Tag Archives: Ghost Stories

Review: Pets of Elsewhere by Jaimie Engle

Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Paranormal, , , ,
Pets of Elsewhere by Jaimie Engle

Pets of Elsewhere (Ghost Dog #1)
Jaimie Engle
JME Books
Published March 3, 2021

Amazon | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Pets of Elsewhere

Haunted by four-legged ghosts in St. Augustine, a 12-year-old must help vengeful shadow-pets find rest or watch them pick off his family one-by-one.

Colten never wanted to leave Satellite Beach. His dad, a now retired Air Force Captain and his mom, a homemaker, couldn’t wait to open a bed and breakfast in St. Augustine, in a gorgeous Victorian that once belonged to a world-renowned veterinarian. Only, Colten sees things, hears things, and his sister almost dies—twice. Animal ghosts are reaching out from the other side with hints that the doctor may have been hiding things behind the Victorian’s closed doors, leaving Colten with two choices: help them or watch his whole family die.

PETS OF ELSEWHERE is a haunting middle grade thriller that blends elements of Pet Sematary with The House on Haunted Hill for kids who have outgrown Goosebumps and become die-hard fans of Supernatural.

My Review

I’m a little bit of a ‘fraidy cat when it comes to books like this, but I had a lot of fun reading PETS OF ELSEWHERE. I liked the sibling relationship between Colten and his sister Kennedy. It felt spot on from the way they picked at each other to the loyalty and protectiveness underneath. I liked the mystery elements and the way the ghost animals drove Colten toward the clues. The added element of danger, because the ghosts could cause real harm, was an interesting twist that I didn’t expect, and it really boosted the intensity and stakes.

PETS OF ELSEWHERE reminded me a little bit of THE DARKDEEP by Brendan Reichs and Ally Condie. I don’t know if it’s because I kept thinking of that book, but I kind of wanted a team or more of a solid friendship to emerge in PETS OF ELSEWHERE. Colten does make a couple friends and they sort of float in and out of the story, believing him about the ghosts, but no one really sticks with him to solve the mystery. I think having a friendship develop through the story like that would have been cool, but I still enjoyed it a lot just as is.

The descriptions of St. Augustine were also great. I felt myself nodding along to some of the descriptions of different places and the commentary on the way the town is. It was really fun to read a book set in a place I’ve been. Readers who enjoy creepy paranormal stories will definitely want PETS OF ELSEWHERE on their shelves.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.

Representation
Major characters are white. There are a couple of minor characters that are POC.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Colten sees and interacts with ghosts of dead animals. He figures out that he has to help them resolve unfinished business so they can move on to their afterlives.

Violent Content
Ghost animals attack Colten and his sister in a couple of scenes, leaving them with real injuries.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of PETES OF ELSEWHERE in exchange for my honest review. Opinions are my own.

Review: The Harder the Fall by Lauren Barnholdt

Book Review and Content, Middle Grade 8-12, Paranormal, , , ,

The Harder the Fall (Girl Meets Ghost #2)
Lauren Barnholdt
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
Published September 3, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Twelve year-old Kendall has a small problem: she sees ghosts, and she can’t tell anyone. Especially Brandon, whose mother has not only been haunting Kendall, but who begins pulling some creepy stunts in an effort to keep Kendall away from her son. So, there’s that. Kendall is also haunted by a girl named Lyra with an attitude whose flaky mom and flirtatious brother have opened a nail salon. Kendall and her bestie endure horrible manicures more than once while Kendall attempts to gather info on Lyra’s death so she can find out how to help Lyra move on. The problem? Lyra’s brother’s hand massages get a little out of control, and now Brandon, Kendall’s almost-maybe-hopefully-soon boyfriend gets jealous.

Now Kendall has to avoid Brandon seeing her with Lyra’s brother and avoid Brandon’s mom seeing her with Brandon, all while she avoids that awkward convo with her dad about his new serious girlfriend. Talk about a juggling act. When it all comes crashing down, there’s only one person Kendall can turn to for help. If she dares.

Barnholdt perfectly captures the zany fun tone of her middle school heroine, keeping what could be a spooky tale solidly grounded in all things bright and cheery. Kendall is a chipper, loveable narrator, though she seems more like fourteen than twelve. While this second novel in the Girl Meets Ghost series is long on fun, not much is resolved between the first page and the last. Budding readers of paranormal stories will like the ghostly elements and latter elementary school readers will likely be charmed by the upbeat voice and attitude of the story.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Mild.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Kendall sees and interacts with ghosts. They follow her around until she can sort out whatever their unfinished business is and help them bring closure to their lives so they can move on. On to where, Kendall doesn’t know and doesn’t spend much time considering.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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