Notes From Ghost Town by Kate Ellison

Goodreads Blurb

They say first love never dies...
From critically acclaimed author Kate Ellison comes a heartbreaking mystery of mental illness, unspoken love, and murder. When sixteen-year-old artist Olivia Tithe is visited by the ghost of her first love, Lucas Stern, it's only through scattered images and notes left behind that she can unravel the mystery of his death. 
There's a catch: Olivia has gone colorblind, and there's a good chance she's losing her mind completely--just like her mother did. How else to explain seeing (and falling in love all over again with) someone who isn't really there?
With the murder trial looming just nine days away, Olivia must follow her heart to the truth, no matter how painful. It's the only way she can save herself.

This book was...interesting. I have so many conflicted feelings about this! On one hand it was amazing, with absolutely gorgeous writing, a likeable love interest, with a decent plot, but on the other hand it was predictable and didn't focus on the mystery as much as I would've liked. Not to mention that her colorblindness doesn't seem to be a key role or anything and while I was hoping for one of those character-you-can't-trust stories, I didn't get it.

The writing was simply stunning! There were so many gorgeous examples, but I decided to choose this one since I think it's my favorite of all (and it's actually the first paragraph too.)
"Think about a moment, a little centimeter of time you'd happily exist in forever, if time could be laid out along the spine of a ruler. Maybe it haunts you in that blue inch of half consciousness just before you're fully awake."
Instantly I fell in love and I think that's when my hopes went soaring. The writing flowed well and I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the lull of these words. If I had an audio version, I bet I'd be listening to it forever!

As a mystery, this book was disappointing, but as a contemporary and realistic fiction, this book had it all. I loved (this will sound mean) how her life just fell apart all at once, and showing how delicate family and friend bonds can be. I loved how Olivia dealt with these problems, truthfully, and I just loved the book as a whole. It shows how a seemingly great, if not perfect, life can spiral so quickly out of control and how it's best to let go.

As for the romance, is there a love triangle? Not really. Because Stern is...dead. And Olivia knows that. So while she does still have feelings for him, I got the vibe that she knew she couldn't really do anything about them besides telling her that she really did love him. Then there's Austin who, while I did love him, was a stereotypical character--hot, rich, a bit of a player, smug, and interested? I think we've seen that. But I have to admit, I find them a lot better than sweet innocent guys. I don't know, I'm weird like that! But the romance is sweet and it has a bit of a twist!

As for the mystery part, it wasn't really a mystery since it was predictable, sadly. Right when we met the culprit, my mind was jogging, thinking, "He/she's going to be important...". so while it was an enjoyable read, it didn't necessarily have me at the edge of my seat. If it wasn't as obvious, I'm sure I would've completely adored this book! But with the ARC, I just couldn't love it as much as I wanted.

By the end, I had a thousand questions left unanswered, but...I liked it. The reason for Olivia's colorblindness was never explained, but the way this conflict was resolved symbolized something, though I can't tell you just yet! Something that irritated me, though was that *SPOILER* Almost everything becomes a Happy-Ever-After and I was disappointed by that. It sort of ruined the ending, and as evil as it seems, I honestly think some things should've been left as a tragedy rather than a miracle.

Pages: 336
Genre: Mystery/Paranormal
Series: Stand alone
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Release Date: February 12
Rating: 3.5--->3 stars