City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

**We were fortunate enough to pick up an advanced copy of City of Ghosts at BookCon this year. We’d like to thank Victoria and Scholastic for the opportunity. This book comes out on August 28th and you can get it here.**

What I drank prior: A bottle and a half of wine. We had our first true Doctor night in a while. It was glorious.

Spoiler-free Overview: so my lady Cassidy is minding her own damn business, listening to her bff Jacob who happens to be a ghost, and her folks, who happen to be fake ghost hunters #ironic. They’re on set in Scotland and bad ghost shit starts happening.

Spoiler-free Thoughts: I adored this much more than I thought I would. Just the craft of bringing in the right level of spooky for the middle grade reader (or just shy of 30 and doesn’t like horror) is amazing.

Characters: Cassidy is wonderful. Just an amazing preteen girl who just wants to figure out where she belongs. Her best friend Jacob is awesome. He may have his secrets but his comic relief is on point. I found myself snorting out loud a some of his jokes. There’s also our other friend but I’ll shut up about that cause spoilery reasons but I LOVE HER TOO.

Plot: It’s middle grade. It’s fast paced and intense and partially predictable but also brilliant. I love it.

World Building: loook. What I love about this series is that you learn with Cassidy. And not in a “oh my gosh this whole new world!” Pretty princess magic way but in a “you have to know unless you’ll die” way. I want to know more but only as she does. And that’s perfectly fine with me.

What to pair it with: Scottish whiskey. Duh.

Rating: 4/5 shots

COMMENT DOWN BELOW: What is your favorite Schwab? Victoria or VE? Me? I can’t decide.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,
Sam