Rachel is a single mom of 14 year old Mary. story begins by Rachel and Mary moving back to Chicago. there Mary occasionally discovers a presence of a ghost who she thinks could be her late father, murdered before she was even born. during the story Rachel shares parts of her past and some hidden pieces of her self that she's been keeping this whole time. the storyline makes you keep reading until the last page without a breath,
the story is told by three POV, Rachel, Mary and their neighbor Jonah, which gives you a better understanding of the characters. I did enjoy it quit much, highly recommend it.

This novel has a triple narrative which I really enjoyed. The story is told from the perspectives of Mary, her mother Rachel and their neighbour Jonah. It was very interesting to see how these three different voices moved the story along and ultimately come together.

The author is a good storyteller and wove several strands and issues together. He deals with some difficult themes throughout the book; grief, racism, bigotry, and ultimately, love and family and the effect that those three former themes have upon the individual characters.

This was a very original and engaging title. It took me a while to pick it up, but when I did I was not disappointed.

This book's title and cover grabbed me. There are moments of truly wonderful prose here, and many scenes are written with warmth and nostalgia. The premise is promising, but in action, some parts felt cliche or unreal. I enjoyed Mary, a violin playing teen, as a character. Her perspective was the most interesting for me, and felt unique! I found the "voices" of the alternating perspectives similar to each other, which brought me a bit out of the story. This book has a sincere message and is written with evident passion, but it just wasn't for me.

The Ascension of Mary tells the story of Mary Hester, a 14-year-old violin prodigy, who moves to a new home near Chicago with her mother and discovers a ghost in her bedroom. Such a wonderful book. Utterly unique, exquisitely crafted and quietly powerful.

DNF @ 44%

I appreciate that this book covers a heavy topic but it didn't really grab me. Also with the multiple povs there's a lot of repetition of the same events which is one of my book pet peeves. Some bits are a little too corny for me especially the part when Jake and Rachel were singing; plus the mean girl and asshole jocks stereotype and are the worst.

I started out liking this book, but mostly found it too unbelievable. I don't mean the ghost/supernatural parts, but a lot of the rest of it. like how Mary calmed down the crowd and how people stopped going to her place didn't seem believable. Also there was a lot of descriptions about every bit of physical contact (familial, not sexual) that I somehow found a bit off-putting.