The Haunted Purse by Kimberly Baer

 

Publication date: 17 August, 2020
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: YA Paranormal (Ghost story)

Publisher's Synopsis

That old denim purse Libby Dawson bought at the thrift store isn't your run-of-the-mill teenage tote. It's a bag of secrets, imbued with supernatural powers. Strange items keep turning up inside, clues to a decades-old mystery only Libby can solve.

Filled with apprehension and yet intrigued by the mounting pile of evidence, Libby digs for the truth. And eventually finds it. But the story of the purse is darker than she imagined—and its next horrific chapter is going to be all about her.

My review

First Impression: Looking at the book cover didn't make me think - Wow! there's a story I want to read.  It is underwhelming, which is a pity. However, I don't judge a book by it's cover.  The title, on the other hand, did.  I was intrigued by the idea of it.  How can a purse (a handbag to us Brits) be haunted?  

Libby is a teenager with absentee parents, doing her best to live a 'normal' life under very difficult circumstances.  She is a smart teenager, mature for her years (she has to be).  When she discovers the purse in a thrift store (a shop that sells second-hand items) and purchases it, it's former (deceased) owner finds a way to communicate with her. 

The upside: I enjoyed this story; it was not like anything I've read before: part ghost story, part crime mystery and part contemporary YA fiction. 

I liked Libby as a character and found her friendship with her best friend, Toni, enjoyable to read - it felt genuine and realistic.

I found the character development of this book, in general, to be particularly well executed.  Libby is from a deprived neighbourhood.  She is an achiever who is focused on doing well at school.  She believes education is her ticket out, but, inevitably, the people around her have other ideas about who she is and what her place in life should be.  All the while, strange things keep happening that cause her to carry out an investigation in her town, and this leads to a dark discovery. 

The downside: The genres I mentioned above did compete for dominance, which threw the story off balance a little.

The ending should have been more concise.  There was a high concentration of background info supplied with the aim of filling in gaps for the reader.  I get the idea but the execution is problematic.  (Crudely, it would be described as 'info dump', a term I hate!) 

The verdict:  Overall, it's a good read.  I would be interested to read more by this author.  I can see the potential. 😉