My Last Kiss

April 14, 2014
Seventeen-year-old Cassidy Haines has just died after falling from a bridge, and now she’s a ghost, witnessing her own autopsy. She soon finds out that her boyfriend, Ethan, is the only person who can see her, and she enlists his help to piece together what actually took place on the night she died, even as her friend Aimée investigates, too. Through a series of flashbacks, Cassidy is forced to revisit moments leading up to her death. The setup of Neal’s debut may remind some adult readers of the 1980s classic Ghost, though the dialogue can sound more like that of a TV police procedural (“From where I was standing, she was unstable that night”) than a story about teenagers concerned about their friend’s death. Neal creates confusion while trying to maintain mystery; so many people in Cassidy’s life were involved on the night of her death, readers may find themselves as lost as Cassidy as the mystery progresses. Ages 12–up. Agent: Stacey Glick, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

May 1, 2014
Seventeen-year-old Cassidy Haines is on a quest to unravel the mystery of her own death, about which she can remember nothing except for the fact that it might have involved kissing someone other than her boyfriend.The police suspect that it was a suicide, but this doesn't ring true to Cassidy or to her best friend, Aimee. Intriguing? Perhaps. Neal's debut is much like a souffle that collapses upon being served. Though not particularly groundbreaking, the premise is promising enough, but it simply can't support the meandering plot and disappointingly flat characters. Unfortunately, the limits on Cassidy's ability to sleuth from the afterworld create an awkward distance between Cassidy and the action-and readers. Cassidy is often a passive observer, spending the bulk of the novel looking on as Aimee scrambles to find out who was responsible for her death. The only person Cassidy can communicate with is her boyfriend, Ethan. This means that in order for her to play an active role in Aimee's investigation, she must go through Ethan first, making her twice removed from the action itself. Finally, there is far too much importance placed on secondary characters that are either never fully developed or developed far too late. Maybe Cassidy should have stayed in the morgue and let Aimee tell the tale.Less of a whodunit and more of a who cares. (Paranormal mystery. 13-17)

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May 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-Cassidy Haines is blissfully reliving her first kiss with boyfriend Ethan when she is jolted back into the present by snow falling on her face. She looks up to see the silhouette of a boy, and follows his gaze down to the broken remains of her body strewn across the rocks on the riverbank. She has no memory of how she got there, but it doesn't take her long to realize she's dead. The authorities rule her death a suicide due to a note found clutched in her hand and the large amount of alcohol in her system. Cassidy is sure she had no reason to end her life, and she cannot move on until she discovers how she really died. The story unfolds as her spirit is pulled uncontrollably from one grief-stricken friend or family member to another, and to reliving the events that led up to her death. The only person who becomes aware of her presence and who might be able to help her figure out what happened is Ethan, and he is afraid that once she knows, he'll have to go through losing her all over again. Slow pacing and character development may frustrate some readers. So much of the story focuses on a moral message about lying and deceit that a promising whodunit is sacrificed in the process.-Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
After Cassidy dies on the night of her seventeenth birthday party, her spirit seems compelled to wander the earth, finding out who was really responsible for her death; only Cassidy's boyfriend Ethan can sense her presence. An overabundance of largely irrelevant secondary characters muddies the narrative, and the dead girl conceit seems more like a gimmick than like an integral plot point.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)