I really love the set up of this story! It has many of the classic coming-of-age tropes, but it revisits them with a queer ghost story twist. Our narrator is a shy, quiet teen who works at a vintage clothing store and has yet to experience a romantic relationship. One night while walking home he chances upon the ghost of a dead high school boy, and a supernatural bond is formed. The ghost becomes his first crush, his first kiss, his first lusty encounter. He's falling in love, but the ghost may have more sinister motivations...

Berman does an excellent job capturing the naive awkwardness of young love/lust, and the turmoil of emotions that one experiences in their teenage years. So many moments in the story had me flashing back to my own high school years (especially those mentions of Hot Topic haha), and the characters are very realistic and believable. The narrator and most of the supporting cast are written with a great sense of empathy and sensitivity to their hopes and fears.

Though it's a love story of boy-meets-ghost, I honestly wasn't expecting many scares. While it's true that much of story focuses on the drama, there are some parts that are quite dark and, to my pleasant surprise, quite terrifying. When the relationship between the narrator and the ghost takes an unexpected turn, I was constantly on edge, skin crawling, for the next moment the ghost would pop up and what would happen next. And that scene with the baby doll and the bounding thing in the cemetery? Creepy stuff.

My only complaint is that the story meanders a lot, especially in the middle and second half. I didn't necessarily mind all of the subplots, but the book loses some momentum and I kept wanting to get back to the main story line. Thankfully it returns at the end for a climax that is tense and emotionally charged.

Vintage has great characters, a unique plot, and an underlying creepiness that rears its head in several scenes. I really enjoy Berman's writing style. It is easy to fall into the story and the head of the narrator. Despite some tangents, the overall story is compelling and deeply moving. Certainly a recommendation for fans of ghost stories, coming of age, and queer representation in literature!

Thanks to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! ( )

Enjoyable, but it lost the ghost plot after a quarter, for a whole half! But it was enjoyable anyways. ( )

Vintage’s protagonist is an unnamed mostly closeted gay teen, who I will call MC (short for “Main Character”) from here on out. MC ran away from home after his parents reacted badly to learning that he was gay, so now he lives with his aunt, who he’s afraid might do the same thing. The only people who know his secret are his new friend Trace and several other friends she introduced him to.

His life here is better than it had been back with his parents. He has friends, he’s convinced his aunt to let him drop out of school and get his GED and work instead, and he likes his job at the vintage clothing shop. Still, a part of him is always afraid that the wrong person will find out he’s gay and ruin everything and, at the same time, he desperately wants a boyfriend. When he sees a cute boy in vintage clothes walking alone, he takes a risk and talks to him. And even though he’s a weird goth kid talking to a guy dressed like a jock, it doesn’t go badly! Unfortunately for MC, Josh, the cute boy, is a ghost.

At first, MC and Trace are delighted at the prospect of meeting a real ghost. However, things soon take a turn for the worse. Josh follows MC home. Although MC is excited that a boy is finally interested in him, Josh’s touch could literally suck the life out of him. Josh’s raging jealousy is another problem. If MC and Trace can’t figure out how to put Josh to rest, MC and anyone he cares out could end up dead.

The first half of this book wasn’t my cup of tea at all. Nearly every character was messed up in some way, and it seemed like a potentially murderous ghost was the least of their problems. Liz's parents were mostly absent. Trace's mother was in an institution, her older brother, Mike, was either dead or a runaway, and her mother had her younger brother as a replacement for her older brother, even going so far as to name him after him. MC had tried to commit suicide in the past but instead had just woken up in a puddle of his own vomit.

MC’s friends’ idea of fun was getting together and drinking something called Jim Joneses, a mixture of different flavors of Kool-Aid, vodka, and, in one special glass, a random crushed up pill from the hostess’s medicine cabinet. At the particular gathering featured in the book, they then tried out a Ouija board - at the time, only Trace and MC knew it would be a bad idea for MC to be involved in anything like that.

At any rate, this had more drug use and steamier sex than I generally expect to find in a young adult book. For those wondering, I felt the drug use was at least presented as a negative thing, and the sex (a couple scenes, if I remember right) was explicit enough to include bodily fluids but wasn’t otherwise very detailed.

The second half of the book was better than the first. It included more ghost scenes, including one aspect I love in “I can see ghosts” stories: MC realizing that he can’t always tell when the person he’s seeing or talking to is a ghost or not. Creepy. My favorite instance of this involved a ghost with a connection to one of MC’s friends.

Another nice thing about the second half of the book was the way MC gradually gained self-confidence. He learned that there were more supportive people in his life than he realized, and he started a relationship with a boy who was a much healthier option than Josh. I liked how their relationship progressed, and I liked the way MC did his best to keep from rushing him into anything. They seemed like they’d make a sweet couple.

I thought I’d end up hating this book, but it actually grew on me. I don’t know that I’d ever want to reread it, but if there were ever a sequel I’d probably give it a shot. And I’d hope that Mike got a prominent role. Considering his situation, it was amazing how well-adjusted he was. Instead of ingesting pills like everyone else, he created amazing sculptures.

One thing I’m still wondering about: why MC was never named. At first, I assumed it was a sign of his low self-esteem. If someone had told him he was a character in a book and asked him to guess what his role probably was, in the first half of the book he’d probably have said Trace was the main character and he was her sidekick. He viewed her as perfect and wonderful, while he was anything but. It was painful. He became more confident later on, but when the perfect opportunity presented itself for the author to finally have another character name him, all readers got was something along the lines of “He said my name.” If the name thing had been meant as an indicator of his feelings about himself, it would have made more sense to have someone finally say his name at some point near the end.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

I loved this. I wish it were part of a series, because I wasn't finished hanging out with Narrator and his friends. (...I didn't even realise Narrator didn't have a name until I read other people's reviews. That's some good storytelling.)

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Interesting young adult ghost story. This is narrated by a gay teenager whose name we never learn, who starts into a strange and spooky relationship with a ghost, and eventually finds a live love interest, which causes some supernatural drama. Genuinely scary at some points, and also poignant in the characterization of the main character, who was kicked out of his house by his parents for being gay and now lives with an aunt. Recommended.
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