"Tunnel of Bones" - Victoria Schwab

"Tunnel of Bones" (Cassidy Blake, #2) by Victoria Schwab

No Rating Given 

Publisher: Scholastic

272 Pages

SUMMARY: 

Trouble is haunting Cassidy Blake... even more than usual. She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass's parents are filming their TV show about the world's most haunted cities. Sure, it's fun eating croissants and seeing the Eiffel Tower, but there's true ghostly danger lurking beneath Paris, in the creepy underground Catacombs.

When Cass accidentally awakens a frighteningly strong spirit, she must rely on her still-growing skills as a ghosthunter - and turn to friends both old and new to help her unravel a mystery. But time is running out, and the spirit is only growing stronger. And if Cass fails, the force she's unleashed could haunt the city forever.

WHAT I LIKED:

This one picks up where its predecessor "City of Ghosts" leaves off, bringing with it a stronger storyline and a bit more direction.

"City of Bones" read to me as being extremely middle-grade, in its writing. A trait that wasn't a prevalent in "Tunnel of Bones". It seems that Schwab has found her "voice", finding a comfortable in-between middle-grade and YA voice, that wasn't as immature sounding. I greatly appreciated this, as it was my biggest concern with the first book.

I love that in "Tunnel of Bones" we get to travel to Paris and see a different side of it than what you would see in a travel guide. Instead we get to see what lies in the shadows of the city of light. Which was an interesting perspective.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

I wish that the series had more of an over-arching plot rather than the "independent" plots that we have gotten so far. I also wish that the story contained more of the parents TV show, and that it wasn't used solely as info-dumping sessions. Not only would it strengthen the overall writing, but it would tie together all the loose ends that each of these mini-plots leave behind. The story is lacking some depth at present, which can be largely due to the fact that its audience is a lot younger than I am. But I feel like this would be a really solid novel, should the writing be pushed further. 

OVERALL:

Overall, this one was quick to read and very enjoyable. I held off rating this one, as I am not the audience that it is targeting, and I may not be the best to judge it. But I did really love this one, and I am excited to see where the next one takes us in New Orleans.