Review: Texas Gothic (Goodnight Family #1) by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Title: Texas Gothic

Series: Goodnight Family #1

Author: Rosemary Clement-Moore

Genre: YA, mystery, paranormal

Publication date: July 2011

Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Source: Owned paperback

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Synopsis:

Amy Goodnight knows that the world isn't as simple as it seems—she grew up surrounded by household spells and benevolent ghosts. But she also understands that "normal" doesn't mix with magic, and she's worked hard to build a wall between the two worlds. Not only to protect any hope of ever having a normal life.

Ranch-sitting for her aunt in Texas should be exactly that. Good old ordinary, uneventful hard work. Only, Amy and her sister, Phin, aren't alone. There's someone in the house with them—and it's not the living, breathing, amazingly hot cowboy from the ranch next door.

It's a ghost, and it's more powerful than the Goodnights and all their protective spells combined. It wants something from Amy, and none of her carefully built defenses can hold it back.

This is the summer when the wall between Amy's worlds is going to come crashing down.

My rating: ★★★★☆
Amy and her older sister Phin are ranch-sitting for one of their aunts. However, they soon find themselves being haunted by a ghost in the house—and it’s not their late Uncle Burt. But not only that, the girls are also thrown into the middle of a potential murder AND a treasure hunt! Believe it or not, all of this is connected, and it was really fun to see how it all fit together.

One thing I absolutely loved about this book was the magical aspect it had and how they used their magic. It was very fun and different. I just loved the unique interpretation on magic and how it felt so natural and organic, if that makes sense.

Phin insisted that what she did was all chemistry and smarts, but the lines were more fluid than simply magic versus ESP. The Goodnights were supernaturally talented, like some families were gifted musically. Most of us had at least a tiny psychic sensitivity—even I got hunches— and most of us could follow a recipe for a spell. (Yes, me too.) But each had some specialty. For psychics it was an ability they developed. For the magical ones, they gravitated to some type of spell, like an artist chose paint or clay or marble. Mom called it an affinity.

The story was also very interesting. The mystery behind who this ghost actually is and what they want, and oh my god is there an actual treasure hidden somewhere on the land?!

Another aspect I loved was that the whole family and extended family is made up of witches and psychics and that they are just super close. All the characters in this book were great, actually! First of all, the cute neighbor boy who started out being infuriating and kind of a jerk, ended up being really sweet! I really liked him—most of the time ;) As for our protagonist Amy, she was great! She is level-headed, and the one in the family to run interference when things get too weird.

Maybe being the gatekeeper was my affinity. The paranormal touched people’s lives even if they didn’t realize it. Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was bad, mostly the Goodnights tried to make sure it was good. I needed to run interference for them so they could do that.

Amy never really considered herself to be a witch or psychic with a particular ability, just the mediator in her family. But those beliefs are put to the test along with how she views magic relative to herself.

And then Amy’s sister Phin... she was so funny! She is super smart (especially when it comes to magic), but kinda clueless when it comes to other things (such as romance). I found it very intriguing how Phin mixed magic with science and how she sort of explained magic in a science-y way. That was very interesting.

We also see a bit of one of their cousins, Daisy. She is the ghost expert in the family, and I was particularly excited about seeing her in this because we will get to see her in her own story, her own book, in the sequel/companion book!

But overall, I really enjoyed this read! I loved this world, the setting, the characters, and all the intertwined mysteries. Not to mention my complete love for all things magical! This one was great!

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! :)