This is a bind up of two books called Walk of the Spirits and Shadow Mirror. I did not find these to be as good as her Unseen series but they were good enough to read through both of them.
Walk of the Spirits
In this story we have Miranda who just survived hurricane Katrina and has moved to another town called St. Yvette and discovers that she has special talents to see, help and speak to the dead. At first she is pretty unsettled over this whole affair but gradually is able to handle things and help those on the other side who have lost their way. In the midst of this she makes some great friends who try their best to help her while they put together a project called Walk of the spirits for school. They learn a lot more about Miranda's abilities and who she is supposed to help.
I think that this story is more plot driven with some good bits of history thrown in. It had a good tale to tell but I felt like it lacked depth and did not have enough action or excitement. I think it could have been so much more than it was. The love triangle in this story Between Gage, Miranda and Etienne just felt odd to me, kind of off. It did not seem like any of them really wanted to fight for anyone which made it feel pretty unrealistic and really kind of non existent.
The cast of characters were pretty good, with plenty of protagonists, but it lacked antagonists. I feel like a good story needs both good and bad characters to be successful. However, my favorite character ended up being Roo. She is quite the girl. She is strong, vocal, and sometimes annoying, but she knows what she wants and she is not afraid to speak her mind. It really bothered me that there were no villains in this book and I think it would have been so much better with bad guys running amuck.
I rated this first story 3 stars because it flowed pretty well, and I feel there was enough to keep my interest and to continue on to the next story in the bind up.
Shadow Mirror
In this story we have all of the same characters plus a couple new ones, but still no villains of any kind. This one I felt was better than Walk of the Spirtis. It has more action and excitement and still more plot driven than character driven. Miranda discovers new spirits that she needs to help by way of mirrors and a plantation called Belle Chandelle.
I liked the premise of this story much more than the first story. I think it flowed better and had a better, more exciting tale to tell. A lot more was going on in this one and it had a creepier air to the story. I do like how the story carried over from the other one and improved in doing so. It felt a bit more realistic.
The characters were pretty much the same although they did grow a little bit. I still think it would have been better if we would have had a villain of some sort in the story. The love triangle was still quite dull until more towards the end of the book, so it is not very memorable at all. I feel like the characters were just playing each other, and not just the ones in the love triangle.
I rated this story a 4 star based on the excitement of the plot which gives my overall rating of the book a 3.5 stars. If you want a YA ghost story than this is probably good for you, but if you want a believable creepy tale you might need to try something else like her Unseen Series which I feel is much better than this one.
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