Our main character is Seventeen-year-old Olivia Black who was born with a rare birth defect known as Psyche Sans Soma, or PSS. Instead of a right hand made of flesh and blood, she was born with a hand made of ethereal energy. When her hand takes on a mind of its own in the middle of her classroom, it takes the patience of mind by Marcus Jordon, the new kid, to save the day. Immediately, I was caught in an interesting position. I mean, holy cats did her hand just do that? What else can her hand do if she can do that thing? Who is this mysterious Marcus who didn't even blink an eye at Olivia's Ghost Hand?
Remember folks, this is young adult novel with some adult undertones so you have to step out of your comfort zone and realize that teen minds are not like most adults. They do silly things. They say stupid things, and they act out against inattentive parents who just don't care what really happens to their children as long as they don't embarrass the parental unit in a very public manner. I will admit without hesitation that Olivia's mother is a serious piece of work and I didn't care for her at all.
There have been numerous discussions lately about the attitudes towards insta-lust romances in young adult novels. We're told that it's normal even going back to Romeo & Juliet's days. Understood and message received loud and clear. Thankfully, Patton does not fall into that particular trap, instead she brings along Olivia and Marcus's relationship slowly and surely. Olivia doesn't fully trust Marcus nor any of the other characters that have PSS and have followed Marcus in his search for other PSS individuals. It takes her awhile to feel comfortable around him and even then, Marcus doesn't exactly make things easy on Olivia with some of his actions.
Whenever I agree to read a book and then write a review, I get all nervous inside. What if I upset the author with my opinion? What if my review rants on and on instead of getting right to the point? Will anyone take me seriously knowing that I'm reviewing a book at the behest of the author herself? ::deep breath::
Ghost Hand is a different sort of story from what I've read in the past and that makes it worth while to have read the book, and pass on my thoughts so that others can perhaps enjoy it as well. Olivia is something of a smart ass but she's got plenty of reasons why. She doesn't take grief from anyone, and her powers are fundamentally unique and unlimited at this point. She has also had to deal with the fact that her own mother doesn't want to understand her uniqueness, but instead, turns away from it.
I liked that Patton gave Olivia a best friend in Emma who didn't run away, and who didn't scream and holler over Olivia's PSS. When you get to know the real Marcus and why he is so adamant about fighting the so called CAMFers, you will open up to him like I did. As I said before, there are characters that you will loathe, and for me that's Jason. I just don't find any redeeming value to Jason. He grates on my nerves and makes a complete tool of himself on more than one occasion.
I'm looking forward to reading Ghost Hold next since Olivia's adventure is just starting out, and there are plenty of directions for which Patton can proceed. Thank you to Ripley Patton for sharing a copy of Ghost Hand with me. No monies exchanged hands.
Published November 30th 2012 by Ripley Patton (first published November 28th 2012)
Author - Ripley Patton
Title - Ghost Hand (PSS Chronicles # 1)
Released & Published by Ripley Patton November 30, 2012
Genre - Young Adult Paranormal
Received directly from Author
Kindle Edition 386 pages
Thanks for the great review.
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