Sci-Fi & Scary

This book made me mad because it could have been so fantastic but wasn’t. I know fellow bookworms will get what I’m saying. It was one of those books where you could sense the potential just reading the synopsis. It puts you on edge in happy anticipation because you know – just know – that you’re in for a flat out awesome read. I Text Dead People was right there …and then it fizzled. Almost completely. By a quarter of the way through the book, I was having my doubts. By halfway through, I realized it wasn’t going to be what I’d hoped. However, I was still enjoying the read and wasn’t near giving up on it.

I Text Dead People is an easy read for middle graders. It doesn’t feel like it’s anywhere near the 240 pages long it is. If anything, it’s probably written a little too simply for most readers in these grades. I liked the spin on communicating with the dead. Given the technology the intended age range has grown up with, it was an appropriate choice.

However, I Text Dead People is also this weird unnecessary mix of Mean Girls and The Sixth Sense. Either would be fine by themselves, but the combination doesn’t particularly work well. I think that this idea that every time a kid starts a new school they’re going to instantly get targeted by the most popular girl/clique is a bit annoying and old. As is the idea that the new girl either has to be a complete pansy or a rebellious emo-chick. Annabel would have been a lot more interesting if she had any personality to speak of.

Under different circumstances, I Text Dead People could have been a truly creepy middle-grader read. I would love to see the idea played with again with a different protagonist and a more action-driven, clearer plot. As it is, while I did enjoy the book on a certain level, I can’t recommend it. I Text Dead People is a ghost of what it could have been.