Solid plot, interesting mythology, characters and style need some work

I would like to thank Caroline Flarity, East Side Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Spoilers

This book won’t become a favorite, but I enjoyed it. Spent most of today binging it. I easily became immersed in Anna’s world and was intrigued by Flarity’s take on paranormal mythology and the way she married it almost seamlessly with science. And after I realized all the characters were assholes or major creeps—or both—on purpose, I started to care about them. Well, the ones I was supposed to care about.

Anna wasn’t a particularly strong protagonist until perhaps the climax. She was generally rather unlikable; yeah, I get that she was being emotionally poisoned, but even in the beginning she seemed selfish, self-pitying, and had a sulky, resentful attitude. She did realize later that she hadn’t been a very good friend or daughter of late, and that redeemed her a bit.

Also, I was a little baffled and disappointed by how Anna handled situations. Or didn’t handle them, I guess. She seemed to think stoically bearing humiliation or just walking away from something was dignified and commendable, and I understand the merits of that sentiment and where it comes from. I was taught to walk away and not engage an antagonist, too. But there’s a difference between keeping your chin up or refusing to engage and ignoring a confrontation because you’re too scared or lazy to actually do something about it. She snapped back at Denton for putting her failed quiz on display—but she didn’t turn him in. Don’t feed trolls, but also don’t let them think you’ll take their crap.

I liked Freddy and Doreen well enough. Neither made a huge impression or were particularly endearing, but I didn’t dislike them. I was glad when Doreen got over herself and decided to speak her opinions more often. I hope she held to that. I had no objections to Freddy and Anna being a thing, though I’m not sure I felt the chemistry. It took me a while to warm up to Geneva; I remained suspicious throughout the book that there would be some twist that revealed she was somehow the villain, or at least complicit. But by the end when she was very firmly a good guy, I was totally on board with her as a character and with her and Jack maybe getting together. She might have been the most likable character in the story.

Shout-out to Penelope. You deserved better, Peeps girl.

Question: Why was Anna always referring to her dad or Doreen’s mom or Freddy’s mom by their first names? It was immediately noticeable and weird. At first, when it was just with Jack, I thought it was a way of showing her lack of regard for him, of demonstrating how distant their relationship had become, and I thought that was a clever touch. For good or ill, many children make the deliberate choice to use their parents’ given names. But then she did it with Cindy and Gloria, and I was back to baffled.

Writing-wise, Flarity can work on making her characters more likable, but she also needs to keep a rein on POV. Nothing outside Anna’s POV was necessary. Not Izzy’s, not Jack’s, not Freddy’s. Not one of them provided any unique information that I couldn’t have inferred or understood from Anna’s perspective. Changing to those viewpoints was random and jarring, unhelped by styling it in italics—worse, Izzy’s POV just plain confused me and I wasted time backing up and reading it again trying to understand what the hell was happening. Those POVs really irritated me. Her editor should have taken a big ol’ red pen to them.

Her plot seemed pretty solid, though. The only hole I can think of cursorily is just a tiny one that can probably be easily excused. Water softeners. If adding salt to the town’s water helped to purify it, how did water softeners factor in? Maybe households that used them weren’t poisoned as badly? Maybe the salt concentration wasn’t enough to make much difference? I’m unclear as to whether salt alone can do much cleansing or if it’s only useful if paired with a blessing. But yeah, it was an automatic thought for me: Anna’s putting salt in the water to help cleanse it? Lucky me, I do that on my own every few months.

Two random points: First, Coach Pickens’s death was announced as if it were significant, but I have no idea what it was supposed to signify. Just that he happened to be a casualty of the demon’s influence? I’m super okay with that.

Second, I think there might have been a continuity error. I’m pretty sure it was said more than once that Doreen lived quite close to Anna, and that Freddy lived further. In ch 19 for sure, Anna said Dor’s place was closer. Then in chapter 20, she said Freddy’s house was on the way to Dor’s. How can Dor’s house be closer to Anna’s and therefore a logical first stop, and yet Freddy’s house is on the way there, in the two blocks between Dor’s and Anna’s? Maybe that was fixed or clarified in the final draft.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on genre and tone. You can call it horror, but it didn’t scare me in the least. Creeped me out, definitely—the people more than the entities—but I won’t be keeping the lights on tonight. I wonder if it’s because Anna didn’t seem to be all that scared of the paranormal activity. Not much, anyway. She was used to it and took most of it in stride. The only one that really shook her was the demon because it was on a whole other level. The reader takes cues from the narrator, and if the narrator isn’t scared, the reader won’t be, either.

Regarding tone, Flarity gets deliciously dark—yet almost feels like a tease. She implies, infers, and even describes some really dark things—suicidal thoughts, abuse, sexual molestation of minors, just to name a few—yet she never actually calls them what they are. She was rarely if ever frank about it; pretended to be, but remained vague. She referred to sex—a lot, these teenagers are freaking nymphos—or maybe just teenagers—but never actually talked about sex. I had no idea if I was supposed to assume Anna had had sex with that Michael guy or if they’d just hit all the other bases. It’s like Flarity wanted to explore dark themes but was afraid of being vulgar or offensive. Case in point, she’ll use “damn” and “shit” but won’t touch “fuck.” I get the YA factor, but don’t coddle that demographic. They don’t need it. Myself, I’m a straightforward person, no patience for dancing around the point, so personally I think if you’re going to go there, fucking go there, or use a lighter tone.

Overall, Flarity has a lot of talent, especially in regards to mythology, and can tell a good story, but there are a couple areas she can work on going forward.

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There's a lot of tension and drama between the characters that works well within the larger supernatural storyline. I got into the book quickly and enjoyed it more as it went along. I also liked the ominous backdrop of the solar storms and the mystery surrounding them. I love it when characters are flawed but likable, especially when they evolve. It's a dark, sometimes darkly comic, book with frightening subject matter, but it's also a very personal coming-of age tale.

The Ghost Hunter's Daughter is a dark book with an fast-paced plot and well developed characters. The book also tackles several heavy topics, self injury, suicide, bullying, hoarding and child sexual abuse, but most of it is pretty mild. Anna might be a bit self-absorbed at times, so there's some things she don't pick up in regards of her friends, which was a bit frustrating.

Nontheless, it was a fun book to read.

The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity is a young adult horror / paranormal fantasy. While this one is young adult with a sixteen year old main character the content is on the mature side with trigger warnings for suicide (while possessed), suicide ideation, bullying, mental illness (hoarding), self-harm, animal cruelty, predatory and abusive adults in positions of power.

Described as a mix of Supernatural and Mean Girls I couldn’t help but be curious and I suppose I could see that description. Anna is an outsider and social misfit in her town and known as the Goblin Girl due to her ability to see the supernatural and working alongside her father as he makes a living cleaning haunted objects. As a rare solar storm passes over Anna’s town bad things begin to happen to those around her forcing her to find a way to save the whole town.

I have to admit I totally missed the trigger warnings on this one myself and was thinking along the lines of a more cutesy teen drama with some ghosts and stuff but it really was a lot darker than expected. Typical horror type of wrongness begins to happen to the town to show that the evil has moved in and yes, it’s disturbing and creepy but I think that ended up catching my attention more being a horror fan. When all said and done I thought it was a solid read worth 3 1/2 stars for mature audiences.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was much better than expected, I thought it may be a little silly in places but it was pretty dark and creepy. I always enjoy a good ghost book too. Will definitely keep an eye out for more books by Caroline Flarity

This was a very interesting book. I was very surprised. I would definitely recommend it. I would love to see more from this author..

3 for neutral. Was never able to get into this book and enjoy it enough to finish. I am a very moody reader, so it could be my mood and if so I’ll update when able to finish.

Anna at a age loses her mom to a demon depression. Her father takes her along on his jobs of clearing objects that were possessed. Her father was a plumber by trade but stopping the plumber work. This made Anna a social outcast. She ended up with only two friends. When her father starts acting strange, she doesn’t notice right away as she navigates the narrow alleyways due to the hoarding he has done ever since her mom died. When she notices how her friends are acting weird with others having murderous thoughts, including hsel she know something is wrong with the town. Will she be able to figure out what has happened? Will she be ale to stop it? Will her friendships survive?

The novel is well written. It is a paranormal story including teenager angst, friendships, and mental health issues. This is not a typical ghost story as I expected. It turned out to be a mystery with a demon in it. I wanted to know what was causing the people to act so strangely.

I couldn't put this book down. I loved the author's take on the supernatural/paranormal realm. The heroine of the story was, in my opinion, a very strong, intelligent, brave character whose resilience was truly amazing. I try not to include spoilers in my reviews so I won't discuss what actually happened in the book, but the writing style of the author was enjoyable. I read this book in about 2 days and I'm a full-time mom, a full-time college student, and a full-time worker. Every spare second I had I was reading this book. Very well done. I will be watching this author. I would love to read any other works of hers.

I really did try to get into this one, because the premise sounds amazing. However, I found myself struggling to keep up with which character was which, and just the general weirdness that starts out of nowhere.

DNF at 20%. I was forcing myself to read this and not enjoying it.

I didn't like a single character and truly disliked how Anna was treating her supposedly really good friends. I also should've read the trigger warnings (which weren't part of the synopsis when I requested this title from goodreads) as I think they would've clued me in to the fact that this isn't my kind of book.

Paranormal kick-ass.

This book is amazing. I love the Paranormal and this books is perfect, it captures the imagination and your emotions. expect a up and down roller coaster of emotions.
when i requested this book on Netgalley i thought it would be good but its brilliant and i hope hope hope that we will be seeing Anna again soon. i love a character that is ready to kick ass even when she's struggling internally.
i am going to follow this author and subscribe to her, she had a knack for pulling you into the world without much effort. its a thrilling ride that i will definitely be repeating, and read again.
A big thank you to Netgalley/author and publisher.

I was really intrigued by the synopsis of this book so was looking forward to reading it particularly in time for Halloween. However unfortunately I couldn’t get into it. I enjoy horror and did appreciate the descriptions of the supernatural littered through this book but I couldn’t get behind Anna. I found her dull & struggled to feel sympathy or affection for her as a protagonist. The 3rd person narrative did not help the situation. I may have warmed to her more if it was 1st person. I persevered through the book but my opinion didn’t change.
I’m sure there will be other readers who enjoy this style of writing but it wasn’t for me unfortunately

I really enjoyed my read of The Ghost Hunter's Daughter by Caroline Flarity.

I'm don't read as much YA horror as adult, but this was quite good in the fright area! For being a YA novel, it really held its own when it came to dark or heavy subjects, without weighing down the book too much for its target audience.

I enjoyed the characters and the story. I liked that the plot was fast-paced and straightforward and generally I kept wanting to know what would happen at the end. Flarity does a good job of creating an eerie dread in her writing that keeps you reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I’m so sorry, but I just couldn’t get into this. I was really intrigued by the premise but can’t get into the writing. The third person narration doesn’t help hook me. First person would really help get into the head of Anna and her world, as well as to give us a better sense of her voice. I’m really intrigued by how her father’s job changes people’s perception of her but wish we could be shown that instead of told it. Even though lots of things that are interesting are happening (the eviction notice, the unusual ghost hunting job of her dad, Anna being teased for her dad's job as well as encountering spirits), I can't quite feel the stakes or investment for myself. I'm sure other readers will feel differently.

I usually don't read horror books but this book synopsis was interesting. I wanted to give a chance and i liked reading it. It was fast paced and a little bit creepy. Perfect for this season. 3.5/5

I received this book from Netgally for review. I have to say I really rather enjoyed this book. Even for being a YA, I found it to have a weird, eerie, dread inspiring vibe. It is refreshing to read a book that does not rely on gore and extravagant kill scenes to be scary. I think they did an excellent job with the paranormal/supernatural aspects. This is a book I would recommend, I would buy for myself and family. Definitely worth a read.

Anna's not-so-friendly nickname of Goblin Girl, stings. However, as her town falls into deeper and darker madness, her skills learned from her ghost hunter father become crucial to saving everyone. Filled with interesting characters, this is a gripping tale of paranormal mystery.

I feel like I’m not a huge reader of YA but when I look back at titles I’ve read I actually am. Perhaps it’s because many of the YA Titles I read don’t feel like YA. This book is the perfect example. It’s a great, quirky ride that also deals with some coming of age subject matter. I got hooked and couldn’t put it down.

The Ghost Hunter’s Daughter by Caroline Flarity

East Side Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-0996845007

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition



Anna Fagan lives in a haunted house, but that’s the least of her problems. Her father, Jack, is well-known for his ability to “clear” spirits from the objects they haunt, but since the traumatic death of her mother, his ability is fading and he’s picked up the habit of hoarding, aggressively. He stores holy water in the refrigerator, and “cleared” objects in the basement, where Anna is forbidden to go (the results of Jacks’s hoarding exposed when Anna breaks into the basement later in the story is one of the most appalling things in the book: previously haunted objects are the least of the problems). Now the lack of space has led Jack to rent an office to reinvigorate his business. He has hired a new investigator, Geneva Sanders, a scientist who has invented a new way to see the electrical activity that indicates that ghosts and supernatural forces are at work.

Anna is also suffering from grief and guilt over her mother’s death, but at school, she has other problems. With the exception of her friends Doreen and Freddy, Anna is mocked by other students with the nickname “Goblin Girl”. Izzy, the school sleazebucket, has decided she’d make a perfect target for his meanness and slut-shaming, while also throwing disgusting homophobic slurs at Freddy. Anna, focused on getting her crush, Craig, to notice her, while trying to manage her family problems and an uptick in paranormal activity, misses out on the serious problems Doreen and Freddy are dealing with. As levels of hostility and violence rise in town, Geneva theorizes that unusual solar flares are being harnessed by a malevolent spirit who is using them to feed on people’s anger and pain.

Flarity’s choice to make Anna the point-of-view character works beautifully here. There is so much going on in this book, especially in the larger picture of things, and yet we see that world through the self-centered tunnel vision of a teenager– which is perfect for a teenager in a YA novel. Our view widens with hers, and we see the story pull together as she does. Getting the story from Anna’s point of view means we are up close to her character growth.

This book reminds me a lot of Lois Duncan’s YA books, except that her books didn’t have the broader supernatural conspiracy behind this story. I’m not sure how many boys would choose to read this, but I hope they will, because there are parts that should really make them think. How many people say and do things without thinking, especially when they are angry or feeling hopeless, that regret it later?

Recommended.



Contains: suicide, suicidal ideation, mental illness (hoarding), self-harm, animal cruelty, bullying, abusive adults, violence, cyberbullying. rape culture, distribution of provocative images of a minor.