A Riley Bloom Novel: Shimmer

Shimmer is the second title in the series about 12 year old Riley Bloom, who is the sister of Ever, the protagonist of No's bestselling The Immortals series. Despite personally disliking the writing style and characterisation in the book, I can see it and the series being popular with young teenagers, especially those who enjoy programmes like Wizards of Waverley Place. I did, however, find the premise of the story interesting; Riley is dead and is now a soul-catcher who persuades other ghosts and spirits to move from the earth plane to the Here and Now, which is No's version of Heaven. Whilst on vacation after the events of the previous title Radiance Ever breaks the rules and disobeys her guide Bodhi by inserting herself into the existence of Rebecca and Prince Kantu. Rebecca is a very bitter and angry ghost of a plantation owner's spoilt 13 year old daughter who was killed in a fire started during a revolution by the area's slaves and Kantu is one of the slaves who died during that revolution. Rebecca has spent the centuries since her death feeding her anger and preventing all of those, like Kantu, who she holds responsible for her death, from moving on to the other realm by keeping them trapped in a bubble where they are fixated by their worst fears and memories. Using first person narration we are told the story by Ever, who I found to be increasingly infuriating with her American colloquialisms and 'tweenspeak', especially her frequent use of 'Blah' to describe how she feels about things. Some of the details about the gruesome deaths and violence that the slaves suffered and Rebecca's description of dying in the fire might disturb some readers; they are not graphically explicit but more subtle and unnerving and could lead to questions about slavery. The book also ends on a cliffhanger concerning Ever and Bodhi's future and those who enjoyed the story and engaged with the characters will definitely be intrigued enough to pick up the next instalment. (176 pages). Reviewed by Natalie Plimmer, librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+