A Not-So-Paranormal Ghost Story

OMG, A RARE SPECIMEN! COULD IT BE? NO... NO THOSE AREN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST! AND YET... THERE IT IS... THE 7 KISS RATING!

Rating:

7 Kisses: Fair.

Spoilers: No.

Recommended: If you like sort-of-cliche, sort-of-abstract YA ghost novels, then yes. If not, you're probably better off with a different book.

***

C.K. Kelly Martin's My Beating Teenage Heart is a YA paranormal book. But in my opinion, this classification doesn't really fit. When I think of paranormal, I think of haunted houses and black cats and conspiracies. Really, this book is about is a girl (Ashlyn) whose soul has stayed behind on earth and a young man (Breckon) whose life has been completely turned around by the death of his kid sister. There's not much interaction between the two characters; the girl can see the boy, but he doesn't know she's there. In the beginning, the girl can't remember anything about herself, and it deeply disturbs her. However, as she starts to uncover bits of her own past, she is even more alarmed. Though not the most creative or exciting of plots, Martin's characters really add to the story.

Even though my favorite character in this book was Breckon, I still adored Ashlyn and Jules. Maybe the reason was that all the characters are so different. Some authors take other people's templates for "the perfect hero" or "your classic bookworm", but Martin completely events her own personalities. Another reason I loved these characters so much was because they're all so real. Breckon's depression is heartfelt and honest, not fake and forced, Ashlyn's compassion isn't superficial, and Jules' love is true. Thoughtful and friendly at some moments and heartbreakingly sad the next, Breckon Cody is the epitome of the perfect emo guy. He really is. It's honestly adorable and I felt like hugging him the entire time. <3

Maybe My Beating Teenage Heart wasn't the best book on the planet, but it did have its moments. Really the only thing I disliked about it was the placement of suspense- I thought that it was dramatic enough without the constant foreshadowing. Also, it was sort of annoying when Martin randomly switched to Ashlyn's memories. The transitions were a bit off and could've done with a bit more work. But on the whole, I found My Beating Teenage Heart to be a nice and heartwarming light read. (Although my emotions were probably way off on that one. Most people found the book depressing... But they're just missing the point... Well either that, or I am... ._.)

~Ellen~