Review of "Shawdowland"

"The Mediator: Shadowland"
by Meg Cabot

5

Pub Date: December 28, 2004
Pages: 304

Synopsis: Suze is a mediator -- a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn't seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.

But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it's not that easy. There's a ghost with revenge on her mind ... and Suze happens to be in the way.

After reading "The Shadowland", I realized something, Meg Cabot is AWESOME! I know that most people are probably saying, "Um duh... where have you been?", but I hadn't read anything by her until recently and I am now hooked! Cabot has created another line up of great characters. Suze is strong and stubborn, but she also has a softer side. Even though she need to kick serious ghost butt in certain cases, she is still able to empathize with them. Jesse is mysterious and surprisingly sweet for a ghost haunting a bedroom. Even though Heather's character makes me want to rip my hair out, she brings a lot to the story and I have to admit, she is a great villain.

This book is paranormal, but it deals a lot with the drama of high school and family issues. Suze is moving to California with her mom to live with her stepfather and his sons, this is a big adjustment from New York, New York. Suze may not worry about fitting in, but she does have to find a way to balance her social life between the living and the dead. Not getting into too much trouble is also another priority. I think I would have spent a lot of time worrying about our heroine if the story hadn't been so funny.

Meg Cabot does a fantastic job at creating stories that suck you in with their plot and characters. All the books I have read have been fun reads, but they are able to address serious topics at the same time. Sometimes authors write one good series and the rest of their writing falls flat, but so far I haven't found this problem with the multiple sampling of Cabot's series that I've read.