I think this book will stick in my memory. I "shelved" it as contemporary/realistic ... even with the "ghost" angle, because this does address so many real issues kids face today. I adore British accents, and the audible narrator brought that to life more than my imagination would have. Loved it! Very good enunciation and character voices.

It's interesting reading this as an adult, and a parent (of a child struggling with depression/anxiety ... the Roland character has some striking similarities to my son), and wondering how a "regular" teen (ARE there any kids who don't have some issues?) and one going through some of these same struggles would feel about the story. I think my teen self would have liked this a lot. There were some interviews at the end with some teens (all girls ... I think girls may be drawn to the book a bit more than boys, even though Francis/Roland are male main characters ... MY boys are NOT readers, I'm not sure if they'd get into this, but wonder what teen boys as a whole would think).

Even with the heavy content, this was a light-hearted read. It was fun to get to know the characters and to see the different situations and how they changed in the way they handled them. While it might be a little too Pollyanna-ish in the way everything works out for almost everyone, but I appreciated some of the distinctions made in the end SPOILER

Spoiler

when Francis realizes that while the school as a whole has changed for the better, with the teachers being more on the lookout, and him being willing to talk to them about issues, or Andi being there to beat up anyone being mean to him ... that IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER if someone thinks he's weird or funny. That Rowland has this same realization. That the school that Andi left and hated is a perfect place for ... Lorraine/Lucille (I can't remember the name of the other gal and don't have a print copy to refer to)

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I received the audio file free in exchange for an honest review. Instead of going through Audible, I received the file directly, honestly ... it was a huge pain to try to get the file to play in a way that was convenient for me. I think it says a lot for the book that I still have such a positive feeling, as often something like that can taint things for me. I wish I had a text/kindle copy too, as I would have liked to read and highlight and make some notes. The Kindle copy is $11, which is a bit pricey for me, but if it ever dropped in cost, this might be one I'd like to have a copy of in my online library.