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Revision as of 08:50, 11 October 2011
, 08:50, 11 October 2011no edit summary
I was reminded of Dickens' ghost story, ''A Christmas Carol'', in which Scrooge witnesses his life and is shown the error of his ways. Through a series of 'scenes', Liz pieces together her past life and sees the present reaction to her death by her friends, boyfriend, half sister, father and stepmother. It is not a pretty sight. Seeing herself objectively for the first time, Liz is shocked to find that she is not a very pleasant person, and that her friends and family are morally tainted. And, it seems, they are all possible suspects in her murder. Liz tries to figure out who the murderer is, as does the detective Joe, who makes sporadic appearances.
Teen novels often to ask the question,''who am I?'' and this book is no exception. The only problem is, do we care? Too often, the 'scenes' we are witnessing along with Liz felt like watching a movie about someone watching a movie about them selves. She is truly a ghost, not fleshed out. This has a distancing effect. Flashbacks to her early childhood, showing 'reasons why' Liz turned out the way she did, are meant to provoke sympathy in the reader. But to me they felt a tad self-pitying.
It takes almost half a book, labouring the point that Liz, her friends and family are all selfish, before we actually start to move forward with the story. I kept wondering when the other ghost, Alex, was going to have a true role to play, other than being a sort of irritating, ghostly tour guide. It is only when Liz and Alex waft into Alex's home and Liz starts to empathise with him, that we feel there may be some point to this character and to their relationship. But when Alex drops a heavy hint that their fates may be connected in some way, Liz doesn't seem to get it, coming across as a bit thick.
