Grave Reflection by A. Lawrence

To celebrate Halloween eve (is that a thing?) I’m participating in a blog tour brought to you by the team at Storytellers On Tour.

Grave Reflection is a fun, creepy, inclusive read. Lots of ghosts, beautiful friendships and a town on the brink of mayhem.

Synopsis- Another Friday night, another trip through a potentially haunted house. Shay’s not a believer, but she’s willing to help her best friend, Max, with their amateur ghost hunting show. Little does she know she is about to be thrown into a world of witches and dangerous spirits.
With newly discovered abilities, Shay finds that she can both see and touch spirits. The downside is, the ghosts can touch her back, and it seems that they’ll do anything to get a hold of her.
She was never much of a ghost hunter. How will she do when she is the one being hunted?

Ok first, before we get to the action, mystery and mayhem, I just want to say I loved Max and Shay’s friendship. They are so supportive and protective of each other. They spend a lot of time checking in with each other and it’s nice to have characters that communicate so well. Do I think Max might have feelings for Shay? Yes. Do I think it will turn into a romance down the line?? Yes, because I love a good romance on the side. They are so comfortable with each other and accepting. It is nice that they don’t have angst.

Shay is a character that gets into a lot of trouble, she is basically a trouble magnet and as a result those around her get in trouble as well. Shay can see ghosts, in fact, she can touch them and they her. The effects of this are far reaching. What starts as just ghost hunting with her friend ends up involving her brother, a random witch, an entire group of other ghost hunters and some off the charts paranormal activity. For most of the book we are playing catch up with Shay, trying to work out why there are so many harmful ghosts, why mirrors are dangerous and how exactly she is involved. The mystery is fun and feels a little scooby doo at times (not an insult).

The story is fast paced, there isn’t a lot of down time, which works at keeping you on the edge of your seat. I jumped a few times throughout and was very interested in finding out the what, why and how. I really enjoyed the inclusivity, we had a non binary character, who is an integral part of the story and I loved how well Max was written. They were easily my favourite character.

I was a big fan of the age of the characters too. They were out of college and Shay was trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. I feel like I know where she is going to head in future books and it could possibly become a fairly decent sized series. Each of the characters bring a lot to the page, they each stand out. I would love if they got more prominent roles in future books.

I did have a minor quibble with the way the mystery was played towards the end of the book. I just think it could have been a little clearer. I gather there is a big bad pulling strings behind the scenes and I’m guessing we haven’t actually seen them yet, so I will be continuing the series so I can find out what happens next.

Grave Reflection is out now – Goodreads – Amazon

About the author – Lawrence has been writing for as long as they can remember. They dabble in a mix of fantasy and supernatural. When they aren’t writing they are harassing their cat, playing video games with friends, or dabbling in art.

They come from Idaho, where they have spent time being shaped by long roads and abandoned cabins.

You can find the author on Twitter or their Website.