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Ghosts of Harvard
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
33 posts | 24 read | 14 to read
A Harvard freshman becomes obsessed with her schizophrenic brothers suicide. Then she starts hearing voices. Every time I thought I knew where Ghosts of Harvard was heading, I turned out to be wrong. Part mystery, part ghost story, part psychological thriller, this novel is all entertainment.Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light Cadence Archer arrives on Harvards campus desperate to understand why her brother, Eric, a genius who developed paranoid schizophrenia took his own life there the year before. Losing Eric has left a black hole in Cadys life, and while her decision to follow in her brothers footsteps threatens to break her family apart, she is haunted by questions of what she might have missed. And theres only one place to find answers. As Cady struggles under the enormous pressure at Harvard, she investigates her brothers final year, armed only with a blue notebook of Erics cryptic scribblings. She knew he had been struggling with paranoia, delusions, and illusory enemiesbut what tipped him over the edge? With her suspicions mounting, Cady herself begins to hear voices, seemingly belonging to three ghosts who walked the universitys hallowed hallsor huddled in its slave quarters. Among them is a person whose name has been buried for centuries, and another whose name mankind will never forget. Does she share Erics illness, or is she tapping into something else? Cady doesnt know how or why these ghosts are contacting her, but as she is drawn deeper into their worlds, she believes theyre moving her closer to the truth about Eric, even as keeping them secret isolates her further. Will listening to these voices lead her to the one voice she cravesher brothersor will she follow them down a path to her own destruction?
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BittersweetBooks
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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When someone‘s taken from you too soon, there‘s a finite number of things you can share with that person, so you want to share them all 🥀

24 likes1 stack add
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KristenDuck
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Mehso-so

The story centers around Cady who lost her brother to suicide. Her brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and when Cady begins hearing voices, she wonders if she is following in his footsteps.

Cady is determined to find out what happened to her brother that pushed him to make the final decision, but will hearing these voices affect her ability to get the answers she craves?

In my honest opinion, a bit too lengthy, and even confusing at times.

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moonmagicbabe
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Starting this today…

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tpixie
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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This was a great (mild) thriller. Love the applied physics.

The apple doesn‘t fall far from the tree! The author‘s Mom is Lisa Scottoline.
Did you know that Harvard‘s freshman dining hall - Annenberg Hall - is copied off of Christ Church College Geat Hall – University of Oxford (Oxford, U.K.),
which is what Harry Potter‘s dining hall is based on.
And no one but the Freshman are allowed inside the Harvard dining hall.

37 likes2 stack adds
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MicheleinPhilly
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Mehso-so

I‘m a sucker for a good campus novel but oy, this was just too much. A deep dive into schizophrenia and suicide, a ghost story, historical fiction, physics and parallel universes, espionage, etc. It‘s well written and kept my interest but could have been tightened up. A LOT. Too many strands and styles of storytelling.

TrishB Bit of everything there! 3y
MicheleinPhilly @TrishB Ugh. My head was swimming. I wanted to tell her, “It‘s OK to save some of your ideas for a later book!” 3y
AlaMich As my dad says, less is more. 😆 3y
Megabooks Yikes! 3y
DivineDiana Sorry to hear that! Saw her discuss the book on a Zoom author talk. I liked her, and the book sounded promising. I have it waiting on my stacks! (edited) 3y
49 likes5 comments
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CaitlinR
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

Cadence (Candy) Archer enters Harvard as a freshman a year after her schizophrenic older brother committed suicide on campus. Determined to redeem her brother‘s memory, Cady begins to pursue clues that he left behind, but are the voices she begins to hear an indication that she shares his illness, or are ghosts speaking to her?

A fascinating read with accurate depictions of the terror wrought by mental illness and finally, a good thriller.

17 likes2 stack adds
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Branwen
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Finishing this one up tonight with my book buddy! 😻📚💕 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #chaplin

54 likes1 stack add
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Branwen
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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One of the great things about working the late shift at the library is being able to enjoy some book time and tea in the morning! 🤗💕📚

monkeygirlsmama 😅Love your mug and jelly of your job. 😍 4y
Branwen @monkeygirlsmama Thank you so much! 🤗 I really am so lucky and grateful to have this wonderful job! 📚💕 4y
54 likes2 comments
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CharlesSwann
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
Panpan

Oh man, this was a cheesy book. Take a heartwarming Hallmark movie of the week about a family dealing with the death of a mentally ill son. Throw in some schmaltzy random ghosts. Add a pinch of T.S. Eliot and plenty of Harvard references for some intellectual pretense. Then toss in the fire and bake for 30 minutes. 459 page waste of my time

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TheHeartlandBookFairy
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

An outstanding debut solo novel by Francesca Serritella!

I've been a long time fan of Lisa Scotoline's non-fiction books, The latter ones being co-authored with Francesca Serritella making them a fantastic mother-daughter team! Ghosts of Harvard is Francesca's debut solo novel and I found the story gripping! I listened to the audio version of this book and it was superbly narrated

Initially I would describe this book as...(cont in comments)

TheHeartlandBookFairy a paranormal thriller. It segway's in to psychological suspense. It delves deeply into the subject of schizophrenia as well as dealing with the complexities of grief and guilt over the loss of a loved one to suicide. With beautiful descriptions of the Harvard campus, flashbacks into history, occasional hints at romance, several mysteries including one involving conspiracy, & an attempted murder, this book offers up a veritable (cont)

4y
TheHeartlandBookFairy smorgasbord for the reader!

Cadence (Cady) Archer is a believable main character and one you will come to love and root for. This book evoked so many emotions from me including several gasps and a couple of comments along the lines of "I didn't see that coming"!

An absolutely fantastic debut! The only disappointment for me was, (cont. Last one, I promise ?)

4y
TheHeartlandBookFairy I really kind of wanted the ghosts to be more scientifically plausible or "real" in a way that was more than just in Cady's mind or imagination at the end of the book. Yes, I guess that means I was kind of rooting for the ghosts ?

4y
See All 6 Comments
tpixie I just finished this. I enjoyed it also. And I loved the Ghosts! 3y
TheHeartlandBookFairy @tpixie I'm glad you enjoyed it too 😊 3y
21 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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ClairesReads
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

A very engaging campus novel. It‘s a little bit mystery, a little bit crime, a little bit supernatural, and overall very readable. I love a campus novel, so I am clearly the target audience. I was a bit worried that this book might be too long and in need of a bit of an edit, but I found it compelling reading throughout. There‘s some sensitive exploration of grief, mental illness and the ripples these leave in families and individuals. Al

Centique This sounds wonderful. I love a campus novel too! 4y
ClairesReads @Centique very good! 4y
36 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

In the middle of a hellacious thunderstorm, tornado warnings and lighting like you wouldn't believe...I finished it!! Such an enjoyable, great novel. I immediately fell in love with Francesca's style of writing and the story itself.
I'm truly looking forward to her next book 🤓
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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🍁Ghosts of Harvard (hoping to finish today)

🍁Pumpkin Spice Latte & Eggnog Latte-both from Starbucks

@rachelsbrittain
#weekendreads
🍁

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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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🍁Ghosts of Harvard (still😉)
📖Trump 2020 - oh shit sorry. The creepiest word is detestable...same difference.
🍕Probably pizza take out.

#thoughtfulthursday
@MoonWitch94

Reggie Lololol I was thinking about my answers and was gonna put re-election for creepiest word. 4y
Gaylagal2 @Reggie I know right?? LOL 4y
MoonWitch94 Nope. You had it right. Trump 2020 IS the creepiest word. 🎃🍂📖 4y
Gaylagal2 @MoonWitch94 So true 🤙😉 4y
26 likes4 comments
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KathyWheeler
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

The first half of this book took me weeks to get through; the last half took me mere hours. I went back and forth on the mc. She did some stupid stuff, but I get why. The insight into mental illness was interesting, and Cady‘s fear that she might have inherited schizophrenia was understandable. Some of the plot twists were a little unbelievable and others I just didn‘t see coming. Ghosts is Serritella‘s debut novel — I hope to read more by her.

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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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🍁True crime/mysteries (fiction and non). I love the pace of the story and I'm constantly thinking about it, in a good way.

🍁 This is easy: Steig Larsson's dragon tattoo series!

🍁This was a tough choice between Ghosts of Harvard and Race Against Time.

@ozma.of.oz #sundayfunday #sundafunday

BookmarkTavern I‘ve heard that Dragon Tattoo is a great series! Thank you for sharing! 4y
23 likes1 comment
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Happy Sunday fellow littens. This is the adorable face that greeted me,as if to say:"you crazy lady, are you seriously going to read ALL day?! Fine, I'm going to snuggle you ALL day!"
Works for me?
#dogsoflitsy #sundayreading

CBee 😍😍😍😍 4y
LiteraryinPA What a face!! 4y
Leftcoastzen 😁🐶 4y
See All 6 Comments
Gissy Ahh so cute!!! 😍🐶❤️❤️❤️❤️ 4y
Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick So cute! 😍❤😍❤ 4y
32 likes6 comments
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Sweet Maggie has had her poop/pee walk (Chico too) and now it's reading time for the rest of the day....probably tonight too 😉
Happy reading everybody! 🤙😁☕️

TheSpineView Awwwww... 💜🐕 4y
25 likes1 comment
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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My new favorite reading partner Maggie (a rescue/grandma sitting- I'm hoping has her forever home with us) is all snuggled in with me and ready for a Saturday night readathon.
What or who are you snuggled up with? 🤓
#dogsoflitsy

wanderinglynn What a cutie! ❤️🐶 4y
Gaylagal2 @wanderinglynn I'm so in love with this little girl! She is so sweet, absolutely zero trouble and just loves to play! She's feeling true love and NOT being cooped up in her crate for hours on end...that will not happen on my watch 😉👊🐾 4y
wanderinglynn ❤️❤️❤️ 4y
22 likes3 comments
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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1. Hands down The Yearling. We read this out loud in 7th grade, taking turns. We were not suppose to read it at home, but me and book nerd friends did anyway. And oh how we cried!😢
2. Ghosts of Harvard by Francesca Serritella
3. The Great Gatsby

@ozma.of.oz

BookmarkTavern I‘ve never heard of Ghosts of Harvard! I‘ll have to look it up! Thanks for posting! 4y
17 likes1 comment
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Howseldomtheydo
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Seeing some mixed reviews on this one. #currentlyreading #kindle

TheHeartlandBookFairy This is high on my list! 4y
Cathythoughts I‘ve been watching out for reviews on this one ... love the title 4y
Howseldomtheydo @TheHeartlandBookFairy @Cathythoughts I‘m a little over halfway done and like it. Hope the ending doesn‘t disappoint. 4y
70 likes1 stack add4 comments
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EadieB
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Panpan

This book is a very slow start and way too long then it needs to be. Cady attends Harvard hoping to learn more about her brother Eric's suicide. I was hoping for more of a ghostly mystery story but was disappointed. I think the voices Cady heard were more in her head than actually coming from ghosts. The book tries to be too many genres and therefore suffers to meet any fully. The basic story is a good one but just got muddled in the telling.

swishandflick Completely agree, I was underwhelmed by this one too. 4y
EadieB @swishandflick Definitely needed a better editor. 4y
See All 7 Comments
abookishbutterfly This is very much how I felt about the book, too. 4y
EadieB @Butterflyamore Not a good debut for this author but the publisher should have known that it needed more work. 4y
Tove_Reads I find it to be weird that there are quite a few books that could be excellent if they would polish them a bit more. What‘s the point of publishing books that are not really ready to be published? 4y
EadieB @Tove_Reads I know! It doesn't make any sense! 4y
62 likes7 comments
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EadieB
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Day 2 - #RainbowColors #LitsyBitsy

Listening to the tagged book and sitting outside in my garden today!

caittfin beautiful rainbow 🌈 enjoy your outdoor reading! 4y
55 likes2 comments
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Gaylagal2
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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This book is so great! I'm so enjoying it on this beautiful Sunday morning 🤓

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swishandflick
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Panpan

It got off to a great start but then became more and more tedious before totally fizzling out. An interesting premise that took off in completely wrong directions, muddling the plot. It's a shame, I think maybe I was hoping for more suspense from the ghost angle. In hindsight, I really should have bailed when the urge struck.

EKonrad Agreed! 🙌🏼 4y
77 likes1 comment
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abookishbutterfly
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Panpan

The book offers some meaningful tidbits that may be appreciated more by a different reader. It‘s a slow burn and the mystery within it was less compelling than what I had hoped for.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3203932372

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JoyBlue
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Bailedbailed

Bailed at 20% / 3:24:14. Tedious, boring, slow, and irritating—I don't see it going anywhere.

EKonrad Spoiler: it didn‘t. Lol 😆 4y
JoyBlue @EKonrad LOL! Thanks for letting me know. I feel vindicated! 😆 4y
Donnasmiles Curious....are the voices supposedly ghosts? I‘m somewhat interested yet have other books waiting. I‘ve noticed many have bailed? 4y
JoyBlue @Donnasmiles “Seemingly,“ according to the book summary. 4y
44 likes4 comments
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EKonrad
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Panpan

Felt like this was trying to be too many things at once (ghost story, spy thriller, etc) without really nailing any of them. Muddled plot, too many side characters, and waaay too long. Only ⭐️⭐️ for me.

#Netgalley #arc

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vlwelser
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Pickpick

I'm a little mixed on this one. I think this author shows potential. Cady goes to Harvard hoping to sort out her brother's suicide. Then she starts hearing ghosts. It's definitely entertaining. I'm curious to see what the author comes up with next.

#BookSpinBonanza book 7
@TheAromaofBooks

I received an #ARC from #RandomHouse via #Netgalley

TheAromaofBooks Sounds interesting! 4y
vlwelser #goodreads. Not Netgalley. Slowly losing my mind. 4y
44 likes1 stack add2 comments
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abookishbutterfly
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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What are you currently reading? Do you think you‘ll finish any books up this weekend? Since my books all scream “read me!” at once, I tend to silence the noise with multiple reads. I don‘t think I‘ve made enough progress in any of these to confidently state that I‘ll finish something over the weekend but we‘ll see. My husband and I are also listening to The Plague on audio together but we‘ve made very little progress!

Palimpsest I‘m also reading multiple books. One book of poetry, one non-fiction, Sense & Sensibility for a book club in here and an audiobook. I did just finish a young readers book yesterday: The Night Gardener. I used to only read one book at a time, but I just have so much I want to read too. 🤷‍♀️ 4y
abookishbutterfly @Palimpsest I used to be a monogamous reader, too, but I feel the same way. I was too distracted with wanting to get a taste of everything else. What poetry book are you reading? 4y
Palimpsest Also, every day on the site On Being they have a guest reading a poem for viewers and why it has meaning for them. I‘ve had to start a list of the poems I like because there are so many good ones. I also have a book of Rilke poems I should pick up again. 😊 4y
abookishbutterfly @Palimpsest Rilke is one of my husband‘s favorites. 4y
60 likes4 comments
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abookishbutterfly
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella

“Cady told herself she didn‘t want to make anyone uncomfortable, but there was a more selfish reason; she didn‘t want to be tragic. Tragedy taints a person, and no one wants to touch that sadness, just in case it spreads.”

33 likes1 stack add
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vlwelser
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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These just came in the mail from publishers via #goodreads 😍📚

Not that I truly needed more books to read. 😆

31 likes1 stack add
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danimgill
Ghosts of Harvard: A Novel | Francesca Serritella
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Mehso-so

I found myself enjoying this book more once I had forced myself to get past the 20% mark or so, but even then it was still a bit of a slog. I think it tried to be too much at once - ghost story, family tragedy, coming of age, spy thriller - and the mix of it being a little bit of each of those was not as satisfying as perhaps it would have been to just be one or two. Out on May 5 👻