*ARC provided for an honest review
Haunted Echoes by Emma Bloom is the first in the Spirited Series. Abby Marcelli is a fourteen year old teenager still dealing with the death of her father and the heartache of continuously being bullied in school by a clique of mean girls. They take bullying to new levels and are relentless in their destruction of her. Worse yet, everyone seems to blame her, like it’s her fault. “Mom’s attitude was the same as always, and Abby’s face started to feel hot. Wasn’t it bad enough that she had to deal with the brat pack all day long? This was worse. Mom should be on her side, not defending the cretins who were always harassing her.”
Abby feels that she is an outcast not just because of the bullying but because of her biggest struggle which is the spirit voices she has heard since she was a young girl and that follow her everywhere she goes. “The world that surrounded Abby was one which rejected everything she was, leaving her unwilling to come to terms with the ghosts which haunted her.” “Why did she have to be born this way? What good could come of the spirited voices which continued to plague her? What did someone even do with this? All it had brought her was pain and delusion.”
She has always heard voices but lately there seems to be one that is non-stop. Why is this particular voice nagging Abby over and over as well as warning her whenever she may be in trouble? When Abby without meaning to makes a terrible mistake her mother is forced to take drastic measures and Abby once again feels betrayed by the person who is supposed to love her. “Abby felt like her mom had turned her back on her, given up when she needed someone to fight. When the people you love couldn’t even stand up for you, what else was there?”
When Abby suddenly shares something with a nurse she would have no way of knowing about, the tides begin to turn and what comes next is the beginning of a journey that travels an unexpected road with twists and turns. Abby wonders, “Could she learn to control the powerful struggle between the land of the living and the dead?” Can Abby find peace at last? Can she accept her gift and learn to embrace it? Where will the mystery lead her and is she strong enough to survive it? You’ll have to read the book to find out all the answers you are longing for.
Emma Blooms writing was detailed, strong, and portrayed amazing characteristics of each character. When I first began the book I wasn’t sure that I would like it but soon found myself completely engrossed and longing for the next book.
Itsy Bitsy Book Bits 