Book Review: Deception by Lee Nichols

Title: Deception (Haunting Emma #1) 
Author: Lee Nichols 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Australia 
Release Date: September 5th, 2011
Format: Paperback 
Source: Publisher for review (Thank you!)

When Emma Vaile’s parents go missing while away on a mysterious business trip, she’s left all alone in her creepy old house. But her brother’s very cute best friend, Bennett Stern—Emma’s knight in J. Crew armor—arrives unexpectedly to whisk her away to New England. There, Emma settles into his family’s museum-like mansion and enrolls at an old-fashioned private school. She quickly finds friends in the popular legacy crowd at Thatcher and spends her free time crushing on Bennett.

But the eerie visions she’s been hiding from everyone have gotten worse. Emma has memories of Thatcher that she can’t explain—it’s as if she’s returning home to a place she’s never been. Finally, Emma confides in Bennett and learns she is a ghostkeeper, a person who can communicate with ghosts. Bennett brought Emma to Thatcher to protect her, but now he needs her help tracking an other-worldly murderer.

Upon finishing this, I literally sat on my bed and thought to myself "WHY ON EARTH DIDN'T I READ THIS SOONER? It was  FANTASTIC and unputdownable!" It had all the elements of my a book I love! I have a feeling my next obsession will be GHOSTS ( As creepy as that sounds, but after reading Deception, there's no way I'm going to ignore another ghost-related book, because chances are, I'm going to love them as well!)

While Deception is a ghost-related story, it's not a spine-chilling nor extremely frightening but more a mix of Casper and The Haunted Mansion. It has the occasional lightness and hilarity that makes any good ghost-book interesting! I loved the idea of ghost-keepers here ( I'd never even heard of ghostkeepers until I read this!); different ghost-keepers have different abilities- some are able to compel, some summon, while others are a master of dispelling. I found the whole concept  so fascinating I'm certainly keen on learning more about the history of ghost-keepers!

I love plot-driven stories, with a nicely interwoven romance,and that's exactly what i got.Although Emma is in love with her brother's best friend, while simultaneously trying to sort out her feelings for the nicest, most popular guy at school who's miraculously interested in her, it never felt like the romance and hint of love triangle took over the main plot line. (Thank goodness!)Emma was incredibly focused on what her newfound abilities meant, and as more mysteries are revealed, she becames increasingly intent on saving those around her.

I found Emma a great protagonist, and I was able to relate to her easily. I found she had the perfect amount of badass, butt-kicking skills inside her (when it came to battling ghosts, you do not want to mess with her!) but she also acted and thought in ways that was typical of her age.It was great to see her balance out her two lives!

The minor characters were also extremely amusing and totally likeable. Seriously, the three 'housekeeper' ghosts (I call them that because they've never set foot outside the mansion) are all so friendly and sweet! They cook, they wash, they do everything that's expected of a servant, but it's impossible not to treat them as equals. They're just such amazing ghosts<3

Overall, please give this a try!I know it may not be for everyone, but there's no harm in trying, right?  It's a wonderful tale of friendship, loss, forgiveness and heartbreak - Highly recommended!