**3.5 Stars**

This is one that on paper I should have adored without a second thought but in reality it was a bit of a struggle to stay focused up until the ending so though it wasn’t one that thrilled me it is the beginning of a series I plan on completing. 

“Prelude for Lost Souls” shifts between the point of view for Dec, a young man who is tired of his small town and is waiting for the right time to run, Russ, Dec’s best friend who is willing to do whatever it takes to join the Guild and prove his worth as a medium and finally Annie, a prodigy looking to solve the mystery behind the lost prelude and make her late teacher proud. 

I understand what this book was trying to do with the duel plots where one was meant to throw these characters together and the other is meant to tear them apart however I think the orchestration of it could have been handled better because it seemed almost like an after thought to have the eye in the sky like threat as I had spent so much time getting into the mystery of the music to remember that the Guild was being set up as a society to fear. I guess you could argue that that’s the point but I feel like for the confrontation scenes to work it could have leaned into plot points that were less subtle. 

I really loved what Dec and Russ could have been and we get pieces of that sprinkled here and there when it comes to their friendship but then there are long spans where it seems like one takes more than he gives and made me root for one to find someone better because they were always doing so much with little appreciation but I realize, or at least hope, that that will come around in future books as one sinks deeper into the darkness and the other realizes that his freedom may really be a long leash. Annie was okay I feel like she really only served the purpose of being the hands for someone who could no longer play and leading someone else out the door but I’m hoping we get to learn more about her so she becomes a fully realized character. 

Overall this isn’t bad but I think with a cover and synopsis like this I expected to be blown away but instead its more of a light breeze. 

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book.properly in the near future with an honest teview.

Daniel "Dec" Hampton has had enough of the small town where he lives with his sisters after the death of their parents. Not only does he and his family have the power to talk to the dead, he lives in an entire village of people who can as well. St. Hilaire is a town of spiritualists, who open the gates every summer and run seances and palm readings for the public. It is loosely based on the real life town of Lily Dale, New York.

Dec is going into his senior year and is being recruited to join the youth wing of the town's guild on the strength of his family's bloodlines. He has no interest in doing so. His plans are to leave town before the school year even starts.

His best friend, Russ, however, is all in. He has been experimenting with shooting up his grandmother's herbal potions in an effort to increase his spiritual power. He is really hoping that the Guild will take notice.

The story gets going after Dec manages to lose his family's antique piano in a poker game. They play for high stakes in St. Hilaire. He had been hoping to win the keys to a Mustang for his friend Russ. The piano refuses to move when the new owners try to take possession.

And then Dec's dream girl Anastasia "Annie" Krylova, a classically trained pianist touring the country, shows up on his doorstep after her vintage train breaks down. They've never met before but he has her picture taped up on the inside of his closet door.

Too much of a coincidence? Not when you realize that Annie is seeking the end to an unfinished piece of music and the piano in Dec's house might have something to do with it.

This book is similar to The Raven Boys and readers of Maggie Stievater should be very satisfied with this one. Strong, brooding guys searching for something mysterious in small town America with the dead being either helpful or unhelpful (and occasionally comical) as needed to keep the plot going.

This is the first in the series. The author left plenty of unfinished business in St. Hilare.