Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

Title: Chasing Brooklyn

Author: Lisa Schroeder

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Date Published: April 19, 2011

Genre: YA fiction, romance, fantasy, paranormal, realistic fiction

Pages: 432 (paperback)

Age Range: 14+






Summary

Restless souls and empty hearts

Brooklyn can't sleep. Her boyfriend, Lucca, died only a year ago, and now her friend Gabe has just died of an overdose. Every time she closes her eyes, Gabe's ghost is there waiting for her. She has no idea what he wants or why it isn't Lucca visiting her dreams.

Nico can't stop. He's always running, trying to escape the pain of losing his brother, Lucca. But when Lucca's ghost begins leaving messages, telling Nico to help Brooklyn, emotions come crashing to the surface.

As the nightmares escalate and the messages become relentless, Nico reaches out to Brooklyn. But neither of them can admit that they're being haunted. Until they learn to let each other in, not one soul will be able to rest.

 Review

 First off, this book was written in verse. This was the first book that I have read that has been written in verse. It was a new experience, but I'm glad I tried it out because it was really good. The verses were beautiful. I've read quite a few books, but this book was unexpectedly lyrical and flowy.

The story itself was sort of cliche. Boyfriend dies, girls goes into grief, does something to commemorate dead guy with help of come hottie. However, the way his book went down, it did not feel cliche. I didn't really expect Brooklyn and Nico to end up daring even though I wanted it to end that way.

The ghosts and their elements in this book kind of appeared out of the blue, which was a little weird. At the end of the book, I was still wondering why the heck they appeared in the first place.

Brooklyn was an amazing character--even in the face of romance, she stepped away to asses her new feelings, which I really liked. Nico...Where do I start? I felt terrible for him losing his brother and all, but he quickly established himself as more than a hot guy trying to get Brooklyn's attention. He became a true friend for her through the story, and eventually, a worthy boyfriend.

All in all, Chasing Brooklyn was a sweet book. It starts out pretty sad, but it ends on a really high, hopeful note that leaves you feeling ridiculously happy. I was incredibly happy with Lisa Schroeder and I think it's high time to check out her other books.