Review: Ghostly Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 3, 2014
The Possession is a solid YA story that mixes a very sweet romance with some very spooky ghostly activity.Daphne and Zach are a terrific couple.  Both of them are very likeable and are lost in a romance that just might turn very tragic.  The paranormal elements are well done and add a tinge of danger to the sweetness.  As for the romance, while there is a touch of seduction, the emphasis is on romance - not sex - and the seduction is again, just a touch.One of the underlying themes of the book is race.  The idea of people still using racial slurs against Native Americans at first felt a little old fashioned to me, but I realized that my feeling on this was based largely on my own upbringing and community.  In certain areas, racism is still alive and well.  Still, I found it a little unbelievable that Daphne at first didn't recognize the racial slurs that were used against Zach.  It was part of what made her seem a little younger and more nave than her age to me.  However, I still liked her and she seems to significantly grow in maturity as the book goes along.Now, the writing style is a little stilted at times.  For instance, it completely threw me the way Daphne and her aunt kept calling each other Aunt and Niece rather than using names.  However, it added to the general atmosphere of the book.  It's a good old fashioned ghost story and the tone fit.Over all, this was a good read.  The romance works and the ghost story was very well done.*ARC provided by Netgalley for review purposes.