The Curse Of Misty Wayfair By Jaime Jo Wright

Her name is Misty Wayfair, and she is a ghost.

She's been terrorizing the not-so-pleasant Pleasant Valley for years--most specifically the Coyle family. Could it have something to do with that old asylum out in the woods? Two different women, years and cultures apart but not so different at all, are about to come face-to-face with her and the truth about themselves.

Misty Wayfair is a ghost story. As someone who's not into ghost stories, I found this one particularly intriguing. Two heroines both searching for their identity, one battling abandonment, one battling anxiety. Love interests who aren't the handsome-on-top-of-everything-else type. A chilling villain (most especially in the historical sections) and an out-of-nowhere climax.

But the two things that caught me most about The Curse of Misty Wayfair? One: the sensitive looks at topics such as depression, anxiety, and especially her inclusion of an autistic character. Jaime Jo Wright portrays them all realistically and in an understanding manner, which is rare. As someone with hands-on experience with autism, I appreciated and was impressed by Emma's presence in the book.

The second thing was the strong themes of identity. This is a book that does not back down from probing who the heroes really are, who the villains really are, and who the reader really is. It doesn't shy away from the only One Who can give us our identity either, also becoming a rarity in books.

But who is Misty Wayfair, really? You'll have to read it to find out.