City of Ghosts

Jacob is Cassidy’s best friend and sidekick who happens to be a ghost. Though the friends cannot physically connect, since Jacob appears as a luminous yet translucent shade rather than a solid being, they became tied to one another after he plucked her from the deadly, frigid waters of the river. As he pulled her away from death, she pulled him into the world of the living. Jacob is content to move about as a living being and even objects to being called a ghost, claiming, “I prefer the phrase ‘corporeally challenged’” (5). His ethereal form is difficult to deny since only Cassidy can see him, and he cannot even turn the pages of his beloved comic books. More importantly, he can still pass back into the Veil, though he does so reluctantly and only to protect Cassidy from getting stuck on the other side. Jacob’s humor and his witty banter with Cassidy offset the scarier moments of the narrative. He becomes her loyal companion, and when she faces the terrifying underworld of Edinburgh, Jacob stays by her side, fighting alongside her against the city’s malevolent ghosts.

Despite Jacob’s steadfast friendship with Cassidy, there is a part of him he keeps hidden from her. He is anxious and afraid of the Veil, and he manipulates his emotions to placate Cassidy: “He pretends to be scared, even when he is not. I pretend not to be scared, even when I am” (114). From the epigraph to Jacob’s flights through walls and across countries, the author portrays Jacob as a Peter Pan figure. Suspended in perpetual childhood and resisting the transition to the afterlife, Jacob attaches himself to Cassidy, just as Peter did to Wendy, in hopes of her remaining a child forever too. When he disappears, Cassidy feels like she lost part of herself, saying, “I felt like someone had cut my shadow away” (182).

Peter’s lost shadow represents his childlike nature; for Cassidy, Jacob’s presence is like a protective covering that reassures her when she doubts. The two abide by a set of friendship rules, but Jacob is clear there are other rules for the afterlife that he cannot reveal. When Cassidy sees Jacob’s deathly reflection in the mirror, she begins to realize there are many things she does not know or understand about the Veil, things Jacob should share with her. When she confronts him about his secrecy, she sees a new side of him, and the novel foreshadows that Jacob’s innocent ghostly personality may not last throughout the series. Peter shows his darker side when he slays Captain Hook and viciously murders the other pirates, and City of Ghosts ends with an eerie sense of disquiet as Lara’s warning that Jacob is using Cassidy to continue to grow stronger and more powerful on this side of the Veil rings in Cassidy’s ears. Jacob reaffirms his friendship with Cassidy as the novel ends, but much remains unknown about his motives and the reasons for his secrecy.

When Cassidy first glimpses the strange girl on the stairs of The Lane’s End, she feels an instant connection with her. Once they are introduced, Cassidy’s curiosity turns to jealous admiration as she compares her shabby hoodie and unkempt hair to Lara’s well-groomed appearance and polished demeanor. This reignites the self-deprecating way Cassidy compares herself to the popular girls in her class: “I bet she’s the kind of girl with perfect cursive handwriting. The kind who never trips, or bangs her knees, or wakes up with a rat’s nest for hair” (158). However, once Cassidy sees Lara slip effortlessly into the Veil and realizes she is her equal, she moves from distrust to awe and admiration. Lara approaches ghost hunting with a methodical, businesslike manner, quickly initiating Cassidy into the world of “ghost reaping” or releasing trapped ghosts from the Veil. Her decisive and assured demeanor helps give Cassidy the confidence she needs to step into her full self as a person with special powers.

Lara opens Cassidy’s eyes not only to her purpose as an in-betweener but also to the possibility of finding one’s place in the world through genuine female friendship. Lara states, “What you feel, Cassidy Blake, is called a purpose” (162), and—for the first time in a year, and perhaps in her life—Cassidy feels acceptance from a peer and sees a clear path for her life. Lara’s presence in Cassidy’s life is not without complication, however. Having more experience in the spirit world, Lara sees Jacob’s existence not as friendly companionship but as potentially dangerous. When Cassidy learns Lara also keeps a ghost friend around, the spirit of her uncle, she is quick to point out her hypocrisy. However, Lara soberly reminds Cassidy that her uncle is trapped in the Veil, but Jacob exists in both. In the end, Lara heroically stands by her new friend’s side as they fight against the villainous Raven in Red, yet when they part ways, Lara’s feelings towards Jacob are unchanged. She leaves Cassidy with her mirror pendant and an ominous warning of the hidden danger of allowing him to remain.

The Raven in Red is the main character in a string of ghost stories told by residents of Edinburgh. Scotland has long been fascinated with tales of creatures and beings who steal children away in the night, and the red-cloaked, raven-haired woman is a variation on this mythology. Once a mother who lost a child, the woman roams the streets looking for children to steal, luring them in with her siren-like song. With nods to stories like the Pied Piper, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White, the author weaves a fairy-tale-like feel into her tale of a beautiful woman who, once she traps her victims, transforms into something terrible and murderous: “The Raven in Red changes before me. Her cloak whips violently, as if caught in a gust of wind, and her fingers harden like claws. Her smile cracks and turns cruel, and she thrusts her hand straight into my chest” (196). Cassidy’s clash with the evil vixen adds a gripping and horrifying sense of adventure to the narrative.

The Raven in Red is a chilling villain who feeds off the life force of ghost children. When she becomes aware of Cassidy, who has the rare ability to pass back and forth between the living and the dead, she sets her sights on wooing the girl with her entrancing song. She plans to snatch Cassidy’s blue life cord to complete her tether, in hopes of resurrecting her own lifeless bones from the grave. The threat on her life emboldens Cassidy, who was previously timid and unnerved by the realm of the Veil but squares off courageously against the torturous specter. When she severs the Raven’s cord, she not only saves her own life but also releases the shadow children who were held in the Raven’s spell.