves her first period physics class and dies. Her hopes of starting over fresh and finally being noticed for once are all crushed in an instant. Especially when she finds out that she still has to graduate even though she's dead! There's a whole class of students from her school who have died and are still attending classes there.
Charlotte isn't giving up, though. She's still determined to win over Damen. And with the help of Scarlet Kensington Petula's younger sister she's sure she'll be able to do it. Scarlet can actually see Charlotte and Charlotte isn't about to let that fact go to waste. She figures she can hang out in Scarlet's body and get through to Damen that way.
But her new dead classmates aren't liking Charlotte's plans too much and are making it incredibly hard for her to get anything done. Plus, the more time Scarlet spends time with Damen when Charlotte isn't in her body, that is the more Scarlet is starting to like Damen herself. Charlotte is determined to be noticed.
She thinks that if she can just get noticed and be popular that she'll finally move on. But is popularity really what Charlotte needs? Or is it just finally realizing that you don't have to be the center of attention to matter? This book was great. I couldn't really guess what would happen throughout the book, which I always like. Poor Charlotte has such a rough time! Especially in the beginning of her afterlife. But she pulls through and even learns a valuable lesson along the way. I loved Scarlet's character.
The way she acts towards her sister is hilarious. They are total opposites in every way. I loved all the nicknames the other dead students have, too. And I thought the ending was cute. It might not have been totally realistic, but then again this book wasn't really all that realistic in the first place. So I thought the ending fit pretty perfectly. I highly suggest checking this book out.
Apr 01, Bridget rated it did not like it Shelves: I picked this up because I'd received an advance copy of the sequel, and I thought I should start the series at the beginning. I really, really wish I hadn't found the gilt edged pages and die cut cover so appealing. The book just looked so pretty I wanted to give it a chance, even though I had to force myself to make it through the first chapter. The best thing I can say about ghostgirl is that it's a gorgeous physical object.
But despite the fun little chapter headings and page decorations, the I picked this up because I'd received an advance copy of the sequel, and I thought I should start the series at the beginning. But despite the fun little chapter headings and page decorations, the pretty endpapers and attractive cover sizing, this book was almost impossible to finish because Hurley made it so hard for me to like any of her characters. Charlotte, the ghostgirl of the title, is a classic example of a negative teenage stereotype: Which wouldn't bother me too much, if Hurley did something to subvert the stereotype or add to it in a creative way, maybe even use it to comment on negative teen stereotypes.
She does none of those. Charlotte is still an annoying, selfish, cut-out of a character at the end of the novel, despite the plot's climax that's meant to show how she's changed. Also, I couldn't help thinking that if this were a book about a guy character who followed a girl character around the way Charlotte follows her crush Damen it wouldn't have gotten reviews calling it cute.
I thought it was more than a little creepy how stalkerish Charlotte got once she could follow her crush unobserved. Mostly, this book, from the characters to the plot to the overabundant pop culture references, annoyed me from beginning to end. Totally not worth the time. Dec 12, Patve rated it it was ok Shelves: Aug 31, Anna Motteler rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: So far, this book is really good.
It's like nothing I have ever read before, and it's got me hooked. The way the book is put together, the art, the fonts, the colors and the pages, it's all so beautiful and it's amazingly well-put together. It's now one of my favorites. First off, I love how the book starts So far, this book is really good. First off, I love how the book starts off. It's Charlotte's first day of school and she's all ready to try and get Damen, the guy she likes.
Sadly, Damen has a girlfriend named Petula. THEN, at the end of class and starts eating gummy bears and accidentally starts choking, as she heads out the door, Petula slams the door in her face, causing her to choke even more. She attempts to get Damen's attention through the window but he thinks she's waving and he waves back.
She then ends up in "DeadEd" a class for dead students to "graduate" which simply means to move on after they complete the reason they're held back from moving on. Dec 08, Marianneboss rated it did not like it. How can I put this? That's right, it's the equivalent of a bad nickelodeon teen show with fake laughs and over the top characters with no distinctive personalities whatsoever that are just in there to tell some jokes and references to pop culture which weren't that funny anyway and just made me roll my eyes everytime a name was dropped.
It's another piece of crap wrapped in shiny tin foil for the easy im How can I put this? It's another piece of crap wrapped in shiny tin foil for the easy impressible. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting too much from this book, but at least I was hoping to be entertained and that was not the case, I utterly loathed the easyness and cartoonish out of reality solutions the characters used to get away with things.
Let's talk about them, shall we? The main character is Charlotte, whom we are supposed to like or empathized with in any way. She's supposed to be this shy little nobody who tries to be somebody and in the attempt to do so she chokes on a gummy bear. And that's it, 'til there I was ok with the storyline but from there on, everything went downhill. First of all, Charlotte is in no way likeable at all. She's a selfish, self centered, egotistic, victimized martyr, horny and creepy stalker that lurks around Damen, the guy she is obsessed with.
Gosh, the way she goes after him even in death is just And her goal to get Petula's respect and also get the guy doesn't even make any sense given that Damen is Petula's boyfriend. What the hell was she thinking? That after stealing her boyfriend she was going to be all "Yeah, you're awesome, let's be friends, my boyfriend looks better with you anyway"?
Petula and her Wendys are also SO stereotypical, I don't even have to point it that out, right? The ghost friends are also blah, uninteresting and with no real motivation, they're just there to make the point that Charlotte was a loner in life and also in death. Also they don't seem to be the brightest ghosts of all either.
All of them don't make one, like in all the "let's save Hawthorne Manor" stuff: And the saddest thing is that they're not even good at it!! The only character I had any hope after realizing how devilish Charlotte really was, it was Scarlet who was this punk emo chick who didn't give a shit about anyone and Petula's little sister. But once she fell into the freaky friday game with Charlotte, competing for Damen's attention, I just threw away any tiny bit of interest I may previously had for it.
Oh, wait, yes, Pam does see them talking, but then again, she doesn't even make any fuss for the fact that no one is supposed to see them! And what about the laws of physics constantly broken? Above of the invisibility thing, the ghost are supposed to not being able to touch anyone alive, but heck no! She's the chosen one! And then there's the weird pacing, there's no sense of time in this book, you don't even know if it's been a week or several months after something has happened.
Take for instance when Scarlet and Damen go to the concert, he's supposed to still be her sister's boyfriend so they're like awkward when they say goodbye. Two scenes later in the pool they're kissing with no explanation whether Damen broke up with Petula or if they're now dating or what. Ohhhh, the pool scene In this particular one, Scarlet invites Damen to the pool so she and Charlotte can have a one on one moment with him.
Then Damen arrives and the girls begin to tease and luring him in to the water. They start to make out with him isn't this like some kind of threesome?? She orders the rest of the ghosts to swim??? I swear to god while I was reading this, I was waiting for sharks starting to fall and bite some asses, it was THAT ridiculous.
Out of nowhere, suddenly Prue makes all of the dead boys visible just by passing through them And because of that, all of the living kids freak out and start running from the haunted house of hell but then, like the schizophrenic characters they are, it turns out they don't leave and stay for the crowning of their prom king and queen you know where is this going, right? So, Damen and Scarlet are pronounced king and queen, and Petula pops up of nowhere with a spray tan And then the implausible happens Prue grabs Petula's arm and makes her miss Scarlet, spraying the tan all over Charlotte.
And the miracle occurs, the tanning mist makes her visible to everybody. Fuck logic, fuck physics, now you know ghost hunters all over the world, you just have to take your spraying tan with you and you will certainly catch a ghost, or at least see it. And if that's not enough, Scarlet gives her the crown and explains to everyone she's the one who pulled off the prom and Damen makes this "hey, girl, I remember you" stunt grabbing her chin and kissing her in the cheek in gratitude because apparently the tanning also made her solid , and this is, I'm not making this up, what happens soon after that: She begins to float and SHINE, and her dress transforms into the one she dreamt of, with a round of applause worthy of the shabbiest teen prom movie ever.
AND not only that, all of her ghosts friends become visible and tangible too, because, you know, friendship is magic! This kind of lazy writing and resolution is just wroooong, I bet even in fanfics this would be considered low standard. But it's not over yet! Then, as everyone, even the dead kids, were dancing and poor Charlotte remained lonely in the room watching everybody having fun and being all lovey dovey, here comes the human Casper moment when an unknown new hot dead guy arrives and asks her to dance Seriously, who the hell was this guy??? He's not even mentioned again!!
They just dissappear later because apparently they finally made their peace by making Charlotte's wish come true somehow Why not Pam, why not Prue? Were their unfinished business not cool or important enough? This all just seems so contrived!! At the end they all live and die happily ever after with the ex haunted Manor now a coffee shop apparently run by Scarlet and with Petula doing community service by being a waitress over there again, so devised!
I know there are two other books, and given my inclination to torture myself by reading hideous books just to finish something I began, probably I will end up reading them too in my spare time. Don't have any hopes though, I just have to see by myself if it can get worst than this. Sep 12, Gray Cox rated it did not like it Shelves: This book is like a poorly written fanfiction by a twelve-year-old.
Charlotte died by choking on a gummy bear. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. So yeah, she dies and what does she do while dead and trapped as a ghost? Does she visit her family? Travel the w The adverbs Nah, she spies on her crush, because that's the only thing she lived for in the first place: All ranting aside, one good thing I will say about this book is that the graphics and poems were beautiful, the book itself was aesthetically pleasing and all.
Also, it made me laugh.
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It wasn't supposed to make me laugh, but it did. So, thanks, Tonya, I needed that. I think you should write more comedic books, tbh, you wouldn't be half bad. Just please tone down the boy-craziness. Apr 05, Emma Miss Print rated it liked it. I had really high hopes for Tonya Hurley's novel "ghostgirl" after seeing an advanced reading copy of the novel due out in August this despite the fact that the title is all lower case. The book design is really amazing: Taller and narrower than a mass market book, the novel immediately looks different.
The dominant colors are pink and black. The cover features a silhouette in what looks like a coffin with a sash that reads "Rest in Popularity. In other words, this book looked really cool. Even its marketing campaign is cool. Just take a look at www. Despite all of that, I'm still not sure how I feel about "ghostgirl.
But, by the end of the story, it's clear that the main character is trying and she does change eventually and, since that's all anyone can ask, I decided to go with it. And, now that I've set up the novel more than anyone would have thought possible, on to the review: Charlotte Usher is virtually invisible at her high school. She's the kind of girl no one would miss if she disappeared suddenly. Even when she does exactly that. To be more specific, she dies. Because of a gummy bear. Adding insult to injury, Charlotte was certain things were looking up before she died.
After a rigorous summer campaign, Charlotte was finally prepared mentally and physically thanks to intense surveillance and a makeover to make a play for her crush, Damen Dylan--the guy every girl at Hawthorne High wants to date. With that kind of tenacity, it's not surprising that Charlotte isn't about to let a little thing like being dead get in the way of her goal.
Wandering town as a spirit with unfinished business, Charlotte decides to focus on living the life she was so close to having instead of dying with style. Much to the chagrin of her new "Dead Ed" classmates who are all waiting to learn their own lessons and finally rest in peace. What follows is a zany plot involving stalking, possession don't worry, it's consensual , and a love triangle that has to be read to be believed. As that description might suggest, this plot--like the book itself--has a lot of potential.
Sadly, a lot of that potential is squandered. Charlotte is painfully invisible to her classmates before her death. Unfortunately she remains equally aloof from readers. This is, to a lesser extent, a problem for the other characters as well. While her desires are obvious throughout the novel, her motivations never quite manifest.
The actual narrative has its own shaky points. Hurley has several characters mention that teen-aged ghosts are too self-absorbed to miss their families, which seemed like an easy too easy way to write out an entire part of Charlotte's life. It also leaves the question of why no one tried to help Charlotte make friends before her death unanswered. Finally, the tone of the novel is slightly erratic. The novel alternates haphazardly between morbid and flippant at breakneck speeds making the characters seem cartoonish with their odd situations and reactions to them I'm not even talking about Charlotte being a ghost here Yet, I still finished "ghostgirl" and I still did enjoy parts of it.
If you can get past the erratic writing and underdeveloped characters, this is an okay book even if it doesn't live up to the hopes created by its design. Almost in spite of herself, Charlotte does learn her lesson and find peace by the end of the story as she begins to understand that, sometimes, there's more to life than being seen--even in high school.
You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print Jul 09, Jackie "the Librarian" rated it did not like it Shelves: Resist the cute book design - black coffin-like shape, with silver and pink accents. It does NOT make up for this messy story starring a selfish and unlikeable heroine. Great format, stupid story. Basically, Mean Girls, but with a ghost as the main character. Charlotte wants to be popular, and she wants to kiss Damen, the football star. But on the first day back at school, she chokes to death on a gummi bear.
But does she let that stop her plan? She is a one-dimensional character who Resist the cute book design - black coffin-like shape, with silver and pink accents. She is a one-dimensional character who is willing to do anything - turn herself into a phony, spy on her rival, lie, manipulate others, all for her Midnight Kiss with Damen at the school dance. We're supposed to like her because she's a nerd, but while she may be smart she's good at physics , she's not loveable.
She complains she has no friends, but she ignores everyone who tries to befriend her except to use them to get closer to her crush. The characters were all stereotypes - the rich and mean head cheerleader, her two slutty sidekicks both named Wendy , the cute football player, and the goth girl. Sure, you were supposed to hate the rich girl, but Charlotte was just as despicable.
The plot beyond the "get the guy" theme, was muddled and nonsensical. Charlotte, on dying, became part of a class of dead students, which needed to reach some kind of resolution before they could all "graduate" to the beyond. Jul 19, wendy rated it it was ok. Oct 16, Angela rated it did not like it. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I honestly don't know where to start in what bothered me about this book.
So I'll start with what I liked, and that was the author's voice. Even though I didn't get half the references to music bands and other pop culture stuff, I did like the genuine feel of the writing. I know that doesn't go along with a lot of other reviews I've read, but frankly, I wouldn't mind reading more Tonya Hurley if her next books weren't centered around characters who are stereotyped.
OK, so I suppose I should star I honestly don't know where to start in what bothered me about this book. OK, so I suppose I should start there: The cheerleaders are evil and dumb, the jock is goodhearted but stupid, and Hurley actually went so far as to say dead teenagers don't worry about their parents because they're all so self-absorbed. Not setting the bar very high there, are we? Last I checked there were all different kinds of teenagers, just like there are all different kinds of people.
Not all cheerleaders are evil snobs, not every nerd is a wanna be, not all jocks are stupid, and believe it or not, some teenagers do care about their parents. Which brings me to the next thing that bugged the heck out of me: Where are the parents? Now, I understand that most teen books I have thus far read have neglectful parents who are practically non-existent in the text. This has, in fact, turned into a cliche in teen fiction unto itself, but Hurley takes this to a new level because there isn't a single scene with a parent in it, and the parents aren't even specifically mentioned.
Charlotte's are kind of, sort of, mentioned in passing, but I know nothing about Petula and Scarlet's parents by the end of the novel, nothing about the main male character's parents, and nothing about the parents of any of the dead kids. It's as if I've been put into a high school world where all parents have been wiped off the face of the earth by a tragic plague which left only teenagers. Ooooh, there's a good plot line, but I suppose that's already be done in Lord of the Flies.
- Ruler of the Forest (Dogs of War Book 3);
- Nephrotic Syndrome: Causes, Tests and Treatments.
- Schaums Outline of Software Engineering (Schaums Outlines).
- tandjfoods.com: Ghostgirl (Spanish Edition) (): Tonya Hurley: Books.
- See a Problem?;
On to the next thing that drove me crazy: The dead kids are supposed to keep a house from getting condemned, a house with asbestos in it. The audiobook releases of ghostgirl released August [ citation needed ] and ghostgirl: Homecoming released November , [ citation needed ] from Recorded Books in , are read by actress Parker Posey and feature a score by Vince Clarke of Erasure fame. Having graduated, Charlotte is told that she and the other ghosts from "Dead Ed" need to work in a phone bank, where they will answer calls from troubled teenagers in need of advice, acting as the teens' consciences.
Before starting, the other ghosts receive 'graduation presents': However, Charlotte does not meet her dead parents and must live in a cramped dormitory, and at work she is the only ghost not to receive calls.
ghostgirl - Wikipedia
Feeling left out, she begins to ignore her old friends and spends all her time with Maddy, her dormitory roommate and new co-worker, oblivious to the fact that Maddy is sabotaging her attempts to succeed. Meanwhile, Scarlet is feeling insecure about her long-distance relationship with Damen just as Petula, who is repeating her senior year, goes into a coma after contracting staph from a pedicure.
Feeling guilty, and jealous of Damen's sudden arrival to see Petula, Scarlet uses the possession ritual Charlotte taught her to send herself into a coma and seek out Charlotte's help to find Petula's soul. Instead, Scarlet joins the new Dead Ed class, who help her to move on using "Early Decision", a risky shortcut. Meanwhile, Petula finds herself in a waiting room, accompanied by another coma patient, Virginia Johnson, a young beauty pageant contestant who is disdainful of Petula's fashion obsession, and wants to grow old normally.
Gradually, the two begin to bond. Scarlet arrives at Charlotte's dormitory, much to her delight, and they sneak out to find Petula, accompanied by Maddy. However, after a disagreement at a fork in the road, Charlotte and Maddy leave Scarlet on her own. However, Pam and Prue have come after Charlotte, and they meet up with Scarlet and help her to find Petula's soul by getting directions from Green Gary to the hospital intake office. Meanwhile, Damen is desperately trying to revive Scarlet, and he decides to take Petula to Homecoming in the hope of reanimating her, and therefore ending Scarlet's quest.
Maddy and Charlotte follow as Maddy tries to convince Charlotte to possess Petula. Just as Charlotte is about to complete the possession ritual, Scarlet, Pam and Prue arrive to stop her, and explain that Maddy is a murderous soul from hell attempting to turn Charlotte astray so she can "graduate" her own way.
Charlotte explains that she had suspected Maddy the whole time, and had intentionally made Pam and Prue suspicious so that they could help her and Charlotte. Petula awakes at Homecoming, and Damen quickly leaves to find Scarlet at the hospital, where they reconcile. Charlotte returns to her job at the phone bank, and is finally accepted and reunited with her parents.
Charlotte has finally settled into the afterlife and has a dead boyfriend - Eric. As the class are expecting to move on, they receive one more task: Scarlet feels out of place as she is leaving her goth fashions behind for a new, more mature look.
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While this is her choice, she feels Damen pushed her into it, and that he does not accept her for who she is. When Damen arrives in town for a job at the local radio station and enters one of Scarlet's songs, she feels that he is pressuring her and getting to be mad and furious. When she meets Eric, not realising he is dead, she is attracted to him, and feels he allows her to be her true self.
Meanwhile, Petula's coma has left her feeling uncharacteristically philanthropic, and she has begun to donate her old clothes to the homeless, confusing the Wendys. A new girl called Darcy begins to steal her status, holding a mock trial which ends in Petula being made an outcast. She continues with her charity, hoping that her makeovers will improve the lives of those she helps and wishing for more contact from Virginia. This leads her to ask a homeless boy to attend Prom with her. When Scarlet's song is disqualified because of Damen's involvement in the entry, the pair began be disagreement and break up.
Charlotte also having a disagreement with Eric over his relationship with Scarlet. Irritated, Charlotte attempts to return to the afterlife through the Dead Ed classroom, and discovers Darcy's ghost is in the new Dead Ed class after having a seizure brought on by a camera flash, and that the Darcy in the school is being possessed by someone else. With Pam and Prue, Charlotte plans to evict the evil spirit at Prom. After they re-record Scarlet's song for the radio competition, Scarlet learns that Eric is dead, and that he never had the chance to play on stage when he was alive.
Scarlet wins the radio competition and chooses as her prize to perform her song at Prom, which she redecorates as a Fantasy Funeral for Charlotte. As Damen and Darcy have their picture taken, Charlotte sabotages the camera to give Darcy another seizure, which evicts Maddy's spirit and reanimates the real Darcy. Because Maddy technically died from the seizure, she must now attend Dead Ed, while Darcy awakens confused and with no memory of the Wendys or anything else about Hawthorne High.
Petula arrives at Prom with her homeless boyfriend, who turns out to be a billionaire in disguise, and the pair are crowned Prom King and Queen. Coco's work completed, Petula receives a new guardian angel - Virginia. Meanwhile, Eric and Scarlet perform onstage together before Damen and Scarlet reunite, and Eric and Charlotte dance together. After the Prom, Charlotte and Scarlet say goodbye in the graveyard, and Charlotte returns to the afterlife, where she introduces Eric to her parents.