This was okay and I liked the storytelling, but the awkward dialogue made this a clunky read for me. Great cover!

I tried to care about this but I just didn't. I thought the premise was interesting enough, but nothing about the plot or characters grabbed me. I did finish it, but picking it back up started feeling like a chore which is never a good sign. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what it was since I was into the idea of a girl being able to see/talk to ghosts and trying to solve what happened to this guy. Not sure if it was the writing style or if I just wasn't in the mood for this type of story. Either way, a miss for me.

This was an unexpectedly amazing book. Exceeded my expectations. The world felt vast and the characters were genuine I hope to read more by this author.

Thank you Frenzy Books for the eARC! Loved all the Chinese culture integrated in the story. A lot of the family dynamics were relatable. This take on someone who sees ghosts was interesting because she doesn’t want the ghosts to see her. The beginning of the story kind of sets the scene for the ending of the book and the sequel. There is a little bit of foreshadowing about what happens in the next book regarding the backstory of certain characters. I think this could have been read as a standalone though, because the main conflict of Zach being a ghost does get resolved. I liked the description of the liminal world. The different places they explore are creative, and I especially liked the idea of an extinction area. Brittany was super sassy and I loved her. I wish we got a little bit more banter from her, but we probably will in the next book. Zach and Cara’s relationship wasn’t too great though because I didn’t really feel any chemistry from them and it felt a little forced. I’m happy with how this story turned out, but I don’t think I’ll be reading the sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want to read bad Danny Phantom x OC fanfiction that's been changed just enough to be published?

On my do not read list.

Pre-reading:
Would not be reading this book if it wasn't a Fairyloot pick.

Thick of it:
Yo Danny Fenton

I love pickles, excuse you.

Aw, another holiday birthday baby.

This book is aggressively YA.

Y’all think she liked Spiderverse?

Ew, they’re 17. They better not shenanigan.

Wow, things I don’t like: high schoolers talking about other high schoolers being willing to give it to them. Like I’ll take my old curmudgeonly card now, but also get me out of here.

This is cringe.

Ha, a Cap and a Scorpio. Me likey. (But like neither of them have that energy so.)

Honestly, driving anxiety is very real.

It’s a YA and you’re the main character. Obviously they’re looking for you. (Nothing comes of this, but I’m sure book two will have something to say.)

Aw, a dog.

A horse girl.

Y'all, I’m too old to be reading about teenage boys and lollipops.

This is very lower YA. This is for like 12-year-olds. (But then the horny is bordering on NA.)

Uhhhh. I know they're an appropriate age for each other but I don’t want to read about a 17-year-old boy oggling a 16-year-old girl’s chest in her bedroom where he wasn’t invited.

A piney boy

Oh yeah, I’m sure we’ll never see him again. 🙄

The dialogue is bad.

If my summary isn’t just Danny Phantom, but he’s blonde and she’s Asian, and no one‘s ghost hunting. (No one’s ghost hunting YET.)

Oh, and he can just fly with no explanation. This is stupid. This is bad writing. (I mean the explanation is he’s a ghost, but like come on.)

Analyx my brain is reading as anal licks.

This is unreadable.

This is tropey as hell, but I’m too old, and they’re too young.

Grandma’s like definitely the other snake, right? (Ask again in book two.)

Don’t forget tampons, bestie! (Just once I’d like to see one of these chosen one bitches save the world on the rag.)

OK somebody’s watched too much Tangled.

OK Elsa, let the braid go. This is bad.

damasked

There’s literally no reason these people couldn’t be college students home on winter break. If you want to write it romance trope heavy just age them up. I’m begging you.

I hate that I’m entertained by this. (Like cringe entertained.)

Condensed milk? Someone called Brynne Weaver.

Why would the magic rope obey her? I- just keep reading, Sam. Just keep reading.

You can see the author’s Percy Jackson inspo in this.

Why would this world have 911? I can’t with this book.

escarpment

It’s giving Doctor Who, but that’s a Poké ball.

This book is so bad.

She really said how many tropes and clichés can I cram into this book?

Walk through fire for you. Just let me adore you🎶

This book’s so melodramatic, and I’m just like they’re 17.

OK, but everyone knows when you get hypothermia you get hot.

Everything’s resolved so easily like nothing has stakes.

susurrus
I have never seen or heard that word in my life.

Did not know this was a series.

Post-reading:
I’m too old for this shit.

It reads like Danny Phantom fanfiction, and hoo baby, am I a veteran of those trenches.

It’s tropey. It’s cliche. It’s cringe. It almost reads like middle grade. Every problem resolves within its chapter if not a paragraph later so nothing feels like it has any stakes. The liminal worlds are underdeveloped but it’s hard to care since we spend so little time with them anyway. It’s very repetitive action.

The romance is a little heavy-handed for a YA, but I think I’m becoming a YA prude, so do with that what you will. I know they’re childhood friends but it still manages to feel insta lovey.

Their backstories are infodumps that feel shoved into the narrative. The series’ big bad plot feels painfully obvious, and the book doesn’t resolve enough to stand satisfyingly on its own. The magic system is overpowered and mostly just there for vibes.

I think if you’re a younger reader this is mediocre at best, and if you’re older, you’ve already read a better version of this and should not pick it up.

Who should read this:
Middlegrade/YA fans
No one

Do I want to reread this:
No.

Similar books:
* The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo-generic YA fantasy, enemies to lovers, magical family secrets
* Garden of the Cursed by Katy Rose Pool-YA fantasy romance whodunit, frenemies to lovers, magical family secrets
* The Forest Grimm by Kathryn Purdie-YA fantasy romance, magical family secrets
* Guardians of Dawn: Zhara by S. Jae-Jones-YA fantasy romance, magical family secrets
* A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow-YA fairytale retelling romance
* Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou-YA dystopian urban fantasy romance, magical family secrets
* Godly Heathens by H. E. Edgmon-YA magical realism, poly romance
* Middle Game by V. E. Schwab-YA magical realism, portalish magic

Book Name: If I Have to be Haunted
Author: Miranda Sun

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and **HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperTeen** for an ARC of If I have to be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Stars: 5 (DNF)

Thoughts

- YOUNG YA

So the problem as an adult who reads some YA and NA books is that Some YA skews toward the middle-grade and young teen side of the Genre. As an adult who reads YA for her own enjoyment, I fully am aware that I am not the intended audience when this happens. This is where I would gracefully bow out. So I am Giving this book a 5 to not drop the rating here on Netgalley but will respectfully not review the book for social media as I cannot give this book what it deserves as a reader.

Due to the Negative Nature of this review, I will not be posting it to Goodreads or retail sites with respect to the publisher and author.

A interesting YA fantasy novel, with great characters and plot! I would definitely recommend to those who think it sounds good!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

I just finished this book and it was a delight. Taking place right before Halloween, Cara and her arch enemy, Zach, are forced to join together as he is turned into a ghost. Cara's ability to talk to the dead has always troubled her, but this time she has to work together with Zach and conquer her fear of using her powers. I appreciated how their romance excelled while they kept saving each other during their journey. It was a great read, and while it had light moments, I liked how it went into family and what expectations are always set when you are just a teenager. I did think it could've went a tad bit less in the description with Zach's looks but it represented how much she was enamored with him. Recommended for those who like some ghostly fantasies and enemies-to lovers romance.

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

3/5 Stars

Thank you to HarperTeen for providing me with an arc.

If you asked me to tell you the whole plot of this book, you would stare at me like I am making it up. I thought this was just a fun ya romance with a ghost element but what I could was one of the weirdest and most unhinged books I’ve ever read and I still am unsure how I fully feel about it. I did like the banter and the main relationship but the plot was just unhinged and hard to follow at times.

Cara Tang is a Ghost Speaker, someone who can see and talk to ghosts as well as do other things and it runs in her family. She made a promise to her mother when she was younger to ignore ghosts and never ever tell anyone about her magic which she has kept. The only person who knows is her grandmother who also is a ghost speaker. But when her rival Zacharias Coleson doesn’t show up to work on their project she goes searching for him only to find his body. Now she is stuck helping him in a race against time to bring him back to life or he will be gone forever.

The banter between Cara and Zach was amazing and I felt the evolution of their relationship from rivals to friends to lovers and it was good. I really loved them together and I do believe their relationship. I thought the banter was pretty solid for a YA book and it kept me second guessing if they had feelings for each other or not.

I can’t say if I recommend this or not as I still haven’t fully sorted out my feelings but it is a decent book but not at all what I expected. Just expect somewhat chaotic plot lines, a fun rivals to lovers story, and supernatural things and you may have a fun time.

Last year I used to request every single book on Netgalley for anything that might sparkyl my interest, including the cover. I’m trying to go through my old arcs to clear up and oh how I am suffering greatly for it.

I requested this one because it was compared to Cemetary Boys and while I can see the similarities, this falls short.
Unfortunately, even though it’s YA it comes off as middle grade. I’m over YA though so that’s also my fault I don’t know why I keep trying. Our main character is absolutely insufferable and has no empathy. Not to mention she’s very immature and annoyed me the whole time. The enemies to lovers thing wasn’t well done either, they had no reason to hate each other and the romance then felt forced and random.

It was a lot more fantasy than I expected as well which I felt like didn’t fit into the story, such as magic powers. I think we needed a lot more backstory and explnations. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!

This was one of my most anticipated reads for such a long time. It is such a fun and fast-paced read with great writing and a romance I was rooting for the entire read!

A cute if somewhat simple contemporary fantasy. Though I appreciated the unique magic system, it was a bit all over the place, hopping back and forth incorporating various mythologies that didn't quite connect in any particular way. A deeper storyline lingered under the surface that was never fully explored that was used as teaser bait for a potential sequel, but Cara and Zach's story feels like it started and ended cohesively here. Although their romance was a given and was heartwarming in the end, their enemies dynamic at the beginning felt forced. The entire book definitely leans towards the younger side of YA, but it can be an enjoyable and quick read if tropiness and a few cringe lines here and there are no bother to you.

REVIEW✨
If I Have to Be Haunted
By Miranda Sun

So I wanted to read this book cause the cover was so pretty and felt very autumn to me. And who doesn’t love a good ghost story every now and then. Also when I saw that it was a thrilling romantic YA contemporary fantasy about a teenage Chinese American ghost speaker who reluctantly makes a deal to help raise her nemesis from his semi dead. It sounded like the right book for me.

But I would have to disagree, it read more middle grade than young adult with the characters seeming very juvenile and not much character development happens in the book. I had a very hard time getting over the writing style along with the plot, characters, and total lack of chemistry between the two main characters. Cara and Zack go from disliking each other, with no explanation why that is… to both saying that they love each other with no explanation why. The pacing in the book was totally off, things would just happen with no explanation and then something else would happen and again no explanation. The ghosts, the liminal world, and the magical powers didn’t make sense and was never explained… this book wasn’t for me.

This book brought back much nostalgia for the late 90s and early 2000s. I felt completely called out when the author reminded me of my obsession with wanting a canopy bed. I recommend this book if you are looking for a “OH! I remember that.” For example, if you remember ‘tight squeeze, cool breeze... now you've got the shiveries!’ You are my people.

I really liked this book. It was cute, fun, and unique, and I liked the way cultural elements of the characters were included as well. This book does have more of a younger YA type vibe, which I don't mind. The type of bickering between the characters and some of the obstacles they face just feel more for a younger audience, but it's still fun and engaging for me. I loved the lore of it and the journey to bring back from death. And it's a good fit for fellow fans of enemies-to-lovers. No super big plot twists, but it's a fun story, also moving, and it incorporates a lot about love, family, and friendship in a really nice way.

Miranda Sun’s IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED is a fantastical debut filled with wonder and intrigue.
Cara, with the ability to see ghosts, gets stuck with the ghost of the boy who has been annoying her for ages, and while helping him find his way back to his body, finds maybe he’s not as bothersome as she thought.
I think I didn’t fully read the blurb before requesting to read, as I knew there would be ghosts (obviously) but I was pleasantly surprised by the liminal dimension travel and its fantastical creatures. The vivid detail of this novel would lend itself very well for a Studio Ghibli style adaptation. Overall it was a pleasant read that young adult audiences will enjoy.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperTeen for providing a review copy.

Sadly this book just didn’t grab as much as I hoped it would. I put it down and picked it up multiple times but I just couldn’t connect with it. Super bummed.

4.5/5 I...this sucked me in. I loved Cara's story and her being a ghost speaker. I loved how she had to save her "rival" but you know, that slow burn and forced proximity really kicked in. I didn't want to put this down between the romance, the journey, the writing, and just the overall atmosphere of the book. I only deducted 1/2 a star because some of the writing kind of felt like the author used a thesaurus to really be "descriptive" but it was still SO good. I liked it more way more than I thought I would.

Oh wow! I was absolutely mesmorized by this enchanting and (sometimes) spooky byt darling and cute tale about a Chinese American "ghost speaker" who is forced to work with her annoying, but charming school nemesis to bring him back from the dead or risk being haunted by him for good. How i LOVED this story. It was EVERYTHING I want in a YA book---charm, wit, banter, diversity, lore, ano soooooooooooooooooooooo much more. will be recommending this to everyone I know from now on....an NO YOU CAN'T BORROW MY COPY!