Cassidy Blake #2

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Publication Date: September 3, 2019

Summary from Goodreads:

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.

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This is the second book in a middle grade series. There are no spoilers for either, I don’t think, but if you want to check out my review of the first book, please go here.

This series just keeps getting better and creepier. I loved the setting of Paris and the Catacombs. Ms. Schwab does such a good job writing about Paris that I almost felt like I was there myself, enjoying croissants and hot chocolate right along with Cassidy.

The descriptions and the feeling of being in the Catacombs was spot on. The creepiness of all of those bones, but also a bit of wonder and amazement of it all was there too. I don’t think I knew just how extensive they are, but when you are walking around Paris, you really are walking over all of those tunnels just full of bones. Amazing. The rest of Paris is described so well, especially some of the more touristy places they go. But also the subway and the streets and other places, are just so well done you almost feel transported there.

Cassidy and Jacob continue to get along, despite his being a ghost and her a ghost hunter. Their relationship does hit a few bumps in the road, but Jacob always has her back. Which is a good thing, because Cassidy is determined to make things right when she unknowingly unleashes this poltergeist on the city. It takes both of them to deal with him, and even then it is almost not enough.

The story is very fast paced and hard to put down. There are not any surprises to the story, but a lot of figuring things out from the clues and what they know about the poltergeist. It is the setting and the characters that really makes this book work, but the story is good too.

A great second installment to this wonderful middle-grade series. There is at least one more book to go, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the next book will not be the last. The end of this book gives a hint for the next one, but we don’t know for sure where Cassidy is going yet. My guess is New Orleans.