First Lines: People think that ghosts only come out at night, or on Halloween, when the world is dark and the walls are thin. But the truth is, ghosts are everywhere. In the bread aisle at your grocery store, in the middle of your grandmother’s garden, in the front seat of your bus. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
I’m pretty sure I got this free from Scholastic a few years back as part of an order. It’s more of a middle grade read than YA, but it’s Victoria Schwab. And ghosts. And Scotland. I was going to read it.
Ever since Cassidy nearly drowned, she’s been able to pull back the Veil between the real world and the world of ghosts. Her best friend is even a ghost. As if her life wasn’t already bizarre enough, her parents are hosting a show about the most haunted places in the world, starting with Edinburgh, Scotland. Graveyards, alleys, and castles are all on the list. When Cassidy meets a girl with powers like herself, she realizes there’s more to this than she knew. And she’d better learn fast because these ghosts are not to be trifled with.
It was a fun little adventure. Cassidy can see ghosts and her parents, who are filming a ghost hunting show, have no idea. It was the kind of irony I appreciate and it made it all very interesting.
Cassidy and her best friend Jake were a fun combination–sarcastic, but always there for each other. I liked that too.
And the ghosts were pretty interesting, too. I mean, as Americans, I don’t think we ever feel history the same way Europe does. Cassidy being in Scotland means she’s seeing the dark underbelly of what happened during the last few hundred years in one location–from plague to accidents to murder to executions. I mean, it’s all something Edinburgh experienced. It was scary at times but very cool to read. In America, a few hundred years ago, most of the country was still farmland. We didn’t have too many cramped and troubled cities and certainly no castles. That last one is unfortunate.
The lower lexile took a tiny bit getting used to, but it was fine. It just meant most that the story was clean and focused on the main few plot points rather than being distracted by other things.
This was a fun read. It definitely feels spooky at times, so that was a perk.
Belle of the Library 
What exactly does YA mean?
That’s a great question! YA is just short for Young Adult. We tend to use a lot of abbreviations in the book world, like MG (middle grade) and YA to differential between levels.