The Library of the Undead by T.L Huchu has been lurking on my to-read list for a while, and a friend's recommendation of it combined with the sequel's availability at my library to impel me to push this surprisingly hopeful urban fantasy/dystopian future mashup to the top of the list. Really, my only complaint about it is the protagonist's occasional bad grammar, which always annoys me in writing (or in speaking), but everything else about the book was so compelling that I didn't let that stop me. The main character, Ropa, is a young-ish teenager, though the books are marketed and published as adult fiction. (I could see teens also enjoying these books, though, and in fact the first title won an Alex Award for adult fiction that appeals to teens this year.)
Anyway, Ropa lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, some years in the future from the present (hard to say how many, probably not more than 50). Things are a bit dystopian, but that's not at all the focus of the story--though it makes for a fascinating setting that does have some impact on the plot, but not in the usual dystopian way of being a challenge that must be overcome to return to a golden age, which I really appreciated. The most interesting thing about Ropa is that she can talk to ghosts--and that this is a licensed profession in Edinburgh, along with other types of magic. When Ropa keeps meeting a ghost who desperately needs her help (though she can't afford to pay Ropa's fee) and Ropa's best friend gets a new job at a mysterious library, Ropa becomes involved in a whole new world of magic.
I won't write anything more to avoid spoilers, and I'll only say that I enjoyed the sequel, Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments, very much. If you read fantasy or mystery and want something a bit off the beaten path, these books are well worth looking at.
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