Book Review: Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings

Title: Poltergeeks

Author: Sean Cummings
Series: Poltergeeks, #1
Pages: 320
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Date of Publication: 4th October 2012
Source: Publisher event*
Synopsis from Goodreads: 15-year-old Julie Richardson is about to learn that being the daughter of a witch isn't all it's cracked up to be. When she and her best friend, Marcus, witness an elderly lady jettisoned out the front door of her home, it's pretty obvious to Julie there's a supernatural connection.

In fact, there's a whisper of menace behind increasing levels of poltergeist activity all over town. After a large-scale paranormal assault on Julie's high school, her mother falls victim to the spell Endless Night. Now it's a race against time to find out who is responsible or Julie won't just lose her mother's soul, she'll lose her mother's life.

My Thoughts:
Poltergeeks is pure fun. It was my second read from Strange Chemistry books, a new YA imprint, and it was another great pick from them. It was exciting, funny, and super readable, and I would definitely recommend you pick it up!

Sean Cummings is fantastic at creating really well fleshed out characters that you can't help but love (or love to hate!). From spirits that inhabit talking dogs to geeky best friends, they're all brilliant. Julie was a great main character and I loved her determination to save her mum despite the fact that everything she needed to do in order to be able to save her was completely ridiculous. Marcus was amazing too, and he was so adorable in his letter to her, and his loyalty was awesome... *sigh* :)

I loved the witchcraft in this book. It was spells, potions and spirits and it was great fun! I loved imagining all the spells that Julie performed and trying to guess what spells she could use to prevent (or cause) certain things to happen. The ghosts were pretty awesome too, in that they were violent and crazy, but the kind of ghosts that you really wouldn't want in your house, because they might kick you out of your house. Literally. I also really liked that it wasn't dark or heavy and the characters didn't seem to take themselves too seriously. They were just nice, well-rounded people who happened to be able to do magic, but didn't make a big deal out of it (Well. Julie and her mom didn't...). You know, because they're real and all that... ;) Anyway.

The plot was brilliant. I read the first couple of chapters pretty slowly (I was in the car and my brothers were talking = distracted Bella) but once I'd got into the story properly I couldn't stop reading. It was very twisty and very turny, and things just kept happening! Plans were formulated and carried out in spectacular ways and relationships grew and became even more awesome than before... It had everything from explosions, spells, big fights, the afore-mentioned talking dog. AWESOME.

Poltergeeks really was an awesome read. I would definitely recommend it for the awesome characters and the super exciting plot. If you're looking for something fun to read over the weekend or during the holidays, or in the run up to Halloween, you should go and get yourself a copy because this would be perfect.

*Thanks to Strange Chemistry for this review copy in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book.