This book was so much fun and I managed to snag an ARC for a live chat that I hosted with my book club, Words & Whimsy.

Sarah is always so much fun to talk to and I enjoyed how spooky but accessible this book is for younger readers. Our chat focused on the books inspiration (a possibly haunted manor that used to be owned by Sarah's ancestors) and I loved being able to compare the story with her inspiration.

I also enjoyed that it focused on platonic relationships which is a nice detour from the romance on offer this fall. I will be reading again!

3.5 stars. BLESS THIS BOOK AND IT BEING AN ACTUAL GHOST STORY AND NOT JUST A PERSON IN THE WALL. I really enjoyed the representation present in this book. The MC has Type 1 Diabetes (and a precious service dog that alerts her to low blood sugar; the dog survives FYI) and is also bi. The way in which the author wrote the MC was believable given the situation she was in.

I thought the atmosphere was eerie and really well written. You felt "damp" the entire time reading about this old, broken house near a lake. The horror elements/moments were creepy and they didn't hold back which I appreciated.

Overall I just wasn't completely drawn to this story. I thought it was an entertaining enough read but it didn't suck me in entirely.

A few weeks ago I finished The Girls are Never Gone by @sarahmarshauthor and I completely adored it. It's definitely a great choice for October if you are looking for more spooky books for your TBR. Ghosts, sapphicness, creepy old house, doggo, what's not to love? I gave it 👻👻👻👻.5/5 stars so I highly suggest checking it out!

I’ve been on this creepy book mode.. this is perfect for horror lovers and for spooky season. I enjoyed the unraveling of this story. The mysterious and dark atmosphere made it even better. And the characters were intriguing for sure! Can’t wait to add more of these to my tbr for Halloween!

Excellent. Loved the characters and the creepy atmosphere. I would highly recommend this to anyone that wants a little queer horror in their lives. Yes, it's actually spooky!

Dare doesn’t believe in ghosts, despite having a podcast called Attachments where she’s investigating the paranormal. She takes an internship at Arrington Estate, a house that is haunted by the ghost of Atheleen Bell. Dare suspects that the circumstances of Atheleen’s death aren’t supernatural, though that is the rumor. Dare becomes friends with Quinn, the daughter of the new owner of the house, and Holly, another intern. They’re all pulled into the mystery of the house, with ghost sightings and messages left on walls. Dare has to figure out the truth of what’s going on, before the ghost claims another victim.

Dare was a great detective for the story. She was drawn to this ghost story to investigate for her podcast. I liked that even though she was interested in this story, she was a skeptic. That made it even more convincing that something supernatural was happening when she started to suspect there was a real ghost. I would have loved to see more transcripts of her podcasts throughout the story to hear what she was reporting on.

I can’t comment much on the ending without giving anything away. I will say that it was surprising. The reveal was kind of complicated, involving many generations of residents of the estate. The ending was surprising and a little sad.

The Girls Are Never Gone is a great YA paranormal story.

Thank you Razorbill for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thoughts and Themes: I tend to quickly go through audiobook and not take notes but this one was one that I had to actually sit with and took so much notes. I needed to know what was going on in the story and follow along with everything happening.

I really liked the narrator of this story and found that they were easy to listen to and made it easy to follow the story. I really liked how the story builds up to the main scenes that occur later on. I think that the author did a great job building up the background of the house, the lake, and the previous owners of this house. I also really liked the explanation that was given towards the end of the story as to why certain things were happening.

While I wouldn’t consider this to be a scary book, I do think that it is quite eerie and creepy. If you liked House of Hollow, I believe this is one that you will also enjoy.

Characters: In this book you get to meet several characters through their interactions with our main character Dare. I really enjoyed getting to know Dare through this book and liked how we got Diabetes representation in her. I thought it was great to see how her diagnosis affects her daily life and how she navigates certain things because of this. I thought it was also great that the book wasn’t about her having diabetes but that it was more so here is this cool, badass girl who happens to have diabetes.

I really enjoyed the friendship that develops between Dare, Holly and Quinn. I liked getting to read as each of them learns to trust the others and how you get to learn more about them through their interactions with each other. I also really liked seeing how Dare and Quinn’s relationship develops throughout the story. I liked how that changed depending on the events that were occuring at the house and the lake.

Writing Style: This story is written in first person through the perspective of Dare which is something that I really enjoyed. I liked that we got to see everything through her perspective and how she was feeling in every moment. I think this really added to the story because for so long Dare didn’t believe in ghosts or the supernatural. I thought Dare wanting to find an explanation for everything that wasn’t a supernatural cause really added a great element to the story and instilled fear in the reader.

This book had three of my favorite things about a mystery suspense thriller story – a haunted house, a murder podcast, and ghosts! Dare receives a letter from a fan of her podcast telling her about Arrington Estate, a place where a woman died of mysterious circumstances. Legend has it that she now haunts the place. Intrigued, Dare visits the site for the summer, in hopes of churning out a good story for her podcast. Dare doesn’t believe in ghosts, but once she gets there and ominous events begin to occur, it may turn her skepticism into belief. Dun dun dun!

I liked this story. There was plenty of spook to keep you on your toes! I love when an author turns a setting into a character. I enjoyed that the house had its own character arc in parallel with the possible paranormal activity that occurred inside. I felt like that ending was a bit rushed, but overall, a good story, perfect for this month!

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I don’t consider myself someone who reads many horror novels, mostly because I’m a huge scaredy cat, but I’m trying to branch out. I’m a sucker for a good mystery and horror novels are often a mixture of mystery and terror, which makes them seem like a good option. I read this book late at night right before bed, and I will admit that The Girls Are Never Gone left me with some lingering unease as I tried to fall asleep. Thankfully I was tired enough that I eventually passed out.

The Girls Are Never Gone does an amazing job working with the “Is it Supernatural?” trope. If you don’t know what this trope is (it might be called something else) it’s basically when the book you’re reading is constantly toying with the idea that the events might be supernatural/paranormal or might eventually be scientifically/rationally explained away at the end. The reason this trope worked so well in this novel is because the main character, Dare, is a skeptic, but her love interest, Quinn, is 100% convinced the place is haunted. The third girl in the house, Holly, is on the fence and tends to play both sides. Giving the reader these three girls who are all experiencing the same terrorizing events but under very different lenses allows for us to kind of choose which girl to levitate towards (hehe) depending on how we feel about ghosts and hauntings personally while getting a more complete picture of what is happening.

As far as the writing goes, this book was written pretty solidly and the book has a good amount of rep. Dare is bisexual/pansexual (I don’t think she’s ever explicitly labelled) with Type 1 Diabetes. Quinn is Puerto Rican from her dad’s side and is sapphic (again I don’t know if she is explicitly labelled either). I was a bit unsure about how to feel about the diabetes rep because Dare is basically constantly checking her blood sugar levels throughout the book, so much so that I felt like it was beginning to affect my immersion in the story. However, I think this was the entire point, to expose readers to the reality of what it means to have to monitor your blood sugar almost constantly and the effect it can have on day to day life. I don’t have diabetes and my mom is Type 2, not Type 1, so definitely check out what OwnVoices readers have to say about it.

The pacing was very solid throughout the book and picked up quite a lot in the last 20% or so as the tension comes to a climax. The ending was slightly predictable (in my opinion), but there was one unexpected final twist that I thought was an amazing decision. Overall, I really enjoyed this experienced and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for more Sarah Glenn Marsh books and for more YA horror in general.

The Girls Are Never Gone is a slow burn YA Thriller. Most of the book is about the budding relationship between Dare and Quinn, and their quest to figure out the Estate's mysteries. Small thrilling incidents pop up throughout the story, hooking the reader for more. The buildup is finally rewarded with a wonderfully scary climax at the end. Great for baby stepping young adults into horror.
The thing that really stood out to me in this story, is that Dare is a diabetic. I think its great that the writer is normalizing it within the YA community. Yes, there is a little diabetic scare in the book, but it demonstrated how scary it is during a low, and how easily it was fixed by her peers being educated. It was well written into the story, and didnt go unnoticed.
Another plus for the writer, is her including the LGBTQ readers. The relationship between Dare and Quinn is sweet, and important to the story. The house needed to be full of girls for the ghost story to work, and having a heterosexual relationship wouldn't have worked for the ending. It was well thought out, and worked nicely. The relationship will appeal to any YA reader.
This was a good YA Thriller. Not super scary, or gorey, with the right amount of teen drama thrown in.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars rounded up

The perfect ghost story heading into fall!

Dare is our bisexual heroine with type 1 diabetes and a podcast about paranormal investigation. After a breakup, she's spending the summer as an intern rehabbing a supposedly haunted historical house where a girl drowned in the lake. Dare isn't sure ghosts are real and mostly debunks them, but she wants to be proven wrong. This might be the summer of meeting ghosts....and maybe a cute girl as well.

This was a fantastically spooky story with complicated families, brave girls, malevolent spirits, and a very cute romance. I've not seen a lot of type 1 diabetes represented in stories and it's cool to see the author share what her own experience with that has been like through this character. It's woven into the narrative and we see the way it impacts her on a daily basis. This is definitely one to check out! I received an advance copy of this book for review via netgalley. All opinions are my own.

For me this book was equal amount of plot and dark academia aes , this is book is LITERALLY the definition of dark academia, I can say this as someone whose feed is dark academia and can read anything dark academia. The 90% of the book revolved around the library (mentioned in the synopsis) which was tbh the best part.
Lets start with plot - the plot was good enough to keep me reading it and main characters who switched pov alternate chapters were really interesting and likeable ! The action scenes were written really nicely too ! I wasn't a big fan of the romance , it kinda felt flat in the book tho ! I definitely recommend you to read it!

Overall, I thought that The Girls Are Never Gone was a really good paranormal thriller with a great mystery. I had chills multiple times while reading and was definitely invested in the story from start to finish. I did have some issues with pacing at certain points and there were some things that I thought could’ve been explored more, or taken out without affecting the overall story, but in general, I found it very compelling. If you’re a fan of ghost stories, I would absolutely recommend checking it out.

Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts, but that doesn’t stop her from jumping at the chance to be an intern in the (supposedly haunted) Arrington Estate. A skeptic at its finest, dare is ready to use the estate for her podcast, and prove that ghosts aren’t real. Only… how do you explain the faceless reflection in the mirror, the random touches from nothing there, and the messages painted into the walls by seemingly air.

Honestly, I’m very torn about how I felt about this book. It could just be my slump talking- so keep that in mind- but it felt so much longer than it needed to be.
Girl enters haunted house- doesn’t believe in ghosts- denies any thought that it’s ghosts- ghosts literally appear and she says ‘fake<3’- and that whole storyline continues for more than half of the book.
And it didn’t really make sense.
I really don’t know how to describe it other than the fact that, I was invested in the beginning, but by the middle the same conversations and disbeliefs became so repetitive that I no longer wanted to continue reading.

But- if you’re wanting a book that bounces between ‘is it real or not’ constantly, one that encourages obtuse skepticism and slowly reveals one detail at a time…then you’ll probably vibe with this one.
It’s a great plot, and incredible representation with Dare having Type 1 diabetes, something that’s not ignored and is actually gone into detail about how she takes care of herself.
It’s spooky and fun, and definitely a book perfect for a Spook-tober read!!

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟: If you want a skeptic-filled book about ghostly murder, haunting of Bly Manor vibes, and the constant need to look over your shoulder, than you should definitely check this out!

This book would be perfect for those who loved the sapphic romance in the haunting of bly manor. And other parts of Bly Manor, but particularly that.

It has a creepy haunted house, a haunted lake, ghosts from a variety of time periods, the sapphic romance element.

The main character has type 1 diabetes and a service dog, which I thought was fantastic. I have yet to see either of those things in a book before and I think that readers who share those experiences will feel very seen by this book.

The writing itself is beautiful, the way that she describes the house made it feel as alluring yet haunted to me as it did to the main character.

I would have liked to see a bit more from the podcast element, similar to how Sadie was done, but a very enjoyable read nonetheless.

This is an incredible new YA horror read with some memorable and unique characters! THE GIRLS ARE NEVER GONE by Sarah Glenn Marsh is not only character driven but the author creates such an atmospheric and tense horror novel for us. A paranormal investigation by a paranormal skeptic that runs a popular paranormal investigative podcast. I’m already intrigued.

Dare was a cohost of a popular podcast but she is quickly losing followers after the split with her boyfriend. A comment from a listener sends her to Arrington Estate and to investigate the death of Atheleen Bell. She crosses paths with Quinn, the daughter of the new owner of the estate. Their relationship is so fun to see progressing throughout the book.

This was a solid horror novel that didn’t read like a YA book. This would be perfect for those newer to horror and don’t want something too terrifying. I can’t wait for more from Marsh!

I received this book as a part of a Bookstagramtour for which I'm thankful to penguinteen, netgalley and tbrbeyondtours .

Synopsis: Dare is running a paranormal podcast channel , but is sceptical of the same. She doesn't believe in ghosts, until one fine day she gets an offer to do internship at the supposedly haunted Arrington Cottage. Will she find out what happened to Athleen Bell or rather who is behind her disappearance?

Review: This book is an edgy paranormal thriller perfect for the fans of Conjuring and Sadie. The scenes are quite atmospheric and graphic that is equivalent to watching a horror movie. The representation of people with Type I Diabetes Mellitus has been done exceptionally well and shaping up a strong protagonist with such a life altering disease deserves an applause. The other characters and the story as a whole are dealt with the necessary suspense creating an intrigue in the reader.
What could have been better: The book was slow paced in the middle with nothing important happening at times. There were some medical errors which seem to have been overlooked .
Rating: 3.5/5

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to TBR & Beyond Tours, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Netgalley, and Razorbill for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.


I adore Sarah Glenn Marsh first of all, so anything that I read from her I know I’m going to love. But I also know that her stories can get pretty scary when she wants them to be, and that’s what happened here. I was on the edge of my seat, trying to find out if Dare and her service dog Waffles were going to survive the haunted house, and wondering why she would even take that chance in the first place!

So what was Dare doing in a haunted house in the first place? Well, even though she’s a huge supernatural skeptic, she runs a podcast called Attachments, which is a paranormal-investigation podcast and still pretty brand-new. Don’t get me wrong, I can understand someone not believing in something, but wanting to get out and explore it anyway, but I don’t mess with paranormal stuff. Nope, there have been too many times where something happens that I just can’t explain, spirits that I feel around me in certain houses, etc. For someone that is a skeptic, I would feel like things would get pretty bad BECAUSE I didn’t believe in it, you know? But either way Dare ends up getting the opportunity to travel to the Arrington Estate, where it is believed that Atheleen Bell from thirty years ago haunts the estate to this day due to her drowning in the lake near the property. Could it be just a local legend, or will Dare find some information to lead to what could have actually been a murder?

Honestly, anything that SGM writes is amazing. Not only does she show amazing representation that is realistic and not a trope, and being able to have the kind of writing to suck you into the story from the get go, I just can never go wrong with one of her novels. I highly recommend this, and I hope you get the chance to go on this paranormal adventure with Dare, Waffles, and the others that may or may not be alive in this story. Just keep an open mind, like Dare did when she first got to the Estate.

Thank you to Andy for listing all of the rep and CWs for this novel. I wouldn’t have gotten them all:

Rep: Bisexual chronically ill female MC (type 1 diabetes), sapphic Bourican/biracial love interest.

CWs: Animal death (not on page, but skeletons are found), blood, chronic illness (type 1 diabetes), death, ghostly haunting, medical content, murder, stalking, toxic relationship, violence, vomit.

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh is an atmospheric horror that is prefect for the fall season. Following a girl who takes an internship at a haunted house, this one contains spine-chilling images and a strong main character who is also diabetic. I especially enjoyed the eerie descriptions of the house, which leave the reader with the unsettling feeling that something sinister is going on.

After breaking up with her boyfriend, who also happens to be the co-host of her supernatural YouTube series, Dare decides to go solo and continue her work on her own ghost-themed podcast. When a fan suggests she investigate the Arrington Estate, which rumours say is haunted by the spirit of a girl who drowned in the lake, Dare takes an internship at the house for the summer. Despite her podcast, Dare doesn’t believe in ghosts, even when she meets the house’s current (and cute) inhabitant, who is convinced the estate is genuinely haunted. However, as the summer goes on and Dare starts to have frightening experiences of her own, she is forced to call her supernatural skepticism into question as she works to uncover what really happened in the lake.

❀ CLEVER MAIN CHARACTER

Dare is a clever main character, and I enjoyed her voice. She is very rational, and because she likes an explanation for everything, she doesn’t believe in the ghost that is said to roam the halls of the Arrington Estate. I found this to be an interesting dynamic with her supernatural-themed podcast, and I enjoyed the way she is forced to question what she believes as she begins to experience the unexplainable at the house. Dare also has diabetes, which plays a significant role in the book. Chronic illness is rarely represented in horrors and thrillers, and I appreciated how the author works in information about what it is like to be diabetic alongside the more harrowing elements of the plot. Additionally, Dare has the most adorable service dog. I’ve never seen a service dog in a book before, and I am so glad this one provides this representation.

❀ IMMERSIVE ATMOSPHERE

One of my favourite parts about this book is its immersive atmosphere. Sarah Glenn Marsh has done a masterful job bringing the haunted house to life, and the Arrington Estate is so well-written that it feels like a character itself. The occurrences in the house that become gradually more threatening make the story perfectly suspenseful, and there are some truly terrifying images that make the spirit of the house jump off the page. I always love an immersive setting, and even though this is by no means a place I would want to visit, the writing sucked me in.

❀ A SUSPENSEFUL READ

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh is a suspenseful read that is sure to keep readers up at night. The concept of interning at a haunted house is so intriguing, and I enjoyed the main character and the way her diabetes is worked into the story. The house itself is also vividly described, making this a great read for those looking for an tense horror with great representation.

I throughly enjoyed The Girls are Never Gone. I loved the representation that it has, with our main character having a disability being diabetes type one and also the lgbtqia representation, as it has a sapphic romance which is done beautifully in the book.

I loved the character development that took place in the novel, as Dare, our main character grew from being close minded to being much more open minded especially in regards to the supernatural. But she also grew in other ways, such as being more sure of herself, more trusting of others and being more brave after facing the horrors that she is faced with.

I found the plot developed really well throughout the novel, it definitely kept me hooked and wanting to know more about the mysteries behind the girls disappearance. I loved the descriptive language used throughout it really added to the creepy atmosphere of the book. I do wish that there was a bit more consistency in regards to pacing in the novel as at the beginning I found it a bit slow and the end a bit fast but even with the pacing issues The Girls Are Never Gone is definitely worth reading, especially for the world development!

I loved seeing our main characters: Dare, Quinn, and Holly discover the history of the place and the people who used to live there. The way that the history was told to us was really well done. The fact that at the end, there was still some mysteries left and I am still wanting more says a lot.

Overall, I really hope that there is a sequel as I loved the characters and I want to see more of them, learning more about the mysteries that have not been solved and I just want to see Waffles again, that dog was my favourite character! A really good supernatural thriller which is definitely worth reading.