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49 of 51 found the following review helpful:
Wonderful sixth book from the Mediator series.Sep 16, 2004
By Rebecca Herman
Sixteen-year-old Suze Simon is a mediator -- a person who can communicate with ghosts and help them move on to the afterlife. And if that isn't enough, lately her life has been getting even more complicated. Suze is in love with Jesse, the ghost who died at her house 150 years ago. But he is dead, and she is alive, so they can never be together. And Paul, a fellow Mediator, is so determined to get Suze to date him that he threatens to do something that will prevent Jesse from ever meeting Suze -- prevent his murder 150 years ago. Paul thinks if Jesse isn't around, Suze will love him. But can mediators really travel through time? And if time travel IS possible, can Suze make the difficult decision to allow Jesse to live out his life in the past -- and doom herself to never meet him?
This book is a thrilling addition to the wonderful Mediator series. I highly recommend it to all fans of Meg Cabot's books. It has lots of action, suspense, romance, and humor, and the story kept me turning the pages, unable to put it down.
12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Marvelous Addition to 'The Mediator' SeriesDec 30, 2004
By Erika Sorocco
Sixteen-year-old Suze Simon hasn't had it easy since she found out she was a Mediator - a person who has the power to see and speak to ghosts, and must help their spirits move on to the afterlife. And being in love with Jesse, the ghost of a guy who died over 150 years ago in her bedroom, while her home was still being used as a boardinghouse, just adds to the confusion. After all, it's impossible for someone who is dead, to "be with" someone who's alive. Then everything changes when Paul, a fellow Mediator, classmate to Suze, and regular, all-around jerk, threatens to do something to change the way Suze feels about Jesse. Paul plans on going back in time over 150 years to the day that Jesse was killed, to prevent his murder. That way, Suze will have never met him, and Paul can take up residence as her boyfriend. But there's a catch. If Mediators can time travel, then Suze plans on going back in time to make sure that Jesse is murdered, and isn't saved by Paul at all. But watching your one true love die isn't the easiest thing to do, and maybe, just maybe, Suze doesn't have the heart to do it.
I have been a fan of THE MEDIATOR series since Meg Cabot was writing them under the name Jenny Carroll, and my love for the series has never wavered. However, in TWILIGHT, I found that my love for the series actually grew, as I will admit that it is probably the best book in the series. Suze's quick-comeback personality is right on target, while the budding romance between she and Jesse couldn't be sweeter. Paul, once again, makes his mark as the biggest jerk in the world; while everyone's favorite principal, Father Dom, is sympathetic and caring, as always. Overall, this was a fabulous addition to the series that will easily draw in a new group of fans for Cabot.
Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Meg has done it again!Dec 31, 2004
By Sarah Len
This book has been highly anticipated by Meg Cabot fans. And luckily, the wait has been worth it.
The book not only has a strong, independent, and highly likeable herorine, it is absolutely impossible to put down. Meg's humorous writing makes the book even better.
It makes you cry, laugh, and smile all at the samet time.
I still can't believe it's the last book in the Mediator series. Read them all: Shadowland, Ninth Key, Reunion, Darkest Hour, Haunted, and Twilight!
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Totally AWESOME!May 10, 2006
By Graceful Darkness
"Darknexx"
I've bought all of Meg Cabot's Mediator books in the series, and I have to say that this was my favouritest!!!!!
Meg always writes with sarcastic humor and witty comments, but the mediator is totally different than her other works, at least to me. coz stuck in between the humor and wittiness, he had added a romance that transcended life and death...literally.
the part where I was so touched that I actually cried (yes, i'm sentimental...so sue me) was where Suze didn't want paul to go back and prevent Jess (the ghostly hottie) from dying that fateful night. which meant that Suze would never have had met Jess, and neither would they fall in love with each other. Yet when she saw the 'real' jess, the ALIVE and well Jess, she realized that what she had tried to do was unfair to the guy she really loved, and to quote: 'if you love something, let it go, if it was meant to be, it will come back to you' even though Suze knew perfectly well that the 'will come back to you' part didn't realli apply in this situtation, as Jess wouldn't be able to 'come back' as to say, becoz he wouldn't even remember her. however, suze still made the ''right'' choice *as in ritegeous choice* and decided to tell everything to Jess......Of course Jess didn't believe her *who would?!* yet when she mentioned ''the fact that Jess secretly wished to be a Doctor'', Jess finally believed her............
and I really loved what Suze said when Father Dom told her to let Jess go...::that even though she wouldn't be able to remember Jess, she'd know, deep down, that she's missing something/someone, and that it'll hurt her more than anything...
and the ending of this book was just extraordinary! it was the best ending, in my opinion, that Meg Cabot ever wrote. It was awesome and totally fit the entire series...even though it did come as a surprise for me. I never thought that this was actually an option...^^ I had, somewhat guessed during the series that Suze and Jess might end up together in this way, yet havn't figured out exactly 'how'..hoever, Meg Cabot's explaination was reasonable and not at all far fetched...she even explained how Jess got to the Hospital on time!!
and the ending was just unbelievably fitting! through the entire series, i'd been anticipating how the romance between Suze and Jess would end....somewhat pessimestically actually...
since actually I dispise *and they lived happily ever after* story endings, this one made me feeling some and fluttery inside, as if this was a real life story, and i was watching it unfold infront of ny very own eyes....basictly, I had anticipated the beginning of a romance, ^this strectched on for about 3 volumes^then the *romance* was slightly sour and maybe a little bleak,i mean...the guy's a ghost!.. yet after 4,5 and 9/10 of volume 6, the readers *and the characters*get their much deserved sweetness!!! ^^
so ppl, you've just GOT to read this book!!!!
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Loads of fun! Highly recommended! **WARNING: SPOILERS***May 02, 2005
By Voracious Reader
Run, don't walk, to the bookstore and pick up Meg Cabot's "Mediator" series. Marketed for young adults, this series has enough fun, action, romance, and humor to appeal to people long past their "young adult" days.
Susannah Simon is a mediator, one whose job it is to help the dead resolve the unresolved issues that keep them from passing on to their next life, the afterworld, purgatory, hell, heaven, or wherever they are supposed to go. Too bad it's not a paid position, and "did anybody ask if I WANTED to be a mediator?" As Susannah explains it:
"I guess I should explain. I'm not exactly your typical 16-year old girl. Oh, I seem normal enough, I guess - I don't do drugs, or drink, or smoke. I don't have anything pierced, except my ears, and only once on each earlobe. I don't have any tattoos. I've never dyed my hair. All in all, I am a pretty normal, everyday, American teenage girl.
Except, of course, for the fact that I can talk to the dead. I probably shouldn't put it that way. I should probably say that the dead talk to me. I mean, I don't go around initiating these conversations. In fact, I try to avoid the whole thing as much as possible. It's just that sometimes they won't let me. The ghosts, I mean."
Susannah is sixteen, growing up, concerned about all the teenage things - do I look good, what about boys, do they like me, am I popular in school, etc. The author does a great job of outlining these concerns by having Susannah talk about her thoughts, worries, ideas and plans in first person (all the books are in first person). It's a difficult time for her - as the series opens, she has moved from New York to California - her mother has moved to Northern California to live with her mother's new husband, Andy, a man who has 3 sons. Susannah's father died 10 years ago, and Andy's wife also died some time ago. There's all the concern about a new marriage and a blended family, moving in to a new house, a new school, etc. This doesn't even take into account the ghost who is living in her bedroom!
"'Yeah' I said. 'Yeah, this is my room now. So you're going to have to clear out.' "I'M going to have to clear out?' He raised one black eyebrow. 'This has been my home for a century and a half. Why do I have to leave it?' 'Because,' I said. 'This is my room. I'm not sharing it with some dead cowboy.'"
Half the fun of the books is in the pairing of serious soul-saving with teenage angst. For example, concerns about attire and fashion: (SPOILER WARNING) In book 4 (Darkest Hour) Susannah has to go to the shadow realm (the afterworld?) to rescue her friend who has been trapped there by the machinations of his evil opponents. Father Dominic, her mentor, is a little concerned about her attire: "I looked down at myself. I had changed out of my pink slip dress and into a black one that had little red rosebuds embroidered on it. This I had paired with some totally cute Prada slides. I had had a hard enough time choosing an ensemble. I mean, what do you wear to an exorcism? I totally did not need Father D. dissing my duds."
It's hilarious to read about Susannah's interactions with her three stepbrothers, Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc. At the beginning of the series, she doesn't know them all that well, and thinks of them as some of the Seven Dwarfs from Snow White. As the series progresses, she gets to know them better, and starts using their real names (Jake, Brad, and David). As one who has grown up with teenage brothers, I can relate to her description of their appetites:
"'Really?' I wasn't actually listening to Sleepy. Instead, I was watching Dopey eat, always an awe-inspiring sight. He stuffed one-half an entire bagel in his mouth and seemed to swallow it whole. I wished I had a camera so I could record the event for posterity. Or at least prove to the next girl who declared my stepbrother a babe how wrong she was. I watched as, without lifting his gaze from the newspaper spread out before him, Dopey stuffed the other half of the bagel into his mouth, and again without chewing, ingested it, the way snakes devour rats."
Jake (Sleepy), the eldest stepbrother, is a sort of neutral character, who respects Susannah and mostly stays out of her way. Brad (Dopey) doesn't get along, tries to lord it over her, and gets regularly punched in the stomach for his troubles. David (Doc) the youngest, is a super-brainy kid who actually knows a little bit about what Susannah is doing and that she can see ghosts.
By the end of the series (SPOILER WARNING) the stepbrothers are calling Susannah's mother "Mom" and Andy is sort of taking the place of Susannah's father. (There is a touching scene in Book 6 (Twilight) about Susannah meeting with the ghost of her father for the last time).
Characters are well-drawn, including CeeCee and Adam (Suze's best friends at school), Father Dominic (the principal of the school and another mediator!), various boyfriends ranging from clueless to evil, and of course the romantic Jesse de Silva, the ghost in her bedroom, who over the series becomes more and more important to Susannah (and she to him.) But can their love flourish? At the end of Book 5 (Haunted):
"Jesse wanted to know. 'After what happened between us, Susannah, how could I stay?' 'What happened between us? What do you mean?' 'That kiss.' He let go of my hand, so suddenly that I stumbled. 'How could I stay?' Jesse demanded. 'Father Dominic was right. You need to be with someone your family and your friends can actually SEE. You need to be with someone who can grow old with you. You need to be with someone ALIVE.'"
Read Book 6 (Twilight) to find out how the course of true love ne'er does run smooth!
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