I Did Like the Kid. Review of The Restoration.

 "Sometimes I will, then again I think I won't." The words to that classic rock 'n roll song come back to me as I think about how to review The Restoration. I was drawn to this book because I love old houses, too, just like the protagonist. Disclaimer: My husband is a professional (and gifted and award-winning I might add) preservationist. So I came to this story knowing what it takes to restore a home of this size and quality.

Here's why I both liked and didn't like the book. I'm not going to quibble about the restoration part because one person can't restore a house like that in a year and for less than a few million bucks and without a crew. For the sake of the story, we'll pretend Terri can. What I liked about the book is that it was a good mystery with lots of red herrings. The reader has to figure out who got murdered, who murdered who, if anybody else got murdered, and why the ghosts talk like they lived in the 1820's instead of the 1920's. The psychopathic kiddo ghost would have been saying "bee's knees" instead of talking like a stiff (even though he was a stiff.)  So far, so good.

But, I'm a mom. Terri, the mom in the book, was so annoying and immature.  For instance, during a Ouija board conversation with a violent, deranged ghost, Terri says she's bored, even though she's forever worrying that her kid will say she's bored. Even though the ghost has already smashed things, Terri has to goad him over and over...because she's bored. Predictable smashings result. Who would endanger her child like that? I know this would really shorten the book, but the first time a ghost tried to clobber my kid with antique books and toys, we'd be out of there!

All kinds of terrible things happen, the ghost molests and tries to kill a woman, he slashes Terri's face, he breaks things, although he occasionally cleans up after himself. Will miracles never cease? Still, Terri stays on with her daughter there...after the ghost molests and attacks another character. I'd have a child away from a predator ghost before he could say, "Boo!"

I know a reader doesn't have to like the protagonist, but I couldn't respect this protagonist.

I'm torn. A good mystery but I disliked the main character. She usually acted more like a child than her child did. Don't get me started on the eye-rolling and lip biting. With the mom being like a teenager, and with all the eye-rolling and lip biting, I thought I was reading YA. I'll give this a 3.5, but I would have liked it better if the adult acted more like an adult.