The Ghosts of Nothing
Cecily Walters
4.5/5 Stars

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This was a brilliant book, I honestly think it will go down as one of my favourites of 2023. An urban fantasy inspired by Irish folktales and lore, the author knows her stuff. She has a deep understanding of her source material and this shines throughout her book. This book feels instantly accessible, yes, we don’t know everything and we are as confused as Nelly is with the capricious fairy around her but that doesn’t disincentivize you from continuing to read. Nelly is an emotional mature teenager and while you will definitely feel anger at the teenagers around her, you can feel her loneliness throughout. Even with her Grandmother (so formal and stiff) her step grandfather (Mr Granville) she has no one in her corner/

Revenge and Forgiveness are the themes of this book, weaving throughout with a dark creepy malevolence seeping from every page, the imagery of the world around Nelly is fantastically built by the author.

Random thoughts while reading:
Very strong opening chapter, those first 10 or so pages really slap
Karma and Revenge
History of the character is taught to the reader not told.
Grandmother is a surprisingly protective badass
The dangers that stem from a teenagers ignorance and fearlessness
Magic system is very clever in the fairy world
Pacing in the later third of the book was very good.

I picked this book thinking it was more of a horror then a fantasy and my gosh am I not disappointed.

Told like a fairytale through the eyes of Nelly, our main character, described as strange from the first chapter, she is mistreated purely for her family name who are blamed for all the weird things that happen in their town. Persecuted and bullied her whole life, she clearly is haunted
and at times i worried for her well being.

This book knows how to build tension and i found myself completely on edge for most of the book. The plot is twisty and unpredictable and constantly took me by surprise or left me shocked. The imagery was beautiful and kept me engrossed until the end. The supernatural elements were intriguing and well fleshed out and the character development made Nelly feel like a real person.

I highly recommend this for anyone who like dark supernatural, adventure coming of age stories!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc.

4.5 stars / 5 stars

Things I loved:
Absolutely loved the fairies and magic that was intertwined with this story
Loved how descriptive the story was
Adored the characters
Things I didn’t love:
A little slow to start off

It’s like a dark version of holly blacks work

I loved this book! The story kept my interest and the book was well written. The story was fun and moved at a good pace. 10/10 highly recommend! Special Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of the book prior to publication.

*This review will be posted on Goodreads July 18, 2023.

This book surprised me in so many ways I will not be able to all describe in this review.
I haven't read a book like this in a pretty long time so it took a little bit for me to get used to it again, but I'm happy I chose to read this book.

The characters , the world building and just the plot of the book in general are absolutely perfect.
It was truly like a movie playing before my eyes while reading this book so once I got into it, it went by so quickly.
If someone asked me for a book that I would love to read again for the first time it would definetly be this one.

The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is because i thought that the bullying was a bit too much and went on for way too long, otherwise absolutely perfect.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. Can't wait to see what comes in the future <3

The Town of Nothing is the most haunted town ever, and Nelly's family gets the blame for it. This is Cecily Walters' first installment of her The Weird and the Wicked series. I believe this is and indie published author as well.

I can't find where I read this recommended for fans of Holly Black's writing, and that might be right if you compare it to her The Darkest Part of the Forest. It's got highschool kids going to class (for some reason it's a boarding school instead of a public highschool, which I don't completely understand why), and then there's the Fairies from their world and the place where the two worlds converge. Nelly and the Fairies travel back and forth between them. It's darkly whimsical with a touch of the creepy and horrific.

The story builds for the first half and feels very meandering, but never managed to lose my interest. Then the second half really takes off and was more interesting because that's when Nelly finally enters her quest.

The characters were fine. My favorite was Doed. But everyone was either unreasonably cruel with the only reason being inherited prejudice, or they were vapid, caddy, aloof, and cowardly. The teens were very stereotypical, and bullyish with very little more to their personalities.

Don't go into this for romance or you will be disappointed. However there may be romance to come as the series goes on.

Overall the story was fun and entertaining, but I'm not sure if it will be memorable. I would still recommend.

Content is clean of sexual content and coarsee language. Contains mild violence and bullying.

Thank you to Cecily Walters and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book in advance.

My review was posted to Amazon 7/18/23
My review has been posted to Goodreads

I received this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't quite sure whether I was going to love this book. it started out a little slow but the second half of the book was amazing.

Nelly is seen as a freak by her peers for the sole transgression of her having the Morighan name, a family who are blamed for every misfortune to ever befall the town of Nothing. Could they be on to something?

I related to Nelly in a lot of ways. I was outcast growing up, bullied by my peers for being too timid, too mousey, too, everything that the popular girls and boys weren't.

There's a moment when her frenemy is exposed to a sort of love powder and begins expressing her love for Nelly. I got the impression that Bianca's feelings weren't entirely down to the effects of the powder but didn't want to admit that she liked both a girl and one from the Morighan family. She'd shown that she could have cared for Nelly well before this when she stood up to her friends.

The idea of maple keys opening portals into the fairy world was genius, I wouldn't be surprised if people started collecting maple keys. It gave me the same sort of feeling after I'd seen Peter Pan for the first time and waiting up at night hoping he'd arrive at my window. Imagination is a powerful thing and a collection of maple keys, imagining that they can take us away from this world for a little bit, well, I think that would be pretty cool.

I hope that we get more stories with Nelly, Bianca, Fig, Doed and Jack and that we finally meet Nelly's mother.

The cover intrigue me, and I was rewarded with a comfortable place to pass a few hours. Cecily Walters has written an entertaining fantasy novel which should suit YR and up. A stand alone read, but the first in a series - which is good news. Thank you to Cecile Walters and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Book Review 📚
The Ghosts of Nothing by Cecily Walters - 4.5/5 ⭐

I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS A SERIES!

I want to just leave it as that to be perfectly honest, because there isn't anything I can say that will make this book look as good as it was!

Nelly - the poor girl can't catch a break. Bullied throughout school, feared/hated and the unwanted centre of attention. And then one day, everything changes for her! In a good way or in a bad way? I'll let you find out!

Honestly, I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. And the cover did not lead me to believe it was a completely different genre to what it actually is! I don't want to give anything away, AT ALL, so I'm saying the bare minimum. But you HAVE to read it. It's incredible.

Walters needs to continue writing for the rest of her life. She has now become an author in which I will buy instantly because of how good the book was. It's an award worthy book. Phenomenal writing, beautiful written characters and so much description you feel like you're there.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cecily Walters for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

“The Ghosts of Nothing” by Cecily Walters is the first book in the new “The Weird and Wicked” series. Nelly lives in the small-town of Nothing, which is said to be the most haunted town in existence. And Nelly’s ancestors are said to be the cause. One night when Nelly sees lights coming from the old family house she decides to investigate and finds fairies. Pushed into a new world and determined to find answers about her town and herself, Nelly undergoes an adventure that leads to her finding her own strength. This a perfect read for any fans of Holly Black or like their fantasies a little on the darker side.

I really enjoyed reading the Ghosts of Nothing, the first book in the Weird and the Wicked series by Cecily Waters.

The protagonist, Nelly Morighan, aged sixteen, lives in a place called Nothing. Her family is hated and feared and blamed for causing hauntings and other problems for the other people living there. Nelly is bullied at school.

One night, when investigating a strange light in the abandoned house on her family’s property, she finds fairies.

Travel along with Nelly into the wicked and whimsical fairy world as she searches for answers.

Thanks to Victory Editing Netgalley Co-op for allowing me the opportunity to read this Advanced Reader Copy (ARC).