The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen by Katherine Howe
Series: standalone
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers on September 15th 2015
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal
Pages: 379
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

It’s summertime in New York City, and aspiring filmmaker Wes Auckerman has just arrived to start his summer term at NYU. While shooting a séance at a psychic’s in the East Village, he meets a mysterious, intoxicatingly beautiful girl named Annie.
As they start spending time together, Wes finds himself falling for her, drawn to her rose-petal lips and her entrancing glow. There’s just something about her that he can’t put his finger on, something faraway and otherworldly that compels him to fall even deeper. Annie’s from the city, and yet she seems just as out of place as Wes feels. Lost in the chaos of the busy city streets, she’s been searching for something—a missing ring. And now Annie is running out of time and needs Wes’s help. As they search together, Annie and Wes uncover secrets lurking around every corner, secrets that will reveal the truth of Annie’s dark past.

From the moment I picked up The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen I knew I was going to have a difficult time putting it down. Howe’s writing alone was wonderful as she wove a story of heartbreak, love, and tragedy in a haunting ghost story.

Wes is starting his summer term at NYU and when he finds himself roped in to help a fellow friend film a séance, he meets a mysterious girl that he later learns is named Annie. But Annie is not like anyone he has ever met before, there is something different about her dark eyes, the outdated dress and her lingo. Why is she so hard to find?

The story was good. I really enjoyed it. This was more of an older YA novel as Wes himself is 19 years old and in college. He is a film student who finds himself fascinated with Annie and another girl in the book named Maddie. Maddie is a Goth girl he meets at the séance, who is also a squatter with an interesting past and becomes Wes’ love interest. Throughout this book felt like it had a love triangle in it, once you get to know Annie, you kind of realize it really isn’t.

Annie’s tragic past is just that, it’s tragic. It’s an unfortunate mistake that was meant to be for the greater good but ended up costing. I liked how this story was told from both Wes’ and Annie’s side of the story because not only do we get to see what Wes sees and how he experiences the phenomena that’s Annie, but we also get to see what Annie is experienced through her journey as well. I loved when all the pieces clicked together and painted the vivid picture of what was happening. Haunting and mysteries, the story was well done. If you are looking for something super scary, this is not, but if you love a ghost story, this might be right up your alley.

Thought I liked the characters and the bits of different mysteries about Annie’s life and what had happened to cause everything to go wrong. I found myself not connecting with the romance part of the book. I didn’t feel it, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, It just honestly the story could have done without it. I didn’t understand the attraction of Maddie either. Thought a sweet girl, there really wasn’t any spark between her and Wes, no tension, nothing.

I liked the mystery, thought it was simple and the big reveal that happens about Annie’s family feels like something that was recently done in a book I just read, so it was a bit of eye rolling, but I liked how Howe weaved history into this story.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I really liked Annie. I liked the interesting take on ghosts by Howe and the writing was great.

“Go away!” I shout at the fog.

Still it inches ever closer.

“Go away, I don’t want you! I want to stay here!” I shout.

A tendril of fog gently touches my toe, and I kick at it. The fog spreads and dissolves, but then re-forms itself and moves softly, smoothly over the top of my ft, sending a delicate finger up the hem of my dress

What about you? What ghost stories do you enjoy? Or which wicked read are you looking forward to this Halloween?

Penguins Teen is also holding #TwitterGhostStory, the week-long event (taking place 10/26-10/31) in which you can write a spooky story in 140 characters or less using #TwitterGhostStory to enter for the chance to win a prize pack of the featured titles. They also have two more Twitter chats taking place this Friday and next Friday at 4pm that are being hosted by @YAbookscentral and @mashreads, respectively. The authors participating are:

10/23:

• Peter Kujawinski (twitter.com/kujawinski) author of Nightfall
• Jake Halpern (https://twitter.com/JakeHalpern) author of Nightfall
• Kim Liggett (twitter.com/kim_liggett) author of Blood and Salt
• April Genevieve Tucholke (https://twitter.com/apriltucholke) author of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys

 

10/30:

• Danielle Vega (twitter.com/dvegabooks) author of The Merciless and Survive the Night
• Peter Kujawinski (twitter.com/kujawinski) author of Nightfall
• Kim Liggett (twitter.com/kim_liggett) author of Blood and Salt
• April Genevieve Tucholke (https://twitter.com/apriltucholke) author of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys
• Carol Goodman (https://twitter.com/C_Goodmania) author of Blythewood series
• Sally Green (https://twitter.com/Sa11eGreen) author of the Half Bad series