Review: Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky

Title: Spookygirl

Author: Jill Baguchinsky

Genre: YA, mystery, paranormal

Publication date: August 2012

Published by: Dutton Juvenile

Source: Own Hardcover

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Buy it: Amazon | Book Outlet | Thrift Books

Synopsis:

Violet Addison can chat with the dead, but what really frightens her is starting her sophomore year at a new school. Still reeling from the loss of her mother, Violet is about find herself in the company of ghosts . . . both playful and deadly evil. Standing at the threshold to an unseen world with newfound friends at her side, only Violet can uncover the truth behind her mother’s death and save the family business--paranormal investigation.

My rating: ★★★★☆
I love a good “I see dead people” sort of ghost story—I just love them! And Spookygirl... it was fantastic!

"Show school spirit? No thanks. I had enough school spirits to deal with already."
--Violet

I guess I should mention that this wasn’t just one ghost story. There were a couple of different ones going on at once. And no, it actually wasn’t overwhelming! The book was so well written that the couple different storylines intertwined perfectly without feeling like there was too much going on. There was the case of the haunted girl’s locker room, the lost painting, and just helping out other stray ghosts along the way... like the one that haunted her dad’s funeral home at the beginning of the book! All this in preparation to tackle the big one—the ghost who killed her mother.

You see, Violet’s mother could also see ghosts and actually started a paranormal investigation company. Violet wants to follow in her footsteps, thus all the ghost hunting/ghost helping. It’s too bad her dad won't even talk about her mom, like, at all. I guess she’ll just have to go at it herself... but with the help of some new friends, of course!

Speaking of, I loved the secondary characters! All the fun, random ghosts Violet encounters on a daily basis, the cute poltergeist pet, the quirky half-vampire (or, you know, that's what he thinks), and the goth girl who I was actually iffy about at first but started to grow on me once Violet started looking for the Black Rose.

As for the climax... it was crazy, but at the same time made me go, “wha?”


I don’t understand how Violet did a thing her mother couldn’t even do. So simple of a thing, really. It was kind of disappointing. But the ending itself was interesting and wrapped things up very nicely.

Spookygirl was a very enjoyable read, overall! It was fun, creepy at times, and even had some humor thrown in for good measure.

"I skipped out of English," [Tim] said, holding up a bathroom pass.
"How long have you been out here?"
"Ten minutes."
"Your teacher's going to think you have some kind of horrible problem."
He shrugged. "If she asks, I'll tell her I went out for Mexican food last night and the refried beans tasted weird."

(The faux seance scene was my favorite! SO funny!) It had fun ghosts, creepy ghosts, and just plain great characters! I very much recommend this! Can you believe I found this at the dollar store?!

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 link to your review or comment below! :)