Ripley Patton

Last year when I read Ghost Hand, the first book in the PSS Chronicles series, I was absolutely hooked. The whole PSS thing just fascinates me and the story is so very well written that it was a no brainer for me to read the second in the series. I mean, I just had to know what was next for these characters.

Okay, so this book starts where the first left off. The characters are on a journey to help the next person on Marcus's list. A girl named Samantha. But for this particular sting, they will need to have a very extensive identity change, well at least for Olivia and Passion, who are going to be attending Samantha's school in order to get close enough to reveal their true intentions. But things are not going to go as planned.

You see, Samantha can hear PSS. It is literally music to her ears. Which wouldn't be bad if she wasn't in a cult that could potentially be as dangerous as the CAMFers themselves. And it also doesn't help that this particular cult is a part of Marcus's own past. A past that Olivia finds he has been pretty much hiding the truth about. Events will occur revealing things about him that will make Olivia doubt his true intentions. Is he truly on their side, or has he been siding with the enemy all along? And she will also find things out about her own past that will change what she has known about her family forever.

This book has a lighter mode in some parts than the first one did. But there are also infinitely darker parts as we go deeper and deeper into the abyss that is PSS. I am floored by this very story, and cannot wait to see how this series will end.… (más)

You might like this book if:
- You like young adult genre
- You don’t mind some swearing
- You like sci-fi-type genre
- You like reading about a group of people that are different from mainstream society
- You like one-dimensional bad guys
- You like very headstrong protagonist
- You like books set in contemporary time
- You don’t mind some deception
- You don’t mind a small cliffhanger
- You don’t mind some stereotypes
- You like teenage infatuations

This book is the first book in a series… (más)

Synopsis - Olivia Black just discovered that her ghost hand, a rare birth defect, can do more than light up a room. It can reach into people and pull things out. Things from the darkest depths of the human psyche never meant to exist in this world.

Olivia can pickpocket the soul.

But she can't control her ability, or the strange items it extracts, and the only thing between Olivia and the men bent on taking the power of her hand is a boy she barely knows and doesn't trust.

Review - I really enjoyed this book! I was really intrigued by the synopsis when I first read it. I'd never heard of a plot like this so I really looked forward to reading the book. I loved the way Olivia's ghost hand was described, how it worked, how it was revealed that other people had this 'birth defect.' Also, I liked Olivia a lot as a heroine. She felt like a real person to me and she was really likable and I rooted for her! She's a teenage girl struggling with issues that are bigger than she is [life and death situations due to her PSS and a conspiracy around it] but also, she's got 'regular' teenage problems - she doesn't get a long with her mom, she lost her dad, and she might have feelings for Marcus [which is tied to the conspiracy!].
I found her just a really relate-able character and very true to life. So many times in YA novels we have heroes/heroines that come across as trying to play at being grownups and it always falls really flat for me. I didn't get that sense at all with Ghost Hand. Olivia was a great character and narrator.
I also liked the other characters in the book - the other PSS kids.
I think there's a lot of room for this book to grow into a series and I hope that Ripley Patton continues! I'm really intrigued by all the ways PSS can manifest and also in Olivia's abilities.
I definitely recommend this book!… (más)