They promised One Last Stop meets Cemetary Boys and boy did this deliver! Cara is a ghost hunter hell-bent on finding proof of a ghost and escaping her hometown. Her life is thrown completely upside down when she discovers the ghost of a local high school boy, Aiden, who has a mission in his afterlife. Together the two of them come to an agreement; Aiden will help Cara prove that ghosts are real for her YouTube channel if Cara will take his sister, Meredith, to prom. What starts as a scheme quickly turns into a rather sweet romance as Cara and Meredith start to fall for each other, even if that means Aiden might disappear forever.

Great story and interesting characters and development. I love the spirit guided romance and the pacing was just right!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the Cara-Meredith dynamic, especially as they got to know each other better and opened themselves up more. I also liked the commentary between Cara and Aiden the ghost. I can understand Cara’s passion about proving that ghosts exist, and her hope and desire that she can have it both ways — get the girl (Meredith) and reveal Aiden’s existence without losing Meredith in the process. However, her repeated belief that proving ghosts exist was the only way for her to have any value grew tiresome. It would have been nice if the author had found a way to achieve the same outcome — keeping secrets from Meredith, trying to achieve both goals, having the lies revealed, and having to make the hard decision to do what was right— without Cara defining her life via ghost hunting; for it to have been a passion/hobby she took too far, not the key to her self-worth.

The fact that it said this book was for fans of Cemetery Boys intrigued me as I love Aiden Thomas and the book. And it didn't disappoint. This book was beautiful, however it was a little dull at moments. I had some slight confusion at times but it ultimately was resolved eventually.

I found this to be a fast read and quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, most of the story was predictable, but it didn't suck the joy out of it.

Key notes-
Likeable characters
bullying aspects
deals with depression and grief

The Ghosts of Us
James Sutter
Young adult lgbtq+ ghost
June 10, 2024 release date
2024-30❤️❤️❤️3.5
📚📚 📚18 year old Cara Hunter is a high school ghost hunter. After being denied admission to all the colleges she applied to, her hope to leave her small town outside Seattle is to find proof of a ghost. She needs this. As a bi-sexual teen in a small town, she hasn’t had it easy. She’s been bullied and ostracized, although her best friend Holly has protected her. So when the ghost of Aiden, a senior from the year before who died, begins to talk to her, she is convinced she will prove the existence of ghosts. But Aiden has a price—she must take his grieving sister, Meredith, to prom. As Cara begins dating Meredith, what she thinks she wants and what she wants diverge and she must decide if lying to Meredith is worth the consequences.
The book follows the standard trope closely, but is well-written. There are times that the characters do not seem to behave as I would have expected. However, Cara is admittedly a teen who tends to narcissistic tendencies. This is young adult but contains sexual scenes and drug use (where the character didn’t want to but does because of love interest’s influence). I wouldn’t let my preteen read because of drug use—at least without some discussion (but that’s just me!) The theme of grief is so well done, more than making this a worthy read. The bullying theme thread is there although it seems to fall off at some point- but pointedly as Cara had found acceptance and that trauma is lessened. Absolutely loved Cara’s relationship with her parents especially when juxtapositioned to Meredith’s parents.
❤️❤️❤️JJ’s last words. Humorous teen ghosts.
Disclaimer: St Martins publishing gave me access to this advanced readers copy on NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a fun and different ghost story where the ghost's goal is so set up his sister with romance. One girl can hear him so it's his chance to give her all sorts of tips and advice on how to approach his sister. Not an easy task at first, but fun. It's an easy to read, entertaining ya novel with and unusual take on a ghost story.

thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for a review!

ok i won't lie i ate this one up. i hate 'apology tours' normally but cara did a pretty good job as far as 'characters who lie about everything, ruining their life' go! also the characters were FUNNY. they had JOKES. people consistently underestimate how much being a joker goofball is a part of every teenager's personality and this book actually got it.

also the characters of holly and elvis are just conceptually hilarious. i mean. world's most accepting christian of all time with a youtube channel who is also saving her first kiss for marriage. saving her first kiss for marriage with a guy named ELVIS (he likes space. that's all i remember about him tbh. and he goes on runs with holly because that's romance).

meredith wins my coveted "favorite character" award because simply put she is a badass. and an icon.

in conclusion: ghosts!

A contemporary LGBTQ+ YA novel with a paranormal twist. Cara has been searching for proof of the supernatural, but when she stumbles upon the spirit of Aiden, she gets a lot more than she asked for. Aiden has concerns about his younger sister, Meredith, who has been hiding from life since his death. Cara wants to get proof that she can contact someone in the spirit realm. Aiden & Cara strike a deal, proof of the spirit realm in exchange for Cara taking Meredith to prom. As anyone can expect this deal becomes even more complicated as feelings grow. One of my favorite aspects of this novel were the bonds formed in this group of unlikely friends.

I thought I would like this one a lot. but the style of writing was really just not for me. The pace felt off, and the dialogue was stilted. The story seemed to have potential, but the sapphic characters just felt off in a way I can't fully describe. I think this will be potentially successful for young readers, absolutely, but I don't think it's the first book I'd grab when referring to others.

This book did not vibe with me unfortunately. The w/w queer aspect did not feel authentically represented and also felt very "trope-like".

Really enjoyed this novel. The Cemetery Boys comparison is spot on, but with several twists that definitely sets this novel apart. The relationships were authentic and adorable, characters well written, and plot moved at an enjoyable pace. Just enough ghost, just enough angst, just enough humor. Fun read.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I reaaallly wanted to like this one. I think, unfortunately, I felt too old while reading it if that makes any sense. I enjoy YA, but this one felt a bit too young for my taste.

Cara, an amateur ghost hunter, is intent on proving that ghosts are real! With Aiden's help, she plans on doing just that. His unfinished business lies with his sister and making sure she's happy before he moves on. In trying to accomplish that, he gets Cara's help to do just that by dating her. Over the course of trying to fulfill his wish, Cara gains real feelings for Meredith.

Overall, I thought the premise was very sweet and I always will enjoy a cute, sapphic romance! I feel like the conflict was a bit dramatic at times and definitely could have been resolved faster. Though, it does make sense for teenagers to blow things way out of proportion, so I wasn't as upset as I could be with it. The chemistry between the couple was very sweet and overall I think it was an enjoyable book for the most part, especially for younger LGBT+ crowd.

This book was cute! Ngl I liked the characters in the first half but after mid-way through Cara started to drive me insane. I was like girl you brought this on yourself.

The love between Meredith and Cara was amazing and I loved it soooo much!

I gave this book a 3/5! My review will be posted on my insta: @ryan.s_library tomorrow!

This was such a wholesome queer romance, and I really enjoyed it. I found the writing to flow nicely and the characters were loveable and kept me engaged throughout the story.

I really loved this book. I enjoyed the live story with LGBT+ representation. I found the reality of liss and the impacts on the family highly relatable. It was a truly unique story.

This is a super cute YA queer romance that sparks joy in your heart.

Cara is an amateur ghost hunter who can also talk to ghosts. She runs into the ghost of an upperclassman, Aiden, who died the previous year and they spark a friendship.

Aiden can't move on until he knows his sister, Meredith, is happy and okay. She's been in a depressive rut and he wants Cara to woo his sister out of her depression.

Cara struggles to get Meredith's attention but with the help from Aiden, she is successful. The only problem is that Cara starts developing real feelings for Meredith. She wants to tell Meredith the truth but doesn't want to lose what she has with her, nor lose Aiden.

(3.5/5 rounded up)

This was a cute book, albeit somewhat predictable. Cara is an amateur ghost hunter who has been rejected from college and is desperate to prove her scientific merit by proving ghosts exist (not sure how believable that premise is but okay), then is just lucky enough to encounter and be haunted by a real ghost. Unfortunately, she's the only one who can talk to it. (Is she a medium? The metaphysics is never actually explored.) The ghost, Aiden, has just one unresolved business on earth - to see his sister happy after his passing. He decides that the only way to make his sister happy is to get her a girlfriend, and decides to play matchmaker between Cara the medium and Meredith, his sister.

What follows is a pretty awkward but an honestly really cute classic rom-com where Aiden convinces Cara to date Meredith (as a deal instead of on a dare but close enough) and Cara ends up falling for her instead. And then (predictably) royally screws it all up on prom night. This definitely had a lot vibes of late 90s rom-coms like She's All That or 10 Things I Hate About You, and the chemistry and interactions between Meredith and Cara were really adorable. Fans of Darkhearts will also enjoy a brief cameo of the band during Meredith and Cara's first date.

However, the conflict seemed a little forced. I don't know if it's just Teenager Logic™ or a lack of research, but Cara seemed shocked to be rejected from college, but then also applied to UW as her safety school (?!) and then is stuck on the idea that if she manages to prove that Aiden is real and ghosts exist, college admissions will somehow magically take her in and everything will work out (???) and holds on to that idea for the rest of the book. I know people don't make sense but I just didn't find her motivations to be really convincing, and it made her seem really selfish and unlikeable as a character towards the end. There's also a lot of bullying that centers around things the characters did or said when they were 12 and how everyone still remembers that at 18 and I'm just not sure that's believable. It did take me out of the story a little bit, to me it felt like the conflict and character's motivations just weren't fully developed.

Also, very minor nitpick - the incident in Cara's life when she was 12 (6 years ago) involving a Seattle Kraken scarf and the team definitely did not exist 6 years ago. (/hockey fan problems)

Ghost of Us was a charming book, felt very quick but that may have cause I read it in one sitting! Just a heads up for anyone, there is a little bit of bullying that happens to one of the main characters, nothing absolutely awful but it can be a little stressful at times or triggering for anyone who has gone through anything similar. As far as the story goes, I found it to be cute. Cara's personality had me laughing at times as she tended to be a bit of an asshole, but in an endearing way! I think her friendship(if you can call it that) with Aiden felt genuine in the way it was written and her romance with Merideth did feel like it was something to root for. My biggest hang up for this book was the fact that Cara seemed very intelligent knowing all the science of things, yet she did not even get accepted into her state's university?? For the plot/character growth I see why this happened but seemed weird, then again this is a book about a dead kid talking and playing matchmaker for his sisters happiness. While I did enjoy the book and its ending, I think it will just be a one time read for me.

This was such a wholesome and lovely queer YA romance. Sutter nailed the awkwardness of first love and the grief of losing someone close to you. Perhaps even the cocky attitude of the ghost who acts as matchmaker between his grieving sister and ghost-hunter classmate. It melds "Tens Things I Hate About You" with "Ghost" in the most adorable manner. A heartbreaking subplot addresses the emotions one has as senior year is ending and you are hyper-aware that your life is about to change forever. There's even a bit of "Listen to your parents, they actually do understand you," in here! 4.5 stars, but listing 4 here.

3..5 stars rounded up. There were a lot of things I liked about this book. There were also a lot of things I disliked.

The premise made it a frustrating read at times. The main couple was adorably awkward and sweet. I liked the friend characters and was sad the ghost was dead. The conflict felt contrived at times and could have/should have been resolved a lot earlier. I liked the love interest more than I liked the main character.

It was a sweet sapphic read though for the most part. The HEA made me smile.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.