Reviews

Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett

zooloo1983's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

 

Jeez, I needed a tissue and a half after that ending. I need to calm down. I feel so emotionally drained.

Those final chapters just broke and before that, it was so intense as we were leading to that showdown. 

I’ve been dying to read this book for ages! I bought it after I kept seeing it everywhere and only now did I get a chance to read it. I hybrid-read it, blitzing the audiobook almost all day and then I knew I couldn't sleep until I saw how it ended. With a lot of tears and a tissue. 

What a wild ride. I will admit I was sucked in by the blurb, but the blurb is slightly misleading with the phrases it has used, as it doesn’t happen how it says it does. But I let it go, I was hooked from the start. I loved the element of a ghost helping her brother, of trying to find the killer. At times, it was hard to remember that Gale was 10 years old as he was rather mature for his age now and again. I have a 10 year old and he would have run a ring around her. 

The ending to part one was bad enough, surprising enough. But Part Two! Flipping heck! I was shocked, my jaw dropped and I was just shouting no bloody way!  I didn’t see it coming! I didn’t expect it and I didn’t expect the killer to be so cruel and sadistic. 

Side note, some of this was hard as it does express child-killing and it may be hard to read for some people. 

This is a book I won’t forget in a hurry, and it’s one of my favourites so far this year. 

It is harrowing, dark, magical and tense as hell. I have never read anything by Greg before, but I most definitely will. He wasn’t afraid to go to taboo subjects. He did it delicately and not too explicitly.  Just enough to make you feel cold to your core. 

I won’t forget this in a while! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

whatlexysaid's review

dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

1m1eek's review

4.0

This book exceeded my expectations. It's a suspenseful novel centered around a murdered child who communicates with her brother to reveal the identity of the killer. While the narrative isn't graphic or frightening, the compelling pace held my attention, leaving me intrigued about the unfolding events. The sibling interactions are heartwarming, and unexpected twists added an element of surprise to the story. Four stars. Good read.

thebookishhomesteader's review

4.0

Eeeek. This book was pretty darn good. Ok, the part about her coming back as a ghost isn’t very believable but it made for a dang good tale. I don’t want to spoil too much but the ending was super intense. I was glad it ended the way that it did though, sad but not too sad.

amberweirdo's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

bibliophiles_elite's review

3.0

Little Ghosts by Gregg Dunnett
Storm Publishing
Publication: 11 May 2023
3 ⭐️

What was supposed to be a fun and relaxing day at the beach turned out to be one of the most tragic days in the Martin family's life when the daughter, Layla, is kidnapped and later found viciously murdered. Fast-forward two years, and the police are nowhere near to finding the person responsible. Will her killer ever be found? Well, that is a question for the next Martin child, Gale. He knows exactly who it is, and how does he know? Layla told him. Gale is the only one who can see Layla's ghost, and the two of them must work together to bring the killer out of hiding.

One thing I enjoyed about this book is the sibling dynamic between Layla and Gale. I thought that some of the dialogue felt a little bit awkward as if the person who was speaking stopped in the middle of their sentence. Also, I wished there was a chapter detailing the aftermath of what happened once the killer was caught rather than hearing the event summarized by another character. Other than that, I thought this was a good book overall.

Thank you, Netgalley, Storm Publishing, and Gregg Dunnett, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

shesalwaysreading's review

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

4 stars. Enjoyed this one a lot overall. This is a book I’d heard of and just now got around to reading. I’d read others by the author. Very dark subject but good. 

namsmommy09's review against another edition

4.0

This story was just incredible. A boy trying to bring his sister's killer to justice, with her help. I love the way that the ghost girl "interacted" with the world around her. I love the way the grief process is worked through in this boy's story. Just loved this book.

siriusly_lacey's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense

5.0

miss_red's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0