The story was awesome! It was gross and creepy and just so cool! I really liked all the ghosts stuff and I think the author did an amazing job at adding things I haven't read before. I have to hand it to her to because the big baddie was chill worthy! The story had a nice balance between romance, plot, and funny spots. Nothing seemed fake between the characters. They all knew where they stood and nothing was sugared coated or hidden. I really appreciated the honestly that was thrown in. I would like to know more about the Shadowlands (the place where Wren goes to get away from the living). I think there is a whole new world there and I can't wait to see it developed. Plus I think Wren has a dark side and I'm really curious to see that side of her and I want to know more about Larks abilities. I have a feeling all will be explored in the next installment.

I am a huge fan of Kady Cross and her writing style, so I was very excited to read this book, and I wasn't disappointed. This story is about 2 sisters, Lark, who is alive, and her twin, Wren, who isn't. Wren was stillborn, but she and Lark have a bond that even death couldn't break. Another weird thing about them is that Lark can see the departed, and Wren can slip into Lark's body if she is so inclined.

"I stepped into my sister and took over her body for the time being. People called it possession, but I didn't like to use that term in regards to Lark. Thankfully, she was just asleep. I opened my eyes - Lark's eyes."

So cool! Lark has always been a loner because being known as the crazy kid who talked to ghosts, among other things, has left her jaded when it comes to having friends and trusting others with her secrets. Unfortunately, when some kids from school are in trouble with an evil entity they crossed, Lark is their only hope, so she bites the bullet and agrees to help them, mostly because Wren is adamant that she must.

This book was full of great characters, an interesting premise, and a lot of action! I'm very much looking forward to reading the second book in this duology.

5/5 stars.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin TEEN for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This may sound like damning with faint praise, but I was surprised when I started reading this and I was enjoying it. Many of my friends whose reading opinion I trust DNF'd it and hated it, so I admit, I expected to hate it too.

But I didn't. I rather enjoyed it. I didn't love it, but I didn't rage-quit it either. I liked the premise of the book, the characters felt real (I wasn't fond of the parents' abandonment of their daughter, especially after said daughter had attempted suicide. Yeah, abandoning her after that suicide attempt is going to make her feel SO much better. I get that if the parents were present and loving, that it would make it difficult for the teen characters to do what they were doing, I get its a trope of these types of books, but I HATE it. Back to the review.) and the danger felt real enough, though there was a bit of Deus ex Machina going on and not a lot was explained, to the characters or to the reader, but from what I understand, much is explained in the second book, so I don't mind. As long as I know the answers are coming, I'll keep reading.

The only thing other than the selfish parents that I didn't like was the lack of religion and God in the book. Yes, I know most YA books don't have that in them, but it makes no sense to me that there is this HUGE BIG BAD EVIL, but no equally big and powerful good. It takes teenage kids putting themselves into danger without an equally powerful force behind them to save the day. Granted, the ghosts aren't being portrayed as demons, they are being portrayed as humans who have died and continued on their evil ways, but there are very few ghosts on the "good" side. The thought is that the good ones pass on to the next life, but the bad ones stay behind to make life miserable for the living.

So I don't agree with the portrayal of the afterlife in this, but it is inventive and it kept my attention.

This is one of those books that I would recommend for YA on up, definitely. It is dark, there is violence against teens by evil ghosts, a suicide attempt that is bloody and mentioned multiple times, dead people described rather gruesomely and one of the MC's has visions of her sister doing horrible things to their friends and that sister does have a rather sick trophy case of a specific body part, though not parts provided by their friends. Also trespassing, absent parental figures and a police officer authority figure who isn't very professional add to the feeling of lack of respect for authority. I know, I know, teens go through that rebellious phase and this speaks to that, I was once a rebellious teen myself, but I felt I should mention it.

I did love the bond between the sisters and there was more than just one other female character and while one was the stereotypical mean girl, it rang true to me. Also, NO LOVE TRIANGLE. One of the guys was legit JUST a friend with the MC. So props for that.

3.5 stars, rounded down to 3, for the reasons listed above. It's well written, I will read the next one and I think most YA readers will enjoy it.

I was very excited about this book when I initially heard about it, but when I began researching the books before picking this one up I realized that the series was cancelled before it was finished. I've seen multiple reviews of book 2 demanding a third book because there's so much story left to tell. I don't want to jump into a book that doesn't have an ending that satisfies people. That's a really hard thing to deal with! Thanks so much for the opportunity.

Lark is able to see her dead sisters ghost. Her sister died when she was born. Now Lark and Wren must help their friends be saved from an evil spirit.

What made me pick this book up:
The cover, because it was so hauntingly beautiful

What did I like about the cover:
I like faces on my covers, and the faces on this cover, or face I suppose, since it's the same face. Are stunning. I love the split and the difference in hair and skin color. I think as a female, I tend to gravitate more towards covers with females on them.

What made me read this book:
It's been on my TBR for a long while now. And I got a copy on my kindle. I told Jenn to pick 3 books for me to read asap and this was one of them.

What did I like the most:
Okay, so, from the first page of this book I was completely enthralled. The idea of twin sisters where one was a ghost is interesting. I liked the ghost twin (Wren) better, but they were both pretty awesome. The story was different, I was afraid it would be demonic, but in the end it was just ghosts. It had me on the edge of my seat and I just kept wanting to read it.

What didn't I like:
There was a few times when the characters got a little whiny. I know they were used to being together their whole lives (Or death in Wren's case?) and the thought of being apart hurt them, but they just kept talking about how they couldn't be apart. Just a bit annoying. But it wasn't bad enough that I didn't want to read it.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes! I just got the second book on my kindle, and I know Jenn has read her other series, Long Live the Queen by Kate Locke.

Overall... This book was great. I read it quickly, but not because it was a quick read, but because I could not put it down. Characters were good, it was well written and it put me on the edge of my seat.

A Little Snippet:
“My knee struck a tree root as my vision went black. Suddenly, I was in a building at Haven Crest, kneeling on the floor. Blood, thick and clotted like canned cherries, crept down the walls. The lights above my head flickered off then on with a menacing hum.” ― Kady Cross, Sisters of Blood and Spirit