Cursed Cruise

After their horrific encounter at the Hearst Hotel the Ghost Gang now have over a million subscribers, a manager, and more opportunities. When they get invited to take a cruise on the Queen Anne, a ship with a bloodied past but is now a luxury cruise liner, the gang is excited to investigate and get a little vacation while they're at it. However, from the moment they step on the ship strange things start happening and they soon realize this is like no haunting they've experienced and they don't think they're equipped to handle it.

While this is a sequel to Horror Hotel it can be read as a standalone. Though, I do recommend reading Horror Hotel, not only because it's great but because it gives a lot of backstory to the characters and you'll understand a bit more of what they're going through in Cursed Cruise. I love is all of the characters - Emma, Kiki, Chase, and Chrissy are so lovable in their own way and I love the relationship they have with one another. Told from each of theirs perspective you get to really get to know each character and what motivates and scares them.

This is definitely YA! Getting to read from each 18 year olds perspective you also get to read how each character talks. So there is a lot of new slang (for example “sus” is used instead of suspicious). So there is no mistaken that these are young characters and this is a YA book. Which is completely fine, if at times a bit striking for this millennial. One thing I do love is that these characters aren't trying to act or be portrayed older than they are. Many YA characters always seem to act more adult or be put in more adult situations than many adults I know but these characters are portrayed as typical newly graduated from high school 18 year olds which is refreshing.

And, finally, the plot of this story. I LOVE a good haunted ship story and am always sad that there aren't more movies or books on the subject. The perspective of the ship was a nice touch. There were so many cliques throughout and it touched on many of the haunted ship tropes. I enjoyed how each character was having a different experience but there were also collective experiences that made it undeniable that the ship was haunted. And not only haunted but cursed which added an extra layer of mystery. Some of the descriptions are down right terrifying!

If you're looking for a fun (yet creepy), quick read I recommend this!