What do readers think of The Ghost of Milagro Creek by Melanie Sumner? Write your own review.

I am usually on target with my book choices, but The Ghost of Milagro Creek disappointed me. I enjoyed learning about the Indian and Hispanic culture in Taos, New Mexico but felt I never got a handle on the characters. Overall the book was difficult to follow, very disjointed

I really wanted to thoroughly enjoy this book! Instead I only got about halfway there. I loved how the story was told through the eyes of the old witch, and how it weaved in the lives of the children. The writing style gave it a fairy-tale/folk-tale feel that drew me in, but the story jumped around in a way that didn't feel cohesive. Sometimes jumping around can add to a story line, but in this case it took away from it. Not 5 stars, but an interesting and different read.

Melanie Sumner had a good idea for a story, and I really wanted to like this book. The story is set in the Taos, New Mexico area, and sometimes her descriptions were so good that I really felt I got a good sense of not only the area, but also the culture. However, her chapters kept jumping around, not only in time but also in the character speaking. It sometimes took a paragraph or two to figure out who was speaking. This jumping around also interfered with my forming an attachment to the characters.

A sense of mysticism is developed throughout the book, but this only serves as a detraction from the story itself. The author's love of the area is evident, and she does a good job painting a beautiful picture of the Mexican/Indian cultures.

I was disappointed in this book. I thought perhaps it would have the same flavor as House of Spirits (Isabel Allende) or The Milagro Bean Field Wars. I found the book very confusing and hard to follow. The chapters not only flipped back and forth between time periods but also characters. It usually took 2 or 3 paragraphs at the beginning of each chapter to figure out who was speaking. The last half of the book was somewhat better but I found I had no idea what the plot was for the first 100 pages - not sure I ever "got it". The book left me with many questions and generally dissatisfied. I will not be recommending this to my book clubs or reader friends.

Not worth the time spent on reading this book. I found the characters very one dimensional and little plot development. Though the really looked forward to this book after reading the summary, Melanie Sumner missed the mark.