Review: The Haunted by Jessica Verday

Product Details:
The Haunted (The Hollow #2) by Jessica Verday
Paperback 467 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Released: September 2010

After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with by the bridge where her best friend drowned - the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead - Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, determined to leave the ghosts of her past behind.

Review:
The Haunted picks up a little while after The Hollow ends. Abbey has been spending her summer at her Aunt's farm house where she has been getting psychological help from a doctor about her 'hallucinations'. Abbey is horrified to find out that she must return home early in order to give a speech at the opening of the new bridge that has been built in Kristen's memory. Abbey is terrified by the possibility of seeing Caspian again after she has spent weeks trying to convince herself that he does not exist.

When Abbey returns back home to Sleepy Hollow, she does indeed see Caspian once again. After a brief meeting outside her house, she lets herself decide that he is real and that this is not her imagination. Whilst learning to accept the fact that she is in love with a ghost, Abbey also has to be tutored in Chemistry by Ben due to her missing so much of school and she has to work for her Uncle in his ice cream shop. With all of this going on, Abbey doesn't have much time to think about the mystery behind Kristen's secret boyfriend, D.

Abbey visits Caspian at the cemetery frequently and he starts to tell her more about his life as a ghost. When Abbey questions him about the fact that he was able to touch her once, Caspian tells her that he has discovered he can touch people on the date of his death, for 24 hours. Abbey makes Caspian accept the fact that she wants to be with him no matter what.

But of course, life isn't just that simple. When mysterious strangers with musical voices and freakish smells start appearing in Abbey's life, she discovers that there is more to her and Caspian's relationship and that she may be about to discover who was behind Kristen's death.

I loved The Haunted! I felt like the character personalities really shone through in this more than they did in The Hollow and Abbey really steps up as the Heroin. I really enjoyed Caspian's comical jealousy of Ben throughout the book and you really sense how desperately Abbey and Caspian want to be able to touch.

With a mega cliffhanger of an ending, I really can't wait to find out how it all concludes in The Hidden (which is currently being shipped to my door, courtesy of Amazon, as we speak - hurray!).

Royal Rating: