Cursed Cruise by Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren was a quick, spooky ride I couldn’t put down. The ghost-hunting crew brings plenty of humor, heart, and chills as they navigate a haunted ship. Some plot points rushed by, but I liked the spooky vibes and strong friendships.

Disclaimer: I bought this book cause I like this series! Support your authors! All opinions are my own.

Book: Cursed Cruise

Author: Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren

Book Series: Horror Hotel Book 2

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: Half Filipino MMC, Sapphic Aro FMC, F/F Romance, Queer characters

Recommended For...: Young Adult readers, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Ghosts, Mystery Thriller

Publication Date: March 19, 2024

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Age Relevance: 15+ (death, romance, affair, homophobia, religion, suicide, alcoholism, violence, ghosts, gore, possession)

Explanation of CWs: There is death and ghosts mentioned and shown in this book, along with possession scenes. There are scenes involving and depicting violence, blood gore, and body gore. Homophobia is mentioned. There are some Christian religious aspects mentioned. Suicide is mentioned. Alcoholism is mentioned. There is romance and an affair is mentioned.

If This Was a Taylor Swift Song: Haunted

Publisher: Underlined

Pages: 288

Synopsis: All aboard... After their fateful stay at the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is back with more spooks and more subscribers. They’ve been invited to record onboard the RMS Queen Anne, a transatlantic luxury ocean liner with a colorful past of violent deaths of hundreds of passengers—souls that bought a one-way ticket to the afterlife (and never disembarked). When Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma board the ship, they have a funny feeling they’ve been sucked into a ghostly time warp—a theory that takes a frightening turn when Chrissy goes missing on the first night. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Chrissy has been sucked into another time by a passenger who wants the Ghost Gang to know her untimely death was not an accident and the perpetrator is still alive—and on board this ship.

Review: I love this little series so much! I loved seeing the Ghost Gang back in action and on a cruise ship this time. The intro helped me remember where we left off. The book had great character development and good world building. I was hooked from start to finish and I loved that the story was told in multi-POV fashion.

The only things that irked me was a bit of pacing issues here and there and that there was a random "no Taylor Swift fans" line? What's that about?

Verdict: I want more now!

I don’t know how to rate this because I was told you don’t need to read the first one but now I’m seeing/realizing that you do need to. That it’s better to read the first one. So I’m gonna read the first one & then reread this one & I may change my review

Cursed Cruise is the second installment in an interesting and spooky series that takes you around the world to explore highly haunted locations. In this book, our webcast crew, the Ghost Gang, set sail on the Queen Anne, a ship with a dark history and plenty of ghostly occupants. During her time on the Seas the Queen Anne has seen her share of death and despair. Hundreds of her passengers have met their end on the ship, but only one desperate soul seems to be really reaching out to the Ghost Gang. She wants the truth to be told. She wants her killer revealed. Lucky for the Ghost Gang, they are starting to get used to being called upon to find murderers.
I loved how this book played a realistic location and meshed it with a believable haunted history. There is a certain appeal and mystery to being out on the water. When the ship settles, and you listen to the creaks and groans from her expansive hull. This eerie atmosphere truly brings the story to life. It is almost as if you can hear it speak to you — or the cries and whispers from past passengers and crew.
This book would be right up the alley for any Scooby-Doo and Goosebumps fans, as our crew tries to solve an old murder on the ship and even travel back in time. Unfortunately, you will need to read/listen to the first book in this series for the characters and their actions to make complete sense. I would recommend this series to those who love a good scare and jump scenes. However, be aware that some language may be intense for sensitive readers.
Overall, Cursed Cruise is a good-read for anyone who enjoys a good scare and a thrilling mystery. Just be sure to start with the first book to fully appreciate the characters and their journey.

Cursed Cruise is the 2nd book in the Horror Hotel series. This YA series follow a group of teen ghost hunters who have a popular ghost hunting YouTube channel. The teens explore known haunted sites for their channel.

When I requested this book on NetGalley, I did not realize that this is the 2nd book in a series, so I had to read the first book before I could get to this one. I enjoyed the first book more than the second. Cursed Cruise was just lacking something. I just wanted more. I listened to this book on audio and I did like the narrators. The ship in the book has its own narration, which was odd.

I liked the paranormal elements in the story, but the teens just got on my nerves. I didn’t care about their relationships with each other or their teen drama. Also, having multiple perspectives got to be annoying. I think I would have preferred one perspective.

Overall, this was an okay read. I don’t know if I would continue on in the series though.

I would recommend this series to YA horror lovers who are looking for a quick and easy read.

Okay so I wasn't a huge fan of book one but I wanted to give book two a try to see if I would enjoy it. This one was kind of a dud and got a bit to queer for me. I don't mind having queer characters but not a fan of a romance. I didn't realize it was going to be that way or I wouldn't have continued, so maybe I just forgot it was in book one or that was added I can't remember but won't be continuing the series.

As a lover of Scooby Doo and cruise ships, this was an obvious book pick for me. I loved the creepiness, but I felt like the whole story went by too fast. I kind of wanted to be more immersed in the cruise ship setting, and while there were bits and pieces there, it wasn't enough for me, personally. Although the cruise ship part missed the mark for me, I felt the authors did a great job with character growth in this book with Emma and Kiki's mom. I also would've loved more conflict between the other paranormal group (don't remember what they called themselves, just that all their names started with T) before the climax with Emma. I loved the ship's POV. She went hard. And she was scary. So that was a good time.

The Ghost Gang is back! I love ghost-hunting so I really enjoyed this follow up to Horror Hotel! It wasn't QUITE as good as the first but well done.

I had such high expectations for this one because I really enjoyed book one... but I feel like it should have been a standalone. I didn't feel like this added much to the story nor did the characters have anymore redeemable redemption after what they did in book one (I mean hello they hid bodies and neglected to content the police all for their youtube channel... That's a bad look to then not have any repercussions).

A modern Mystery Gang—minus the adorable pooch—sets sail on the RMS Queen Anne and gets caught up in solving a time-traveling murder.

This superb, spooky tale on the high seas makes for an engrossing read for middle schoolers. Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma use their powers as influencers for good, delivering a fun adventure.

While the book can be read as a standalone, be aware that there might be some confusing references to the previous installment.

Cursed Cruise by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren is an exhilarating and haunting follow-up to *Horror Hotel* that perfectly continues the thrilling adventures of the ghost gang. The authors deliver an engrossing blend of suspense, mystery, and supernatural elements that had me eagerly turning the pages. I loved revisiting the beloved characters and their new, chilling escapades, which are filled with clever twists and heart-pounding moments. This sequel is a fantastic addition to the series and a must-read for fans of the first book.

This was sadly a DNF for me. I didn’t enjoy my time reading this story. I didn’t connect with the characters at all and found it a bit boring.

Super intresting, fast-paced and dynamic. A creaative choce for a thriller and a great setting for a horror and mystery. So compelling and unique.

DNF at 60%. I tried, y’all, but it just did NOT hold my attention. I liked the first book okay and wanted to like this one, but I could not hang. The authors’ misuse of “sus” happened three too many times in the 150+ pages I read and the cringe was just too powerful for me to continue.

Review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5666284519

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity

Very spooky. Great fun

What a great second book!! I loved this. It was great to see more of these characters and to watch them grow!!! I loved seeing them in the ship and competing with other teams.

3.5

Although I felt that this book was not as good as its predecessor, it still was a quick and fun read with a decent amount of atmospheric thrills to appeal to YA horror readers. The plot itself also includes a ghostly whodunnit, bridging the gap between horror and mystery, which I thought was a nice addition.

The story follows the same gang of ghost hunters as they board a cruise ship with the intention of filming a test pilot for a possible television show. Their plans go awry almost immediately once they realize the ship is more deadly than anyone could have predicted. In order to stop themselves from succumbing to untimely fates, they must solve a decades-old mystery about a young woman who committed suicide on the ship many years ago while also figuring out how to end a dark ancient curse.

This book was a very quick read, which I was thankful for because I’ve been experiencing a bit of a reading slump after reading too many books last week. Due to it’s shorter nature, the writing is very fast-paced and lends itself to horror readers who are more about quick thrills than about slow-building anticipation.

Personally, I would have preferred for the authors to explore the ship’s past more, as I felt that things were moving a bit too quickly for my tastes. The introduction to the idea that the ship was cursed felt very contrived as if they knew they wanted a curse to be involved but weren’t quite sure how to make it happen. I actually wasn’t a fan of the curse plotline at all, because I also felt it was both introduced too quickly and solved too quickly.

The decade-old murder mystery though, I absolutely loved that aspect of the book. It was a creative way to give the characters more agency, forcing them to act before it was too late. I honestly think the book would have been more enjoyable for me if the authors had leaned more into the murder mystery aspect, and forgone the curse altogether.

I’m not sure if this series will continue with another installment, but I would definitely be interested in reading it if that happens.

READ BOOK ONE IF YOU HAVEN'T OR THIS BOOK WILL SPOIL IT FOR YOU!

Cursed Cruise is the sequel to Horror Hotel, and thankfully this time the authors got it right. They took notes of what didn't work in book one and switched things around for the sequel. The premise was not based in reality this time, making the plot fresher. They spent more time delving into the individual characters, as well as their tangled web of relationships. This fleshing out really helped add the necessary dimension the first book needed. Unfortunately, there was almost too much focus on that and no enough focus on the actual haunting/mystery. There was also a subplot (intentionally vague to not spoil) that just didn't really sit well with me. It seemed unnecessary and ill-fitting. Still, a VAST improvement from its predecessor and I would be willing to read a third in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's-Underline for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own!

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was fine. It is supposed to be YA, but I felt like it read a lot younger, besides the occasional language. The story itself was okay, but I didn't love it. It felt a little all over the place to me.

**3.5-stars**

Cursed Cruise, by Victoria Fulton and Faith McClaren, is the second book in the Horror Hotel series. These books follow a group of teen ghost hunters, Chrissy, Chase, Emma and Kiki, who have their own YouTube show. In the first book, which I haven't read yet, the teens stay at a haunted hotel in L.A., that I am imagining to be like the Cecil Hotel.

The events of that book are referred to here, but I don't feel you need to read that one first. I didn't and don't feel my enjoyment of this was impeded at all. However, I will say, after reading this, I definitely want to go back and read that one now. It sounds like it was intense, and I think the setting of the hotel would be really fun.

In this one, the teens get invited on the first voyage of a recently recommissioned cruise ship, the RMS Queen Ann, which gave me total QE2 vibes. I've read mysteries set on the QE2 and really enjoyed them, so was excited to see something similar in a Teen Horror novel. The ship has a dark history, with many deaths and dark happenings occurring aboard over the years. It's assumed to now be haunted.

The Ghost Gang is not the only ghost hunting team making this maiden voyage though. There's another group, a bit older and more experienced then our mains, that cause a bit of tension. They're not very kind and the groups have a bit of a competitive spirit amongst them. They both have their sights set on a syndicated television slot. Chase, from our group, really has his heart set on getting that show.

There's also a bit of romance in the group, with Chase and Chrissy in a relationship, and Emma and Kiki in a relationship. They do have an adult chaperone as well; I think it was Kiki's Mom, although she wasn't too big of a presence, I still liked having her there. We follow along as the teens get settled into their cabins and begin investigating the history of the ship and the bizarre occurrences happening aboard. Chrissy is the one with the most connection to the supernatural, so we get a lot of those aspects from her perspective.

I thought it was interesting that the author's included the ship's perspective. You don't see that very often, but when you do, I tend to enjoy it. I like the feel of a place, or thing, becoming a character unto itself. It's interesting and I thought it was fun here.

Overall, this was good. I think the authors delivered on what was intended. If I were going to pin this down to a recommended age category, I would put it into a more Tween Horror niche than YA Horror. I feel like this is more advanced than a Goosebumps, but may best be enjoyed by Readers aged 11 to 14. It's a great stepping stone to more advanced Horror. I know I would have loved it had it been a part of my Point Horror line-up from the mid-80s. Totally cool.

Thank you to the publisher, Underlined, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was cute. It definitely had a nostalgic feel for me!