Quick Synopsis – Art student Isadora Chang swore never to return to Slater. Isa took off before the town could swallow her. When she returns to Slater because her abusive father has died, Isa has to reckon with the trauma she left behind and the literal ghosts of her past. There is something sinister in Slater and Isa, along with her last surviving friend Mason, must stop it….before any more souls are claimed.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Publication Date – Aug. 13, 2024

Content Notes – This book heavily features suicide in a manner of different ways. There is also child death, suicidal ideation, deadnaming, homophobia, transphobia, and off page child abuse.

Rating – ⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – There is a lot of suicide in this book. While that suicide might be driven by an outside supernatural force, it’s still a heavy read. I think there could have been more aftercare or healing for the surviving family members. I felt like for such a heavy topic there could have been a resources page either in the front or back of the book. Heavy topic aside, there were two other big issues I had with the book. The first was the timeline and the second was the vague location.

At the beginning of the book, it’s mentioned that Isa runs away at 16 with a full-ride scholarship to art school. It’s made to seem like this book takes place in the United States and if that’s the case then she would still be a minor. She wouldn’t have been able to attend university at 16 without parental consent. Throughout the book, it mentions she’s 18 but is close to graduating. She’s only been gone 2 years! How could she graduate? Also, the history of the town continuously references a plague in the past of the town. Which makes it seem like that event happened in like the 1800s, but it ends up being much more recent. It just bothered me, why not add dates to flesh the story out?

The second issue was a matter of place. Slater is the town and Isa goes to university in “the city”, but they never say WHERE that it. Like no state or country. It pulled me right out of the story. I could tell it was a mining town by a body of water and mountains. So maybe Virginia? Maybe Pennsylvania? Maybe Wales? It was just frustrating. There was so much care and detail given to the lore and horror, but the actual details of the place/timeline were sloppy. I get that this is meant for young adults, but still. It wouldn’t have been hard to flesh out.

The actual psychological horror aspect is good and the trauma of losing people you love in complicated ways was well done. But I just couldn’t get past the glaring issues above. It’s a no for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Gillian Flynn Books for the ARC, all opinions are my own.