The Dead and Buried
by Kim Harrington
Summary: A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.
Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.
Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?
Source: I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review:
I thought The Dead and Buried was a great mixture of horror, mystery, and YA. Jade tried to fit into a new school and make friends, while also dealing with the possibility of a haunted house and unraveling the mystery surrounding the death of said ghost, Kayla. The snippets from Kayla’s diary had a very Gossip Girl feel to it because Kayla was the typical popular mean girl. I loved how the author weaved all of these elements together.
I felt like the synopsis gave a lot of the story away and I thought the element of Kayla haunting the house Jade moved into was given away too soon in the story without a whole lot of guessing. The haunting is pretty run of the mill and uses lots of cliché’s, which didn’t bother me, but I wished the existence of Kayla wasn’t so blatantly obvious from the beginning. However, I was also glad that the story progressed quickly into Jade figuring out who killed Kayla because I found the mystery more interesting and the progression of the mystery led to the escalation of the haunting.
I really liked Jade’s character. I felt like I could relate to her because I’m also 12 years older than my half brother and a lot of the things she felt reminded me of myself. It was just kind of interesting and I felt an immediate kinship with her character because of it. I also loved the way the romance progressed in the book. I loved how Jade wasn’t completely distracted by the potential boyfriends she met and she stayed focused and it progressed slowly. I liked both Donovan and Kane and the slight bit of conflict between them was kind of cool.
My guesses about the potential killer of Kayla were all over the place, so I thought it was unpredictable, but I kind of wish Kayla’s diary was a bigger part of unraveling the mystery from the beginning. I felt like the author did a good job pointing the finger at all of the potential suspects, but instead of feeling like it could’ve been anyone, I wished that I felt like it HAD TO BE someone that it wasn’t. I don’t know. I think the story had the potential to be extremely fun and misleading and it wasn’t really in this aspect.
Overall, I liked The Dead and Buried and I’d recommend it. I thought Jade’s character was awesome and her collection and knowledge of gemstones was really cool. Also, I think the girl on the cover looks almost like Sally from Being Human (US) who is a ghost and even though this observation is irrelevant, I liked it.
The Dead and Buried is available for Kindle:
Labels: Review, YA
