About the Book
-
Author:
- Taylor Munsell
- Genres:
- Fantasy
- Girl-Girl Romance
- Horror
- Voices:
- Black
- Cis Girl
- Lesbian
- Wiccan/Witch
Cover Story: I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Drinking Buddy: I’ll Have a ‘Brew’ With You
MPAA Rating: R (violence, language, adult situations)
Talky Talk: Draft
Bonus Factors: I See Dead People, Dead Buddy
Bromance Status: Catch You On the Flip Side
Cover Story: I Wanna Hold Your Hand
Love the cover here, though the image kind of implies it’s a human/ghost romance, which is not the case. Also, that title will never not remind me of this:
The Deal:
George and her Grandmother run the largest witches’ coven in New England. George will take over one day, though she actually has very little interest in the craft. She’d rather hang out with her buddy Felix and her cranky cat, Jack.
George has a unique talent: whenever she makes physical contact with a person, she gets a detailed, point of view experience of how they’re going to die. And while most people die in bed or a hospital, some people meet violent, painful ends. George, obviously, has a thing about people touching her. Which hasn’t been a problem until recently, when she meets Trixie, a fellow witch. A girl who who seems to see through George’s quirks and phobias to the nice girl inside. Too bad they could never touch under any circumstance.
On top of all this, the older witches in the coven don’t think George is serious and talented enough to take over, and the ghost of Jen, a popular girl who just died in an accident, has started hanging around George.
But then one day, a handsome new boy arrives at school. And he carelessly makes physical contact with George, causing her to see how he will die. And he’ll die soon. Violently. He’s going to be stabbed to death. And because it’s a POV vision, George gets a good look at the young, blue-haired, begloved witch who murders him. It’s her. She’s going to kill this boy.
Why? And can she stop it?
Drinking Buddy: I’ll Have a ‘Brew’ With You
I liked George. Awkward, strange, and potentially powerful, she is also lazy, surly, and scared. She lost her parents years ago. She doesn’t date. She can’t date. It’s a lonely life, and one she can’t escape. On top of all that, she’s destined to be a murderer. I’d like to give her a big hug, but she’d just scream and tell me to avoid climbing ladders when I’m in my 60s.
MPAA Rating: R (violence, language, adult situations)
So what do you do when you realize that you’re not only destined to kill someone, but to brutally stab them over and over? And what do you do when you keep running into this guy, and can’t for the life of your figure out what could set you off? It kind of colors pretty much everything you do.
And how do you tell the first girl you’ve ever truly liked, the first girl who’s ever liked you, that you can’t ever hug or kiss or hold hands? Kind of puts a damper on things.
Talky Talk: Draft
This was one of those book where I wished I could have given the author some suggestions before publication. For instance, the foreshadowing of death was a wonderful idea. I flipped the first few pages, eager to get to the first accidental bump in the hall or pat on the back by a substitute teacher, and the subsequent horrifying vision. But the first evidence we get of George’s ability is when she sees herself murder her new classmate. We need a couple of false starts before the big reveal. Actually, there were only three instances of her power in the book, all major plot points. I think this was a missed opportunity.
Also, George’s coven are all death witches, which means they’re in tune with the other side. And George has the ability to communicate with the dead. But she just ignores them. When Jen mentions how restless the other ghosts are, George suddenly realizes they need her help.
Bonus Factor: I See Dead People
So any time George makes physical contact with someone, she’ll experience their death first hand. And not just imminent death, like in that episode of The Twilight Zone or The Simpsons. No, she sees everyone’s death, even it’ll happen decades from now. She wears gloves, does not shake hands, and does not become close with people.
Can she really go through life, never touching anyone? Wouldn’t it just better to shake hands with Trixie and be done with it? Of course, it’s not a one and done, and she doesn’t want to see Trixie’s last moments every time they hold hands.
Bonus Factor: Dead Best Friend
So George has pretty much only one friend, her buddy Felix, a great guy. She’s used to playing third wheel when he goes on dates. But now Jen has showed up. A popular girl who ignored George in life, she now wants to be BFFs with the only girl who can still see her and talk to her. And, well, George feels she has to be there for her. Talking, counseling, turning magazine pages. At the same time, she can’t acknowledge her in public. But hey, she’ll never ask George to help her move.
Bromance Status: Catch You On the Flip Side
Original premise and likeable characters. Can’t wait to see the next thing this author brings to life (so to speak).
Literary Matchmaking
Rebekah Craine’s Aspen also deals with a girl plagued by a dead popular girl.
Teen Spirit, by Francesca Lia Block, also touches on friendships from the other side.
Death can’t stand in the way of a good friendship in Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
FTC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but no money or extra ranch dressing.
