The Cassidy Blake Trilogy by Victoria Schwab
Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one. When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass - and Jacob - come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world. Cassidy’s powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretched through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.
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I can always count on Schwab to fling me straight out of a reading slump and that’s exactly what this series did. Schwab has an expert way of combining the morbid and the whimsical in such poetic stories that you can’t help but love everything she writes. I am partial, however, to her adult novels as I love the brutality of some of her writing but I finally wandered into her middle grade writing and it was a delight! The perfect October spooky read that gives more mature vibes than a Disney Channel original but is still corny enough to have that typical cheery “Halloween” feel to it. A little girl with a ghost BFF visiting the most haunted cities (2 of which I’ve been to myself) is something I can definitely get on board with. I think this is the perfect read to get young readers into the fantasy/supernatural genre while also focusing on friendship and dealing with death and loss. I loved Cassidy’s character and her slightly brainless bravery at times. I especially loved Jacob and the banter between the two friends. Getting glimpses into some of the ghost stories of these famous cities was an added bonus. Most of them I’d already known but I think it’s a fun way to get kids interested not only in fantasy but the elements and history of our world that can inspire these stories (I think it could also awaken some young travel bugs as I know, after reading this, I’m ready to go back to Edinburgh and New Orleans and revisit these places with this story in mind).
This will be a short review as, given it has all the perfect elements of a children’s novel, there’s not much I didn’t like. So let’s start with the very few negatives I found. Cass was not creative or crafty AT ALL when it came to parental distraction and/or lies to get out of fishy situations. I feel like most young heroines are better at sneaking out and keeping their “double” life from their parents. The only reason Cass got away with ANYTHING is that her parents were pretty absent parental figures. I understand that in YA and children’s novels it’s not usual to have the parents involved a whole lot but I feel like Schwab could have been more inventive in how Cass got around their authority. As an adult who visited New Orleans and Edinburgh, even I did not want to be getting lost in those cities alone especially in areas where tourism wasn’t as prevalent. But these two “loving” parents will give their twelve-year-old daughter a $20 and say “yeah go entertain yourself, meet as back at the hotel once it’s DARK”?! That was the most unrealistic part of this series and it was a series about ghosts! However, I do acknowledge that I’m seeing this from an adult perspective and it was not written for my age group so I’ll let it slide. That was my ONLY hold-back in this entire series so that gives you a good idea of how much I enjoyed it.
One reason why I will always love Schwab’s writing, she nails characters and character development like an absolute pro, every. single. time. Cassidy was crafty, loyal, and perfectly Harry Potter obsessed. I loved finding a kindred spirit of my 12 year old self in this girl. She was the perfect representation of a girl that age, navigating friendships and struggling under the new pressures of responsibility. Jacob was a tragic figure who never lost his humour and the exploration of his background and his connection to Cass was such a beautiful way to express true friendship and platonic love. Lara, at first was a thorn in my side but I grew to love her just as much as the other two and I think she had the best character development of the series. Going from a prim/no nonsense young girl to a child who is now thriving in rule breaking with her found family was such a great turn of events. Most of all, as an adult, I loved her parents and I wish someday Schwab will write an adult prequel about how Cassidy’s parents met. A skeptical uptight historian and a whimsical, childish, believer make the most unlikely couple but the few glimpses we got of their relationship was so cute and would make such a good supernatural romance story!
The entire premise of a ghost-seeing child and her ghost-hunter parents (who have never actually experienced the paranormal) was an interesting spin. It gave Cass the great opportunity to see the most haunted cities and help the most haunted of ghosts without her parents being too involved. Yet her parents, thought being “believers” are just skeptical enough that she still has to hide her double life (no kid wants to read a story where the parents are involved more than needed right?). I felt the cities and their pasts come to life around me as I read. Revisiting Edinburgh for the first time through Cass’ eyes reawakened memories I’d forgotten about, and hearing about some of the haunts in Paris has bumped that destination up in my travel list.
All in all, a great story, perfect for middle-grade readers. If you like good fantasy children’s stories, this would be right up your alley. I can’t wait until my niece and nephew are old enough to read chapter books so I can introduce them to this story and we can fawn over it together. If you’re looking for a non-scary but still spooky Halloween read, this is it. I gave the full series 4 stars overall.