Review: When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya de Becerra

When Ghosts Call Us Home

by Katya de Becerra

Release Date: October 3, 2023

2023 Page Street YA

Kindle Edition; 368 Pages

ISBN: 978-1645679639

ASIN: B0BPQSCSMT

Genre: Fiction / YA / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

3 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast―Cashore House.

In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s relationship with her sister became more strained, while her memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil―her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip…until Layla disappeared.

 

My Thoughts

When Ghosts Call Us Home is a story about a girl searching for her lost sister, one who disappeared in a house in which they lived five years earlier. I would not agree that this is a horror novel however, more along the lines of a paranormal investigative piece of work. While there were some interesting elements to it, I thought the story line was somewhat disjointed and the characters lacked some major development.

When Sophia was twelve, her older sister Layla filmed a video that has gained cult status around the world, showing Sophia being terrified out of her mind. The video and the things that happened left Sophia traumatized, developing mental and emotional problems due to the trauma she suffered. I began to actively dislike Layla quite early on in the book, which no real justification, except for the fact that Sophia goes on an on about how great a big sister she was to her through these flashbacks she has throughout the book. There was no motivation given behind the video-taping and I grew frustrated with the whole experience. There was also no reasons given as to why the video would gain such a cult following, nor how the video got out to the public to begin with. And I'll be honest, this whole follow the seven steps to reach whatever that is supposedly in the video seemed like such utter nonsense to me.

Sophia herself is such a one-dimensional character. I tried to really like her, but after going on and on about how great her older sister was and her only purpose was to find her sister, the whole plot device got old pretty fast. It actually made her seem childish and stubborn, not willing to listen to what was around her or be willing to open her eyes to what was around her. Sophia acts like she is uncomfortable doing the re-enactments of her sister's video, but she was the one who really initiated the entire thing, lied to everyone around her about her reasons for being there, and then wanted sympathy when she was asked to go through with the filming. I was sympathetic towards the trauma she experienced as as child and would have liked to explore that a bit more, but the author only gave the reader a superficial account of those moments, had Sophia be a little bit upset, and then moved on.  

The overall story was actually interesting, and I liked the concept of the found-footage, but I didn't think it had Haunting of Hill House vibes at all.  I did like the supernatural aspects to the story, but they weren't scary or terrifying, more in the lines of trying to incorporated something spooky because the book said it was supposed to have a paranormal element to it.  The writing style was more of a telling style, meaning the author was trying to make you think a certain way about the plot, the characters, and I am not a huge fan of this type of writing as I think it is condescending, as if the reader can't figure things out on their own, or it devalues someone if their thinking is different than what the author intended. For example, I think the author was trying to make Layla seem sympathetic to the reader, and all those little nudges by telling us to think that way actually made me dislike her in the end.  Because of this, I found the story somewhat disjointed and it was extremely difficult to form any connections or empathy with any of the characters.

Verdict

When Ghosts Call us Home was an interesting blend of paranormal and mystery, but it was definitely not horror.  I did think the story was somewhat disjointed and the character development was non-existent, making it difficult to really empathize and connect with the characters.  I did enjoy the atmosphere of the house, but I always love these types of setting, so that is always a plus.  Overall, I felt this story had some really strong elements, but lacked a sense of direction as if the author wasn't sure to which genre she wanted to commit making the story feel underdeveloped.