The ghost gang is back! After their stay at Hearst hotel they are taking to sea, on the infamous Queen Anne. I feel like this story was much faster paced than Hearst hotel but I felt like it could have been much longer. Overall I liked the book and Kiki’s point of view was my favorite. The ghost gang gets themselves into lots of ghostly trouble but always show up for each other, Im excited to see where the next adventure will be.

The Ghost Gang is back and about to board the RMS Queen Anne, one of the most haunted ships in the world. Years ago, voyaging with the US Titanic, a girl jumped to her death and the case was ruled a suicide. Chrissy, Kiki, Emma, and Chase are hoping that the Youtube video filmed on the RMS Queen Anne will be enough to get a TV show for their paranormal investigations. However, one of their biggest rivals also boards the ship and is going for the same exact show.

Once entering the ship, Chrissy gets transported to another era and she and her friends immediately realize that it might not be the ghosts of the ship that are trying to keep them there forever, it might be the ship. Will the Ghost Gang figure out how to break the curse before its too late.

I liked this book. It was a nice break from my normal reads. This book has a very conversational tone to it and it was a very easy read. It almost read like a fan fiction in a sense so if you like fan fictions I am positive you will enjoy this book.

I thought this book was a very good introduction to horror. It wasn't too scary in any way, but it did involve ghosts and death. I also liked how this book was based around the RMS Queen Mary ship and even includes one of the supposed ghosts from that ship (although this ghost is a lot nicer, except for maybe one part, but that wasn't played up that much).

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes scary, but not too scary books, fan fictions, and ghost stories.

I enjoyed this book more than the first, which I honestly wasn't expecting.

This book had more of a spooky/haunted aspect in it than the first book, which I really liked. While it still wasn't overly scary, it definitely had some scarier moments. While I wasn't a big fan of the multiple POVs switching around in the same chapters, the characters were experiencing different things and splitting up more in this book, so the multiple POVs had a stronger purpose.

I did feel that the book tried to do too much in a short span of pages. You had the main haunting and mystery of the Lady in White, a little ghost girl, the ghost of a captain, and a mummy curse. It was a lot of storylines going and things got a bit jumbled in places. I think it would have worked better if the plot had focussed on the one main haunting and *maybe* a little about the curse or expand the book to give justice to the other plot lines so they didn't feel like filler fluff. I also didn't feel like having the competing ghost hunters on the cruise really added much to the story. It could have worked just fine without them.

Overall, I liked the story. There was a little teen angst and a smidge of relationship drama, but it worked well. If you're looking for a quick, spooky read and enjoyed the first book, I think you'll enjoy this one as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

TW: Child Death

*3.5 Stars*

All aboard the RMS Queen Anne in this new sequel. After the events of the Hearst Hotel, the Ghost Gang is invited to travel the newly renovated cruise ship. There have been hundreds of deaths throughout the history of the RMS Queen Anne, including the Lady in White. When Chrissy gets sucked into another time, the Ghost Gang must find out who is responsible for the Lady in White's untimely death before Chrissy is stuck forever.

Although this book was slow in the beginning, I enjoyed the events that happened on the RMS Queen Ann and was excited to see that the cruise ship was based off the Queen Mary. The multiple POVs from the ghost gang allowed each of the characters to solve their own mysteries on the cruise while still dealing with the events from the Hearst Hotel. This book is targeted for younger audiences but can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Cursed Cruise comes out on March 19th, 2024!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to review Cursed Cruise. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book had kind of a slow start, but once it picked up, I really enjoyed it! I loved the chapters that were from the POV of the ship. It was different and added more perspective to the story. Definitely a fun, quick read if you hang in there through the beginning. Also, you really need to read the first book, Hotel Hell, before this one because if you don't, you lose a lot of the character background and some of the bigger plot points will not make sense to you.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook.
I was really really looking for to this book. I figured Ghost ship would be perfect for Halloween 🎃 month...but nope.. it was a DNF for me. I didn't know this is part of a series and usually you can read a book out of order and feel like you are not missing too much but nope! Not with this book. You absolutely have to read the first book because I felt really out of the loop. The writing is just bad. It is like someones thoughts journal and it is just all over the place. The characters all felt like middle schoolers. Just a hard pass.

This book follows Chrissy, Chase, Kiki, and Emma. They’re apart of a popular group named the Ghost Gang on YouTube (fictional). They get invited to film a video on the RMS Queen Anne, a luxury ocean liner with a history of violent deaths. I think this book has a lot of good bones to it! It gave me modern Scooby Doo gang vibes, which I loved! I just feel like it wasn’t fleshed out enough. It felt a little rushed. I also think there were too many points of view and that didn’t allow for adequate character development at times. But, overall it was a quick read and I loved the concept!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for opportunity to review this book!

You have to read the first book to understand anything that is going on. I think this would have worked better if it could be a stand alone within the series.

The first book was a knockout and this was just meh. I would read a third but it would have to blow me away

Very surprising book and another adventure with our "Ghost Gang". The personalities of these 4 friends and their comraderie really bring this book to life in the best possible way. The descriptions of the ship are involving and make you feel as though you were there with the gang investigating another paranormal haunting.

Fulton masterfully builds suspense throughout the novel, introducing supernatural elements that are genuinely eerie and mysterious. From ghostly apparitions to strange disappearances, the tension steadily escalates as the story progresses. The pacing is well-executed, with each chapter unveiling new layers of intrigue and raising more questions than answers.

The sense of isolation on the open sea intensifies the feeling of dread, as passengers and crew members find themselves trapped on a ship with a sinister secret. The author's vivid descriptions of the ship's dark corners and hidden passages add depth to the setting, making it feel like a character in itself.

I'm giving it a 2 star. But I had to DNF. I gave it 20%. As someone who loves watching ghost hunting videos/shows and have done some ghost hunts myself (I do it on my personal time), I was hoping it would get me from the get go. But honestly it didn't, which sucks. Maybe it's partly cuz the characters are freshly out of high school, and I haven't been in high school in almost a decade. So I don't connect that way, especially since I mostly watch stuff on YouTube where the people are around my age, maybe slightly older.

After reading the first book in this series, I was curious to see where the authors would go in the second installment. Unfortunately, I should have just stuck with the one. This novel was all over the place, lacked most common sense, and barely scraped up any sort of horror feeling. The plot line seemed straight forward, yet the ideas never seemed to flow naturally (the other team was at the beginning to introduce some friction and the Egyptian plot line, then showed up at the end to close the gap for one). The Elizabeth storyline was the driving factor in this story, and I don't think they needed a second unless it was going to be a bigger part.
There were A LOT of repeating ideas, often in the next sentence that made the book drag on and become very burdensome to read. There is also the references to the first novel that practically dominate the first third of the book (just get on with this one already!). The complete lack of cohesion throughout the novel makes it seem underwhelming and makes the reader lose interest in the characters. The biggest one of these is that the 1st rule is to stick together yet no one, especially after this is pointed out, stays together (it would be understood once or twice, but ALWAYS?).
The lack of research of ships and cruising is extremely evident here. If I'm going to have any chance of getting caught up in a story, I can't keep rolling my eyes at unbelievable scenarios (and I'm not talking about the paranormal ones).
The ghost part of this story was actually well done. The creepy factor in a couple scenes was exciting, but short lived. It was unfortunately not enough to keep the interest going, but I did make it through! This will be the end of this series for me.

Title: Cursed Cruise
Series: Horror Hotel #2
Author: Victoria Fulton and Faith McClarin
Publisher: Random House Children’s
Genre: YA Mystery
Pub Date: March 19, 2024
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 288

I was drawn to this story when I read that this is a paranormal adventure that takes place on
the fictitious cruise liner Queen Anne.
Having toured the Queen Mary, located in the Long Beach, Ca harbor, we toured not only the barracks where solders returning home from WWII slept and also toured the areas rumored to be haunted. So Yes I was looking forward to this story.

While the Queen Anne was on its inaugural cruise following years of remodeling Kiki, Emma, Chase, and Chrissy- “The Ghost Gang” are set out to break the century old curse haunting the cruise liner. The Queen Anne has had more deaths than any other cruise liner in history.
One belief regarding the ship’s curse is that the mummified remains of King Ramesses VIII are hidden on the ship and his remains must be returned in order to break the curse.
Sounds reasonable to me!
I know I am not the target audience for this story; however as a high school guidance counselor I enjoy reading teen stories so that I am comfortable in making recommendations
This was a quick read and I actually found some parts humorous. I believe early teens will enjoy this as creepy/paranormal story.
Although this is second in the 'Horror Hotel' series ` it is not really horror.

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Children’s for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 6, 2024

The ghost gang is BACK. I have to say, I feel a weird sense of nostalgia for these stories--they remind me of growing up watching Scooby-Doo. They're not the most well-written, super novel stories, but they sure are a lot of fun. I think that the setting and characters in this installment were well-done and really compelling. I'm hoping for more in this series, or companion novels, because I have been having a lot of fun!

I recieved an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great and easy to follow and very likeable. The story itself was well put together and I was eager to find out how it ended. It is creepy but I managed to keep the lights turned off while reading it! I loved the personification of the ship, that was a really neat touch. I haven't read the first book but think I will despite spoilers in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s, and Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren for this eARC of Cursed Cruise.

The Ghost Gang is back in this YA paranormal adventure aboard the Queen Anne: a fictive cruise liner modeled after the real-world Queen Mary. While on the inaugural cruise following a decade-long face lift, Kiki, Emma, Chase, and Chrissy must unravel the haunting that have led to more deaths aboard this ship than any other cruise liner in history, break a century old curse, and set hundreds of restless spirits free from the cyclic hell of reliving their deaths ad eternum - all while battling demons of their own.

Using the classic convention of rotating POVs, the authors have put together a fun, spooky romp that tackles teenaged relationships, parental trauma, and the real-world implications of refusing to let those that love us most see us as we really are. The story skips around a bit with a handful of presumptions required by the reader, but it’s a quick and fun read.

Have you even wondered what would happen if the Scooby Doo gang grew up in today’s era? Well, here it is! This one takes place on a cruise ship, which is cursed. It’s fun, and moves quickly. One thing the author got right is the teenagers. Some people can’t write teen voices without it feeling artificial. This author can. I really liked our friends, especially Chase, who I initially thought would have no personality. The premise of the book, a ghost hunting show that’s trying to get going, and runs into some serious paranormal stuff is clever and likely to appeal to a lot of theater and journalism type students.