Alex McKenna & the Geranium Deaths 

by Vicki-Ann Bush 

4 out of 5 

Synopsis 

For Alex McKenna, high school is just a distraction from the love of his life, Margaret, with whom he can't wait to spend more time once they get to college.

In many respects, Alex is just an average seventeen-year-old boy...except for the fact he's a transgender medium born from a long line of Strega witches, possessing the ability to communicate with ghosts.

With the help of Margaret and his talented Strega great-grandmother, Alex will learn how to strengthen his abilities. The dead need Alex to help them reconcile issues they left behind—and he finds that he needs them, too. As his abilities multiply, assisting the dead becomes an outlet to channel his new energy, giving him the strength to come to terms with who he is as a transgender male, and how far he will choose to go. 

Review 

Alex has always been able to see ghosts, and is drawn to help them cross over. He may be out of his depth, when an evil spirit threatens everyone.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

We follow Alex who, on top of the usual stresses of being a teenager, can also see ghosts, and is pre-op trans. Luckily he has the support of his family, his best friend Margaret, and the occasional helpful spirit.

Alex comes from a family of Strega witches, and he is going to be especially powerful.

I found it a little disorientating at first, as it drops you into the middle of Alex's story, and I did wonder if I'd missed an earlier book. Alex and Margaret are already an established team, who research and solve ghost problems.

I got into it real quick, though, as Alex and Margaret focus on a new danger that's very close to home.

I really like how much Alex's family is involved, and the Italian flare they bring to everything.

This book isn't just about Alex going solo as the "chosen one"; his mum, gran, little brother and extended family are all very real characters. They all have a part to play in helping Alex, not least of all, trying to curb his impulse to follow his instincts into danger, and to listen to his more experienced relatives.

I think this is the first book I've read with a trans main character, and I really like how Alex was portrayed.

The LGBTQ is woven subtly into the plot, and totally enhances it. I thought it was all done respectably, and made me curious about Alex's journey.

The not so good.

I personally found a good chunk of the middle section quite slow and repetitive.

Alex and Margaret have a lot of the facts and suspects quite early on, and it felt like they were repeating their investigations to come to the same conclusions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to the next part in the series.

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