Review: The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

Title: The Dead and Buried by Kim Harrington

Published: January 1^st, 2013 by Scholastic Point

Source: Library

Format: Hardcover

Challenge(s):

Grade rate:  C+

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.
 Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't. Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

My Review

I am a big fan of Kim Harrington’s Clarity series, thus I was excited to read The Dead and Buried.  I found the book to be predictable, but good.

The Dead and Buried was a typical hunted house ghost book, and that my friend was my main issue with it.  Don’t get me wrong, it was still a great read.  Jade comes from a small town and her family just moved to a big house, that they could afford because a girl died there.  You might guess where this is going, right?  Well, since mean girl-turned- mean- ghost-Kayla was murdered she is really mad and will stop at nothing until Jade figures out who killed her.  (Now, I ask you, if you knew there was a ghost in your house, would you mess with a Quji board? I think not!)  Jade now has a difficult assignment to complete, made more difficult by the fact that she is new in town and Kayla belonged to the “popular” group in school. 

I didn’t identify to the characters as much as I did with the characters in the Clarity series, which was a big disappointment for me. Is not that I didn’t like Donovan or Kane, is just that I didn’t care for them as I should have.  Even if both of them were handsome and good guys at heart I hardly get to known him.  The story felt rushed and with little time to cultivate relationships and friendships. Most characters, such as the popular crowd, Jade’s stepmother, the nerdy friend, and even the absent dad felt very familiar and can be found in countless other stories.

The plot is very cookie cutter and predictable, but it is still entertaining.  The story is short and that might be part of the trouble with character development.  The writing is easy to read and flows nicely for a short book.   

Overall The Dead and Buried, was a typical hunted house read, a short and entertaining story.

Here are some quotes:

“He was right, but thankfully the pie gods chose that moment to bestow upon us or order. I do not exaggerate and neither did Kane.  With the first bite, I let out an embarrassing moan. .. We ate in silence. Part of me wanted to scarf the whole thing as quickly as possible and the other part wanted to savor each bite as long as I could.” – Jade
 

“Looking back, we’d all been haunted by the dead and buried. Not just the house.  We’d carried ghosts inside of us, making our spirits weary” – Jade

About the cover:  When I saw this book initially, it had another cover that looked more mysterious to me but now I can’t find it.  The current cover doesn't do much for me.