The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

Ghost Stories Series, Book 2

By: Seanan McGuire

Narrated by: Amy Landon

Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

For Rose Marshall, death has long since become the only life she really knows. She's been sweet 16 for more than 60 years, hitchhiking her way along the highways and byways of America, sometimes seen as an avenging angel, sometimes seen as a killer in her own right, but always Rose, the phantom prom date, the girl in the green silk gown.

The man who killed her is still out there thanks to a crossroads bargain that won't let him die, and he's looking for the one who got away.

When Bobby Cross comes back into the picture, there's going to be hell to pay - possibly literally. Rose has worked for decades to make a place for herself in the twilight. Can she defend it when Bobby Cross comes to take her down? Can she find a way to navigate the worlds of the living and the dead and make it home before her hitchhiker's luck runs out?

There's only one way to know for sure.

©2018 Seanan McGuire (P)2018 Tantor

Kind of ok

I love the October Daye series and the Indexing books. I really didn’t love this. I like the concept, but as other readers said, Rose is incredibly whiney and annoying in this book. The narrator is also not great. Just meh all around. I’m not sure I’ll bother with the third one.

Good sequel

Another solid story from Seanan and a very good sequel to Sparrow Hill Road-a good journey and more fascinating world building.

The reader put me off a bit by sounding vague at first, but fits the tone ok.

The second volume of ghost stories from a master

Seanan McGuire, that talented and productive author, treats us to another installment in Ghost Roads series with <em>The Girl in the Green Silk Gown</em>.

Rose Marshall is dead. She's a ghost - a hitch-hiking ghost to be more precise - and she wanders the highways, catching rides with the living in order to help them as they pass from one realm to the next. She's been a ghost for sixty-some years and over time she's developed a reputation. She's sometimes known as the Ghost in the Green Silk Gown and sometimes as the Phantom Prom Date, but she's just Rose.

Rose was killed by Bobby Cross, a once-famous actor who made a bargain and now drives through eternity, killing innocents in order to keep his demon car fueled. He killed Rose, but she accidentally escaped being consumed by him and now Bobby has a grudge against Rose and he's bent on finishing her off.

There are rules in the Ghost Realms by which to live (or un-live) by and even those who are governed by the rules don't always seem to understand them. Rose's escape from Bobby was one such rule and now, when Bobby manages to make Rose mortal again, so is another. The dead aren't supposed to be alive. Rose can die again, but to do so might completely change what type of ghost she is to become, if a ghost at all. Rose needs help to return to the dead and it's possible that only the living can make this happen. But who do you turn to when all your relatives have died?

I greatly enjoyed this journey into the ghost realms. McGuire does such a fine job of creating a world with unique rules that feel so right and appropriate. She also manages to deliver these rules smoothly and in the course of story-telling rather than just giving us a big info-dump session.

Additionally, McGuire gives us compelling characters. Rose Marshall comes across as so real and alive, which is why we get caught up in her story and care about what happens to her. Never mind that she's a ghost ... that she's<em> fictional.</em> We care about her.

One sentence surprised me, coming from Seanan McGuire. At one point our narrator (Rose Marshall) says to the reader "That speaks well of her intelligence, since I'm literally talking out of my ass."

Really? "Literally" talking out of her ass? I read this and imagine a high, squeaking voice, like the air being let out of a balloon between the fingers. Had our narrator character said this out loud, I might have forgiven her, since people do say this, even though it is so incorrect. But to have written this as part of the narrator-to-reader it just really bugged me. Sorry Ms. McGuire - you're better than this!

I loved the ending of this book. Too often I get to the end of a book I've enjoyed only to be let down, but McGuire gives us just the perfect conclusion.

Narrator Amy Landon is mostly quite good ... except she can't do male or deep voices. Everytime she tries they come off sounding slow-witted and stupid. At first I thought that was a choice for one of the male characters, but then a female character, trying to sound dark and ominous also has a deep voice and the same slow, stupid sound was the result and I'm pretty sure that wasn't the intention.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Girl in the Green Silk Gown</em> continues the ghost adventures of Rose Marshal, by Seanan McGuire, and is a recommended read.

Phantom prom date/hitcher

I enjoyed the nuances of this new version of ghost world and the afterlife that the author has created; bringing new rules and possibilities. A good choice on taking a story that was a quick urban legend and creating this whole scenario for why we have the phantom prom date/hitcher. The last chance diner was a great setting for ghost socializing and also adding in the variations of ghost and witches and more kept me interest. I look forward to reading more about Rose and other characters introduced throughout the book.

Inconsistent Narration

The narrator performed Book #1 so much better than this 2nd book. Her voice for one character would sometimes be used for another and it wasn’t easy to tell which character was speaking. This is the major difference between the 2 books.

Holy terrible inflection Batman!

The narration made it incredibly difficult to get into the story, and Seanan McGuire is legit my favorite author. I don't remember how I felt about her with Sparrow Hill, I'm about to attempt reading it again.

Great story, what happened to the narrator????

Story is superb as all Seanan McGuire’s story. But, what happened to the narrator? She did a great job in the 1st book. This book in the other hand was read with a straight monotonous disinterested way. Tooo bad and I’m disappointed

different, but good

really enjoyed all the stories about Rose. this was a particularly good one. I am looking forward to reading more by this author. good world, true to itself good characters,

Love this author but not this book.

Struggled to finish. Narrator's male voices were basically the same(slow and not very bright). The way she dragged out the last word of most of her sentences detracted from the story. Pore Rose was a extremely whiny teenager for most of the story. Constantly asking everyone for help while saying she can fight her own battles. The story was probably really good as long as you enjoy reading about the self centered and confused feelings of a teenager. I love all of Seanans other books.

Not bad

I enjoy Seanan McGuire because she keeps a good pace and things don’t get boring or too predictable. This was a pretty good read. I like that it had more of an ongoing plot then two first book and I love when her characters take a journey but the Americana theme isn’t really my thing or the focus on cars and the road. Overall it wasn’t too bad.