manwithanagenda's review
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Set two years after 'The Secret Window', Meg has grown more confident with her abilities and enjoys her healthy friendships. In fact she has big plans to get a spot in the youth theater performance with her best friend so they can be together all summer. Unfortunately, her mother has other plans. Her uncle, who has been away most of her life, has come back to the United States and is treating his sister to a vacation in New York and to see relatives on the east coast. The children aren't invited. Her mother is elated at the news, especially after the divorce has been finalized and she's truly been on her own the last two years since Meg's father abandoned them rather than take a day job.
Meg resents this trip, having found it harder to get on with her mother recently anyway. She can't stay home alone or stay with her best friend - whose family has enough on their plate. She has to go to her father's. She has more or less forgiven her father for his abandonment, but she doesn't want to go out to a remote cabin all summer away from her friends.
She's 14, however, so she doesn't have much choice. Her brother guilt trips her into pretending to be okay so her mother can enjoy her much-needed vacation.
The real issue is she discovers her father has been building a much different life than the one he has been painting in his letters home. He's no longer living in a remote cabin, but a guest house ina small resort town. He has a day job. He may have something going on with the landlady. There's also secrets in the house, and a strange new turn to Meg's dreams.
That's the set up. 'Ghost in the Window' follows a more typical juvenile mystery set-up. It's okay. It doesn't have the nuance that 'Secret Window' did. While, ultimately, I can agree with a message that children should forgive their parents for being selfish (at least until they can get the hell away), there really wasn't adequate explanation given to the fact that her father had literally stolen away in the middle of the night to escape his responsibilities. He didn't want to have to say good-bye. Urgh. Now Meg has to forgive him and wish him the best with his new family.
Girl, when you turn 18, you never have to speak to him again.
The Secret Window
Previous: 'The Secret Window'
Meg resents this trip, having found it harder to get on with her mother recently anyway. She can't stay home alone or stay with her best friend - whose family has enough on their plate. She has to go to her father's. She has more or less forgiven her father for his abandonment, but she doesn't want to go out to a remote cabin all summer away from her friends.
She's 14, however, so she doesn't have much choice. Her brother guilt trips her into pretending to be okay so her mother can enjoy her much-needed vacation.
The real issue is she discovers her father has been building a much different life than the one he has been painting in his letters home. He's no longer living in a remote cabin, but a guest house ina small resort town. He has a day job. He may have something going on with the landlady. There's also secrets in the house, and a strange new turn to Meg's dreams.
That's the set up. 'Ghost in the Window' follows a more typical juvenile mystery set-up. It's okay. It doesn't have the nuance that 'Secret Window' did. While, ultimately, I can agree with a message that children should forgive their parents for being selfish (at least until they can get the hell away), there really wasn't adequate explanation given to the fact that her father had literally stolen away in the middle of the night to escape his responsibilities. He didn't want to have to say good-bye. Urgh. Now Meg has to forgive him and wish him the best with his new family.
Girl, when you turn 18, you never have to speak to him again.
The Secret Window
Previous: 'The Secret Window'
ishi_time's review against another edition
3.0
Loved all the characters! This book was less about ghosts and more about character relationships. Not a huge fan of the plot, but it was a good book nonetheless :)
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