Ghost Medicine

Title: Ghost Medicine

Author: Andrew Smith

Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Young Adult

Page Numbers: 357

Publication Date: 2008

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Summary: The summer before Troy Stotts turns seventeen, his mother dies, Troy and his father barely speak, mostly communicating instead by writing notes on a legal pad by the phone. Troy spends most of his time with his closest friends: Tom Buller, brash and fearless, the son of a drunk; Gabe Benavidez, smart enough to know he'll never take over the family ranch; and Gabe's sister Luz, whose family overprotects her, and who Troy has loved since they were children.

Troy and his friends don't want trouble. They want this to be the summer of what Troy calls 'Ghost Medicine', when times seems to stop, so they won't have to face the past, or the future. But before the summer is over, their paths will cross with people in dangerous and fateful ways,

Troy and his friends want to be invisible. Instead, they will become what they least expect - Brother's, Lovers, Heroes, and Ghosts.

This book is unlike any other book I have ever read. The writing style, the themes, the premise; the entire book and every aspect of it is unique. Ghost Medicine is Andrew Smith's debut novel.

The thing that I loved most about Ghost Medicine was the writing style of this book; but in particular the way the writing style portrayed the story. There is an almost simplicity about the writing of Ghost Medicine. That rather than reading a book, I was listening to a story to being told. But this added to the story rather than took anything away from it and fitted nicely in with the premise of the book.

The writing style is also in many ways responsible for the thing that I loved most about this book and that was its humbleness. Which is a little ironic given the trouble and lies that fill the pages of Ghost Medicine. Rather than being filled with characters that are complex and deep, with a story line that steers them on a course of development, this book seems to exist within itself and the story just is.

But this incredible uniqueness also made the book a little difficult to get into as it was not fast paced nor was it written in a way that I am used to. And while I seriously contemplated putting this book down a couple of times I am really glad I didn't. A book like this is one of those one's you just have to read for the experience. 

I also found that this book had nothing that stood out and grabbed my attention, yet once again I feel like this suited the story and helped to build to it. I think this book is one of those books that in order to understand what it is like you just have to read it. 

This book will not be for everyone, that I can guarantee. I am really interested in giving some of his other works ago to see if they share this same unique style as what Ghost Medicine does.