The Deepest Cut by J. A. Templeton - Book Review

How’s it going everyone! Today, I'll be reviewing The Deepest Cut by J.A. Templeton.  Now this was a book that I found in the Free Starter Series in the young adult section.  When I read the description, it was about a girl who could see and talk to the dead.  This kind of reminded me of Ghost Whisper, which is a TV show about someone who would help the dead cross over to the other side, if you didn’t know what that show was about.  Even though that show was fiction, it still scares me to this day.  Anyways let’s just say this is probably one of the creepiest books that I have ever read and sleeping at night after reading this was not fun.

About the Book:

Title: The Deepest Cut

Author: J. A. Templeton

Release Date: June 27, 2011

Series: The MacKinnon Curse #1

Genre: Romance
Pages: 306

My Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

**CONTENT WARNING:  This book contains self-harm**

Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Riley Williams has been able to see ghosts since the car crash that took her mother's life and shattered her family. Guilt-ridden over the belief that she's somehow responsible for her mom's death, Riley is desperate to see her mother's elusive spirit to gain her forgiveness.

When her father moves the family to Scotland so they can all start over, Riley believes her life couldn't get worse––that is until the ghost of nineteen-year-old Ian MacKinnon catches her purposely cutting herself. An uneasy truce quickly turns into friendship, and soon Riley's falling hard for Ian.

Riley believes her gift could help Ian end the curse that has kept him tied to the land for centuries, but that would mean letting him go forever and she's not sure she is strong enough to do that. As if her life wasn't complicated enough, the malevolent spirit of the woman who killed Ian returns and she'll stop at nothing to keep Riley from helping Ian find eternal peace.

My Thoughts:

There was a creepy and a little bit disturbing part in this book because of the main character’s “habits”.  When I first read the description, all I read was the part about her being able to see and talk to the dead, nothing mentioned it.  In this story, the character likes to cut herself.  Now I know I would be talking about how good a story is and some of the things that I liked about the book in the first paragraph, but this is a pre-warning in case the story might be disturbing for anyone or you don’t care to read about theses kind of situations.  I know there are some people who don’t like to read about this kind of thing.  That’s why I’m pointing it out now, before continuing with my review because this book might not be for you if these situations make you uncomfortable.

Anyways, some of the things that I did like about the story were the intricate detail in the story.  It was very easy to imagine the scenery.  The character interactions were very real.  Not to mention the fact that the ghost that cursed Ian, she was 100% I-won’t-be-able-to-sleep-at-night-creepy/terrifying.  I might be a little over dramatic about the evil ghost, but I get scared very easily.  Also, I read some of this story in the middle of the night, which did not help my cause at all 😅.  If you like thriller/horror with supernatural books then this one might be for you.  Even thought this book's genre says it's romance I'm going to mention the reason why.

Now one scene in the book was a little ridiculous, if you ask me.  In the story, Riley and the ghost, Ian, made out.  If you believe in ghost you might know why this scene made me say, "Really?!".  You can’t make out or try to have a physical relationship with a ghost!  It’s impossible not to mention gross.  This scene was a little disappointing to me.  I think it could have been left out.  Even though Riley had a crush on Ian, trying to make them have this type of relationship was really… weird and gross since the ghost is ancient, even though he was nineteen when he died.

I continued to read this story, even after that scene, because I hoped that Riley would be able to find a way to forgive herself.  To not blame herself for that tragic car accident and hopefully move on with her life.  I wanted her to not only help Ian MacKinnon find peace in the afterlife and use her gift to help other lost souls, but I also wanted Riley to find a new meaning to her life, to be happy again.

If you're interested in checking out the author's book, the links are down below.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Thank you guys so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed reading this review.  Until next time!