On Starships and Dragonwings

The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce grabbed me immediately with that gorgeous cover. I was further intrigued by the family curse that plagued Taylor. Avenging murder victims sounds pretty noble and not so bad until the whole ‘Darkness coming for the murderer or you if you don’t find the murderer fast enough’ thing comes up! I didn’t actually realize that Weight of Souls takes place around London, but that was a very pleasant surprise. I don’t read enough books based in the modern world but outside of the US (as was made obvious by my need to clarify British slang, haha) and so Weight of Souls was a fun introduction to the culture there that TV hasn’t revealed to me ;-).

Note: I received The Weight of Souls through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I read an eARC and so some things may change in the final version.

The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce 
Published by Strange Chemistry on August 6th, 2013
Genres: Paranormal, YA 
Length: 350 pages
How I got my copy: NetGalley
IndieBound - Book Depository - Goodreads
Purchases made support this blog 

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him? -- Goodreads 

Strengths:

• While ghosts are a pretty normal paranormal (haha) element, the idea of murder victims needing to be avenged by a cursed family was pretty cool. Add to that some London flair and I was quite happy.
• The romance ends up being quite sweet and I thought the pacing was done well.
• There is a pretty cool twist about 2/3 through, though you don’t really notice it as a twist so much as a plot development. In any case, I won’t give it away, but it was cool :D.

Weaknesses:

•  There were a lot of loose ends at the conclusion of Weight of Souls. There isn’t a series listed yet on Goodreads, but the ending of Weight of Souls barely stands on its own, so there better be a sequel.
• There is a really awesome secondary character (Hannah) who is not involved in most of Weight of Souls and this made me sad. When awesome characters exist, they should be used!
• The mystery element of Weight of Souls wasn’t all that gripping for me. It’s pretty obvious from the beginning how it will turn out (in a general sense), though maybe it’s not supposed to be a mystery? I’m not sure….

Summary:

The Weight of Souls was an enjoyable book to read for the premise and setting. I wish that there had been a better conclusion (just make it longer?) and there definitely has to be a sequel. While I’m making wishes, can we get more character development and pages for Hannah please?