Review: Angelina's Secret by Lisa Rogers

*this was supposed to go live yesterday – glitch*

Book Description via Goodreads:

Paperback, 186 pages

Published February 1st 2012 by Spencer Hill Press

As a child, Angelina spent years in counseling learning that Josie, her imaginary friend, wasn't real, but it turns out her childhood friend wasn't imaginary after all. Now Angelina has to accept she's either (A) crazy or (B) able to see ghosts. Wanting to believe in her sanity, she chooses (B) and welcomes Josie back into her life. But even Josie can't help her deal with Shelly, the spirit of a confused teenager, and things go very, very wrong. When Angelina finds herself in a psychiatric hospital, she faces a choice: she can spend the rest of her life pretending to be someone she isn't, or she can embrace who she is and take a chance that she may never get to go home.

Source: Kate & Spencer Hill Press (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

Angelina’s Secret was probably the only ghost story that didn’t mainly involve a romantic element. Instead it was focused on Angelina’s gift and curse.

Angelina was a cheerleader who thinks she can see and communicate with ghosts. After finding out that her imaginary friend, Josie, was far from imaginary, she chose to consider the possibility that she could see ghosts. Soon she found out that it wasn’t just Josie. There were others. But when Shelly came into her life, things went awfully wrong. Her mother and father were now even more worried about her sanity. As Angelina became careless, caught talking to persons her parents and her brother couldn’t see, she ended up in a psychiatric hospital where the real crazies thrive. I understood Angelina’s choice of not pretending to be someone she wasn’t. I understood how conflicted she felt having to stay true to herself while trying not to upset her mother. However, I wanted to get to know her better – to know more about her beyond her ability to see ghosts.

Josie was like a grandmother to Angelina. She was different compared to the typical ghost. She was neither scary nor disturbing. She was just like a happy, caring grandma who appeared everywhere. I could see how she could be a convenient imaginary friend for Angelina when she was younger. However, not all ghosts were like Josie. There was Rosie, the girl who died from the fire and Shelly, the confused cheerleader. I found Shelly to have two sides: the very strict, perfectionist type and the soft, caring and sweet teenager.

In the psychiatric hospital, Angelina met Rebecca, a woman with a passion for colors. Like Angelina, she could see ghosts. She could even talk to Josie. She helped Angelina survive inside the hospital. I liked how Angelina related to other people – how she strived to be nice and friendly even to outcasts. For once, I like that even though she has problems, she’s still good when it comes to interactions with other people.

Angelina’s Secret in general seemed like Bring It On with a supernatural twist. (You’ll get what I mean when you read it.) Readers of paranormal, ghost and maybe psychological stories might like this.

 

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