Title: Ghost Queen
Author: Mahtab Narsimhan
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Pages: 80
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Malika and her boyfriend, Veer, have a
popular vlogging channel called Ghost Queen where they travel to supposedly
haunted places and reveal the truth about them to their fans. They haven’t
encountered any ghostly presence yet. But maybe that’s about to change.
Now they are headed to Bhangarh, known as
the most haunted place in India. Malika is certain that Bhangarh will catapult
their vlogging channel to fame, bringing in subscribers and much needed ad
revenue. Her family’s financial situation is precarious, and she hopes her gig
will enable her to improve their financial situation.
Will Bhangarh change their fortunes? Or will it undo everything?
Ghost Queen takes the trope of the haunted
site and gives it a modern spin with its reference to today’s culture of
content creation. Both the main characters run a vlogging channel in the hope
of creating content and making a living.
Incidentally, Bhangarh fort in India’s
Rajasthan state does indeed have a reputation of being the most haunted place
in the country.
The book is meant for kids who don’t enjoy
reading, and so the writing is simple enough to hold their attention.
Kids will enjoy Malika and Veer. I found
her slightly cliched, particularly with the father who had lost his job and the
mother juggling two jobs to put food on the table. Malika didn’t mention why
her father didn’t try to find another job. Or if she had any siblings etc. This
sketchy information made it hard for me to invest in her.
She hopes to study abroad. But again, she
doesn’t tell us why she can’t study here, or even how old she is.
The description of Malika, as seen in the
reflection in the glass windowpane, is another imagery that has been done to
death.
There were some grammatical errors that
should be weeded out. But overall, the writing was easy and the descriptions
were good. I hope kids enjoy this one.
(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the
author, the publisher and NetGalley.)
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