The book pulled me in with its plot arc. I knew I was in for an emotional read. Callie had lost her sister exactly one year ago in the ocean current of Bell Cove, and the guilt hadn't left her. There were events and words and arguments preceeding her sister's death which shook her sanity even today. She came back to Bell Cove to help her aunt Lucy with the renovations of the Stewart House which had its own mystery. Tucker brought in romance like a breath of fresh air.

My first book by Katy Upperman, and the prose with its beautiful writing pulled me in. Who amongst us can judge the quantity of grief or how we chose to deal with it? Callie initially chose to escape her pain by smoking pot when she started seeing the spirit of her dead sister Chloe. The plot was developed in the way the two sisters formed a fragile bond knowing that there were stealing slivers of time from the tapestry of fate. Some things have to be laid to rest before before both of them could find peace.

I loved the way the author has combined emotions with paranormal mystery. The love between the sisters was so palpable that reading their conversations brought a lump to my throat. Their pain in being separated came through. But there were grudges and misunderstandings too. I liked how the author slowly unfurled the story of what happened that night, taking care to maintain the wholeness of the story. Romance with Tucker was great, but there was a past too connected to the house.

This was Callie's story and how she dealt with her pain. Love, loss, hope, forgiveness were the four gentle breezes that swirled like waves of color down the story making it move from darkness to light. A poignant tale of dealing with a devastating loss and allowing the light in to start living again.

Note: This review contains NO spoilers

Well, hmmm... I thought this was a raw and emotional story. A story of loss, grief, and the struggle to move on. That's what I pretty much get from this YA contemporary from Katy Upperman. I found that How The Light Gets In was a compelling and realistic telling of how this young woman deal with the loss of her sister, at first in a destructive way, then later she learns how in a constructive way. However, this story slowly unravels to reveal a slight ghostly twist... or was it?!? With these elements twisted together kept me interested enough to keep reading.

With its well developed characters and setting, How The Light Gets In tells the story of how Callie Ryan coped with the death of her sister in which those knowing loss and grief can relate in one way or another. But then, on a side note, the pacing is somewhat slow for me; however, it wasn't enough to deter me from continuing this read. Moreover, there is a subtle touch of romance that is intertwined into Callie's story. Well, just enough that tugged at the "heart strings" and, in a way, helped her cope with her grief. The author seamlessly integrated these elements together into this contemporary romance in which none overshadowed the other. In the end, How The Light Gets In is a poignant and multi-layered story that will touch the heart.

Really great atmospheric story! Quite a bit different from Katy’s other books but a perfect summer or fall read if you want a story that blends romance, light mystery and healing. The writing is amazing and the plot structure and pace were done quite well! I highly recommend picking this up!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

It had been a year since she visited her aunt in Bell Cove, since she had that fight with her sister, since her sister died. After a painful year mourning Chloe's death, Callie found herself back where her nightmare began, and it seemed as though her nightmares were bleeding into her waking hours as reminders of her sister began popping up. Was her sister reaching out to her from the beyond? Was she trying to tell her something? Could Callie finally come to terms with her sister's death?

I am a Katy Upperman fan. Her two previous books were exactly the type of novels I would pick up. That was why I had no problem going slightly outside my normal reading zone for this one, and I sure am glad I did, because this is now my favorite Upperman book.

How the Light Gets In was about the grief, pain, and guilt felt, when people lose a loved one. It was about the way those left behind deal with the gaping hole left in their lives due to that person's absence. It's about them finding the strength to move forward without that person by their side. I, for one, thought Upperman did a magnificent job exploring the emotional impact associated with losing someone, and she really delivered the feels. Callie's heartache and pain of missing her sister coursed through me, but so did the joy she felt, when she fondly remembered her.

I will admit, I wanted to read this book because (1) Katy Upperman wrote it, and (2) it dealt with grief and loss, but there was so much more that kept me glued to the pages. Aside from Callie's healing journey, there was a bit of a small town mystery, a fantastic romance, and a touch of the supernatural. Upperman took all these elements, and wove them together spectacularly.

Obviously, the romance stood out for me, but it was largely in part to how much I adored Tucker. He came across as happy-go-lucky, affable, and always UP. It sort of shocked me, that my inner cynic didn't rebuff him, but Upperman gave him many layers, and it was something beyond that shiny veneer that called to me. He was utilized so thoughtfully in this story, which really took this to the next level for me, and he definitely earned a place on my beloved hero list.

Once again, Upperman has presented me with a story, that took me through a large array of emotions, while, in the end, leaving me filled with happiness and joy.

Callie reluctantly returns to her aunt's home on the coast a year after her younger sister's death. Expecting to spend her summer wallowing amidst home renovations and pot smoke, Callie is mesmerized by a local boy and the creepy noises that seem to find her in the night.   

I really, really loved this. It helps that this took place on the Oregon Coast, *swoon*. This was a great summer romance that didn't overshadow the incredibly strong and dark main plot. Katy Upperman is really great when it comes to a romance that also offers some depth.

To begin with, I loved that Callie smoked pot. Kind of odd, I know, but I feel like it's something that is barely ever talked about in YA. Drinking is one thing but so many teens smoke pot, especially with it becoming legal in so many states. Honestly, I feel like nowadays people will use marijuana or CBD products more often than drink alcohol—but that's just my opinion. Callie's journey with smoking was an important aspect of the novel; she starts by using it as a way to self-medicate and as she starts to move through her grief she finds she doesn't need to smoke. 

I'm not that well-versed in mystery, but I thought that part of the plot was really strong as it went simultaneously with the supernatural aspect of the story. The book in general felt really reminiscent to We Were Liars by E. Lockhart.

I wanted to love this book but it didn't connect with me. The premise of the book sounds amazing yet everything seemed surface level to me. Some deep conversations were had but it didn't seem like they ever actually got to know each other. I didn't really ever know who the characters were or their motivations. It was hard to connect the before Callie and after Callie. There were a lot of references to who she was before her sister's death, yet there wasn't much evidence of it at all. The town mystery didn't seem to fit the plot and it was too convenient for me that it had something to do with her love interest, Tucker. I wanted more development and exploration of the town secret and the family surrounding it.

There was also a weird paranormal plot throughout the whole book. It wasn't advertised in the summary. Normally, I would be all over anything paranormal, but this wasn't a well thought out plot point. It seemed really far fetched and I thought she had a blood clot or tumor casing these events. The encounters with the paranormal were odd and didn't seem to be well fleshed out.

I wanted more from this novel in almost every aspect. I never got a satisfying answer to any of my questions and plenty of them went unanswered.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Swoon Reads through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.*

In Katy Upperman's ghost story, main character Callie Ryan is lost. Her sister, Chloe, is dead, her mother is self-medicating with alcohol, Callie herself is self-medicating with marijuana, and her father has had it. He gives Callie an ultimatum - she either spends the summer at a camp for at-risk kids, or she spends her summer helping her aunt Lucy restore her bed and breakfast in Bell Cove.

Callie doesn't want to go to Bell Cove - it's where her sister died the summer before - but it seems the least of the two evils. At first, Callie is wallowing in her own angst, buried in her guilt and grief. And then the weird things start happening. Poppies mysteriously appear in her room. She hears weird noises and feels cold in her room. Then her sister's swim cap, journal, and goggles appear as well.

While trying to cope with the anniversary of her sister's death and the fact that it seems her sister's ghost is in Bell Cove, trying to communicate with her, helping her aunt leads to uncovering some secrets in the belongings of the previous owner. Callie also finds herself thrown together with aunt Lucy's "yard boy," a local named Tucker Morgan, who is becoming more and more important to her.

Upperman takes the reader on a journey with Callie, weaving together both the natural elements (her relationship with Tucker, the story of the house's former owner) and supernatural (her connection with her dead sister) in a charming story that is both tender and heart wrenching. A good read all around.

How the light gets in by
Katy Upperman
Genre: YA, romance, contemporary

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Swoon Reads! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How the Light Gets In is a ya romance, with just enough plot twist to make a perfect c
Summertime read.

Struggling with the tragic death of her younger sister, Callie Ryan has pushed aside everything and everyone that ever meant something to her. She ends up returning to her aunt's home, one year later.

Callie reluctantly begins helping her aunt restore her old Victorian into a working bed and breakfast, in a small coastal town. A local boy Tucker Morgan proves to be an even bigger distraction, sneaking between the cracks of the walls that Callie has built around the walls herself.
The author kept me interested all the way to the end. The characters were all endearing with creative twist that this an engaging storyline.

When mysterious occurrences have Callie on the edge, believing it is her sister trying to communicate with her. She starts To here strange noises, and having sensations of being watched. In this haunting contemporary novel, Callie must find the answers to some mysterious clues before returning home.

How The Light Gets In is an enjoyable read with a lot of twists and turns. I honestly was surprised at a few plot points and really did enjoy the unexpected supernatural element of the story. The romance started off a little slow, but was nice in the end. And I really liked the relationships that Callie had & the discussion of grief and being able to move on. I thought the book started off a little slow and the romance didn't feel as natural as I'd like at all times, but all in all it was a sweet and interesting read that I would definitely recommend.

For my full review check out my book blog (Books4Jessica) on August 15th.

I thought this was a more contemporary read like her first two novels. The super natural element just wasn’t for me!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group/Swoon Reads! I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Struggling with the tragic death of her younger sister, Callie Ryan has pushed aside everything and everyone that ever meant something to her and returning to her aunt's home - one year later -in a small coastal town isn't exactly high up on her summer to-do list.

Needing a distraction from herself though, Callie reluctantly begins helping her aunt restore her old Victorian into a working bed and breakfast, but local boy Tucker Morgan proves to be an even bigger distraction, sneaking between the cracks of the wall Callie has built around herself.

But while Tucker can keep the ghosts away during the day, they can't help but find Callie at night.

Strange noises, sensations of being watched, and mysterious occurrences have Callie on edge, believing it is her sister trying to communicate with her, but what exactly is she trying to say?

With time ticking against her before she returns home, Callie works to find the answers and stumbles across something else, bringing with it more pain and heartbreak to the small coastal town.

Katy Upperman is one of my auto buy authors so requesting this arc was a no brainer. You are always guaranteed a feeltrip with Katy's storytelling and this was no exception to her awesomeness!

Callie is such a great voice. She's broken and guilt-ridden over her sister's death in the beginning and you can feel the wall that she throws up at every turn, leading to fast assumptions and misunderstandings early on. But with each passing chapter, her aunt as well as Tucker slowly pulls her out of herself and you see that wall start to crumble and this lively, smart, determined, funny girl emerge.

Tucker was probably my favorite though! He was literally a ball of sunshine - annoyingly so to Callie at times which made their banter all the more fun, but of course even he isn't without ghosts from the past. But together Tucker and Callie are swoon-city. One of my new favorites!

And of course, the spook elements had me shivering and were just enough to keep me turning pages!

How the Light Gets In is a haunting, yet sweet and satisfying contemporary that is sure to please readers whether you're familiar with Katy's work or not. Couldn't recommend enough!

How the Light Gets In is, on the surface, a sweet teen summer romantic mystery...but under the surface Upperman explores serious issues such as grief, family, and clashing values.

Callie is on the cusp of womanhood and, since the death of her younger sister the previous summer, has questioned everything she believed was true about her life. She used to think that she'd go to college. That she might be falling in love with her cute new neighbor. That she'd find value and worth in her swimming accomplishments. That her family was unshakeable. Now she's unsure about all of those things. The central questions for every characters are "How can I go on when I've played a role in such a traumatic event?" and "What does it mean to grieve what was, what could have been, and move forward into a new and uncomfortable 'normal'?"

Upperman doesn't talk down to her audience or make light of what Callie's experiencing. The writing illuminates Callie's life of the mind as well as the struggles of each character as they deal with their own version of the tragedy. Callie's sister appears as a ghost, which functions not only as a structural device allowing Upperman to show Callie moving through her grief process, but also connects with many people's experiences of dreaming about or seeing those who've passed. The ghost character does not feel forced at all, which I attribute to Upperman's eloquent, at times lyrical, writing style.

My students are going to read & reread how the Light Gets In. I've preordered copies for my classroom library and look forward to book talking it in the fall.

How the Light gets in by Katy Upperman was such a great read! I loved so many things about this book. It centers around Callie, a teenager sentenced to spending a summer helping her aunt Lucy set up a B&B in the same town where Callie’s younger sister Chloe drowned the year before. While she’s there, Callie gets wrapped up in some drama with the history of the house they’re converting, the boy hired to help out with the B&B, and a potential ghost as well.

I want to live in Bell Cove. The town gave me major Stars Hollow feelings and I’ll relate to anything with Stars Hollow vibes. Callie was a relatable and not always likeable main character. She can be a total snot at times, and is not dealing well with the loss of her sister. She feels a lot of guilt about the circumstances in which Chloe died, and spends a lot of the book sorting through that.

You’ll love this book if you like ghost stories that are slightly creepy but not scary, and a cute romance that’s sometimes super cheesy but a fun read and not-perfect characters.

I adore ghost stories. There's something magical and atmospheric about reading a ya novel that enraptures me through hauntings and restless spirits. I almost skipped reading this story because of the first page. Callie is smoking pot in her bathroom. I can't relate nor do I care to read books that star characters who guzzle alcohol and inhale drugs like candy. So why exactly did I give this book a second chance? I'm not sure. Maybe I thought Callie would redeem herself and stop smoking pot. Ha. If only.

So the issue with her smoking pot plays into the plot. Her dad ships her off to her aunt's manor in Oregon for the summer in hopes Callie will reconnect with herself before her senior year. The whole family is shattered over the death of Callie's sister the year prior. Some could say this is why Callie smokes pot. To cope. But that isn't the case. Her ex-boyfriend/neighbor was a pot smoker and despite Callie saying she doesn't want a foggy head due to being part of the swim team, she quickly changes her mind and becomes a pot addict. This happens months prior to her sister's death when she first hangs with Isaac.

The plot revolves around Callie helping her Aunt Lucy renovate the manor she bought into a Bed and Breakfast Inn, falling into instant love with the hot landscaper named Tucker, and being haunted by her dead sister. The haunting would have been believable except for one key factor. The only time Callie could see her sister was after she got high on pot. Her addiction to killing her brain cells ruined the story. Callie was unreliable since she was under the influence every time she interacted with Chloe. Did she really talk with her sister's ghost or was it a fabrication of her drugged up mind? It's up to the reader to decide.

Callie never stops smoking pot. She yells at and fights with her aunt and gets into arguments with Tucker because he won't tell her his secrets. Likewise, Tucker gets mad at Callie because she won't tell him her secrets. So multiple times these characters were frustrated with her each for lack of secret telling when they each didn't want to share anything. It became annoying.

Seeing Chloe's ghost was a mere 1% of the story. Like any other ghost story, this one follows the same layout for the big reveal. Chloe and Callie were fighting over Isaac (the hot boy next door and Callie's boyfriend though Chloe didn't know he was Callie's boyfriend at the time since they kept it secret), Callie saying horrible things to Chloe, Chloe storming off and accidentally dying, and Callie living with guilt.

I wish this differed from the majority of ghost stories out there. And making Callie a drug user wrecked everything. The story became a hallucination mixed with fights and instant attraction where an average girl nabs the attention of the hottest guy on Earth. The end.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Another great book by Katy Upperman not that I’m surprised she writes a great story. This one had me hooked from the first chapter. I fell in love with Callie and My heart broke for her and what she was going through. Tucker was a great addition to this book and I was rooting for those two till the very end. Great Book!!!!

I loved this book! At first I didn't really like Cal (which was the point) but I quickly started to root for her and admire her character growth. I loved our other characters as well, like Tucker and Cal's aunt, and think they were individually developed well and contributed to Cal's story in positive ways. The ghostly elements of this book were also really interesting. I loved the emphasis on family throughout the book, the good sides and the not-so-good. Another great book by Katy Upperman!

This was such an odd little book. I want to say it was a contemporary, but the paranormal/supernatural was such a huge part of the storyline. Parts of Callie's story were so believable while others were believable up to a certain point and then it just got weird.

How The Light Gets In follows the aftermath of the death of Callie's sister Chloe. She's everything I imagine I'd be if my sister ever died; moody, high, out of it and just plain depressed. To add to it her father is pushing down his feeling about the situation and her mother is drinking it away. After quitting swim team, her grades taking a nosedive, and just one too many incidents her father gives her an ultimatum of reformative summer camp or helping her aunt fix up her B&B in Oregon. Obviously Oregon is the only real choice, even if it holds memories of her sister. It turns out Oregon might be the best thing for Callie though. Her aunt Lucy genuinely wants to help her move on, restoring the B&B is a good distraction, and there's a cute yard boy who she is't trying too hard to avoid. Weird things are happening at the house though that Callie can't explain, a presence she can't ignore. is she going crazy though or is a ghost really trying to communicate with her?

The relationships between Callie and her aunt Lucy along with the one between Callie and her dad really grew from the start to the end of the novel. Losing a sibling would strain any relationships but it was nice to see Callie work through this and start rebuilding herself and her family. It was realistic and relatable.

The Insta-love sucked though. Tucker was so cute and sweet, just what Callie needed but not in such a slightly toxic way. She clung to him for her happiness I felt like and after less than a summer was planning a future with him. It was all too fast and a bit too much for not only having just met but for someone trying to get over a life-changing trauma. Their relationship was also very superficial and filled with fights. Tucker loved how beautiful Callie was and she though of him as her "sun" but they constantly had arguments where one would just get pissed and walk away but later come back because of the beautiful and sun thing. The parallels between Callie and Tucker's relationship and Tucker's mom and Nathan were eerily similar and just made the whole thing another level of toxic. I think after all the revelations in the book it would have been best if both and went their own way in the end.

The supernatural elements in the book started off really interesting. I was getting so creeped out just reading it, it was kind of awesome. I seriously freaked myself out so bad reading this at 2 a.m. that I had to convince myself that this was a daytime read only book. It then unfortunately got unrealistic though. I wish it hadn't crossed that line though since the first half of the novel was the perfect mix of realistically yet subtly creepy. I felt like Callie needed a different way to find closure, more in herself. I guess I wanted a book that showed her as being able to come to terms with what happened within herself with the help of the relationships she was rebuilding.

Final Thoughts:
I read Katy Upperman's debut novel Kissing Max Holden and I actually really liked it which is why I requested How The Light Gets In. While I didn't love it I also didn't hate it. I'd say it fell right in the middle for me. I think I would have liked it more if it hadn't crossed the believable line I mentioned earlier. Callie's relationship with her aunt and father along with the town mystery surrounding the Stewart house is what really kept me interested. If you don't mind some unbelievable part I'd say go for it, but if you're looking for a more typical contemporary this isn't it.

I really enjoyed this book! The only thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars is that it was a bit confusing in the execution but other than that I really liked it. The relationship between the two main characters was believable too.

Hmmmmm...interesting read. The good news is that I liked the paranormal element more than I usually do, as it was easy to “believe” such a gentle ghost-like presence. I don’t want to say too much and spoil things, but that was cool. I also liked the sister relationship playing as another character...my sister and I have a very similar gig. 💜 I also liked the Oregon setting and the B&B...both things that I’ve loved and considered for my (future) life.

The bad news: really? Instant love? Seriously? And of course she’s “beautiful girl” and he’s “sunlight” when he smiles. It’s all a bit much. Or WAY TOO MUCH! It’s exhausting to read this kind of thing, truly. I mean, in my life this stuff doesn’t just happen. I don’t know anyone for whom these things happen, so my willing suspension of disbelief is strained as hell.

So, I’d have given it a 4 if there had been anything wrong with him and a 5 if he didn’t just accept all her moody shit because she was a “beautiful girl.”