#BookReview: Prelude for Lost Souls (Prelude for Lost Souls #1) by Helene Dunbar

Synopsis: For readers of Nova Ren Suma, Maggie Steifvater, and Maureen Johnson comes a spellbinding tale about choosing your own path, the families we create for ourselves, and facing the ghosts of your past.

In the town of St. Hilaire, most make their living by talking to the dead. In the summer, the town gates open to tourists seeking answers while all activity is controlled by The Guild, a sinister ruling body that sees everything.

Dec Hampton has lived there his entire life, but ever since his parents died, he's been done with it. He knows he has to leave before anyone has a chance to stop him.

His best friend Russ won't be surprised when Dec leaves—but he will be heartbroken. Russ is a good medium, maybe even a great one. He's made sacrifices for his gift and will do whatever he can to gain entry to The Guild, even embracing dark forces and contacting the most elusive ghost in town.

But when the train of Annie Krylova, the piano prodigy whose music has been Dec's main source of solace, breaks down outside of town, it sets off an unexpected chain of events. And in St. Hilaire, there are no such things as coincidences.

Goodreads | Amazon

Rating: 3 Stars
My Review: This one was very underdone.  Man I don't even know why the publisher even bothered to tell you the truth.  I mean seriously there was almost not really a full story at all. 

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—A town full of honest-to-goodness spiritualists is noteworthy to the tourists who flock to St. Hilaire every summer. But living behind the locked gate of the town can be stifling, and dark-haired Dec wants out. He dreams of being out from under the Guild, St. Hilaire's town council, and away from the place that holds a prescribed future and bad memories of his past. His best friend, pale-skinned Russ, on the other hand, would do anything to impress the Guild for a chance to be in the youth corps and, eventually, join their ranks. When a famous piano prodigy, Annie, finds herself stranded in St. Hilaire, Dec, Russ, and Annie's destinies intertwine as they work together to undo a musical curse of the distant past. Told in alternating first-person narration, readers get to know St. Hilaire from the perspective of insiders—one who wants to leave and one who wants to be in power—and outsiders—a living pianist and a long-dead composer. The main characters find first love and independence alongside ghosts, mediums, supernatural romance, tarot, and runes. VERDICT Fans of Lauren Myracle's darker novels will appreciate Dunbar's balance of the extraordinary and the typical.—Jennifer Miskec, Longwood Univ., Farmville, VA  --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Helene Dunbar is the author of several novels for young adults including These Gentle Wounds, What Remains, Boomerang, We Are Lost and Found, and Prelude for Lost Souls. Over the years, she's worked as a drama critic, journalist, and marketing manager, and has written on topics as diverse as Irish music, court cases, and theater. She lives in Nashville with her husband and daughter. Visit her online at helenedunbar.com

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

"Fans of Lauren Myracle's darker novels will appreciate Dunbar's balance of the extraordinary and the typical." ― School Library Journal

"Working to unravel the mysteries that drew them together, three teenagers find unexpected answers in a town where not only the dead are haunted." ― Foreword

"Dunbar invokes small-town intrigue and plentiful atmosphere with this haunting, romantic tale." ― Publishers Weekly

"Mesmerizing and haunting, Dunbar invites readers into a world of family secrets, anxious ghosts and a society's ruthless grasp for power that will leave you wanting more." ― The Nerd Daily

"Fans of ghost stories and mysteries alike will enjoy following the unlikely threads Dunbar weaves into spooky surprises in this dark novel, upending many traditional tropes along the way. In St. Hilaire, it's the living you have to watch out for, not the abundant dead." ― Tina Chambers, Chapter16

"Dunbar [manages] to capture grief and loss in a way that turned a paranormal book into a novel centered on human experience and struggle." ― The Young Folks

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Posted in: 3 Stars, Review, SourceBooks Fire, Young Adult