Reviews for Golden and Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost)

The average rating for Golden and Grey (An Unremarkable Boy and a Rather Remarkable Ghost) based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-09-02 00:00:00 Renee Snoddy Eh. It had its moments. And it had lots of weaknesses. The following quotation is representative of the book as a whole: "Mum... desperately looked like she wanted to spit on a tissue and clean Tom to within an inch of his life." Erm. Nice insight but: should be "looked desperately," and "to within" is very awkward and "an inch of his life" is inappropriate when Mum is expressing love and concern, and is a cliche to boot. Also, I got peeved when we're informed that we learn about stalactites from geographers, rather than from geologists. And I'm tired of bad guys and bullies that are so unremittingly, boringly, just plain bad. Otoh, I do like the idea that the ghostly world is spread upon the Real world like butter on toast, and that cats can move between the two. And Tom's feelings as he copes with these adventures feel authentic and make me enjoy getting to know him. And I want a proper British 'cheese and onion' sandwich. I might just read the next in the series, because there is potential here, and since Arnold's debut got sold, maybe she could afford (or be assigned?) a professional editor for her second(? I don't know how publishing works, ok.)

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-19 00:00:00 Todd Barnett Tom Golden, a lonely boy who is bullied and labeled a freak by Big Ben mutters to himself, "Life isn't fair" at the exact moment that Grey Arthur a timid, lonely ghost distraught over never fitting in says the exact same words to himself. The human and ghostly worlds collide at that moment and Golden & Grey can see each other and they become friends. Arthur takes on the role of Tom's "invisible friend" and tries (as hard as he can) to make Tom's life more bearable. As time goes on, Tom's friendship with Arthur causes some oddities at home and school. He appears to be talking to himself (when he is really talking to Arthur), cries a lot, and brings Tom's parents to call in a renowned child psychologist, Dr. Brown to help him. Dr. Brown is fascinated with Tom's insistence that he can see and talk to ghosts. He asks Tom to have Arthur prove that he is 'real'. What Tom and Arthur don't know, though, is that Dr. Brown is a fraud and only wants Arthur to perform illegal activities that will make him rich. When Dr. Brown kidnaps Tom to force Arthur to aid him in his dastardly deed, all manners of ghosts from poltergeists to faintly reals and sadness summoners to chain rattlers come to help rescue Tom and in turn, Arthur. Golden & Grey is a slightly scary, but mostly heartwarming story of ghosts and humans and the friendship between one lonely little boy and one disillusioned ghost. An adorable ghost story that isn't too scary for the younger set.