When seventeen-year-old Paige dies in a freak fall from the roof during Physics class, her spirit is bound to the grounds of her high school. At least she has company: her fellow ghosts Evan and Brooke, who also died there. But when Paige hears the rumor that her death wasn't an accident--that she supposedly jumped on purpose--she can't bear it. Then Paige discovers something amazing. She can possess living people when they think of her, and she can make them do almost anything. Maybe, just maybe, she can get to the most popular girl in school and stop the rumors once and for all.
Publication Date: May 21, 2013
Absent ended up being a surprisingly thought-provoking read.
It had a great underlying message and along with Paige’s ghost I felt her
heartache and anger over her premature death.
The book opens with Paige and two other ghosts haunting
their former high school. The teens all died on the school grounds and can’t
leave. Instead, they are forced to roam the halls and watch as their classmates
move on.
Paige wasn’t likable at first, but I loved her growth as a
character. Paige has to face that the things she found important in life, no
longer matter as much in death. She becomes obsessed with trying to stop the
rumor that her death was a suicide. Along the way, she learns of how much she
had lost by not taking the time to look beyond the labels she created for her
fellow classmates.
This was a quick read, but for the most part, the characters
and the plot were still fleshed out well. I finished the book in two sittings
because I was eager to solve the mystery surrounding how exactly Paige fell off
the roof. I liked the twists thrown in and I didn’t see the end coming.
There are a few heart-wrenching scenes and I did get choked
up once or twice. I found it particularly sad as Paige realizes she wasted her
heart on the wrong boy who was a popular jock that forced Paige to have a
secret relationship and wouldn’t be seen in public with her.
Readers of young adult books who want something more than a
fluffy read will definitely enjoy Absent.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for review!
Wonderful review, Heather! I think the cover of this book misses the mark completely. It says nothing of the story inside (unless the moths are involved with death somehow). I would never have picked it up. Thanks for sharing! WRITE ON!
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