I Heart You, You Haunt Me

Reader reviewed by Ruth

I really liked this book. Its about a girl named Ava, whos boyfriend died. She blames herself for it and wishes there was some way to bring him back. Now and then she feels him, smells his smell, and sometimes even hears him. Being in Avas place wouldn't be easy. Letting go will be the hardest part of all. While you read this book i'm sure you'll feel the guilt Ava feels and you to will wish there was some way to bring back the boy that Ava once loved.

Reader reviewed by Crimin

Picture the one you love most in life taking a huge leap.   Now, take that out of metaphorical land and push it into cold, hard reality.  One that is cruel and makes it so your love doesnt come bobbing back to the surface, all smiles and stories;  instead, you never see him again.  

When I was at the bookstore the other day, I saw this and was instantly grabbed by the cover.  You arent supposed to judge a book by its casing, I know, but something about the girl and boys clasped hands (and the boys transparent arm) seemed to call to me.

I read the back, gasped at the sad summary and peeled it open to look inside.  Imagine my surprise in finding it was a novel-in-verse!   Im a huge Ellen Hopkins fan, so after I saw the formatting, I marched straight up to the check-out and purchased it.   And, boy, Im glad I did.

This book was wonderful.  It showed me a heartbreaking tale of a girl and her dead boyfriend and how, through it all, he came back to help her ease through her grief.   It was a quick read too.  So, if youre an Ellen Hopkins fan, or just like paranormal romances, I suggest you pick this up, read it, then give it a home on your bookshelves.

You wont be disappointed. 

Reader reviewed by Vanessa

Summary (courtesy Amazon.com):

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here. Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

My Review (no spoilers): Very quick book. Seriously, its like something you read in an hour. It wasn't something that was horrible (because it was quite good) but it just wasn't super amazing. I think the reason for Jackson's death is rather odd. I would never do what Jackson did to die... c'mon now, common sense. Jackson is what any girl wishes a guy to be. Sweet, funny, witty, laid-back, go-with-the-flow and it was very sad to put yourself in Ava's position. I understand why she kept trying to connect with Jackson, even though he was dead and a ghost. Ava is going through many emotions in this book: love, hate, regret, guilt, etc. The free verse was perfect for this kind of book. I felt as though I was in one of those cafes where they snap their fingers while someone reads their poetry. I thought the reason Jackson was around was kind of corny. I still loved the poetic-way of how the book told Ava's tale and it kept me reading it. I liked how it finished and how Ava was different as a character by the last line. The poetry is beautiful, the metaphors are equally beautiful.

My Thoughts (contains spoilers): Spoiler time! First off, what was Jackson thinking? Jumping off a cliff like a crazy person. No siree, that's not for me. Second, the Lyric bit was predictable (at least for me). I feel kind of bad for Ava's friend (I think her name is Jessa?) but in the end Lyric doesn't sweep Ava off her feet. He was cute as a character although I never wanted Ava to become romantically involved with him because I still wanted Jackson to come back. I wish Jackson could come back. Nick was weird, acting all nice when he had cheated on Ava. Ava's friends were like down-to-earth real friends which was cool. I hope Ava can move on from this tragic event and stop blaming herself. Overall it was good, but the thing is is that it was just that: good... nothing higher.

Reposted from whatvanessareads.wordpress.com

Reader reviewed by kathy

I think that "I Heart You, You Haunt Me" was a good book. It wasn't really what i expected but you still fell that certain type of emotion when you read about someone losing a loved one. The book was shorter than i thought and didn't really describe a lot of things.
Other than that, it still went on with the story.
A girl who lost her boyfriend, finds out that his "spirit" is still with her, and then lets go and moves on. That pretty much wraps it up. But as your reading you can see that the dead boyfriend is still madly in love with her and just wants her to be HAPPY.

Even though the story could have been better, i would still recommend this to readers.

Reader reviewed by Courtney

I really liked the story plot. I was hoping to see a little more humor and a little less seriousness. i thought it really creavtive that it was a ghost that she was still acttached to. but i love how she didnt fall for lyricbut better yet told him that she wasnt the one for him.

Reader reviewed by Misty (Book Rat)

When Ava loses her boyfriend Jackson in a horrible accident, she feels like her world is going to end.  She blames herself for his death, she shuts herself off from her friends and her life, and spends her time wishing she had Jackson back.  And then, suddenly she does.  Whenever she's alone, Jackson comes to her.  He haunts her, speaking to her in her mind, touching her with cold ghostly caresses.  Ava is so happy to have him back, but she knows it can't last; she has to make a decision: remain alone, with Jackson, or face the world again.


Lisa Schroeder writes in verse, so when I got my hands on this, I was kind of excited for that aspect.&nbsp; When done well (see Sharon Creech's <a class="bookTitle" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53498.Love_That_Dog">Love That Dog</a> or Karen Hesse's <a class="bookTitle" href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25346.Out_of_the_Dust">Out of the Dust</a>) it can be very effective.&nbsp; The verse aspect builds an interesting story, layers some magic into the words.&nbsp; Unfortunately for this story, that wasn't the case.&nbsp; Rather than being an asset to the story, Schroeder's verse was distracting and forced.&nbsp; Though there were a few instances of the verse being what it should have been (a unique way of showcasing what Ava was feeling), most of the time it read like diary entries that were arranged funny.&nbsp; This is laziness and/or overconfidence, in my opinion.&nbsp; You can't just chop up lines or arrange them funny and call it verse.&nbsp; There has to be a real attention to language and words, to the way things sound and flow together.&nbsp; They should be read aloud and tweaked minutely again and again until they are precisely what they should be.&nbsp; Poetry should add something overall, its own unnameable something.&nbsp; It isn't just there because the form is non-traditional, you have to create it.&nbsp; I didn't feel Schroeder did an adequate job of creating it.&nbsp; Also, the titles for each "poem" just added to the feeling of it feeling really forced, and broke up the flow a bit for me.

Also, I found Ava to be a little crazy.&nbsp; I mean, I know she is really young, and as such won't always handle things the way she should, but when she starts to feel held back by Jackson's presence, when she is ready to move on with her life, she comes off really whiny and immature.&nbsp; I did like Jackson's role in this, and that she mistook his reason for haunting her, and I liked the healing process aspect, and even the mystery that Ava dances around in her poetic diary entries.&nbsp; But in the end, those things weren't enough for me, and I picked this book up twice and put it back down again before I got through it -- and it's something easily read in an hour or so.&nbsp; With a little more attention to the "poetic" aspect, or if that was discarded and it was treated as a diary instead, it could have worked a bit, and I would have liked it more, but as it was, I don't think I'll be reading more from Schroeder for awhile.&nbsp; But if you're interested in it still, grab it from the library -- it's not like it will take up a ton of your time, after all.

Reader reviewed by SDaugherty

This was good and was written in verse which was something really
new to me. It made it about a 2 hour read (if that!). What an
interesting story and without all of the wasted space that is used up
by filler in so many other books.

You really felt for Ava because it's so much easier to sympathize
with a spouse or older significant other. But what happens when the
person who looses their other half is younger? She didn't fit in at the
funeral, and had major feelings of guilt that she couldn't deal with.
Then what do you do when you are haunted by your boyfriend?

This had the depth without drowning you with tears while reading. It
was balanced, and completed at the end. You didn't feel as though you
had unresolved issues with any of that character which you sometimes
feel when you read a book about death.

A must read!