Forest of Words: Spirit and Dust by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Title - Spirit and Dust
Author - Rosemary Clement-Moore
Series - ~~None~~
Release Date - May 14th, 2013
Publisher - Delacorte Books
Format Acquired - Hardcover via online library

Daisy Goodnight can speak to the dead. It’s not the result of a head injury or some near-death experience. She was just born that way. And she’s really good at it. Good enough to help the police solve the occasional homicide. But helping the local authorities clear cold cases is one thing. Being whisked out of chemistry class by the FBI and flown to the scene of a murder/kidnapping in Minnesota? That’s the real deal.Before the promotion can go to Daisy’s head, she’s up to her neck in trouble. The spirits are talking, and they’re terrified. There’s a real living girl in danger. And when Daisy is kidnapped by a crime boss with no scruples about using magic—and Daisy—to get what he wants, it looks like hers is the next soul on the line.

It always feels awesome when I find an unexpected great read. I picked this book out of the blue - it was there, I was there and wanted more material to entertain myself, so "why not"?

Yes, it is another book about a teenager who has supernatural abilities and is able to do this and that. But this one works with the FBI and is as innocent as it gets! When you meet Daisy, she has just arrived at a murder scene thousands of miles away from her home. The FBI are allowed to "get her" whenever and wherever she is so she can help with the latest unsolvable murders cases in the country. And the latest case? Well, it stresses Daisy's powers to the limit.

This is one of those books, if you like that sort of thing, that one can't help but read in one sitting. The characters? I loved them all, starting from the main character herself to the only-mentioned aunts and cousins of the Goodnight Clan. She has a lot of family. Clement-Moore portrayed all of this story's characters' personalities with few words and a lot of action. A lot of action.

I couldn't believe how much was packed into a book that was not even that big.

If I start telling you one thing about the actual storyline, I don't think I'm going to be able to stop myself from revealing very important spoilers. So, instead of even trying to avoid spoilers, I'm just going to tell you my reactions to the twists and turns of events that took place. They ran amongst the lines of:

WHAT??
WHAT WHAT WHAT???
WHAT?!?!?!?!
Wait... WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
HOW?
OMYGOSH!
NOOO DAISY!! RUN!

You get the idea, right?

I appreciate the amount creativeness and boldness that Rosemary Clement-Moore felt was needed in this awesome story. She made a lot of right decisions. The only thing that I personally wanted to see was more on the rest of Daisy's family. I wanted to know what kinds of powers her aunts and cousins possess and for what sort of jobs do they use them. But, if an author leaves you wanting more, that's always a good thing.