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leandrathetbrzero 's review for:
Agatha Anxious and the Deer Island Ghost
by R. J. McDowell
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
↓ Similar Reads ↓
1. Lora Senf’s The Clackity
2. Justina Ireland’s Ophie’s Ghosts
3. Betty Ren Wright’s The Dollhouse Murders
Agatha Anxious is not your average child on the cusp of teenagerdom. She has a terrible habit of biting at her nails until they bleed. She spends her free time in the cemetery by her house. And, on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, she learns that she can see ghosts. After this discovery, Agatha’s life turns upside down. Her first ghost demands for something taken to be returned, her English teacher assigns a book report on a very different ghost, and Aunt Hattie – her rock and the only person who understands what she is going through – goes missing. A book filled with ghost stories, humor, and an unlikely heroine, Agatha Anxious and the Deer Island Ghost will be on shelves this 28th of June!
The atmospheric setting of Biloxi, Mississippi, felt simultaneously perfect for summer and autumn. The thick humidity and smell of the shoreline gave me summer vibes (even as Agatha trudges to school), but Agatha’s strolls through the cemetery and the hair-raising interactions with ghosts and the like would make this a great addition to anyone’s spooky reading pile. McDowell’s use of thriller elements, like the switch in POV to Aunt Hattie, raised the tension tenfold because we as readers knew something that Agatha still needed to discover.
While I enjoyed the loving relationship between Agatha and Aunt Hattie, it seemed a bit unbelievable that the aunt would leave Agatha in the dark about so much. She also felt like the child in their dynamic at times while Agatha read as the more mature one. It also felt a tad convenient that within maybe 24 hours of learning about the undertaker/oracle and receiving a warning from Hattie, Agatha would be seeking his assistance to help her aunt. I think it would have helped to learn about him earlier during Agatha’s first discovery that she is a Perceiver. I see many parallels to another recent middle grade read, The Clackity. The difference is that I had a stronger visual of where the plot was leading in the latter.
With that said, I can 100% see many middle grade readers growing attached to Agatha and her ghost-filled world. I can also see myself recommending this book to the right reader in the future.
1. Lora Senf’s The Clackity
2. Justina Ireland’s Ophie’s Ghosts
3. Betty Ren Wright’s The Dollhouse Murders
Agatha Anxious is not your average child on the cusp of teenagerdom. She has a terrible habit of biting at her nails until they bleed. She spends her free time in the cemetery by her house. And, on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, she learns that she can see ghosts. After this discovery, Agatha’s life turns upside down. Her first ghost demands for something taken to be returned, her English teacher assigns a book report on a very different ghost, and Aunt Hattie – her rock and the only person who understands what she is going through – goes missing. A book filled with ghost stories, humor, and an unlikely heroine, Agatha Anxious and the Deer Island Ghost will be on shelves this 28th of June!
The atmospheric setting of Biloxi, Mississippi, felt simultaneously perfect for summer and autumn. The thick humidity and smell of the shoreline gave me summer vibes (even as Agatha trudges to school), but Agatha’s strolls through the cemetery and the hair-raising interactions with ghosts and the like would make this a great addition to anyone’s spooky reading pile. McDowell’s use of thriller elements, like the switch in POV to Aunt Hattie, raised the tension tenfold because we as readers knew something that Agatha still needed to discover.
While I enjoyed the loving relationship between Agatha and Aunt Hattie, it seemed a bit unbelievable that the aunt would leave Agatha in the dark about so much. She also felt like the child in their dynamic at times while Agatha read as the more mature one. It also felt a tad convenient that within maybe 24 hours of learning about the undertaker/oracle and receiving a warning from Hattie, Agatha would be seeking his assistance to help her aunt. I think it would have helped to learn about him earlier during Agatha’s first discovery that she is a Perceiver. I see many parallels to another recent middle grade read, The Clackity. The difference is that I had a stronger visual of where the plot was leading in the latter.
With that said, I can 100% see many middle grade readers growing attached to Agatha and her ghost-filled world. I can also see myself recommending this book to the right reader in the future.