Haint Misbehavin'

Author: Maureen Hardegree
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Released: July 1, 2010
Genre: YA Paranormal

Haint Misbehavin'  started off with a bang and didn't let up right through the last words!

Heather Tildy has it rough - she has hypersensitive skin, she's seen as a weirdo by just about everyone in her neighborhood, the guy she has a crush on doesn't know she exists, her older sister hates her and is out to make her life miserable - and now, to top it off, along with her period, she gets her own ten-year-old, mischievous ghost! Heather wants to help Amy move on, but Amy doesn't seem to want to. With lots of laughs and wacky scenarios, Heather and Amy both learn some lessons from their time together.

The multi-layered plot of the book works really well. The different elements - the possible romance, the older sister problems, the weirdness problem, the parent troubles, and the ghost - all fit together seamlessly to create a really realistic-sounding story about a "regular" girl trying to fit in and learning that the best thing is to be yourself. The two guys in the story actually works really well, too. I've heard that the two-guy thing is starting to get on people's nerves already (think Twilight), but in this case, I think the author did a great job of it. Both guys are nice (though I'm rooting for Xavier) and it'll be interesting to see what Heather does about them in the next book(s).

The pace of the book is amazing, too. Partly because of all the different parts of the plot, I guess, things are always happening. But the amazing part is that there is no downtime in this story - every single scene makes a difference to the characters and plot, and my interest was never lost through the whole book.

I love the snappy, sassy tone of the book, and it's constant throughout. The style of the writing is so great that, while I didn't notice it while reading - another plus, that the goodness of the writing is unobtrusive - when I think about it now, the tone is modified at each scene to fit the mood and what's going on. But still, the snappiness and sassiness is pretty much constant, since Heather is a sarcastic-thinking - in a nice way! - kind of girl. The writing drew me into the story completely, to the point that when Heather finds the answer that will help Amy move on, I smiled so widely and felt a warmth spreading throughout my heart. (OK, so that sounds cheesy, but good books do that to you! Or to me, anyway.) And the very last line made me laugh out loud!

Hainted Love - now there's a sequel I'm really anticipating!

Thanks to Bell Bridge Books and NetGalley for providing me with an e-book for review!