This book came as a surprise to me. Here I was thinking, “Oooh! It had graveyard in the title. And it talks a bout a plague house on the back cover…It must be spooky!”, but lo and behold, I find out that it doesn’t have all that much to do with hauntings or spooky things of that nature at all. But I still enjoyed it!
Summary
This sequel to “The Goldfish Boy” (which I had no idea it was a sequel to anything), follows young Melody Bird as she finds an old abandoned plague house, the strange boy hiding out inside, and the mystery that he, Melody, and her two friends find themselves immersed.
Likes
Setting. Given that the story mainly takes place in a graveyard, I of course appreciated that. However, it was nice to read about the curiosity of the main character and her desire to walk the grounds as I do. I could also tell this takes place in England, so it was neat reading about their cute little English neighborhood.
Mystery genre. While the story didn’t have all that to do with cemeteries, the mysterious plot about the curious stranger Melody met kept me engaged. It made me wonder what was truth and what was false in his tale.
Tackling real-life issues. For a teen book, this story contained things of a serious nature that I think were weaved well into the story. Bullying, death, and anxiety (specifically OCD, which I suffer from as well) are key themes I found weaved throughout the plot and I think they were shown effectively on the part of the author.
Dislikes
Melody’s character. Though I did share the protagonist’s intrigue for cemeteries, her character did sometimes come off as annoying, which I’m sure the author meant to do to show how her friends was getting annoyed with her. However, I wasn’t a fan of her dialogue that often when it came off as too evasive.
Recommendations
I recommend this book to teens and young adults alike, especially those who are going through various issues. The themes of friendship and family abound in this in helping the characters through these issues, and I think that is a good message to take away from the story. I think I should read the first book in this series.
