Hmmmm…

This one has sat on my TBR pile (which Hubby has taken to mocking me about) for ages and ages. So long that I don’t remember why I mooched it in the first place. Someone somewhere liked this book and I thought it sounded interesting (though there’s no jacket flap, and I had forgotten what it’s about so I had no clue), so I picked it up.

And all I can say is *shrug*.

Not a very glowing review is it?

Cristyn’s life is about to be ruined: her professor father (of medieval studies!) has to go to Wales (not even going to try to write the Welsh names; they always throw me) to do research for his magnopus so he can get tenure at the college he works for. (Already, I’m not with her there. Go to Wales? For an entire summer? Sign me up!) Once there, she has to share a house — and a room — with another professor (of medieval studies!) and her two kids, Miranda and Dennis. Things start out okay enough, except Miranda is hell-bent on making Cristyn choose sides: it’s either her or Dennis, not both. And then weird things start happening — moving furniture, floating coins with old dates on them, ghosts in the cellar — and all of a sudden everything becomes a lot more complex and a lot more interesting for Cristyn.

I think my main problem with this was that I couldn’t decide what kind of book it was. Is it a ghost story? (Sort of… there are ghosts and they do have a story.) Is it a family drama? (Sort of… there’s a family, and they have lots of drama.) Is it a dealing with death story? (Sort of… there’s a death, and Cristyn has to deal with it.) Is it a historical piece? (Sort of… there’s history in it. Granted, it’s Welsh history…) I think if it had been one or two of those things, it would have been a pretty interesting novel. As it was, I think the author spread things a bit too thin for my taste. It was all interesting enough, but it just wasn’t compelling. Or captivating. Or any of those soaring descriptive words.

So *shrug* it is.