From Goodreads: "Every ghost has a story to tell. The last place Tansy Piper wants to be is stuck in Cedar Canyon, Texas, in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of small-town kids. But when her mother decides to move to the desolate West Texas town, Tansy has no choice but to go along. Once there, Tansy is immediately drawn to the turret of their rickety old house, a place she soon learns has a disturbing history. But it's the strange artifacts she finds in the cellar—a pocket watch, a journal of poetry, and a tiny crystal—that have the most chilling impact on her.
Tansy soon finds that through the lens of her camera, she can become part of a surreal black-and-white world where her life is intertwined with that of mysterious, troubled Henry, who lived in the same house and died decades earlier. It seems their lives are linked by fate and the artifacts she found, but as Tansy begins spending more and more time in the past, her present world starts to fade away. Tansy must untangle herself from Henry's dangerous reality—before she loses touch with her own life forever."
First off, can we take a moment to appreciate the gorgeousness that is this cover? Seriously- look at those eyes! I can totally get over the fact that the cover has very little to do with the book! Okay, gushing aside...
While I really enjoyed the fact that this book was quite original in its storyline and writing style, I did not enjoy the fact that it was a quite frustrating, to say the least, book. I am the type of person who needs concrete answers and this book is not one to provide you with them (I for the life of me cannot deal with theoretical things or things that are 'up in the air'). Therefore I am more than a bit saddened by the fact that I do not know what actually happens at the end of this book (is Henry a malicious/ vengeful spirit hellbent on tearing Tansy from her real world or is he a byproduct of all of the stress that she is experiencing in her world?). I was also frustrated by Tansy herself. Throughout the book she kept going on and on about how Henry was the only person who understood what she was going through and the likes of, however, I think that had she given Alison and Tate a chance from the beginning she would come to realize that she had more in common with live people rather than dead people and that the life she had been dealt would have been a much better place to live in than a past life with Henry who did exhibit quite erratic behavior (and you know, who was dead).
That being said, I really liked the secondary characters- namely her grandfather, Beth and Tate. I can totally understand the relationship that Tansy had with her grandfather as I did have one much like it with my grandfather- I think that it would have been so interesting to see what my grandfather was like as a teenager like Tansy was able to do. As for Beth? Well, she was such an adorable character- always quoting Shakespeare- she truly brought the much needed comedic aspect to this book. And Tate? Well obviously the boy was swoon-worthy, but even better he was a quite honorable character (it isn't too often that the jocky/ overly popular/ pretty boy can completely change his ways, but I think that Tate was able to do so) and he was quite talented (all of the poetry contained in this book is so hauntingly beautiful)!
All in all, Jennifer has brought forth an extremely unique YA tale that contains a beautiful style of writing and amazing secondary characters, however, a book where it is a bit difficult to connect to the main character as you cannot support the decisions (and actions) that she makes in the book whatsoever.
Rating: 2/5
From Goodreads: "My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything. 