Four Tombstones by Jennifer Hotes
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

As someone who enjoys young adult fiction and paranormal mysteries, I had high hopes for Four Tombstones by Jennifer Hotes. The premise of teenagers embarking on a spooky adventure in an old cemetery on Halloween night seemed promising, but the execution left much to be desired. The story quickly became predictable, and the underdeveloped characters didn’t help. Despite the atmospheric setting, the plot was slow and lacked suspense, making it a struggle to finish. Four Tombstones ultimately fell flat, appealing perhaps only to younger readers seeking a light, spooky read.

Not really interested in reading this and it is quite old at this time. I want to try and be more selective of the arc's I request because selecting everything that sounds somewhat interesting.

The book started out interesting enough. I loved them investigating the tombstones, learning more and more about them; the characters were alright; Grace being my favorurite - but somehow I expected the book to become different. I expected ghosts. Actually ghosts to come and interact with them. Not just the "shade" of Joesie's mother.
I feel like this book kept dragging and dragging on what seemed like forever. I couldn't quite get a grasp for the plot because there was way too much prose. This book could've been a good part shorter and properly edited. The crows, for example. I get it, they're mysterious. You have to read about the MC scaring them off about twenty times. (I actually counted at first but after the fifth crow, I was bored and completly lost interest in the crows....)
The book was way too long. I found about three chapters which served literally no purpose and coud've done well being cut.
I am sorry for everyone who liked this book. If you enjoy it, that's great. I had very differnt expectations regarding this book,, so it simply falls flat for me.

I received a free ARC by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review for Four Tombstones by Jennifer L. Hotes
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

It was like watching a Disney Channel movie -the late era of Disney Channel movies that were that bad.
I almost DNF this book eight times but I forced myself to go through it despite the boredom, interiorised racism within the plot by the author unknowingly putting it in there and the overall forced writing.

I was hoping to get a thrilling-and-fun-ghost-adventures-type-of-reading-for-youngadults but maybe this book will be more suitable for even younger readers as they will overlook most of the things happening inside.
This could may be awesome if the books develop within the series but I think I'm not going to keep reading it.

Unfortunately, I had to dnf this book because I couldn't connect with any of the characters, not the story. The plot seemed good enough but the prose did not help it. The dialogues were the worst part of this experience, it just got me rolling my eyes all the time. I’m sorry. I don’t like left the books unfinished but this is better for the book as I won’t be rating it in any platform. Thank you everyone for the chance, anyway.

Not really for me at all, like another reviewer here on netgalley I wasn’t impressed with the cultural appropriation/ racism in Halloween costume the character chooses to wear. It was just the beginning for me of not being impressed with this, the writing didn’t feel right, it felt forced and the descriptions of characters or there sense of self didn’t feel right or natural to me. The relationship I won’t call it a romance because it just felt awkward and uncomfortable, not for me at all.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

’m a huge fan of magic/mystery books, an even greater fan of YA; and Four Tombstones hits all the right buttons in what I look for in a book.

The story of Josie Jameson, a Seattle-area teenager who lost her mother to cancer six years ago, Four Tombstones is a story of love, loss, hope and mystery.

Everything opens with Josie desperately wanting to connect with her mother through dragging her four friends — the Baby Group — to the cemetery where her mother is buried in the guise of having some Halloween night fun to make some grave rubbings. As a result of that fateful night, new connections are made, Josie and her friends each end up getting set on tasks that will both bring them all closer, and, at some points, threaten to break them all apart.

The genuineness in Ms. Hotes’ writing really sells each of the journeys. Each member of the Baby Group faces some sort of harsh reality, and each have to grow a bit more out of childhood to reckon with their dilemmas: both individual and collective.

An air of the mystical permeates most of Josie’s story, and she tackles the unknown with both vigor and trepidation. It was not until I got to the end of this book that I was made aware that there are two others in the series. I very much look forward to reading more about Josie and her friends’ adventures.

My template says to start with a brief summary of the book. Well, seeing as how I DNF’d it at about 15%? Less so.

I was turned off by this book for a number of reasons. The first thing that stood out to me was that the main character was dressed as a Native American for Halloween… and carrying a teddy that she referred to as Baby Sacagawea. I’m not Native American, but I would be super uncomfortable if someone dressed up as one of my Maori ancestors (let alone carrying a TEDDY as a substitute for a legitimate person who was named and important) for Halloween! So that was a huge nope from me.

But I persevered… but not for long. The writing is vague, except when it comes to great detail about how the MC is “not like other girls” and about how “It takes SOO much effort to look as naturally beautiful as she does”. I don’t know. I get either men-writing-women vibes, or I'm-looking-in-the-mirror-and-describing-myself. Either way, not my fave type of writing. Also, being as this was 2018, I thought we were moving past all the above awkwardness in YA? Also, I simply couldn’t get on board with the MC. She was annoying and felt that she could do no wrong. Ugh.

The reason I persevered at all was because of the description, and that’s the only reason I’m going to give it two stars. The premise sounded really good, and for all I know, if I could look past the parts I really didn’t like, maybe it would have been a good story. But I couldn’t.

Through Net Galley, I was fortunate enough to read #FourTombstones by Jennifer L. Hotes, a paranormal mystery that follows fifteen year old Josie Jameson and her 3 closest friends. Still haunted by the death of her mother 9 years earlier, Josie and her friends go to the cemetery where her mother is buried to “rub graves” on Halloween with the hope that she will be able to communicate with her mother’s spirit.

Friends since birth, the four teenagers, who call themselves The Baby Group, find themselves trying to get to know more about each of the persons buried in the four graves rubbed on Halloween: a suspected witch, well regarded pastor, decorated veteran who died alone and a young child. Along the way, the group deals with death/loss, growing up, evolving friendships and familial relationships.

The first in a series, this entertaining YA novel is the perfect spooky read with Halloween on the horizon. Josie is an appealing main character worthy of being at the center of a series and her friends all have compelling backstories. There are plenty of scares provided by ghosts, witches, black crows and nights in the cemetery and the mystery keeps you guessing right to the end. Josie’s younger brother and a pesky cat that keeps showing up provide some lighter moments.

This fun read moves along quickly and has just the right amount of heart/emotional heft. This one gets five stars.

An e-book copy of Four Tombstones was the only compensation received in exchange for this review. My thanks to Net Galley and Storm Mystery Press for the opportunity to read this book and provide feedback.

Four Tombstones is a fantastic YA book about a girl Josie and her three teenage friends. One Halloween they go and do some rubbings of tombstones. Each one picks one that they are drawn too. The book then deals with the stories of those four dead people. It gets into a bit of magic and Josie gets in deep investigating the witch who is from the tombstone she is researching. The book deals with divorce, death, grief, rituals, pretty much you name it, it is in there. I found it a great read and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys books tinged with a little magic and even a bit of mystery.

An excellent YA and a solid mystery that kept me guessing. I liked the style of writing, the fleshed out characters and plot that kept me hooked.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a really clever book. I got it by accident not realising the target audience was teen and young adult, I ended up really enjoying it and it certainly wasn’t written in a way which is unappealing to adult readers. Listed as a mystery, this book also explores relationships, the legacy of pain and the ongoing impact of grief. Well written, the dialogue is honest and sincere and allows you to really get to know the characters.

I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and i honestly have no idea how to review review this. Oof.
I came in a) hoping to find a fun new series (in the vein of the ghostly thrillers I loved as a youth) that I maybe get as gifts for friends' kids. (Because it is seriously hard to pick out YA books for actual youths. I thought, hey, perfect, I can check it out first.) and b) expecting somethibg Bradbury-inspired.
Nope. Like I lead with, I don't know how to review this. I was the target audience for this in the 90s (maybe, because I'm not actually sure who the target audience is!). That was a long time ago. And I'm not an adult YA enthusiast, so I don't have a broad knowledge or even a real frame of reference as to what the genre is like today. I'm trying to approach it as my 13 year old self, but taking into consideration modern sensibilities. And I'm struggling.
I'm just going to say it. Even as a kid, I think I would have found the characters flat and the story weirdly preachy. And I'll admit it, as an adult, I'm kind of weirded out by 13 year olds kissing and being in love. I know things are constantly changing, but... it struck me as precocious?
Ok, so there was that, the uncomfortable romance subplots between the main characters (a quartet of BFFs since basically birth), the uncomfortable romantic subplots between the protagonist's dad and the cemetery caretaker, the uncomfortable romantic subplot between one of the young character's divorced-and-remarrying- each-other's parents. Yeah, a lot of awkward and kind of problematic relationship subplots. I hated how Seth (he of the remarriage parents) had his completely valid feelings invalidated by another adult. Actually, I hated a lot of how the adults were written, like they all seriously needed therapy to work through their stuff, and they were not getting it. Yeah, I feel like this whole book could have been cut down to like 50 pages if the four families bit the bullet and invested in individual and family therapy. I won't belabor the point, but... the parents kind of sucked, and not in a believable way. They were all underwritten and we had no information with which to help properly understand their actions and motivations. The anti-theist mom stands out- we never learn why she is so against organized religion, and she comes off as a straw man. And the Chinese mom comes off as a painfully stereotypical Tiger Mom. And the poor cemetery caretaker/widowed dad's love interest. She's a black person and she starts sentences with "Girl," a lot and it made me uncomfortable.
Oh man, ok, and the Sacagawea costume at the beginning. Not sure how I felt about that. I mean, at least she was dressed as a specific historical figure and not a generic "Indian" but... yeah, I don't know.
And then there's the story. It does not know what it wants to be- a supernatural thriller or a heartfelt teen drama. The world-building
was shaky. The supernatural elements felt wildly out of place, but based on the blurbs for the other two books in the trilogy, that's what they're about?
It sounds like I hated it. I didn't, really. It kept my attention and I did want to know how it would all end, which is something. Unfortunately, I found the end unsatisfying and the whole experience underwhelming.
Bumping it to three stars for the interesting concept.

I loved the relationships between the four members of the Baby Group. They all have been friends their entire lives which sets up one dynamic but they also have different bonds of friendship and romantic interest within the group. Their interactions were done so well and drew me into the story. I was also impressed by the books depictions of grief particularly the main character that lost her mother at a young age and is still dealing with her grief as a teen. All four characters of the baby group also had complicated and well written family dynamics that played a big part in the story.

The spookier aspects of the story were a bit less intriguing to me. It was interesting to see how the mystery unfurled and learn more about the witches’ grave and the graves from the other rubbings. However at times this moved really slow and overall the pacing just felt off. I also would have liked a more definitive answer to what was going on, the book provided both mystical and more practical explanations for everything and it just felt kind of muddled. The reader can definitely draw their own conclusions about everything but I didn’t feel strongly either way just a little confused. That said overall I still really enjoyed the book and would like to read more about the Baby Group.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book was interesting and unique as it didn't adhere to the commonly held tropes usually seen within YA. The writing is great and the characters are really likable and quite sweet. This book could be classed as a young YA book as it lacks some of the older themes usually seen but do not be put off by this. The book is well written and I particularly enjoyed how as the book went on, we learn more about each character within the 'Baby Group' who have their own issues to work through. It is clear that the book is well thought out and crafted to enable this.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a spooky yet warm heated book.