New Review! Ghosts by Kendall Grey, 5 Cranky Stars

Ghosts by Kendall Grey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



***** 5 Cranky Stars *****

I started reading this as a serial through the author's website until life got in the way. I grabbed the book when it came out, but it has sat - like a gem - on my kindle for ages. Last night, I started reading it. I finished it in the early hours of the morning. This is easily one of my top reads for 2016.



Set in a world gone mad, Sarah Coolidge, a young woman who has seen the worst things in life. Originally on death row for murder, a catastrophe sets her free. There begins her chance at redemption. She is recruited into a military program to become a 'ghost' - a super-type soldier.



As fate would have it, Sarah meets a woman she owes a debt - a big one. As they forge a working relationship, Sarah's eyes are opened to what might have been and what could be.



Told in three Acts, the first part is non-linear. Grey does a fantastic job of interweaving past and present - filling out Sarah's backstory, but keeping things tight in the present.



The second two Acts are told in chronological fashion. The work encompasses a wide range of thematics: abuse, friendship, trust, loyalty, betrayal, the environment, and people's inhumanity to one another - on both a large scale and personal one.



Grey's sparse and accessible prose had me turning pages well into the early hours of the morning. I had to know what happened and how it all fit together.



My one criticism is that I didn't think the last chapter was necessary. I would have excluded it and left it as is. Also, huge props to Kendall Grey for another female-centric story that shows the power and friendship of women. Ghosts is a continuance of some of Grey's other works with strong female leads that bucks the trends of women depicted merely as eye candy.



Gritty, original, horrifying, heartbreaking and hilarious in parts, if you are a Sci-Fi Dystopian fan - I highly recommend this.

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