Review: The Dead and Buried

The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington
Release Date ~ January 1, 2013
Point ~ Scholastic Press
ISBN13: 9780545333023
Review copy received from Scholastic Canada for review

Goodreads Synopsis:
Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

I have only recently begun reading more ghost stories, looking for some creepier fiction to enjoy lately. The Dead and Buried is a good ghost story, some chills and thrills included, although it's also very much standard-fare as far as ghost stories go.

1. A fast-paced story:
   
   I easily flew through this book, reading it in an evening. The plot moves along quite nicely and I was engaged with the story from the very beginning. The pacing is just about perfect as the plot continued to develop from chapter to chapter and it never seemed to slow down or drag along.
   
2. A touching brother-sister relationship:
   
   I loved reading about Jade's devotion to her little brother, Colby. It gave me a better sense of Jade's motivation in becoming involved with the mystery in her house and the death of Kayla Sloan. Strong relationships like this are so important, and I absolutely adored the dynamic between these two characters. 

The main problem for me with The Dead and Buried is that it was far too predictable. There really wasn't anything unique or different to make it stand out to me from other stories about hauntings I've ever read about or seen in a movie.

I also had a harder time relating to the characters, and I think that's because they were simply underdeveloped. It's a fairly short book, so this is somewhat understandable, but it also made it harder for me to connect with the book.

The romance detracted from my reading experience because I found it distracted from the overall (more interesting) plot. It seemed fairly rushed and predictable, and didn't have much of a buildup to convince me that it enhanced the story in any way. It was all just a little too convenient for me, much like the rest of the story.