Summary: Madison Spencer is a ghost. She spent time in Hell, and on Halloween she returned to the land of the living. If a ghost leaves Hell on Halloween, they must return by midnight, or be stuck in the mortal realm until the next Halloween. Madison missed midnight and began to settle in for the year. Like the previous book, this one has two intermingled stories. The story is presented as a series of blog posts, often referencing other users' comments and questions.
The first is a flashback to when Madison was a child, focusing on a long stay with her grandparents in upstate New York. She becomes interested in Darwin and goes on a Naturalist adventure. She then finds herself in a terrifying situation and recounts the death of her grandparents. Throughout these retellings we see the clues to a larger conspiracy to shape Madison's fate.
The other story follows Madison as a ghost while she stalks her parents. They hire a paranormal investigator to locate her. The investigator operates by overdosing on drugs and having near-death experiences where he then talks with ghosts. He finds Madison and escorts her to her parents who have built up a cult. In the previous book, Madison had instructed her parents to do a list of bad deeds in order to guarantee their family would be reunited in Hell. Madison told them she was in Heaven, and as they are world famous celebrities they shared the instructions with their followers. The cult of Boarism developed in which everyone is offensive, but no one takes offense. This new religion then takes an apocalyptic turn that has Madison worried.
What I Liked: This book builds off the first and answers many questions. It also develops the plot, bringing it to a new level. I love the little details Palahniuk includes, making the world feel immediate and real. The first is a flashback to when Madison was a child, focusing on a long stay with her grandparents in upstate New York. She becomes interested in Darwin and goes on a Naturalist adventure. She then finds herself in a terrifying situation and recounts the death of her grandparents. Throughout these retellings we see the clues to a larger conspiracy to shape Madison's fate.
The other story follows Madison as a ghost while she stalks her parents. They hire a paranormal investigator to locate her. The investigator operates by overdosing on drugs and having near-death experiences where he then talks with ghosts. He finds Madison and escorts her to her parents who have built up a cult. In the previous book, Madison had instructed her parents to do a list of bad deeds in order to guarantee their family would be reunited in Hell. Madison told them she was in Heaven, and as they are world famous celebrities they shared the instructions with their followers. The cult of Boarism developed in which everyone is offensive, but no one takes offense. This new religion then takes an apocalyptic turn that has Madison worried.
What I Didn't Like: This book has the single most disturbing death scene I have ever read or watched. It is described in careful detail and involves some very disgusting elements. It might haunt me forever.
Rating: I enjoyed this as a sequel as it fills out a lot of the story and builds on it, but it was not as compelling as the first book.
Also Read by this Author: Fight Club, Damned.
Reviewed by: Nick
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