I’ve had so many people recommend this series to me that I’m a tad bit ashamed that it’s actually taken me this long to get to it.
I’ve read Victoria Schwab’s adult work (under V.E. Schwab) and absolutely loved that, and I enjoyed her YA, so when I realized she had a middle grade series? Oh yeah, I was all over that, too. Especially when I heard it was about ghosts. I for sure can’t say I’ve been disappointed.
The Cassidy Blake series takes the best parts of paranormal shows, wraps it with some unique ghost hunting, and packages it with a fun duo that’s impossible not to root for.
I fell in love with Cass and Jacob early in the first pages of the first book, and I am all too eager to read the third book now (which can’t release fast enough, as far as I’m concerned). This is a series I’d definitely recommend!
I actually buddy read this series with Mari @ Tirilu. You can find her review for City of Ghosts here and her review of Tunnel of Bones here.
Which means, as per usual, you’ll find my buddy read questions at the end of this review! Mari actually is the one that finally talked me into reading this now, and I’m so glad I did. It was the perfect Halloween read, and reading it as a buddy read made it all the more fun!
City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake, #1)
by Victoria SchwabPublished by: Scholastic Press on August 28, 2018
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 285
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
They're here.They're watching.
Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead.
When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh. Here, graveyards, castles and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms.
But when Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift", she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil—and herself. And she'll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- A paranormal TV show vibe but in a book.
- Fun adventures in a country not the US!
- To explore Scotland’s haunted hot spots.
- To learn a bit about Scottish culture and history.
- Funny ghost sidekicks.
- Cute (albeit complicated) best friend dynamics.
- Mild horror that won’t scare younger readers.
I actually have an excuse for why it took so long to read this first one! By the time I picked it up, the second was coming out, so I figured … might as well wait for book two, right? See? Makes perfect sense!
City of Ghosts takes everything you love about ghost hunter TV shows and condenses it into a mid-grade novel filled with ghosts, danger, and mystery.
I’m glad I finally picked this one up, and I’m also glad I waited until I had the second book, because the minute I finished, I was ready to dive into the next one!
I love the way Schwab plays with the ghost hunter TV show idea and pairs it with a young protagonist who can actually see ghosts.
This is a super cute idea for a middle grade series. Even better, though, it means every book is set in a different country, so readers get a little taste of all these different places, while still following their favorite ghost-hunting duo!
I’m going to go ahead and confess that ghost hunter shows are my guilty pleasure. I’ve loved watching them since I was a teenager, and I still watch them today when I get a chance. So a book that incorporates everything I love about those shows? Heck yes. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE.
There’s a really nice mix of fact, with Cass’s parents giving background about haunted locales they visit, and Cass’s deep dive beyond the Veil into the spirit realm.
Honestly, it’s the best of all possible worlds. We get to learn about actual places thought to be haunted and the history behind them while still getting a compelling paranormal ghost story. The combination just worked really well, and it was everything I hoped it’d be and then some!
“You can’t eat, and I see ghosts,” I whisper back as the second act begins.
Jacob and Cass make such a fun team.
I mean, it’s not every day you get to read a book where the second protagonist is a ghost, right? There’s a little mystery behind the two of them, because Jacob saved Cass on the day she almost drowned, and now they’re somehow tied together. No one knows why. Or at least they don’t. But they’re best friends, and that’s what matters, right?
Cass is brave and foolhardy, while Jacob is much more practical and logical, if I’m honest, so their personalities have a chance to really play off of each other!
I love this, because while I wholly relate to Jacob (I’m sorry, but you want me to go where with what haunting there?!), Cass’s forward momentum keeps the plot moving. Also, they’re just snarky and clearly winning at the best friend thing. The added complication of Jacob being a ghost means a lot of really poignant plot points and discussions, because this business of ghost hunting obviously affects him differently.
“Just Jacob,” I say.
Dad looks around in an exaggerated way so I can tell he’s just humoring me. “And is Jacob ready to go?”
“Negative,” answers Jacob from the bed. “This is a terrible idea.”
“Oh yeah,” I say emphatically. “He’s dying to see all the haunted houses, and haunted caves, and haunted castles.”
Jacob glares. “Traitor.”
This book is set in Scotland, and I really enjoy the little nuggets of culture (and haunted locales) that Schwab adds in.
This is the greatest thing about being able to travel with this book! It’s so neat to see a different locale, especially through the eyes of a child who’s never been there. Probably because if I ever visit, I’m also going to be like a child who’s never been there. They’re always so curious and full of wonder but also asking all the important questions.
Schwab adds in these little tidbits about the culture and the country seamlessly, in a way that doesn’t slow down the book and doesn’t even make you think you’re actually learning, until you realize that you’ve just found out a cool new fact that you should now Google to learn more about. Sneaky, sneaky.
“Don’t freak out,” I say slowly.
His eyes narrow. “That’s really not the way to start a sentence if you want me to stay calm.”
This book perfectly walks a line between dark and funny, using both to bolster the other.
The subject matter is surprisingly dark, especially given a middle grade book. Yet, it’s not graphic, and it stops short of being completely morbid. The focus is firmly on the fact that these ghosts once had lives, and it’s something Cass is constantly reminded of and thinks about, so I think that goes a long way towards offsetting the darker aspects of it.
Plus, Jacob and Cass are just funny, and at the end of the day, they’re still just kids, so they tend to do and say a lot of amusing things, as kids do.
Tunnel of Bones (Cassidy Blake, #2)
by Victoria SchwabPublished by: Scholastic Press on September 3, 2019
Genres: Middle Grade, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 287
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Trouble is haunting Cassidy Blake . . . even more than usual.
She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass's parents are filming their TV show about the world's most haunted cities. Sure, it's fun eating croissants and seeing the Eiffel Tower, but there's true ghostly danger lurking beneath Paris, in the creepy underground Catacombs.
When Cass accidentally awakens a frighteningly strong spirit, she must rely on her still-growing skills as a ghosthunter -- and turn to friends both old and new to help her unravel a mystery. But time is running out, and the spirit is only growing stronger.
And if Cass fails, the force she's unleashed could haunt the city forever.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- A paranormal TV show vibe but in a book.
- Fun adventures in a country not the US!
- To explore France’s haunted hot spots.
- To learn a bit about French culture, history, and language.
- Funny ghost sidekicks.
- Cute (albeit complicated) best friend dynamics.
- Mild horror that won’t scare younger readers.
I knew immediately from the title and the cover where this book would bring us. In case you didn’t, though, Cass and her entourage head to France. And what tunnel of bones is in France? Hint hint.
Tunnel of Bones somehow ups the danger factor for our young heroes, teaches us about France and its culture, and scares the bejesus out of us, all while hooking us with a compelling mystery.
It’s a lot for any one book, but Schwab pulls it off, unsurprisingly. Would you expect anything less?
This review may contain spoilers for the first book, City of Ghosts.
This book finds us in France, haunting the catacombs, and I love how much I learned about the country!
I’m a little ashamed to say, but I actually had no idea that the L’Ouvre was built underground. It blew my mind. See? You’ll be amazed at the things you can learn from reading. I didn’t realize they’d built a glass pyramid over it, and as soon as I read about Cass’s trip to the L’Ouvre, I immediately had to Google a bunch of things about it. I love books that catch your interest with something and force you to do more research.
What the second book does really well that the first didn’t is also introduce readers to French as a language, along with the culture.
It’s subtle, and it’s mostly just little beginning phrases, but maybe it’s enough to catch readers’ attention. Small things like s’il vous plait and merci and things like that, which are translated in the text, but which the reader gets to learn alongside Cass. There’s also some pronunciation slipped in as Cass struggles with the harder tidbits, which I thought was a nice way to do it!
Let me guess I think, you were the kind of kid who flipped to the back of the book and read the ending first.
“No,” mutters Jacob, and then, “I mean, only if it was scary…or sad…or I was worried about the—Look, it doesn’t matter.”
Cass and Jacob are still one heck of a team, but they cross into new, dangerous territory as they consider what it actually means for Jacob to be attached to Cass.
Before, Cass never really questioned it, because Jacob just was. Plus, he’s her best friend. After meeting Lara, though, and encountering numerous new ghosts, there’s a little niggling in Cass’s mind about Jacob’s ghostness. This book delves into the struggle and potential consequences a lot more than the first book did.
This was such a freaking good plot point, because obviously there should be consequences to this weird arrangement they have. And there might be. Who knows? It leads to a real deepening, strengthening, and reaffirmation of their friendship, though, in a way that’s emotionally moving but also potentially foreshadowing. I just loved it.
“Or, you know, back up those stairs,” says Jacob.
Come on,” I think.Where’s your sense of adventure?
“I must have left it up on street level,” he mutters.
I’ve got one word for you: poltergeist.
And I don’t mean the movie, in case you were wondering. If you thought book one was intense, hold onto your hats, because the rules are about to get flipped. I wasn’t at all sure how Schwab was going to top the stakes of the first book, and yet here we are, and she totally did. This plot was bigger, badder, and very emotional. It hit me right in the feels.
“No, I don’t,” says Jacob. “There’s, like, a fifty percent chance you’re right, and a ninety percent chance this is going to go really wrong.”
I smirk. “Only ninety?” I ask.
Buddy Read Questions
If you could explore any supposedly haunted area, knowing you could see ghosts, where would you want to explore?
Mari: I would love to explore old houses. You know, places where you can still find traces of people’s lives, maybe a picture, maybe an old painted wardrobe, a bedframe, rugs and curtains and old creaky floorboards. There’s bound to be a ghost in there somewhere.
Sammie: Oh, that’s a good one! I love doing that, too. I’d actually love to get to explore castles! They’re big and old and obviously ripe for haunting. Plus, architecturally gorgeous and just stunning in general. It’s a whole aesthetic.
In the series, if you have a near-death experience, you might gain the ability to see through the Veil. Would you want this power? Have you had a near-death experience? (Bonus question: CAN you see ghosts?!)
Mari: I haven’t had a near-death experience and I don’t know if I would be willing to create anything like that just to go through the Veil. I quite like my life, thank you very much. (I cannot see ghosts but I heard that when you feel like somebody is watching you and there is nobody, it’s most likely a ghost. Yikes!)
Sammie: I’ve had a near-death experience! Actually, a couple, since I had severe asthma as a baby and had to be rushed to the hospital (which I don’t remember) and then I almost drowned when I was four (which I do remember). Unfortunately, it did not grant me the ability to see ghosts. I feel utterly cheated. I would definitely want to be able to see them. To heck with a ghost bestie, I’d have a whole ghost entourage.
Cass has a sort of ghost “sidekick” in Jacob (even though he’d totally object to being called that). If you could have anyone as a ghost sidekick (obviously, anyone already dead, because it’d be awkward killing someone just for this purpose), who would you choose?
Mari: So they definitely have to be dead already? There is no way around that? Okay. Well. I think it would be fun to have somebody who died quite some time ago. Somebody who died in the 19th century? Or even at the beginning of the 20th? You know, somebody who would be completely out of time? Has never seen a car? Is amazed by indoor plumbing? That kind of stuff? A street urchin maybe? I imagine that could be fun. Oh, wait. They are hanging out with me? Oh, maybe that’s not that good of an idea then…
Sammie: Technically, there are ways around everything, but no persons will be harmed in the making of this ghost sidekick. I’m not even sure who I’d want as a ghost sidekick, honestly. I feel like I should say someone super inspiring, like Socrates, who’s my favorite philosopher. But honestly, in this day and age? I’d have to go with George Carlin. He’d hate it, but I’d have fun, because he’s funny and cynical and we’d obviously totally hit it off.
If you could have an animal as a ghost sidekick, which animal would you choose (sorry, has to be a real one).
Mari: You put that in there so you could complain that you cannot have a dragon sidekick, didn’t you? Well, I agree a dragon would be awesome! Hm, but maybe a dog? I would have a dog. A black shaggy one. Did you know that there was that belief that the first person buried in a new graveyard was to lead newly dead people into the afterlife for all eternity and that’s why they used to bury the body of a dog first? And that’s your PSA for the week.
Sammie: Yes, dragons would be awesome, but that answer is far too easy. I had no idea! But that makes sense as to why there’s legends of, like, hell hounds and stuff haunting cemeteries. My knee-jerk reaction is to say a wolf, because it’s cool, but I’m going to go way out there and say an owl. A ghost owl would be fun and practical, I think. Plus, owls are also awesome.
The third book is called Bridge of Souls, which the blurb says is in New Orleans. WITHOUT GOOGLING IT, what do you think this setting will involve? What sort of things does the moniker “bridge of souls” conjure for you?
Mari: Bold of you to assume that I didn’t already research that when they first announced it. So I won’t answer that one. But it makes a nice picture, a way to set over into the land of the dead. Have you seen COCO? I loved that bridge made of glowing flower petals. I like that idea better than the dark tunnel with the light at the end. Which is an allegory to birth (rebirth) I suspect? Anyway, I like the idea of the bridge. (Let’s just hope nobody falls off the side.)
Sammie: *gasp* YOU CHEATED! Well, I didn’t Google it, and I originally assumed that it would be something like the suicide bridges, where for some unexplained reason, people and animals are attracted there to commit suicide. On second thought, that might be a little dark for a middle grade series, though? I have seen Coco, though, and I hadn’t thought of that, but that’d be cool!
Cass and Lara carry mirrors on their person, specifically on a necklace, which I suppose is practical but not all that much fun. If you had to, where would you carry your mirror for ghost-releasing purposes?
Mari: I actually think the necklace is a good idea. It’s better than carrying it in your backpocket where you might sit on it. The question is, how big does that mirror have to be? That’s what I’ve been asking myself. But I think a bracelet would be a good idea as well. You know, like a charm bracelet where you could attach a mirror charm?
Sammie: I was thinking something similar, as far as how small can we go with a mirror and still have it work? A charm bracelet sounds neat, but I had one in the past and the charms kept getting caught on everything and pulling off, which was super annoying. I’m thinking something like a ring? Because your first reaction is usually to throw your hands up, right? So that would take care of that!
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Oh, Sammie, what a delightful review!
I’m so happy that you liked the books. Makes me feel better about bullying you into reading them. Well, bullying might be a harsh word. I mean, I merely kept helpfully suggesting for you to read them, right?
So, are you up for reading Bridge of Souls together when it’s out?
I love your answers to the questions. And I would totally be jealous of your owl sidekick. I love owls. A bat would also cool, now that I think of it. Very fitting.
And WHAT?! You had near death experiences? Are you okay? Are you sure that there are no ghosts hanging around?
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This series looks great! And I’m all in the for ghost hunting TV show, so I’ll have to check out the first book for sure. 🙂
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