This Is Not A Ghost Story by Amerie
30 April 2025
Written by: Magz H
Disclaimer: I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. There are no spoilers in this review.
Synopsis
John is the first person to return from the afterlife as a ghost, let alone him being a Black man. He has no memories of his past life, how he died, nor why he ended up pushed from his haven in the afterlife into modern-day Los Angeles.
Through the dubious assistance of an unlikely team of allies (a stern publicist, a failed psychic, and an aspiring actress), John navigates finding out who he was before his afterlife haven with the backdrop of a media frenzy.
Thoughts
The dialogue exchanges and character interactions were the strongest aspects of this book. The voices and personalities for each character were very distinct. The House was also an interesting character in its own right. The imagery of John's haven was otherworldly enough without boggling us readers down to understand its logic. I also liked how much thought went into how ghosts work in this world and the book expands the possibilities of what a ghost story can be.
The structure and pacing of the narrative was where it lost me. From the synopsis, I expected the story would be told from John's perspective only, but it interjects with two other perspectives. These additional perspectives, in turn, had the side effect of some parts of the story being either too meandering or too fast.
I enjoyed seeing how all the key characters connected with each other as the story goes on, despite their disparate backgrounds. However, some of these connections and emotions behind these connections felt too rushed for my preference.
Overall
I give this book 3.75/5.
The story reads like a disorienting dream, with a ghost finding unlikely friends and those unlikely friends finding each other. If you like stories that subvert ghost story tropes, blurs the lines between life, death, and misfits coming together, then it's worth reading through once.