Spirit Walk by Richie Tankersley Cusick - Series Review (Reread)

Series Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Books in the Series:

• Walk of the Spirits

• Shadow Mirror

Best Book: I couldn’t choose!

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Spice: Mild

Summary:

Miranda Barnes and her mother must start over and move to St. Yvette, Louisiana after their home in Florida is destroyed by a hurricane. They are moving to the small southern town near the Louisiana swamps to live with Miranda’s Aunt Teeta and her grandfather in her mother’s childhood home. Miranda has all the normal anxieties of moving – a new school and making new friends – but she also finds that everyone in St. Yvette thinks her grandfather is crazy because he claims to interact with ghosts. Miranda had never met her grandfather until now, and her first encounter leaves her grudgingly agreeing with the town gossips. That is, until she starts having weird experiences too. Now she will need to rely on Etienne – a boy who seems to know more than he should about what’s happening to her – and her new group of friends to help her figure out what happened to the ghost that is haunting her.

Reaction:

The Spirit Walk series is a combination of two books, Walk of the Spirits and Shadow Mirror both told from Miranda’s POV. These books were published in 2008, so they aren’t new books, but I feel like they are underrated gems. I found the first book in my middle school library, and now I reread these books every two years or so; they are some of my all-time favorites. As a native Texan, I love books with Southern Gothic vibes, and this book transports you to that small southern town where every character is so nice and helpful, while at the same time sticking their nose way too far into your business. But what keeps me coming back is the family the FMC makes with her newfound friends, and the MMCs who are both charming southern gentlemen each in their own way. This book is also a perfect way to dip your toe into the Paranormal Romance genre. While the paranormal aspects are central to the plot, they are executed in a way that reads more like a murder mystery, and even the paranormal experiences seem grounded and real.