Book Review: Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella

This was a moving story about a girl’s attempts to come to terms with her brother’s suicide – while attending Harvard, the location of his death.

As if college isn’t stressful enough, Cady has to deal with the added stress of her brother’s recent suicide (while attending the college where he died) AND her mother’s inability to accept her decision to attend AND her parents’ marital issues. Oh yeah, AND the voices that seem to have taken up residence in her head since she started…

This was a mystery of a story for a while. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be scary, supernatural, weird, psychological… Turns out it was a bit of all of these, with some coming-of-age, romance, and mystery bits thrown in for good measure.

Serritella does a very nice job blending all of these elements into a tale that develops slowly and confusingly – much like Cady’s experiences with the voices themselves. It made for an atmospheric read that kept me guessing for much of the story (in a good way). The drama built up and resolved itself a little dramatically and quickly (and tidily) in the end, and while I saw some of it coming, other parts were a complete surprise. As with the slower build of the beginning, this meld of elements was occasionally disorienting but ultimately satisfying, and I quite enjoyed the read as a result.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.