City of Ghosts

Cassidy Blake knows what it's like to pass into the world of the dead. The Veil reaches out to her, calling for her to witness the final moments of ghosts trapped in time. Alongside her ghost best friend, Jacob, Cassidy navigates both the worlds of the living and the dead. When her parents have the opportunity to explore haunted cities for their new TV show, Cassidy tags along. But their first destination, Edinburgh, Scotland is a city filled with unsettled spirits. When one known as the Red Raven catches sight of Cassidy in the Veil, she fixates on stealing Cassidy’s life to walk among the living once more.

Cassidy is a character filled with curiosity about the unknown. And while her parents spin tales of ghosts to entertain their viewers, there is a difference between believing in the old stories and Cassidy being able to see ghosts. Jacob on the other hand is ironically a ghost who does not enjoy scary situations. But being Cassidy’s best friend means he’s along for every single encounter with fellow spirits and has to hear about the chilling tales from Cassidy’s parents. Jacob’s quips and smart remarks certainly help to break the tension at key moments throughout the story.

As they ventured from one haunted site to another, Victoria Schwab painted the picture of a historical and haunted Edinburgh in wonderful detail. Being able to observe Cassidy’s parents filming their haunted TV show allowed readers to be introduced to ghost stories from Edinburg without using large drops of information. They are just enough detail for Cassidy when she traversed the veil to see the spirits. And oftentimes her parent’s stories would start the ramp-up of tension that would then amplify as Cassidy witnessed firsthand the ghosts they spoke about.

City of Ghosts is the perfect starting point for young readers and even adults who are interested in ghost stories. There is just enough of a spooky feeling and close encounters to draw readers in but not overwhelm them. Cassidy's friendship with Jacob also has a wonderful comedic relief and their back and forth banter adds a charming touch to the story. This is a fast-paced, enjoyable read and a great series to start during October. I highly recommend this to fans of ghost stories.

I love Victoria's writing. This is the second book by her that I have read and I loved it just as much as the other one!

Y'all can thank me, I sold my soul so we can get more Victoria Schwab books in 2018.

Anyways, I have a vague sense that I read this book somewhere before. Perhaps in another book by Schwab. Cough [b:The Archived|10929432|The Archived (The Archived, #1)|Victoria Schwab|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338729878l/10929432.SX50.jpg|15846509] cough. But there's no Mackenzie and Wesley and it wasn't as good, which is a shame.

Also it's probably a three star book, but my future children's first words are probably gonna be “Victoria Schwab” so I added a bonus star just for that.

I looooved the atmosphere of this book, all dark and dusky but the characters were so bright. It was a fun little read :)

I'll read just about any fun ghost YA book, especially when it's from one of my favourite authors, and this did not disappoint. It's not exactly an original idea but the story and characters were really fun. This is definitely a book for the younger reader but, coming from someone walking up that hill, can be enjoyed by all ages. The only issue I was the constant background explainers on language differences (readers from the UK will most likely find this even more annoying than this Anglophile American did) and the constant references to Harry Potter.
This had the same feel as Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and Neverwhere, and a new podcast out of Scotland (though older than this book's release) The MIddle Below so check those out if you haven't yet but enjoyed this book.

This was amazing! A very nice and simple read but engaging enough to keep me going. Can't wait to continue the story. More of Jacob's story please 😄

I was looking for a good spooky book for October and heard about the second book in this series being published so I grabbed this one from the library. I loved it! The characters and the premise of the story are well thought out and I loved feeling like I was visiting Scotland through the story. If you are looking for a spooky, suspenseful story with an interesting twist, this is a great choice!

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab is a middle school, paranormal novel and the first book in the Cassidy Black series. Cassidy must go to Edinburgh, Scotland when her parents, ghost hunters, get a TV show. Her parents can't see ghosts but Cass can. Ever since her drowning Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the ghost but she is not alone. She is joined by her best friend Jacob, the ghost who saved her that day in the river. In Edinburgh Cass meets Lara, a girl that can also see the dead, and learns she has a lot more responsibility but can Cass keep herself safe in a city with many more ghost, a veil grabbing at her, and an evil woman in red known to snatch children's life force.

I am not the intended age group however, ten-year-old me ate this up. I loved reading the way the Scottish history and superstitions were spun into the story. Schwab does a great job with the book's atmosphere. It felt as if Edinburgh was another character and the description of the Veil left me with a vivid picture of the in-between. Schwab was able to make a creepy, chilling setting without being gruesome. Also, through their interactions, rules, and secrets, I really enjoyed Cassidy's relationship with her best friend, Jacob.

My negative, there is a great deal of background before the subplot takes over. The story falls into the first book in a series flaw, a slow beginning and an over too soon ending but I still found myself invested. The end gifts the reader with nagging little questions about what haunted city setting could possibly be next (I have my mind set on Paris) and the ending's ominous undertone with certain characters.

I enjoyed this novel as an adult reader but if you know middle school readers with a pension for ghost stories, look no farther then City of Ghosts.

Overall I really did enjoy this book and plan on continuing the series. I liked how easily we got to experience the city with her. I feel like this could be easily made to a great movie. My big gripe is that sometimes I felt like Cassidy had a ~i'm not like other girls~ attitude which I don't like reading about regardless of the targeted age demographic.

I don't know why I didnt put this as read, but okay.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. It was so incredibly good and I was so so excited when I found out that there would be a second book.

The story was so interesting with a lot of historical elements. Also, ghost stories? Yes please.

First read of the year.
A bit unrealistic to my taste, I'm not much into fantasy anymore, but since I'm obsessed with the paranormal, I had to give it a try.
Recommend it if you, like me, are a paranormal lover.

My rate: 3,5 ⭐️

A fun fast paced but too short adventure

This is my third book by Victoria Schwab. I've read her adult book Shades of Magic, her YA book The Savage Song and now her middle grade book City of Ghosts. This book was a fun and fast paced read, I found the characters interesting and the setting Edinburgh, Scotland delightful (I want to see it now minus the ghosts). I wish th book was longer though, it felt too short and I thought we could have seen more of Lara and the city. I will check out the next book in the series

As soon as I started reading this book, I knew it was for me. Ghosts, near-death experiences, and adventures in Scotland?Count me in.


👻The full review is up on my blog!👻

MY RATING: almost 4 spooky ghosts 👻👻👻👻
Overall, it was a nice book, but because I felt like there was something missing the whole time and it was a bit short for my taste, I'm giving it 3.75 stars (almost 4, but not quite).

MY THOUGHTS:
This book was a nice combination of cute and creepy: the characters were likeable, and the premise was spooky enough to count as either an October read or a Summer read (since it was set in June).

I loved the idea of Cassidy's best friend being a ghost, and I also loved her relationship with Jacob in general. That's best friend material right there!

But while I did like the overall story, I felt like the plot execution was a bit too short for me. I needed more descriptions, more narration and detail.

For example, I wanted a few more scenic descriptions when Cass and her family arrived in Scotland. I visited Edinburgh a few months ago, to almost every place where Cass visited in the story, and I felt like the narration didn't quite do it justice. If you've just read (or want to read) City of Ghosts and are having a hard time imagining Edinburgh, here are some of my personal pictures for visual aid! (You can see more of these pictures on my blog)



In the end, this was a perfect little book for me to read quickly during the Fall season. It was definitely more of a Middle Grade book, as the main characters are all in their tweens, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book in the series!

A short read with fun characters and an intriguing storyline. Maybe a little creepy for young readers.

IM GONNA THROW UP I LOVED THIS BOOK ARGGGSGDHDJFJ

This is a quick and fun read. I thought it was a perfect book for the spooky fall season.

It wasn't mind-blowing and out of this word but it was definitely clever and entertaining. I can't wait to get to the next book!

3 stars Okay, so this book isn't bad, but I'm kinda disappointed :/ I know it's middle grade fiction but I expected SO much more from V.E. Schwab. The writing is beautiful, but I felt like the plot lacked depth.

Enjoyable spooky Fall read. I liked the characters and premise. Good start to a new series but looking forward to more story and character development as the series progresses.

i really, really wanted to like this because i love ve schwab but this one really fell short. it could be because it is a middle grade book that all my favourite complexities of a schwab world was missing, as it kind of felt like a general outline of a great schwab story. i felt no connection to any of the characters and really didn't care what happened to them, and the plot wasn't interesting at all. BUT for the intended demographic (children ages 8-11), this could be a really fun ~spooky~ read. it could be that i was just simply... too old for this book. definitely will not be picking up the sequel unfortunately :(

my first audiobook ever! it was a lot of fun listening to this at night in the dark lol

i've decided to adopt jacob, yes, he's my son now. i won't be accepting any questions at this time

A fun ghost story! My one quibble is that Cassidy's narration of learning British words for things seemed very middle-grade Fancy Nancy and I got annoyed! (Portcullis is fancy for spiky door!!) But overall an enjoyable read.

3.5/5

The Wild Thornberrys meets The Sixth Sense, with Harry Potter references.