Marly's Ghost by David Levithan

I've only read one of David Levithan's novels, and that was co-written with Rachel Cohn 'Dash and Lily's Book of Dares'. I just loved it. I could see why fans of John Green liked his style of writing, and of course vice-versa. Even though 'Marly's Ghost' has just been released over here, it was actually first published in 2005, early on in Levithan's writing career. It's an interesting one - I don't know whether I liked it or not. It's a reworking of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', but the reasons for the ghostly visits are not because Ben, the main character, (whose name we find out near the end is actually short for Ebenezer Scrooge) is a miser, but because he is finding it hard to move on in life after the death of his girlfriend, Marly. He withdraws himself from life, family and friends and cannot understand how life is continuing around him. The ghosts try to point out that he can keep the memory of Marly in his heart, but not like a ball and chain. He must let go, and carry on with his life.

I adore 'A Christmas Carol', and that could be the main reason why I wasn't sure about David's version. It's literally a copy, but slightly mixed up in places, so I knew what was coming and could guess the ending, which always spoils the reading of a book. David acknowledges at the end of his book that readers would either love it or hate it, but he hoped they would just go along with his version just for the pure enjoyment of it.

I'm sure true fans of Levithan will love it, but the jury's out for me.