The Ghosts of Heaven

I love this book. I had read it in a library and chose to purchase it so i could have my own copy. It is beautiful and thought provoking, with a twist ending that blew my mind.

i like how this book requires the reader to think and to connect all of the stories togetheri didn’t like how depressing and dark this book was

Pretty good book, definitely an interesting quick read. As far as entertainment goes it was great, read it on a plane or long car ride. On the whole though I wasn't overly impressed. I felt like I was being beat over the head with a giant spiral. By the time the third story rolled around I was kind of over it. The ending was interesting, I'll give him that. I love historical fiction, *especially* stories that span across long time period, so I was really looking forward to this. Like I said though, pretty entertaining, but not overly impressive.

My daughter asked for it for Xmas. She's reading it non stop

love it

perfect

I know I have said books are super unique and unlike anything I read before, but that really applies to The Ghosts of Heaven. I wasn’t sure how it was going to work out based on the description, but I was beyond intrigued. It all starts with an introduction on how Earth formed. As a science geek I loved this even though I already knew the tale. But it sets the stage for the connecting factor of these four very different stories. At first, this felt like just a collection of stories with a common them, but then came the last chapter. Magic.The first part of The Ghosts of Heaven follows a young woman during prehistoric times. It’s almost time for a hunt, so she goes with the oldest man in her tribe and a young boy to make the magic that will feed her people. I loved that this quarter was written in verse! The narrative is simple which really fit the time and setting. Few words are used, but their meaning gets across just fine, much like how the girl and her people communicate. This is also where we’re introduced to the shape that connects all of the stories: a helix. The girl notices it all around her and ponders on what it means.The Ghosts of Heaven‘s second story is about Anna, a young girl living in England during the witch hunts. Her mother has just died, so she’s left to care for her sick brother on her own. But there’s a new priest in town and he’s hell bent on ridding this village of evil. Of course, Anna must get caught in the middle of it after she starts noticing the spirals around her. This part took me longer to get into. In the beginning it jumps around a bit between various characters to set the stage. But once things finally got going and all of the little events started adding up, I was hooked! I still cannot believe how twisted people can be, even supposed men of God.Set in the late 1920s, the third quarter of The Ghosts of Heaven is narrated by Dr. James as he starts his new position as assistant administrator at a mental institution. There he meets a man named Charles who lives on the lowest level with the most extreme cases, although the man seems quite lucid and “normal.” This piques the doctor’s interest and he beings spending more time with Charles, eventually learning about…spirals! I was expecting this part to have a darker, creepy vibe based on its setting and the fact that James is being haunted by his dead wife, but for the most part it’s just kind of boring. I didn’t really connect with the characters at all, and found the spiral thing a bit forced.The final quarter of The Ghosts of Heaven was the story I was most anticipating. It’s set sometime in the future, Earth is beyond overpopulated, so humans are moving to another planet. The first voyage is on its way with 500 passengers in “longsleep” along with 10 sentinels to make sure everything goes smoothly. We’re introduced to Keir Bowman, sentinel #6 and the strange occurrences he witnesses during the 12 hours he’s allowed to be awake. This part seriously blew my mind. It is awesome and twisty and WTF. And like I said, that last chapter is magic. I reread it immediately and it was still magic. Seriously.The Ghosts of Heaven was pretty darn fantastic. It’s nearly perfect except for my slight boredom in the third quarter. This is seriously one unique and mind-blowing novel. It’s YA that doesn’t feel like YA, but it’s also not stuffy like Literary Fiction, but it’s certainly something more.*Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. No compensation was offered or accepted.

Ok, that was one strange book. I'm not even sure what I want to rate it. I thought two of the four stories were ok. My favorite being the lunatic asylum and the astronaut. I finally saw how all of the stories weave together, but I'm still not sure how the spirals bring them together.Anyway, this was just a strange little journey that I did enjoy even though there were some bad things happen in each of them. And the lunatic asylum sounds so familiar, it's like I read it before, which is strange. Oh no! Maybe that is my spiral... I digress.I think everyone should just read this book on their own and make the decision to whether they like it. It's one of those that you can't just reach a conclusion in my opinion. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to see it with the spirals. You will see connections to the stories though, that much I did see. And if you just look at them as stories and not trying to figure out this spiral thing, then I think you will enjoy it more.I must say the lunatic asylum had me very disturbed at the way they treated people. I mean, we all know how bad it was back in the day by reading about it, but it's still hard when you read them in stories knowing these things actually happen.All-in-all I enjoyed this little read and I think everyone that wants to read it should just read it because you really need to make up your own mind on this one!Fin!MY REVIEWS:www.melissa413readsalot.blogspot.comhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1333199427