It’s nearly always a good thing when one of your only complaints about a book is “I wanted more”. I say nearly, because I have read some stinkers where the main thing wrong was that the author didn’t actually do the work of fleshing out the world and the characters. Here, that’s not the problem. It’s pretty clear from reading this that the author did his work. It’s a concise YA horror story about a young man who can see ghosts (among other abilities), and one particular ghost has decided to make Jake’s life a living hell. I just happen to think it would have been better with a hundred more pages to really delve deep into the characters and how the things in “dead world” really worked.
We actually get two types of POV: one from Jake in the present day as he explains how his powers work, and the increasingly freaky circumstances he finds himself in, that started with the murder of his neighbor and end with a ghost hunting him. The second POV is from the ghost, except mostly we only hear from him before he died in the form journal entries, which illuminate his mental state at his time of death, and give us a hint as to Why He Is The Way He Is, without excusing his behavior (which is terrifying and exhausting for Jake).
Jake is also dealing with typical teenager things—typical queer, introvert teenage things to be specific—on top of his metaphysical troubles: family, friends, crushes, bullies. All of that is handled with impressive nuance, considering this book clocks in at less than 250 pages.
I would definitely read from this author again.
