Review: Unbroken (Ruined #2) by Paula Morris

I think I once again got this book from a Scholastic book fair, or maybe from one of their warehouse sales.  I enjoyed the first one in the series, Ruined, and was pleased to see a sequel to it.  And for the most part I enjoyed this book as much as the first one.

The main character again is Rebecca Morris.  While she's living back in NYC with her dad again, in this book her dad has a business trip in New Orleans, so they go back during her spring break. This time she gets to take her best friend Ling along.  And of course she's very excited to see Anton again.  The handsome boy that she got to know last time.  And it seems Anton is happy to see her, so much that he invites her to the school dance that will be going on while they are visiting.  He even has a friend for Ling to go with.  But it won't all be about parties and such.  They plan to help out with some service projects in the city. Cleaning up a beach, as well as another area in the poorer part of town that is still a mess from Hurricane Katrina.  Rebecca and Ling get to participate in some New Orleans traditions, and of course see her cousin Aurelia again.  Unfortunately, another ghost shows up and asks Rebecca for help.  Rebecca isn't sure who to talk about it this time.  She doesn't want to worry her dad.  Her friend Ling knows nothing of that part of her life.  And when she tries to talk to Anton, who was with her for the whole Lisette episodes in the last book, it's almost like he either doesn't believe her, or else thinks she should not worry about it, she doesn't need to be helping every ghost that asks.  But of course Rebecca wants to help this ghost find a locket he lost, a locket that may turn out to have a more meaningful reason to be found.  And not only is there the ghost that is trying to find it, there is the ghost that killed him trying to keep her from helping.  That's not the only obstacle, Toby, the crazy guy from the last time she was in New Orleans, is rumored to be back in town, and looking for revenge.

I really liked the ghost story in this, and how the locket had all the different connections.  I wasn't real keen on how Rebecca and Anton interacted, the awkwardness was a bit more than normal or easy to read about.  I love reading about New Orleans, a place that I must visit sometime soon!  And of course I'd be one that would want to go visit the graveyards, and the voodoo stuff.

Dark Souls by Paula Morris

Dark Souls by Paula Morris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book from our school book fair last October. Then I put it in a cabinet at school because I used to keep a book to read at school. Well, mostly this year I've been bringing the actual book I've been reading with me to and from school each day. So, I completely forgot I had this book till I went to look for something else in that cabinet. So I got it home, and picked it up to read. Once again it was a good read from Paula Morris. I first learned of her from the book Ruined, which I also really enjoyed. Again we have a girl kind of out of her comfort zone, as our main character is Miranda who has moved to York with her parents while they are there on business/work. Miranda and her brother have a bad memory when they were in an accident and Miranda's best friend was killed in the car her brother was driving. Since then her brother can't stand to be in small places. And Miranda thinks she can now see ghosts. So, this town in England, of course, has lots of ghosts. And soon Miranda begins wondering how many ghosts she's seen that she didn't realize were ghosts. She also meets a guy named Nick who can see ghosts. And he offers to help her learn about the whole deal of seeing ghosts. Not only is Nick kind of cute, Miranda sees a really handsome guy in the attic across from where they're staying. But she soon figures out from what Nick has taught her about ghosts that the hot guy is also a ghost.
There are lots of little connections, and some really interesting history of the town in this book. It kept me wondering and guessing who could be the so called bad guy that kept tearing up one of the local bars. And what is Nick really all about? Miranda soon learns who he really is, even if he does keep being really secretive. And his secrets could get Miranda and her family in some serious danger.
A great ghost story, with a really good ending. I look forward to reading more books by Paula Morris.
This book also makes my TBR list.

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Ruined by Paula Morris

This is a book I got as a strip cover at the bookstore, and I'm not sure why it was sent back. It was really good! I thought it was anyway.

The main character is Rebecca. She has to go live with her aunt in New Orleans when her dad has to travel to China for 6 months. Now Rebecca is a New York girl, and so New Orleans is extremely strange to her. Especially this aunt that she doesn't know that well. She lives in the Garden district, but in probably one of the smallest houses there. And each room of her house is decorated in weird superstitious things, like voodoo, and other countries' similar types of masks and things. She has to go to a private school while she's there, and unfortunately her cousin that she lives with is too young and doesn't go to the same school building, so Rebecca is kind of alone. The girls at this school are clearly divided into different social groups. Many, including those from the neighborhood Rebecca lives in are snooty, rich girls who have known each other forever. Her aunt's house is right across from an old spooky cemetary, and her aunt forbids her from going there right away. Well, Rebecca hears the snobby kids from her school go over there late one night, so she sneaks out to see what is going on, where she meets a girl about her age named Lisette. It turns out though, that Lisette is actually a ghost. She is stuck there haunting certain families until a curse has been satisfied.

Of course, there is the popular boy, Anton, that seems to be interested in Rebecca, but then sometimes seems like he's trying to be one of those guys just playing a trick on a girl like her. His parents don't approve of Rebecca anymore than her aunt approves of him.

So of course, you can probably figure out that somehow Rebecca gets involved in the danger of this curse as she befriends Lisette and learns about her past.

What I loved about this book was all the information and history about New Orleans and Mardi Gras. Hearing all the background on the parades, and the groups that run them was very interesting to me. I also enjoyed reading about the history of New Orleans. I'd heard of the Quadroon balls, but don't remember ever knowing what quadroon meant. Good book.