Ghosts of the Catacombs (Parisian Ghosts #1)
by Janna Ruth
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Category: New Adult
Type of romance: m/f
Blurb:
I’m a ghost whisperer, not a catacomb crawler. But when you live in Paris, sometimes you end up being both.Hi, I’m Alix. During the day, I’m a history student at the time-honoured Sorbonne University. After class, I hang out with the ghosts of the revolution, the many undead misunderstood Parisian artists, and adventurous scientists that glow in the dark. None of them are alive, but they come to me to solve their problems with the living.
When a recently deceased catacomb tour guide asks me to retrieve a mysterious personal item from the underground, things take a turn for the weird. Suddenly, I find myself in a city of ghosts, hunted by murderous cave crawlers, and stumbling across haunting secrets.
If I’m not careful now, I might end up a ghost myself.
Urban Fantasy with a French twist. If you like cave-crawling adventures, hopeless romantics, and ghosts, you’ll enjoy Ghosts of the Catacomb, the first instalment of the Parisian Ghosts series. Travel to Paris today to embark on your catacomb adventure.
My Review
I bought this book when it first released as it sounded good. When I was struggling through another book I decided to pick up something else to read in between. I recently had gotten a newsletter from the author that brought this series to the top of my mind and decided to start it. I immediately got hooked and enjoyed this book.
Ghosts of the Catacombs follows Alix who is a ghost whisperer. She can see ghosts and for her they are as real as those who are alive. She’s friends with ghosts at the place she works and she’s a history student. The book takes place in Paris and she has an adorable hedgehog as pet. This book has everything I like about urban fantasy books, but also manages to feel fresh with the French setting and the ghosts.
The plot is engaging and kept my attention. I liked reading about Alix, seeing her delve in the catacombs below Paris to help a ghost. I am claustrophobic like Alix’ best friend Gabby, so it was interesting to visit the catacombs through a book as I would never visit such a place in real life. I liked seeing the direction the plot takes and there are some great twists toward the end, one of which I managed to predict, which was fun.
I like Alix as a main character, the way she wants to help ghosts and interacts with them was great. I also liked her friendship with Gabby. It was nice to see her have such a supportive friend, especially as her family isn’t always as supportive. Her budding romance with Gasper was great to see and how he introduced her to the catacombs. Their romance develops quite quickly, but I thought that worked here and felt realistic.
To summarize: This was such a great start to this series. It has everything I like in an urban fantasy book, but also feels fresh due to the ghosts and the French setting. I like main character Alix and enjoyed reading about her as she deals with the ghosts and their requests. She has a great best friend Gabby who is very supportive of her, a cute hedgehog pet and a new blossoming romance with Gasper. I thought the plot was engaging and there are some nice twists toward the end, one of which I managed to predict. The ending makes me eager to read book 2 soon.
I like when characters have pets in books, it makes it fun to read when they do fun things. This sounds pretty good.
I agree, pets are often fun additions to books. The pet hedgehog really brings some fun and lightness to most of the scenes she’s in.
I do love when a first book in a series grabs me! Especially if you were able to pick it up and get into it when you were struggling with another book. Great review!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2025/01/17/author-interview-giveaway-michelle-sodaro/
I was so glad this book hooked me right away when I was struggling with another book. I have now read the first 4 books in this series and I am really enjoying it.