She’d do anything to save her friends and family. But will that mean sacrificing the ghosts she’s grown to love?
Kat is trying to settle back into her senior year at McTernan Academy, but destiny keeps getting in the way of schoolwork and friendships. Continuing her magical training means abandoning her best friend, until an attack by a mysterious entity on campus proves that the only place they’ll both be safe is Dumbarton, the ancestral home of the Langley family.
Evan struggles with his coursework, a flirty new housemate, and his daunting responsibilities as the Kingsley heir and new owner of Ravenhurst manor. He tries to hold onto his normal college life, but he knows it’s only a matter of time before he and Kat have to travel into the past again…
And Kat is in mortal danger every minute they wait to retrieve the last amulet they need to defeat the Dark One. As her normal life slips further away, Kat must face the terrible cost that comes with time travel. Completing her quest in the present requires changing the past. She knows that the results of her actions can be disastrous—because the ghosts of her ancestors tell her of their tragic fates.
A trip to eighteenth-century Connecticut might change everything. Kat tries to protect everyone she loves, but risks destroying every relationship that matters to her.
The third installment of Tansley’s time-crossed, playfully haunted, spookily romantic Unbelievables series (after The Girl Who Saved Ghosts) again centers on young Kat, striving to strengthen her spellcasting while handling AP classes. Between “bizarre ghost encounter”s and a fight with her bestie, Kat re-joins her friend Evan to continue their quest to reunite four families (Langleys, Kingsleys, Radcliffes, and Mallorys) who share an entwined arcane past with their lost amulets—and then defeat the Dark One. After the jolting, soul-claiming events of the second book, Kat and Evan try to assume some measure of normalcy while time-traveling on weekends to Kat’s ancestral Connecticut home, where they train and hone Kat’s powers as the Langley priestess. Their soul connection, however, adds a layer of confusion to their feelings: is it love or obligation that draws them to each other, and how do they handle the 400-year-old curse of Langley/Kingsley unions? As they uncover clues, sometimes in the form of ghosts, they learn they must first travel to Evan’s ancestral home, Ravenhurst, and fight wraiths and “unbelievables” who travel via shadow. From there, the quest takes them even deeper back in time, which once again involves possessing others’ bodies—always a tricky situation that Tansley keeps fresh and strange. With the help of family and friends, both living and ghosts, the heroes persevere, as Tansley builds to sharp twists and surprises, jolting readers, raising the stakes, and showcasing Kat’s increasing confidence and maturity: “Maybe it’s from seeing so many lifetimes of mistakes,” the era-hopping, legacy-saving hero quips. “I’ve picked up a thing or two.”
Despite the richness of invention and complexity of out-of-time family legacies, Tansley keeps the rules and quirks of this cozily gothic saga’s ghosts, possessions, secrets, time hops, and more crisp and clear, while deftly wringing from them much suspense and surprise. (This time, loyal gargoyles are a highlight.) This entry moves the narrative significantly forward, and the fans will be eager to get to the next.
Takeaway: Sparkling adventure of ghosts, secrets, time travel, and just enough romance.
Comparable Titles: Adriana Mather’s How to Hang a Witch, Kate Anderson’s Here Lies Olive.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
