New School, New Home AND She Sees Ghosts?
Book review of Friends and Phantoms by Elizabeth Duivenvoorde
Published: September 10th, 2024 by E.D Publications
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 (4.75 stars)
Genres: Middle Grade (8-12 year olds), Paranormal
Series: The Hamilton House Hauntings (Book 1 of unknown)
Disclaimer: Thank you, Elizabeth Duivenoorde and E.D Publications, for sending me this book. All thoughts and opinions are 100% honest and my own.
CW/TW: grief, death of parent/guardian (off page), abandonment, discussion and descriptions of death, bullying, and injuries.
Suddenly Everything Has Changed
12 year old Claire’s life has changed. Her grandmother and guardian has passed, forcing her to move in with her aunt (absent father’s sister) who she’s never met. New home, new school, new people everywhere and on top of all of that, she’s hiding a secret.
Like all the women on her mother side of the family, Claire can see spirits. Unfortunately both her mother and grandmother passed before they were able to teach her everything she needed to know.
Now not only does Claire have to find a way to make friends and get to know her aunt but she has to help the spirits that are all drawn to an old house with a somewhat violent history too.
Our Hero
Claire is an amazing character. I admire her courage and her ability to adapt well to a new environment. Understandably she struggles to make friends, especially with her secret and all while dealing with not only the recent grief of her grandmothers death, but the older grief of losing her mum and the grief and anger of having a father who abandoned her. Because of all of this, Claire struggles with feeling wanted, always fearing that her aunt will get sick of her and she’ll have to go into foster care. And yet, she finds a way to move forward and face her struggles head on.
True Friendships
The friendships Claire makes are beautiful. Some may start out more rocky than others but eventually she finds her place and her people. Together they support each other through everything life throws at them.
Claire and her friends also experience bullying and stick together through it. It’s lovely and healing to see Claire’s friends stick by her, support her and even share their own vulnerabilities together. I’m excited to see how these friendships grown and blossom throughout the series aw well as getting to know the side characters more.
Nostalgia
One of my favourite scenes in Friends and Phantoms is the sleepover scene. It brought back so much nostalgia for those times when I was Claire’s age and had sleepovers with my friends. It’s definitely a core memory and this book was made better for having included it.
Paint Me a Picture
As a middle grade book aimed towards 8 to 12 year olds, the illustrations included really helped drive home specific scenes. I also loved to see how the author, Elizabeth Duivenvoorde, envisioned the scene and her characters. I was so excited when I saw the first illustration.
Final Thoughts
Friends and Phantoms is a great middle grade book that explores grief, bullying, friendships and going through life feeling different than everyone else. I would highly suggest this book to any 8 to 12 year olds who enjoy paranormal books with some mystery. In fact I’ve already bought this book for a friend of mine.
I would also suggest this book for anyone older than 12 who enjoys a fun easy read with great characters and exploration of self. I’m excited for the rest of the books in the series.
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