Ashes to Ashes

Love this story.  Like the whole idea of prism.

    I wasn't expecting to enjoy Ashes to Ashes as much as I did, so I am very glad I was sent a review copy. I read some of Melissa's other books, but they seemed so different, and I felt like I was done with ghost stories, but this had a spin that I enjoyed.      I enjoyed Callie, and wanted to know why she was special, having all of the energy, clear memories and emotions when she first crossed into the Prism, and I was curious about the mysterious Thatcher. There is also another group that does not want to move on to Solace, the version of heaven per Thatcher in this book.    The grief and emotions jump off the page, and while it seems it would be a completely down book, there are plenty of lighter moments and even flashbacks to get some romance and bestie time.      What I also appreciate is the message--you don't know if you will have another day, another chance to speak to the people you love, and she was looking back wishing that her and her father would have been closer, and that once we die, there is no way to fix that, so focus on what is important.      One thing that bothered me was some repetition of the rules and facts about Prism where different people says different things about what is okay or not, what you're supposed to do or not. And then there are details that I felt should have been given a tad earlier to avoid said repetition. If we had more info, the why, how, etc then it wouldn't be like, oh here's the rule again, and no reason behind it.      I figured out the twist before I got there as well as a few other details that maybe should have been more mysterious, but it didn't take away my enjoyment, and this is a series that I will continue with. Besides my affirmed suspicions about the end, they did a good job wrapping things up and stopped at a point that definitely made me wonder where exactly the series will go next, and wanting more.  Bottom Line: Good, fast read even if a bit predictable. 

  After seeing in another synopsis that this would be reminiscent of Ghost (the movie), I was really excited for this one. And upon further reading of that same synopsis, I saw that it was "perfect for fans of If I Stay by Gayle Forman" and I became really, REALLY excited for it. But unfortunately when I started reading it, I just couldn't get into it. This one was just a big disappoint for me.      One reason I didn't like it was it just seemed to be way too young to be YA. I understand that she was dead, but really, your snarkiness just made it seem stupid. I quit laughing at what you were saying and just started rolling my eyes in the first 10%. It's really unfortunate because I don't remember her other novel being like that.      But then there is the plot. I was really upset because I was looking for something completely different and this is not what I got. It was basically all about how she was so in love with her boyfriend from 1-7%, then how she died at 8%, and then 8-40% was just about the good and evil in the Prism. And it got boring rather quickly. I stopped at 40% and just skimmed the rest of the way. I just needed to know what it was that her boyfriend was keeping from her to see if my suspicions were correct, but that's all that I really cared about lol       I think I'm most disappointed because I loved her first novel and I was expecting this to be more like the movie and book that I loved. I guess that's why you never trust anything that says "based on,' or "for fans of," or "like ______ meets _____." You're more than likely always going to end up disappointed smh