Review of The Girl who Stopped Swimming

Finally blog readers, a book that I did not hate!  I am pleased to report that I enjoyed reading The Girl who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson.  I was looking forward to reading this book because I liked her previous book, Gods in Alabama. I thought this book was another suspenseful and character driven novel by this author.  I was pulled into the story from the first chapter when Laurel is visited by a ghost who ends up leading her to her own pool where she finds a thirteen year old girl, face down.  Of course, I immediately wanted to find out whether she can really see ghosts and how the girl ended up drowning in the pool.  Jackson manages to combine a few elements of a ghost story with enough mystery to entice readers.  The novel moves between Laurel's  present search for answers and hints of her difficult past.  I have a difficult time getting into books that lack strong characters, but this was not a problem in this book.  The character's possess memorable personality and quirkiness to add to the novel.  I found myself addicted to this novel and reading as quickly as possible to see how the mystery unraveled.