[Review] The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce

The Blurb

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

When Justin - one of the most popular boys at school but Taylor's worst enemy - is killed, her life gets a whole lot trickier.  Justin doesn't believe he's dead, so Taylor has to solve the mystery before she can lay him to rest.  This leads her to the terrifying V society, and a game of Truth of Dare that went so very wrong.

The Review

Taylor seems to have a hard life.  Reading the first few chapters was like reading a perfect account of being bullied.  Always being the victim and yet always getting the blame for it.  It did make it a little hard for me as it brought back some memories I'd rather forget, but I carried on and I'm glad I did.

Taylor has a lot to do with.  Not just the bullying but also the curse.  Her father thinks it's a disease to be cured and she could be touched at any time, which causes problems with her only friend.  Justin's death puts not just a spanner in the works but a whole tool box.

Well written and well paced, The Weight of Souls has a great plot.  Taylor doesn't just have to solve a murder, she also has to avoid other ghosts as well.  A task that's not made easy when the victim doesn't think he's dead and he's not easy to find.

Mixed with the tale of how she got the curse in the first place, The Weight of Souls is a murder mystery unlike any other.  A great read that kept me reading to the very end, and left me wanting more.