Ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley

Ghostgirl
Tonya Hurley
Little, Brown and Company
August 1, 2008
ISBN# 978-0-316-11357-1

From the back cover:
Now I lay me down to sleep,I pray the Lord my soul to keep.And if I should die before I awake,I pray the popular attend my wake.Charlotte Usher feels practically invisible at school, and then one day she really is. Even worse: she's dead. And all because she choked on a gummy bear.
In this satirical yet heartfelt novel, Tonya Hurley explores the invisibility we all feel at times and the lengths we'll go to be seen.

My thoughts:
Charlotte Usher’s existence has gone unnoticed, but this year she plans to change her life at Hawthorne High in a big way. With her plan to become popular, Damen Dylan is at the top of her check list. Luck has suddenly come her way when she and Damen become lab partners in class, and he asks if she’ll consider becoming his tutor. Then she chokes on a gummy bear and wakes on the other side.

Piccolo Pam becomes her mentor in death when her Dead Ed begins. Not easily deterred from her goal by being left invisible, Charlotte enlists the help of the one student from Hawthorne High who can see her, Scarlet. They strike a bargain that enables Charlotte to get close to Damen, and allows Scarlet to spend some ghostly time with Charlotte’s new classmates. By the time they’re finished, things will never be the same.

Ghostgirl has a black hardcover like you might expect, but it’s set apart from the rest with its coffin shaped window, Charlotte’s silhouette, and silver edged pages as a lovely final touch. Charlotte’s adventure takes readers through her difficult high school days of feeling unseen by her classmates, then becoming invisible through a freak and deadly incident. It takes a lot more than death to throw Charlotte off of achieving her goals, and with Scarlet’s help and some handy new tricks she plans to see them through. Ms. Hurley does a fabulous job of keeping the story light and flowing, balancing out the darkness surrounding her protagonist. Ghostgirl moves quickly, has interesting characters and a touch of sarcastic humor that’s sure to entertain.

To learn more about Ghostgirl, please visit Ms Hurley’s site: Here

Kimberly Swan, Darque Review

Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry

Happy Hour of the Damned
The Chronicles of Amanda Feral,

Celebrity Ghoul, Book 1
Mark Henry
Kensington Books
February 26, 2008
ISBN# 978-0-7582-2522-1

At the top of her career in advertising, with the corner office and partnership to show for it, Amanda Feral has everything to live for. It’s too bad that after an up-close and personal elevator ride Amanda finds she’s a flesh eating zombie. Still, there’s no reason not to live her not-quite-dead life to the fullest, and Amanda plans to do exactly that.

Quickly adjusting to a shocking new pallor, and the dining preferences that make those among the living run screaming, Amanda dons her favorite designer clothes, matching footwear and accessories to head out for a night on the town. It seems that the supernatural community has a nightlife all their own.

When a new friend, Liesel, sends her a message asking for help, Amanda and her closest friends, Gil and Wendy, set out on a mission to find her. Something big is going on around town, and as zombie outbreaks escalate their group begins to suspect that someone has their own plans for the local population. Now they’ll have to discover the source of the grisly outbreaks and track down those involved before the residents of the supernatural community are exposed. If they fail, the hunters could soon be the prey.

Happy Hour of the Damned is a marvelously unique debut novel that follows the glamorous, and often gruesome, life and death of Amanda Feral, a flesh eating zombie. With an obvious skill in graphic description, Mr. Henry will have readers cringing at the gore while laughing hysterically thanks to the sharp wit used to deliver his tale. A well-developed world makes for easy visualization, and the fabulously original storyline will keep reader’s rapt attention from the first page. A beautifully bizarre, and uproariously fun read.

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews