Jenn's Review: Shadowland

Summary: Suze is a mediator -- a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.

But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind ... and Suze happens to be in the way.

Review:  This is my first Meg Cabot book and I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I know Princess Diaries, but only through the movies and I would no sooner judge an author by her movie adaptation than the book by the movie.  I thoroughly and pleasantly surprised.

I love Meg Cabot's voice and I love her characters. Suze reminds me of a cross between Veronica Mars and Buffy ~all the sass and snark plus a wise for her years streak of fatalism that commands  respect and how she can bring volatile situations to a quick close.  I love Suze's quirky sidekicks too.  Father Dominic was quite the surprise and I look forward to knowing more about him and seeing how his character develops as well as learning more about his past.

I thought the mediator concept was a new twist on the YA paranormal genre and it was refreshing.  Yes, it had undertones of some of my favorite television shows, but I think that made it all the more enjoyable.  If I was 20 years younger, I'd be inviting Jesse to stay...  and, come to think of it, I can't wait to see where that leads too.

This was a quick but highly enjoyable read. I will happily be making my way through the rest of the Mediator books.  As a matter of fact, I see them jumping near the top of my 2013 TBR pile.

 Final Take:  4.0/5