Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 350
Expected publication: August 6th 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Synopsis:

Sixteen year old Taylor Oh is cursed: if she is touched by the ghost of a murder victim then they pass a mark beneath her skin. She has three weeks to find their murderer and pass the mark to them – letting justice take place and sending them into the Darkness. And if she doesn’t make it in time? The Darkness will come for her…

She spends her life trying to avoid ghosts, make it through school where she’s bullied by popular Justin and his cronies, keep her one remaining friend, and persuade her father that this is real and that she’s not going crazy.

But then Justin is murdered and everything gets a whole lot worse. Justin doesn’t know who killed him, so there’s no obvious person for Taylor to go after. The clues she has lead her to the V Club, a vicious secret society at her school where no one is allowed to leave… and where Justin was dared to do the stunt which led to his death.

Can she find out who was responsible for his murder before the Darkness comes for her? Can she put aside her hatred for her former bully to truly help him?

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

Rating: 4/5

A new exciting book that Strange Chemistry brings to us at the beginning of August, The Weight of Souls by Bryony Pearce was a really interesting read. 
We are introduced in the strange life of  Taylor Oh, a girl who has a special ability: she can see dead people. Not only can she see ghosts but she can also interact with them which brings us to the main part that makes her life difficult: the curse. Passed from generation to generation, this ability of hers – the curse – comes, most of the time, with some negative parts.
I really liked the idea that the author brought into view. Taylor is the one who can help ghosts gain their vengeance. Murdered ghosts (people) who touch the girl, leave a mark on her hand – the dark mark – which becomes darker and darker, until Darkness comes after Taylor…only if she does not pass the mark to the murderer in cause!
Living in fear and always having to keep an eye open for ghosts, Taylor is having a hard life and her school surroundings do not help her at all since many of her colleagues tease her. I found the protagonist a really strong person since she has to endure so many things: distinguishing ghosts from people, avoiding the bad words from those at school, putting up with her father who keeps experimenting on her in his attempt to find a cure for her curse, always having to hide when having the mark on her hand. 
It is really good to see that she has a really good friend, Hannah, but their relationship starts to wreck because of the secret that Taylor is hiding. All alone, Taylor never thinks too much of what her life could be if she had more people around her or maybe a boyfriend.
Everythig turns upside down when a strange murder happens, a murder of one of Taylors school bullies, Justin.
I liked how the action progressed, making Taylor acknowledge some things like counting more on her friends and not having to always hide in the dark when something bad happens. It was really interesting to find out more about Oh’s bully, Justin since the author had a really nice way to take us back in time, when things might not have gone so well for T. and J.
The death of Justin was also interesting and I would not have thought of such a wicked game as the one that laid behind this.
The main characters (Taylor and Justin) were my favourites, of course! The main main character is actually T. but I have included J. also since he is quite present in the book. I did not like T.’s father in the beginning but really loved him at the end when he open his eyes to see clearly what was actually important.
The secondary characters were not to my liking, especially the bad characters! They were nicely built by the author and they played well their roles. 
I felt a little pity for Pete since he was somehow caught in between the good and the bad charas but he still had something that I did not like about him.
There were also some funny parts in this book but not that many. This is not a minus, of course! The book still kept me reading and I was curious about many things.
Before her life takes and important turn, Justin is the last one who she must help. Will she help him after how he had treated her? You know she has to because of the Darkness…but what will exactly happen? Who killed Justin? And what is the link between the curse and mythology? You must read to find out :P!
Oh, and as for the minuses of this book I can mention just a few of them. At times I was a little bored by Oh-Fa’s journal entries. They were interesting at times but not that much.
I also predicted some things about the upcoming events but just a few of them! The book still had some mystery to it.
Hmmm…I guess that this is all to be said. I could continue but I would not want to spoil the book anymore!
What do you think? Will you put this book on your TBR list? :] I recommend it to all of you, since it is mystery, paranormal book with bits of romance included.

Quote (taken from the ARC!):

“Justin nodded. “This game is crazy. Look at what we do. Lok at what you’re doing. You don’t break the rules, you just don’t. Plus they’ve got something on you now. If you try and break the silence of the confessional, you’ll be in trouble too.” “