Review: This Ghost is Hot!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2011
When I was first asked to review this book, I must admit I was a bit skeptical. After reading the overview I doubted the authors' ability to pull off two things: 1) Make this a believable love affair between a ghost and a regular girl. Seriously, how is that even possible when the two can not touch each other? 2) Make me care about the characters, who - yes you guessed it -can't have a physical relationship. A part of me could not wrap my head around the idea. Not that I like my romance hot and heavy, but usually there has to be something there to make me feel as though if these characters do get together, it will be amazing. I was less than convinced this book would be anything more than a cute story.Well since then I have come to eat my words and I am hopelessly screaming for MORE!Spiritus is the type of book you read that leaves you in a state of panic when it's over. You want more, you crave more, and you have to know what is coming next. The characters are well written and it's easy to sympathize with both Becca and Alastor's situation. On the one hand, you want Becca and Alastor to fall madly and passionately in love and live happily ever after, but on the other, you know it is relatively impossible because Alastor is a ghost and there is no way around that fact. The tension Burnett created between the two was smoking hot. Even though they could not "be together", I was still rooting for them to somehow come together as a couple.As far as characters go Becca is a pretty average teenager. She experiences the same kind of new kid syndrome that most students would if they suddenly changed schools before their senior year. She was likable, witty, strong, and it was impossible to escape her torment as she tried to deal with Alastor. Don't get me wrong I am now an Alastor fangirl, but at the same time having someone in your head whose emotions could flip like a switch had to be draining, and rather annoying. But I think Becca handled the situation well in the decisions that she made with Alastor and her choice to have a normal life. If I was in her situation I am not sure what I would have done, so I admire her having the courage to say, no more.Alastor, the gorgeous ghost from the story, is definitely a force to be reckoned with. He's charming, sweet, overly protective, and has a way with words that left me breathlessly panting, page after page. I was soaking up every scene he was in with wide-eyes and drool hanging from my chin. I couldn't get enough of him, even with his explosive temper and his ability to harm others. It didn't matter. He is the soul of the story, literally. He's the reason you need to read Spiritus, and he will be the reason you read the sequel, Haunted.Despite the books fascinating story, there were several things I thought could have been better and hopefully will be in the next installment. First, I didn't particularly like Becca's dad. You know he reminded me of Charlie, Bella's dad, from Twilight, only I liked Charlie better. Both were suddenly taking care of a teenager by themselves and neither knew quite how to going about doing it. I thought Becca's father was a little bit more one-dimensional than Charlie, and could have been more enhanced as a character or at least had something to do in the story other than sit around and watch television. I am not saying he's a terrible character; he was just the least developed out of the rest of the cast. Another thing was the editing. Small instances of sentence structure and grammatical errors were sprinkled throughout, but it is not something that should stop anyone from reading the book. It definitely won't stop me from recommending it.Overall, Spiritus is a wonderful YA novel. It completely surprised me and was not what I expected. It has a lot of charm, history, mystery and substance. Becca and Alastor are phenomenal and I think Burnett can only improve them in the next book, which I can not wait to get my hands on. If you are looking to have a fast-paced adventure and entangle yourself in a love story that will make you sweat, I highly recommend giving this book and new series a try.Originally Reviewed at: Mother/Gamer/Writer