Deadspeak

Hi! Today I'm reviewing the YA suspense novel Deadspeak by Ruth Bainbridge. I received this book the way I receive most of the books I review here, through LibraryThing's Members Giveaway program, in exchange for an unbiased review. As I've mentioned before, I'm working my way through an extremely long backlog of unread/unreviewed books that I've won from LT, so you'll be seeing this disclaimer at the top of quite a few upcoming book reviews. But with that out of the way, let's get to the book. 

What's the book about?

Thirteen-year-old Griffin Lindon is beautiful, bright and bubbly. Unfortunately, she's also dead but can't figure out how it happened. Kimberly Trent is a rookie detective in the local police force who gets assigned to Griff's case. The girl's death brings a few of Kim's skeletons to light, namely the murder of her sister many years before. Kimberly and Griffin work together to try to get to the bottom of her murder and find themselves in a situation larger than either of them anticipated.


What I liked:

--It sounds morbid, but I liked that Griff's story while she was alive was entirely in the prologue. It didn't take me long at all to become invested in her and I think it would have been worse had it been dragged out.

--I liked that the real killer not only wasn't obvious, but didn't get a ton of attention throughout the book. The book didn't focus exclusively on the killer's identity because there were so many other viable suspects, which I think was a good tactic as it allowed other plotlines to develop.

--I liked that for such a young person, Griff was as mature and self-aware as she was. She wasn't written as a typical teenager at all (which I'm sure was partially the point when highlighting the injustice of her murder) but I enjoyed that she still, even as a spirit, went through her own struggles with questioning and later having to accept various things.

--I really liked that despite being a spirit, Griff wasn't invincible, all-knowing or all-feeling. It really was an entirely different world for her on the other side, one that strangely enough was just as alive as the living. She didn't suddenly inherit all of these insane powers and couldn't do a bunch of mind-boggling paranormal things but wasn't just this wandering, moaning blob of displaced energy, either. The book didn't employ those stereotypes. There was a liveliness with the character of Griff that I really enjoyed, something..unfinished..about her life, even presently as a spirit, and I loved how that was done.

--Since I know this isn't a standalone book, I wasn't expecting every question to be answered, but I did appreciate that most of the plot as it related specifically to Deadspeak was resolved by the end.

--I loved the entire explanation and reveal of the killer's deeds. Because of all of the false leads, it was easy to get caught up in certain characters' stories and trying to figure out the hows, whens and whys as the reader explored whether or not a particular person killed Griff. The true story was all in the details, and I loved that I didn't catch most of said details until the reveal.

--On a basic level, I liked the concept of the book. I loved that there were two lead heroines in this story and I always love stories that bridge the gap between the living and the dead, but mostly I like how Ruth Bainbridge chose to bring those things together. Things that normally wouldn't be connected were strung together by one common thread, a believable thread, and it worked for both Deadspeak and other books to come in the series.


What I didn't like:

--I wasn't crazy about how long it took for the killer to be revealed. Even though I enjoyed all of the red herrings because they brought out such a fuller story, they dragged on a little long for me. I think this complaint is more about my impatience than anything else, but I felt a few scenes could have been condensed a little without taking away from the story.

--I didn't really care for Kim's attitude towards her former friend and his grandmother despite Kim knowing the woman's predictions were accurate. I understood that she was running from something but when the answer for why she really avoided the man was revealed, I realized she wasn't taking any responsibility for her own feelings.

--I also wasn't crazy about her continued lies to others who knew about her ability to see Griff, even when she knew that the person asking really needed the answer she could have provided. I suppose that much like the point above, she was running from her truth and felt denial would be easier, but either way I really would have liked to see her give a little validation to those who were seeking it from her.

--I struggled to see the logic in Derek's full reason for being so evasive with the detectives. I understood his feelings, but I didn't think the reason was important enough to warrant him being so secretive about it, especially after the death of someone he considered a close friend.


Overall;

I thought Deadspeak was an amazing book. The main characters have an energy together that I hope is strengthened as the series continues. I loved Griff to pieces and my only regret with her character is that she had to die in order for the story to truly blossom. To be quite frank, I wasn't that fond of Kim for the majority of the book, but I came to understand that many of my complaints about her character should have been there because she was growing. Deadspeak, on Kim's half of the story, seems to be about how Griff's murder starts a snowball effect of growth, acceptance and change in her life. I noticed a lot of attention towards the walls she erected around herself, how much of her truth she seemed to run from and how certain decisions still haunt her, decades later. So from my (probably blurry) view, it seems as though we're getting a raw Kim, and smaller complaints like the ones I mentioned are (hopefully) intentional because she still needs to grow. I'm a big Agatha Christie fan, and when I thought about the skeleton of Deadspeak, it reminded me a bit of a classic mystery, a cast full of viable suspects with something to hide, but the author was able to make it her own. I think the plot was well-written and fleshed out enough to tell Griff's story, but there was enough story left behind to believably make this a series. I didn't notice too many grammatical errors and everything was clear and descriptive enough for me to follow along easily. If you like YA books with a modern take on a classic mystery, check out Deadspeak.


Where can I buy a copy?

Amazon


Contact the author here!

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