Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell

Summary/Cover Image taken from Publisher's Website:

Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap.

Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

Review:

Going into Shadowed Summer I was expecting a scary and thrilling story, but at the same time I was a bit weary because the reviews I had read prior to this lead me to believe you either loved or hated this one. Sadly enough, my opinion of Shadowed Summer points toward the latter because while decent, it was a very timid and mediocre read.

Shadowed Summer begins just when Iris's summer has begun. She's expecting another hot and boring summer, but to her surprise her boring summer turns into something quite exciting when she realizes she is being haunted by a ghost. Soon enough, she along with her two friends, Collette and Ben, are on a mission to find out more about Elijah, the ghost. What lead him to death? And what will make him finally rest in peace and stop bothering Iris? Only time and secrets will tell!

Iris was an okay main character. I never really loved nor hated her, instead she was just kind of there telling her story. One of my big turn offs with this book was the fact that she along with her friends seemed a lot younger then fourteen and sometimes acted a little immature. Also, I felt that most of the characters weren't nearly as developed as they could have been.

Further more, the plot just disappointed me. I really wanted something that was really developed and made me curious and scared, but the overall the whole ghost part was just too timid for my taste. Don't get me wrong it was okay, just not my speed.

Overall, Shadowed Summer was an okay read, not my favorite nor my least favorite. I feel that it would be a great read for middle-grade readers though because it has just the right amount of freight and romance. And the biggest question of all; will I be reading more by Mitchell? Probably; who knows maybe I'll adore her next book.

Grade: C-

Shadowed Summer is now out in paperback and hardcover.

Source: Author. Thanks, Saundra!