R-r-read

1. The ghosts.  I loved the descriptions of the ghosts--particularly Brian. Many were poignant, like the little girl in the library named Molly, but there were also memorably tragic ghosts such as the woman who throws herself off a building and stands up from the sidewalk smiling.
2. The distinct but interlocking plot lines.  I really liked the multiple plot lines and points of view. With some books this type of writing style would be very disorienting, but Waters wove the different aspects of the story together perfectly.

1. The chapter numbering.  The chapters are numbered with tally marks, which isn't a big deal and I know some people seemed to really like it, but I personally didn't care for it.
2. The cover and title.  After finishing the book, I feel the title and cover art don't really do the story justice.  I still don't get the tallies on the cover and representing the chapter numbers. A more eye-catching cover and catchier title might get the book the attention it rightly deserves.
3. The violence.  Many of the ghost "images" are violent in nature, which might bother some people. I know I realized early on that reading this book right before going to sleep was not a good idea at all.
4. The revelation.  The way Veronica finally puts all the pieces of the murders together was cheesy and predictable. It felt like a very abrupt cop out on the author's part.

"But then I realized everything we see and feel--a certain song in an elevator, a flower pressed in the pages of an old photo album, a penny on the sidewalk--has that power. The power to make us feel like everything is too temporary."

The first half of the book was very strong. The beginning in particular lays out the premise very well and grabbed my attention immediately. As I read the book, however, it felt like things moved slower and slower. The last hundred pages in particular felt very rushed and incomplete.