Author: Meg Cabot

Synopsis:

Ghosts ruin everything. Especially your love life.

Everything is going great for Suze. Her new life in California is a whirlwind of parties and excellent hair days. Tad Beaumont, the hottest boy in town, has even asked Suze out on her very first date. Suze is so excited that she's willing to ignore her misgivings about Tad... particularly the fact that he's not Jesse, whose ghostly status - not to mention apparent disinterest in her - make him unattainable.

What Suze can't ignore, however, is the ghost of a murdered woman whose death seems directly connected to dark secrets hidden in none other than Tad Beaumont's past.

“You can’t tell me you’ve liked being trapped in this room for a hundred and fifty years.”
“It hasn’t been all bad,” he said, with a smile. “Things have picked up recently.”

Okayyyy sooooo I wasn’t gong to write a review today, but it’s going to be a long weekend (WOOT! Bring it on 4th of July!) and I know I will finish at LEAST one book and will need to post about it Tuesday-So I’d rather not get backlogged. Plus-Any chance I get to boast about my Jesse and Suze addiction to get people aware of it again, I’m going to do it.

This is a series, I’m finding, that not only I liked, but many many of my friends did, too. Turns out? I wasn’t the only pre-teen laying in my bedroom binge-reading this series and pining about Jesse like I thought I was….no wonder she is so popular. Go figure. It’s so fun to talk to all you guys about how much we loved this and why it’s still great, so that’s why I feel the need to talk about each and every installment, no matter which are my favorite and which are just plain awesome (Pfft. They all are-even my least fav).

Jesse has those kind of eyes some guys have, the kind of sad eyes that make you think you might want to try and make them not so sad.

I must say that I enjoyed the first installment more than this one, but I remember that being the case years and years ago when I first picked these up. I loved Suze’s voice, again, and loved Jesse even more. But, as it is, I really wanted more Jesse. lol-I couldn’t quite pinpoint why this one wasn’t my favorite years ago, but now the BBF whore in me knows exactly why. There was plenty of Jesse, really, but OMG is it too much to ask for him to be on every page? Yes? Hmm. *pouts*

“Now that,” he said, putting his hands down, “was your finest performance yet. You seemed caring, yet disgusted.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you,” I asked, grumpily, “have some chains you’re supposed to be rattling somewhere?”

I actually found this one comical in the most subtle ways-the vampire aspect, the dumb jock Suze attempts to tolerate, the references to her monster-like poison ivy hands, the step-brother dynamic, and, frankly, Jesse’s humor. I loved this book just like I knew I would, but I love that I get the depth in which all the jokes are meant to be taken. Before, yeah I laughed as a kid, but I certainly didn’t realize just how wry the humor was-I mean, so refreshing. I even had forgotten about dear old Father Dominic-he and Suze’s banter and relationship is something I had long since forgotten and I am so happy it’s all coming back to me now-even stronger than before.

“A mediator is someone who helps others resolve conflicts. Not someone, who, er, kicks them in the face.”
I smiled at him. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
And I would, too. Right after I kicked Red’s butt.
Whoever he was.

So, yeah. I could go on and on about how happy these books make me, but I know for a fact they get better and better and Jesse’s jealousy gets stronger and stronger….What’s not to fall for?? So, with that being said, I think I’m going to leave the review here and wish everyone a happy holiday weekend. I wanted to pick the third up over the weekend after my fantasy, but I got granted an AMAZING ARC I did not expect to get, so I will probably pick it up first. But if I’m being honest? I already miss these guys. I have NO clue what the hell I’m going to do when I am done with these all over again. Probably cry. Yeah. Sounds about right.

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Ahhh this series will NEVER get old. Never. What a refreshing reassurance. Jesse will literally never bore me….I guess that means I can re-read these yet again when I’m older. 😛

RTC!

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Synopsis:

There's a hot guy in Susannah Simon's bedroom. Too bad he's a ghost.

Suze is a mediator - a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.

But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind... and Suze happens to be in the way.

But even on the ninth floor of Bellevue-which is where they lock up the crazy people in New York-I probably wouldn’t be safe from the ghosts. They’d find me.
They always do.

Alright so, it appears that everyone wanted to like my pre-review of fangirlish relations to when I was younger…so I don’t see a large point in writing a long-winded review when it seems everyone has mostly stopped by and saw all they wanted to see. But, along with those youngish nostalgic ramblings, I did want to say why I loved-and still love-this series.

It’s not often a person can look back at a book they read in middle school and say they still love it and it’s almost just as good as they remember. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Maybe I love it so much I’m blind to the fact that it is a little youngish. Maybe it really is just as good as I think it is. Maybe I am biased because I truly believe this author is a witty, sarcastic, and wonderful writer. Or maybe I’m just biased for Jesse. And Suze. I don’t know, and frankly, who the fuck cares?

“Oh, Suze. Not again.”

This series shaped a large chunk of my pre-teen years and gave me countless months, years, whatever of pining and wanting and dreaming of the beautiful Jesse. And, admittedly, my funny story for this is that I read book five first. ME. CHELSEA. The girl who hates spoilers and disorder and messing with the integrity of books. But I guess this just goes to show you that if you are a good author, you can make anything work.

I was OBSESSED with that fifth book, Haunted, and wanted nothing more than for Jesse and Suze’s story to continue. Little did I know, after a little bout of research at the local bookstore (aahhh the good old brick and mortar days) that I had missed four books before!! Imagine how excited I was. I mean, really. Plus, there was yet another book coming! Hey, don’t judge me too harshly. It’s not like I had GR to jump onto so I could see (Mediator #5)! And it certainly didn’t show on the book’s spine, I’ll tell ya that much.

“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, this is my room now. So you’re going to have to clear out.”
“I’m going to have to clear out?” He raised one black eyebrow. “This has been my home for a century and a half. Why do I have to leave it?”

But in some weird way….I think that’s why I loved this series so much. It was developed and Jesse was in full-blown swoon mode and Suze was funnier than ever-and hey, there was lots of jelly at this point…me likes the jelly boys. So, you know, maybe my little heart needed this one first. *Shrugs* I dunno.

Just before I fell asleep again, I thought I heard something besides the owl. It sounded like someone singing the words Oh, Susannah, now don’t you cry for me, ’cause I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee.
But that, I’m sure, was just my imagination.

Witty, light-hearted, fun, fast-paced, and humorous, I will never get tired of reading about Suze’s escapades as a mediator. I mean really, who gets to have a sexy, mysterious ghost boy as a roommate? Certainly not I….but I sure would have loved to have had a Jesse of my own.

*****

Oh. My. GOD guys….that moment when you realize a childhood favorite is better than anything you remember and you get three times the feels because you can ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND IT BETTER and appreciate your young childhood BBF in the way he deserves AGHHHH.

Sometimes it feels like coming home when you pick up a book again…and that’s all you can really ask for. Those feels, they are unlike anything you’ve ever felt. SO unreal. And so worth it to re read these masterpieces from my childhood.

RTC

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Ahhhh nostalgiaaaaaaaa ♥

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O.m.g. My favorite book series EVER from when I was in middle school is being made into a movie! You know how many times I wished that would happen 10 or more years ago?! I used to pick out songs that would make up the soundtrack.

I will be there! Hope they don’t ruin it!

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