Ghost Station

2 stars 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐛Ghost Station follows Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray, who is assigned to help the crew members of a space exploration ship cope with the trauma of losing a fellow passenger. However, she soon discovers that the crew is more fascinated by an eerie, ancient planet than in seeking her help—until one of them is found dead. Now, they must work together to unravel the mystery of what is happening..𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬I can’t forget the feelings I had while reading S.A. Barnes’ debut novel “Dead Silence”. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s my review to convince you!Because of that, I was so excited for this one too! A space setting, an abandoned planet, strange occurrences, loneliness, and isolation—everything about this book sounded perfect and right up my alley. And I had such high expectations going in, only to be disappointed.Ophelia was supposedly the professional psychologist hired to help the crew with their trauma of losing a crew member. But, it felt like “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬”. The depth of Ophelia’s history and its emotional-traumatic effect on her was overwhelming and detracted from her role. “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵.”The majority of the plot is focused on Ophelia—her past, her identity, and her trauma. There were pages and pages of her inner monologue, filled with thoughts of her troubled past and the nightmares attached to it. This made it difficult to get into the plot.. Not going to lie, the atmosphere was spot on—the creepiness of the abandoned planet, the eerie silence, strange occurrences, hallucinations, and physical symptoms affecting people. It was bizarre and unsettling…. But that’s about it. While there were some standout moments, the book felt bland. The plot failed to be engaging, and the reveal of the mystery was anticlimactic, leaving me wanting more.Moreover, the plot was heavy with technical jargon, and the way Ophelia’s character transitioned from psychologist to surgeon to engineer left me questioning her authenticity as the main character. The side characters had such minor roles in all of this. Liana, her pawn; Ethan, her crush; Birch, her enemy; Suresh and Kate, mere crew members. The characters lacked depth, and the romance added to the plot felt unnecessary..“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”….. just no.The mystery surrounding the ghost station and strange events, along with the hidden secrets fell short of expectations, resulting in a less than satisfying ending.𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑)Overall, I’m extremely disappointed with this one. Despite its atmospheric space horror setting and few creepy moments, this book falls short in delivering an engaging storyline, well-developed characters, and a satisfactory ending.