The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould


 This debut YA thriller is CRAZY-in the best way possible. Logan finds herself back "home" with her two dads, Alejo and Brandon, in tiny Snakebite, Oregon. This town hasn't changed much over the years and is definitely on the traditional side. When teens start to disappear, it is all-too-easy to blame the gay paranormal investigators. 

Though Logan has no real connections in Snakebite, she eventually gets close to Ashley, a popular daughter of a family that seems run the town. Together, Logan and Ashley set out to see if they can uncover the truth behind the disappearances. Are these kids the victims of small town crime or is there something sinister and other-worldly at play?

The mix of real life themes and paranormal activity will keep you guessing. I really enjoyed the writing style and the realism in which the story was written, perhaps especially because it makes the potential threat of true evil all the more real. 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for granting me an ARC. The Dead and the Dark is set for release on August 3, 2021. It is definitely worth checking out!

-TK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Image
  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Famed macabre author Neil Gaiman tells the story of Nobody “Bod” Owens. The story starts in a very creepy way, as a baby, Bod is orphaned after his family is murdered. He has no remaining family left, so he is “adopted” by the ghostly residents of the graveyard across the street. Bod is raised by ghosts and The Graveyard Book tracks the strange and creepy happenings of day to day graveyard life. This book is a modern, spooky retelling of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. You have probably all seen the movie. If you like the supernatural and adventure, then this is the book for you! -LG
Read more

The Violent Season by Sara Walters

Image
  This book is crazy! In a small town that is seemingly beset by violence every November, Wyatt begins to question just what is really behind all of these deaths. Upon stumbling on her mother's murdered body, and seeing some townsfolk die and classmates kill themselves, Wyatt is convinced there is a sickness afflicting the town. Wyatt also worries this sickness is starting to affect her boyfriend Cash, who seems to genuinely want to kill their classmate, Porter. Once Wyatt and Porter become partners for a class project, Wyatt's attention (and affection) is split between the two and she becomes more and more concerned that something terrible is going to happen to someone close to her and she might be in the most danger of anyone! Is there really something terribly wrong in Wolf Ridge or is Wyatt imagining everything? Is the sickness real or are people just naturally prone to doing bad things? Can Wyatt and her friends come out of the Violent Season unscathed or is one of them go
Read more

The Cousins by Karen McManus

Image
  Karen McManus is one of my favorite authors. She writes awesome mystery/thrillers that are full of twists and turns. Her debut novel, One of Us is Lying is still by far her best (think the 80's movie The Breakfast Club only with a murder). That book has a sequel titled Two Can Keep a Secret, which is also very good.  In her third novel, which is completely separate from her first two, the readers sees three cousins get called to their grandmother's island home for summer jobs. They have no idea why they have been summoned because, after all, their grandmother disowned their parents years ago. Each cousin receives a note that says "You know what you did"which adds to the oddity of why they are there. Upon arrival, it quickly becomes clear that their grandmother has no idea they were even invited. Thus, the three cousins, who haven't seen each other in years, join up to figure out just what the heck is going on. The secrets the three cousins begin to dig up leads
Read more