DISAPPROVE.
I'm serious, this should be a YA book set in high school, not a middle-grade fiction book set in middle school. CONTENT, Mr. Anderson. You need to learn the difference between a middle-grade fiction level of content and a YA level of content.
Actually, come to think of it, I've never read a YA book with higher content levels than this. Closest I've come is Goodbye, Mr. Terupt. I... can't say I want to read YA fiction, if it's like this.
Now, the story wasn't terrible, once you strip away the lame parts. But it wasn't good enough for me to give it a better rating; I have a special dislike for books with content like this being stashed in the junior fiction section at the library. As I said at the top of the post, I DISAPPROVE.
So if you like mildly scary and tense ghost stories, and don't mind swearing and random sprinkles of T15+ content... go ahead, read it. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: T15+ for swearing, mostly profanity, mostly by the main character. Also for some suggestive-ish content. Not a book I'll be rereading. Non est liber bonus. It's not a good book.
This book gets 1 star, joining only Time Cat and Dungeon Academy: No Humans Allowed in receiving that pointless trophy of shame.
(Endnote: It did name-check those Indian ghosts with the backwards feet, though.)
Oh no! NOT the Indian ghosts with backward feet! So freaky!
ReplyDeleteAnd now you see why I have warned you to only pick up YA books that I have at least a bit of knowledge about. Some are going to be fine -- like my books, the later Harry Potter books, Gillian Bronte Adams -- and some are going to be absolute trash that should be marketed to adults, except the characters are under 21, so they market it to teens instead.
When in doubt, ask me about an author and I can tell you if I have read anything about them or by them, or if I can find out about them. I have a vast network of readers at my beck and call who are also concerned about appropriate books for appropriate ages.
Yeeeeaaaaah. Will do.
DeleteThat's the way you learn at the "school of hard knocks", It's not a pleasant experience at all, is it? It's sad that you can't trust the rating system any better than that! Grammy
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's entirely the library system's fault; they don't exactly have time to read every book they choose, so it would make sense if they just placed them based on what the publisher says.
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