Every September the ghosts return to Earth for one month. They can’t speak to you and they can’t touch you. They can’t hurt you physically but they can hurt you emotionally. They force you to confront your demons and deal with things you would rather not have to face. Nobody knows why they started to return and nobody knows what they want. As soon as I saw the blurb for this book, I knew I had to read it. I love all things spooky. I wasn’t prepared for how much of a rollercoaster of emotions this would take me on though. The book covers a lot of heavy issues – abandonment, grief, poverty, homelessness, guilt to name a few but this is dealt with in a human and sometimes humorous way. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it when I first picked it up as it has a very slow start but it is one of those books that slowly sucks you in and takes over. I’m glad I am one of those people who can never stop reading a book as I would have missed out on something that turned out to be pretty special. The main plus about Ghost Month is the clever way the lives of each of the main characters become more intertwined as the pages turn. The connections are not forced and have been delivered in a way that does not seem unbelievable. Some of the characters I hated (Gideon) and some I was fighting for the whole way through (Jane and Eddie). However, I ended up smiling at every single character’s ending once the ghosts disappeared. Lil’s story in particular had me sobbing – I was rooting for her the whole way through and her ending is so heartwarming. The thing that lets the book down for me is the ending. It is very abrupt, but so is the end of Ghost Month itself so I felt that this may have been international on the part of the author. The storylines are neatly rounded up but I was still left with a few questions and I feel like Jane’s ending in particular could have been given a more in-depth description as she never uses the words she should have to let her mother’s ghost know who she really is – I do suspect that her mother knew this though and just wanted her daughter to finally open up to her. Overall, Ghost Month is a beautifully written and original story. I really wanted to give it 5 starts but, due to the ending feeling a little flat, I ultimately settled on a solid 4. I’d love there to be a sequel so we can see how each person has fared over the course of the year when the ghosts return (or if they return for some of them).