“Thing about my sister is, when she blows her gasket, hot lava fizzes out, and that sh*t scalds like nothing else. But when that lava cools, our island grows a little larger and we find we have new fertile soil in which to grow our relationship.”
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Ropa our ghost-talker is back! Now she has an official-ish internship with a magical school and she’s ramped up her investigations beyond delivering the messages of the recently deceased. She’s immediately put on a new case where a young boy is in a coma under her friend, Priya’s care. She begins to unravel what may be causing his illness and finds herself embroiled in the politics of an all boys magic school and in pursuit of a dark spirit that is threatening to destroy them all.
Like the first, this story has all sorts of interesting ghosties and unusual magic. Ropa is as kind-hearted, hard working and clever as ever. She will do anything to take care of her family, protect her friends and earn a buck or two in the process. The same beautiful language as the first novel, carries us through this one, the quote above is apropos of nothing, but it just struck me. I love Huchu’s writing style balancing beauty with Scottish street slang. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in Edinburgh so I appreciate his descriptions of the city and the little bits of history we get along the way. My criticism of the first one was that we didn’t get enough of The Library of the Dead in this one, but this time we get some amazing scenes and explanations of the library and its power. Can’t wait for Ropa’s next adventure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks to Netgalley for advanced access to this novel. All opinions above are my own. As you can see, I went on to purchase after reading.
For you ARC/Netgalley reviewers, do you often purchase after reading?
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