Ava can’t see him or touch him, unless she’s dreaming. She can’t hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she’s crazy, but she knows he’s here.
Jackson. The boy Ava thought she’d spend the rest of her life with. He’s back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.
The premise immediately grabbed me. I was craving a sad book and what’s better than love lost? Having heard good things about Lisa Schroder’s newer book, Chasing Brooklyn, I thought this would be a good sampler to see if I would like her writing.
And I did.
While the book itself isn’t much – I read the entire thing in an hour since it’s written in prose and there’s a lot of white space – but it was haunting in its simplicity.
This book, in very few words, covers Ava’s grief process over the course of the summer after Jackson’s death. At first I was frustrated that so much wasn’t said or explained, since I’ve grown used to authors laying out every little thing about the leading character within the first chapter, but after a while I lost myself in Lisa’s rhythm of giving a little hint and then moving on to something else, and then giving another little hint, and so on until the full picture came into view.
I guess that’s why I liked it so much. I had to guess at some things and wait for others to be revealed. In a way, Ava and her world became part of a creation from my mind as well since I had to fill in idiosyncrasies and how things looked around her. It took me deeper into the story since I wasn’t just a casual observer being told everything that was going on.
It was sad, but also a bit happy. Perfect for what I was looking for and I’m glad I picked it up. I’ll also be on the lookout from other books by Lisa Schroeder.
So, have you read this book? Did you like it? Do you know of any other ghost-love stories that you’d recommend? Let me know in the comments section!