The Dead Children's Playground by James Kaine REVIEW

Summary:

Kylie Macklin is eager to live a normal life. Freshly moved from Florida to Alabama and finally in remission from cancer, the optimistic nine-year-old is used to dodging her overprotective mom's warnings. So when a new playmate invites her to hang out, the happy girl thinks nothing of the playground being located in a graveyard for young victims of the Spanish Flu . . . and a local serial killer.

Kayla Macklin hates starting over. Forced to relocate after her little sister's recovery, the sullen nineteen-year-old despises her new home more when she sees a terrifying vision in the nearby crypt. And as kids around town start to fall gravely ill, she begins to suspect there is something sinister at play.

Tormented by a frightening specter's ever-closer appearances, Kylie turns to her older sibling for help. But as Kayla digs into the history of the haunted ground, the twisted truths she discovers hint at a bloodthirst that can never be sated.

My Thoughts:

This was a really fun read. Kayla is at odds with her mother, who spends more time worrying about Kylie. While she understands why, she is still resentful about feeling ignored. However, you can tell she genuinely loves her little sister and will do anything for her. Kayla is the first person to believe Kylie when she reveals her ghost encounters. Since she isn't going to college, her parents tell her to get a job. She strikes an unexpected friendship with Desiree, her coworker, and meets her friends Jasmine and Ben, as well as Jasmine's grandmother Ethel.

Kylie is immediately befriended by a girl named Emily, who invites her to play at the nearby playground. But the more Kylie is around the girl, she becomes more and more unsettled. When her new friend Drew becomes sick and dies, Kylie enlists the help of her sister and friends to figure out what is really happening, and how to stop it.

This was a fun and fast read. Most of the characters were really well developed and felt like real people. One of the few things I didn't like was how little Ethel was in the book, even though she turned out to be a pretty important character. The only other gripe with this book is the ending, which seemed very unnecessary. ***SPOILERS*** Kylie's cancer comes back and she dies, which was contradictory to the demon's reasoning to why it wanted her as a host. It didn't make any sense in that context.

Overall, I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.

My Rating: 4 stars