Review: The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

Title: The Weight of Souls

Author: Bryony Pearce

Genre: YA, urban fantasy, Egyptian mythology

Publication date: August 2013

Published by: Strange Chemistry - ANGRY ROBOT Ltd

Source: The publishers via Netgalley (thanks!)

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Synopsis:

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

My rating: ★★★★★
This book was pure awesomeness! And I found myself to be pleasantly surprised with it :)

I love ghost stories, and I thought that's what I was getting when I requested to review this book... And I did get that, but there was something more to the story that really surprised me: Egyptian mythology! I absolutely ADORE mythology and was beyond excited when I read about this in the book! I thought it just tied in so perfectly with the story and with Taylor's ability. Speaking of which, the idea of Taylor seeing ghosts and them marking her so that she can transfer the mark to their killer so the Darkness can claim them... *takes deep breath* totally brilliant! I absolutely loved the idea of it! This is what captured my attention in the first place (the mythology was just a plus!) The one thing that's not so cool? If Taylor doesn't transfer the mark to the killer on time, the Darkness will come and claim her! Yikes! No pressure, right?

Switching onto another note, can I just say that those kids at school are just cruel?! Man, the things they do for their stupid club... It's so unbelievable! And then there's Justin... I actually ended up really like him by the end :) He can be really great if he tries. Underneath all that jerkness you'll find a really sweet guy. And Justin's killer? Wow, just wow. I was totally shocked, yet at the same time I was not. I mean you can expect anything from... the killer.

So, overall, I really enjoyed the story, with its mystery and suspenseful ending that practically had me biting my nails! I loved all the ghostly stuff and the mythology goodness and cannot wait to know what will happen with Justin and Taylor next!

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a comment! :)