Took: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

Took: A Ghost Story

Publisher: Clarion Books
Page Count: 272
Fiction Genre: Horror, YA, Paranormal, 
Dates Read: November 6-7, 2015

Reading Challenge: N/A
Topic: #73: Side Piece
Series: N/A

Summary
Daniel and his little sister Erica move from Connecticut to a tiny town in West Virginia with their parents.  This is not an ideal move, and everything seems to be going wrong.  No one is happy and they all feel like outsiders.  Worst or all, they are all fighting with each other when they should be banning together.  The kids at school tell the kids the ghost stories about their new house, and about how long ago a little girl went missing from the house and was never found.  Things get worse for Daniels family when suddenly one night his sister Erica goes missing.  Are the ghost stories true?  Is there an old witch that has snatched Erica?

Review
My brain was on vacation when I read this.  There really was not a need for it with this one.  I accept that my standards may have been to high.  I found Took just before Halloween, surrounded by adult novels.  I read the synopsis on the back, but failed to see this was a young kids book until I had started it.  Being someone that has to finish what she starts, I kept going with it.  I kept trying to reframe my mind that this was not an adult novel, but something intended for a much younger audience.  No matter what I found this book to be highly irritating.  There was so much potential in this story, but much like Doll Bones, the characters were one-dimensional, and the plot was flat.  It was just very painful to get through - horribly predictable and boring.

Read this book at your own risk.  Have you read this book?  Leave a comment below with your thoughts about it.

Ratings (based on a 10 point scale)
Quality of Writing - 6
Pace - 6
Plot Development - 3
Characters - 2
Enjoyability - 2
Insightfulness - 3
Ease of Reading - 5
Photos/Illustrations - N/A
Overall Rating - 3 out of 5 stars

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