Review: Liv, Forever - Amy Talkington

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 3.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (LOVE IT!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: March 11, 2014
Publisher: Soho Teen
Page Count: 278 p.
Add it: Goodreads

Liv has never belonged anywhere in her life, she's simply bounced from foster home to foster home. Liv thinks that Wickham Hall might finally be a place where she can belong...it isn't. She soon finds that she is not the same as the people in this school. Wickham Hall is steeped in tradition and secret societies and ghosts. Liv soon meets Malcolm Astor one of the golden boys at the school and they strike up and unlikely relationship. She also meets Gabe who is a kindred spirit and can see and talk to the dead. When things change for Liv, Gabe is the only one who can help her and time is running out. Liv has to figure out what is going on at Wickham Hall and why there are so many ghosts haunting it. Her future depends on what she can find out, but she may need to trust more people then she wants to in order to unlock all the mysteries of Wickham Hall.

This book was very good. It was spooky and just really awesome. The mystery kept me tangled up for quite awhile. It's quite what I was expecting and I always love a good boarding school story especially set in New Hampshire!

The only thing I didn't like about this novel was all of the art references. I realize that Liv is an artist and knows a lot about art, but comparing every single thing she observes with a piece or art or an artist was distracting and annoying. I could see a few references thrown in to establish how she views things, but four or five references on nearly every page seemed excessive. I knew some of the artists, but a lot of them I had no clue about and I'm not going to sit with my computer open so that I can Google every single reference. It just got absurd fast. I was sick of having every sight weighed down with a handful of artistic references. Maybe if you're really into art and art history this would appeal greatly to you, but I just found it tedious.

Beyond the over establishing that Liv was arty though I quite enjoyed this story. It was a creepy enough to freak me out while reading before bed and the mystery was suspenseful enough that I didn't want to stop reading. I just had to know what happened. Were these girls murdered and by who?

The characters weren't too developed, but I didn't find that they were underdeveloped either. As we spend more time with them we start to unravel more about their personalities and lives. Malcolm and Astor were great sidekicks for Liv and it was interesting seeing them interact.

I would definitely recommend this novel if you're looking for a quick, somewhat spooky mystery. I quite enjoyed it despite it's shortcomings.

First Line:
"Chances of a girl like me ending up at Wickham Hall were next to nothing."

Favorite Lines:
"We are not stars. And if we were, we'd be distant, immaterial. Alone."