Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison
Published by EgmontUSA
Publish Date: February 12, 2013
336 Pages
Source: Borrowed/NetGalley
They say first love never dies…
From critically acclaimed author Kate Ellison comes a heartbreaking mystery of mental illness, unspoken love, and murder. When sixteen-year-old artist Olivia Tithe is visited by the ghost of her first love, Lucas Stern, it’s only through scattered images and notes left behind that she can unravel the mystery of his death.
There’s a catch: Olivia has gone colorblind, and there’s a good chance she’s losing her mind completely—just like her mother did. How else to explain seeing (and falling in love all over again with) someone who isn’t really there?
With the murder trial looming just nine days away, Olivia must follow her heart to the truth, no matter how painful. It’s the only way she can save herself. -(from Goodreads)
by Kate Ellison
My Thoughts: I tend to become very nervous when I read mystery/thriller books because they usually make me feel very nervous. I bite my nails and grip the arm of my chair. Sometimes I make weird faces and my heart typically beats pretty fast when things get all thriller-y. But I do read them at times (YAY for being a well-rounded reader) because every now and then I find one that jumps out at me. This is how I came to read Notes From Ghost Town.
First, I saw the cover, which is eye-catching. Then, I noticed the tag-line on the cover, which happens to be similar to the first line in the book summary: “They say first love never dies…” I love books about first love, so even though it was outside of my norm, I decided to give it a try. And I liked it!
Olivia Tithe and Lucas Stern are best friends.
There is a moment the two of them share just before Liv heads back to school – a kiss – but when Stern walks away, it is not on the best of terms. Liv is not happy and Stern is not happy. Neither realize that is the last time they will see each other alive. There are things unsaid, feelings left unspoken.
Then someone kills Lucas Stern.
Over the course of the next few months, Liv changes. She becomes sad, depressed. She doesn’t want to create art anymore. One night at one of her father’s business parties, Liv steals a bottle of alcohol and drinks way too much. She goes swimming out in the ocean. She swims out as far out as she can and then she hears Stern’s voice. Suddenly hands are pulling her to shore and – it’s Stern! Liv thinks she’s gone crazy, or she’s drunk, or something, but…no, it’s definitely Stern. And begins to visit her regularly.
Stern wants to help Liv find his real killer and prove her mother’s innocence. Wait, what? Let’s back up.
As Liv digs deeper – with Stern’s ghostly help – stuff starts to happen. Dangerous stuff. It’s almost like somebody doesn’t want the truth to come out and her mother to be set free. But why?
Liv knows she is onto something big, something that could help prove her mother’s innocence, but she isn’t sure she has enough time and no one is willing to help her. But Liv perseveres, even as crazier and crazier things keep getting thrown her way, and she proves herself time and time again. Just as Liv is down to hours left before the trial, she finds something real – real information she can use. BUT…if she can’t get out of this tight, dangerous, life-threatening spot she’s in before Miriam goes to trial, all of her hard work will be for nothing and her mother will certainly go to prison.
Through all of this, Liv wonders, though, if maybe everyone might be right – could she be showing the signs of schizophrenia too, just like her mother? Her behavior is erratic. She is exhibiting some of the signs, like paranoia. If she continues to push so hard for her mother’s innocence, will she also be pushing people into thinking she is like her mother? Oh gracious, is she like her mother? Liv is so confused and she barely knows what is real and what is not, who is lying and who is telling the truth…
As I began to read Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison, the first thing that really struck me was the language and writing of this author. This book flowed so well, with such lovely words. It felt romantic and it felt emotional. Ellison’s use of language worked well to set the mood of whatever scene was taking place, and I appreciated that so much as a lover of a beautifully crafted words and as a person that gets a bit nervous with thrillers. In the hands of this writer, I did not too feel nervous about what was taking place in the story because the elegance of her words carried me.
I also felt this overwhelming sense of romance and loss throughout this mystery story. Liv has such strong, beautiful feelings for this boy that she has lost. She feels his absence so deeply, in every single aspect of her life. Liv also feels the weighty absence of her mother in every way – it’s not because her mother is no longer living, but because her mother is in prison (wrongfully imprisoned, Liv believes). Because these two things are connected, the emotion and the weight that they carry in this story is heavy and strong, and I soaked that up as a reader. No matter what part of the story I was reading or which characters were in the scenes, I was always aware of Stern and Miriam out there somewhere, because the effect they had on at least one of the characters in each of the scenes.
Notes From Ghost Town is a character-driven book, and there are more than just a few great characters. Besides the obvious – Liv and Stern – each character adds his or her own flair to the story. As is often the case, some are good guys and some are bad guys – we just don’t figure out which are the “bad” guys right away. There are a couple of scene-stealers thrown in there that are worth looking for: Austin Morse is a handsome and wealthy prep school boy with his eyes on Liv. He tries to win her heart even though her heart still belongs to Stern. He’s certainly one to watch and he makes the book very interesting. Another fantastic addition to this cast is a homeless lady named Medusa. Medusa lives in the dunes, among the piers, wherever she chooses – but she sees and watches everything and speaks very little. She is one of those people that – when she does choose to talk, you better pay attention.
Another thing that I loved about this book is the use of color. The color grey is a huge, huge recurring theme since Liv is colorblind for much of the book. Liv talks about or mentions color often because she has trouble discerning it and because she misses it so. As an emerging artist, color would have been a huge love in her life, so when she becomes colorblind (near the beginning of the book), she feels the loss of color tremendously. I love the details of color that are written in – the color of an article of clothing here, the color of a house there, and so on – because they are reminders of this part of Liv’s life and personality that are missing, just like Stern, just like her mother. Her colorblindness begins to affect other parts of her life – for example, she doesn’t eat because grey foods aren’t appetizing, so she loses weight.
I don’t want to give the impression that there are not thrilling parts in the story, because there is one doozy of a thriller section tucked away in there at the end. It had me reeling for a second – it’s where the big reveal took place and WHOA, it was kinda big. Once it got going, I realized I had figured out the WHO (high fives to me!) but I never would have figured out all of the circumstances around the murder, like the why and all of that. But that one scene: crazy.
Notes From Ghost Town is a book that has so many emotions on the inside for the type of book that it is – there is heartbreaking sadness and sorrow, but there is also hope as the book progresses and comes to an end. There are parts that did indeed have me wide-eyed and wondering who killed Stern, but the road to getting there is one that was very enjoyable for me. There are a few details that are a little bit confusing and I wonder why they were included – To be honest, I do find myself feeling this way often when I read stories in this genre so I am not sure if this will be a common feeling with this book or if it is just me. I think that in terms of mystery stories, this reads better than most – perhaps better than I’ve read before – and I think that this has a lot to do with the fact that it has a lovely language and that it feels very contemporary in its delivery.
Ultimately, I am happy that the book ends on a positive and hopeful note. Most of all, I am thrilled that Kate Ellison made me realize that books in this genre can be written beautifully. I won’t say that I am cured of my nervousness about mystery/thriller books, but I will say that I’m gonna give the Ellison’s other book, The Butterfly Clues, a read very soon.
I recommend this book for fans of romance and first love stories, mystery/thrillers, YA paranormal with ghosts, and people who enjoy reading books about mental issues.
Romance: No triangle, First love
Great CharacterizationBeautiful Writing
Issues: Mental Illness
Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison
Do you enjoy mystery/thrillers?
I liked this one a lot!
About Asheley
Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.
You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.
Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!
Gosh, I am kind of kicking myself for not requesting this from ATWAT now! I love that cover, it's really beautiful. I might have to add that to my Pinterest Cover Love board:)
I have always liked mystery/ thrillers and am usually a fan of a ghost story. But it's your description of the beautiful, flowing writing that really captures my attention.
I haven't read anything by this author yet but I think I will try to check this one out when it releases. Lovely review:)
You are reading Delirium!! THAT'S super exciting!:))
Yes! I finally started Delirium since the end of the trilogy is soon! I've waited such a long time!
And yes, the lovely writing is what made this book stand out in this genre for me. The story is great but the writing is atmospheric and flowing and embracing, and I just loved it. It was perfect for this story because of all of the emotions behind the first love and the absence of Liv's mother – the writing was what connected everything together to nothing was disjointed. It made it palatable for me where oftentimes mystery/thrillers can sometimes be clunky. I hope you like this one. 🙂
Wow, this sounds AMAZING. Awesome review, Asheley! A friend just picked this up for me from ALA MW–I tend to like mysteries so I was curious, but I really didn't have any expectations. After reading your review, I'm now really looking forward to it.
P.S. I linked to your plagiarism post on the one I did earlier this week as well.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
Wow, Wendy, thanks for linking to my post! I'll have to check out yours. The plagiarism has been all too rampant lately.
That's awesome that you got a copy of this from ALA MW. I think not having expections is perfect when going into this one because you will enjoy it much better – but I WILL say that it was so very refreshing to have a mystery/thriller that was so much like a contemporary about first love that was also written beautifully. So many of the thrillers that I've written with mysteries in them are so 'exciting' and don't have a beautiful flow to them, but this one does. It was like floating, which made it so easily digestable and makes me eager to go back and read The Butterfly Clues by this same author. I felt like it was like a breath of fresh air in this particular genre. I enjoyed it so much. Hope you do as well. 🙂
I got so excited about this book I couldn't even finished reading your review (what I read is as great as always!)…I. Must. Have. This. Book…NOW!
Well go get it and read it! I'd love to see what you think of it. I loved it to pieces.
Hmmm…thinking I need to add this one to my TBR list. Thanks for your thoughts on this one!
This was such an interesting story, Carrie. I'd love for you to read it and let me know what you think. Books like these tend to tear my nerves to pieces but this one just…didn't. I thought it was great.
I'm pretty sure I never would have thought of reading this had I not read your review. I'm really picky when it comes to paranormal-type books because of certain series that shall not be named here! But this sounds pretty stinkin' awesome. And I looove first love books. It sounds like there are a lot of dimensions to this book and to the characters, something I feel like is sometimes lacking in thrillers (though I do love them when I read them). I will definitely be looking into this one. Thanks for review it, Asheley, you've convinced me that I need a copy. 🙂
I really love first love books too. YES, there are several dimensions to this book, which is one of the things I really liked about it. It wasn't difficult to keep up with. Not too complex, I mean. It was just a good story with some really interesting characters and some neat twists. The big reveal was a little bit of a humdinger, but the rest of it was almost like a contemporary. For example, there were several times that I forgot that Stern was a ghost because his character seemed so real. Plus I liked the way this author handled the mental illness issue. I'm going to go back and read her first book, The Butterfly Clues.
Okay…before I read your review, can I just tell you how much this cover makes me laugh? I'm sure it's inappropriate, but it totally looks like she's doing that thing that kids do where they rap their arms around themselves so it looks like you're making out with someone from the back. LOLZ.
I kind of love character driven thrillers, for me, it can seem so much more intense when I've developed a connection. Also I cannot imagine going color blind–does that happen? I've known people who always were, and that's one thing, but to have that color and lose it, particularly as an artist–I can't imagine. I have The Butterfly Clues and have really been meaning to read it, so I'm glad to hear this one's good too!
You just made me laugh too!
I don't know about GOING color-blind – the way it happens in this book, you certainly have to suspend your belief a little bit, I think. But if you have no trouble doing that (I don't) then it only adds to the story. In real life, I also have only heard of people that have always been color-blind.
If you read this one, I'd definitely be interested in your opinion because you always are so good at analyzing books on a deeper level than I do. You always have such a great perspective. I enjoyed the intensity of this book definitely because of the character-driven-ness of it, the emotion, etc.
I've actually read The Butterfly Clues, and I thought the writing was really good. It was an interesting premise, and the story creeped me out while I read it – but in a way that I could handle. I'm pretty intrigued by this one and hopefully, I get to read it soon!
I hope you get to read it soon, too, and I hope you like it. And I seriously want to get to The Butterfly Clues.
Wow this sounds pretty outside of my normal realm of books, but it also sounds fascinating! The mental illness and colorblind aspects also sound really interesting. Wonderful review! I'll have to add this to my TBR list!
That's great, Amanda! I hope you like it. I thought it was really neat and I'm hoping to read The Butterfly Clues soon. 🙂
This book sounds really great! I'd actually never heard of it before I saw it here. Although it freaks me out, books with mental illness themes combined with suspense always fascinate me. I will definitely be adding this to my TBR.
I hope you like this one! It was outside of what I normally read, but I enjoyed it more than I normally do books like this. It had such a nice language to it that I found myself trusting the author where normally with the mystery/thriller-y type books I get really nerve-y from the beginning and stay that way until the end, even if I enjoy the story. This one had a contemporary feel to it despite the fact that there was a ghost involved, and I love how much color played a role (I always love that in books because it is always so visual.)
The mental illness theme has good resolution in the end, so with this on your TBR, don't let it freak you out too much. Expect to be okay in the end.
I've never heard of this book before so I loved being able to read your review without any preconceptions of what others have thought, etc. I like the cover but it kinda looked like when kids wrap their arms like that to make it look like they're making out with someone. And now I can't see anything but that hahah!
So, anyway, back on track.
I'm really not into many paranormal books, especially when it involves someone seeing or talking to ghosts. HOWEVER, that being said, you've made me really curious about this one. I really loved that you said there was a pervading sense of "romance and loss" – as well as the role the absence of Stern and Liv's mother play into the story. This actually sounds like a lovely read in a way. And despite being a thriller, it sounds like it's well-paced. I hate sometimes how thriller feels like it's full steam ahead the whole way through. I could actually see myself reading this one! I'm so glad you reviewed it 🙂
That first paragraph made me laugh! I didn't think about that until you someone pointed it out and everytime I see the cover now I bust out laughing because it is so true!! HAHA
You really said exactly what I wanted to say in one shorter paragraph. Thriller-y books make me nervous because of the full-steam ahead-ness of them (that's why I haven't picked up Gone Girl yet, eek) and that just tears my nerves up because I am *usually* a slow reader for the most part. But the romance and loss was so eloquently written, and the paranormal aspect almost felt like a contemporary (I love it when authors can make their stories feel contemporary when they are not). I kind of feel like I was trying to make the story pace faster than it really was, and the language and pacing that the author had created was slowing me down (in a very good way). I think that was my nervousness about reading a book like this, and I found it really soothing and refreshing and it made me feel really at ease with this author, so I immediately grabbed her other book, The Butterfly Clues.
Also, like I mentioned to Lauren, I love the use of color throughout this book. I always love when books "feel" a certain color to me, and this one felt different colors in different places. That may sound crazy, but I loved that a lot. It was just different than most books I've read within this genre and I find that I will seek out this author's work now, especially if The Butterfly Clues ends up making me feel similarly.
I get really nervous when I read outside of the genres that I love, but this was a really good experience for me.