Book Review – Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
Sawkill Girls meets Beautiful Creatures in this lush and eerie debut, where the boundary between reality and nightmares is as thin as the veil between the living and the dead.
If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept.
Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness.
But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets.
In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing.
Family secrets, a gorgeously resonant LGBTQ love triangle, and just the right amount of creepiness make this young adult debut a haunting and hopeful story about facing everything that haunts us in the dark.
My rating:
Oh yesssssss. Firstly, my music-loving soul absolutely loved the way music is woven throughout the story and is essential to the plot. Secondly, this book is a perfect October read – spooky, slightly creepy, a little cosy and just wonderfully autumnal vibes.
The way the music, the mystery, the fiddle, the ghosts, the friendships and the family all weave together is so seamless. It all felt perfectly balanced.
The book revolves around a murder mystery, and Shady’s brother is accused. But even before that, she is wondering about the mystery of her dad’s fiddle and raising ghosts. Given that there’s a murder, these naturally fold right into each other and we’re left trying to protect Shady from the ghosts!
Shady is also bi and trying to sort out her love for her best friend while all this is going on, and while Sarah is giving some mixed messages. I loved how we got to see Shady interact with Sarah, and later Cedar, and it was always quietly balanced against everything else. There are some honestly lovely moments with both and while I loved how it ended up playing out, I loved more that it felt honest and was a really adult response to a tough situation.
The ghost raising is creepy AF, and I sort of loved it. Which is impressive as I am a right wuss! I also loved how the mystery of the fiddle and the ghosts we see end up mixing with the modern-day occurrences.
This very much feels like it could have really happened, despite me not believing in ghosts! Utterly wonderful. 4.5 stars.
Buy Ghost Wood Song from Waterstones.
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