Two girls, one trip, and a haunted room that has a history of people mysteriously dying in it. Layla and Mira are best friends, they are on a college tour road trip for their spring break, but what they didn’t expect was that their trip would be cut short when they crash and find themselves staying at the Wildwood Motel, located in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. From the moment they get there, Mira knows there is something off and something very wrong with their room. The moment Mira steps inside the room she begins to become haunted by nightmares of her dead brother. Layla has her own secret that haunts her, the fact that she’s secretly been in love with her best friend and that she hasn’t come out yet. Mira and Layla soon find themselves dealing with a very haunted room that has a pull on them, but through the complicated relationship and the murder room, this is definitely going to be a week to remember. Will they make it out alive or will the room also take one of them? This was a story about dealing with grief, about relationships, love, and friendship. There was also a super cool feature of the book in which there were real photographs of the character and the stories (also since Layla is a photographer) it really added a nice touch to the story. Overall, its an interesting spooky read with a bit of romance.

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The blurb advertises it as Haunting of Hill House meets Nina LaCour, where the two main characters (Mira & Layla) have to stay in a hotel room after their car breaks down. Because of this, going in I expected a creepy/haunted hotel room that would make the characters (and myself) question their sanity. And it did deliver on some of that. But I'd say, with as few spoilers as possible, that this is more a story about grief, regret and internalized horrors. The book deals with a lot of hard topics: death of a family member, familial expectations, cultural differences, and homophobia, all intertwined with this hotel room that seems a little too connected to tragedy.

It was a book that definitely kept me engaged. The beginning is a bit slow, but once it picks up, it doesn’t stop. There were some twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat (I read this book all in one sitting!) But with all those hard topics, I wish I had gotten to see just a little more - a little more exploration, conversation, and character development. It’s clear Layla is struggling with her sexuality, and shoves down notions about being gay multiple times. So in the end, when the sapphic romance comes to fruition, it feels a bit rushed. I wanted to hear more about her path to acceptance (and it would be nice if the word lesbian was used! Books don’t use it enough!) Mira’s character development was more fleshed out, but I still was a bit unsatisfied with the abrupt ending.

The other thing I wanted to touch on was the inconsistencies. The book isn’t yet finalized, so there’s bound to be mistakes, but some really disrupted my reading. For one, the description of Mira on the pages and in the photos throughout the book were in contrast with the cover art (short hair on cover, long in the photos and text), and this happened with side characters as well. Which was a shame, considering I thought the b&w photos were creative and complemented the book quite well. I'm hoping these are fixed in the editing process.

Overall, the book had some flaws, but it still was an enjoyable read.

Spooky and sapphic? Sign me up! This book was a gorgeous read and very digestible. I really enjoyed the use of photographs, I thought it really helped make it more immersive. I love a slow burn and this book delivered!

A haunted room in a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Two girls find themselves stuck in the middle of a small town during a road trip. One keeps seeing her dead brother and thinks she's going crazy. Only to find out there have been numerous deaths in this particular room. A chilling tale of grief and guilt.

A Guide in the Dark is the debut novel from Meriam Metoui. It follows two teenage Arabic girls, Mira and Layla, who are on a road trip visiting prospective colleges. A car accident derails their plans and leaves them stranded in a small town with a mysterious hotel.

The only availability? The ominous Room 9 where most occupants don’t make it out alive.

The author includes photographs from Layla to enhance the story. It felt very immersive and was a fresh take on story telling.

I also enjoyed the different representation presented in the novel. The Muslim religion along with LGBTQ characters.

The blurb and the cover was enough to pull me in, the characters were well written and the storyline was fresh.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I loved the premise of this book, but I was a bit let down by the execution. A book where two girls of color are in love? And there are spooky things happening? A million percent sign me up. However, the writing style just really didn't suck me in. I found myself a bit bored, which made me so sad because I wanted to love this. Don't get me wrong, a bit of creepy stuff does happen but I was really hoping for more horror/spooks than I got. I did really like the "mixed media" aspect of this--I love the pictures and whatnot peppered through the book, very cool.

Blurb is what caught my eye and is why I gave this book a chance and I'm happy I did. But it did give off some Sabrina and river dale feelings (the shows) but that is my though but I'm not sure if others will see that. I do recommend this book and already told a few that they need to read this book. 5 star book and might reread it later on in the year

Besties, Mira and Layla, thought they'd spend their spring break touring college campuses, but they soon find themselves stranded in a small town with a dark and mysterious secret.

With a plot straight from Psycho - with a paranormal twist - I was captured from the start. Each new peek into past events adds another layer of grief - and disbelief - but will the truth be able to save them from the horrors within?

The end, if anything, is the one keeping me from rating the book 5 stars. With everything we learned, we're still left with the "who." I use the term "who" loosely - as it's paranormal - but there's still a story or history into the "who" that's only hinted at and not necessarily explained.

3.5 stars

I wanted to love this book so so much. A horror book with queer Arab girls who fall in love? I thought this book was going to be THE BOOK for me. But it wasn't.

I don't think this book is bad but I don't think it's great either. I found myself a little bored through parts of it and I couldn't connect very well to the characters despite seeing parts of myself in them. The romance is definitely not the main plotline, which I am fine with, but it was hard to me to even see it happening when the connection just didn't seem there.

I still think this is a perfectly good YA horror book, and the representation is wonderful. Not to mention the photography aspect in it is really cool. It just didn't hit where I hoped it would.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for access to this book.

The writing style didn't click for me, but I like the slightly different format of storytelling and the character perspectives.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc
I feel in love with this book; Mira and Layla are wonderful protagonists who both stand out on their own with out the romance that binds them together. However the romance was very enjoyable and felt very similar to the romance in "the haunting of Bly manor" which matched so well with the haunting atmosphere of the motel that forced them closer together. I requested this book on the chance that it would be something great and it was; the protagonists romance is wonderful and the demonstration of grief that Metoui writes is simply magical. This book also uses mixed media which on page was wonderful to see a charters passion for art seen in the physical work. Over all I was pleasantly surprised by A Guide to the Dark and am so excited to pick up a copy on publication day.

A Guide to the Dark is a YA thriller about grief literally haunting you.
Thank you Macmillan for the review copy.

Thank you to Macmillan for sending me an arc of this in exchange for review.

So first and foremost i loved the mixed media aspect of this book, how you get to see the photos taken by the characters in the book as well. However i feel almost let down by this story. nothing really scary happened. however it is creepy enough for the YA genre. i just wish there was more horror to it than what i got.

Meriam Metoui's A GUIDE TO THE DARK was a great way to spend the weekend. I appreciated we got this spooky story from both of the main characters, so we could understand how they were both feeling. I also appreciated that Metoui didn't shy away from the heavier, darker stuff -- like how a character died by drowning and how one of the main characters felt it was her fault, and the complexity of that situation.

I really enjoyed the idea behind this book and I liked how it was executed. In my opinion it could have used a little bit more substance, it felt like there wasn't a lot of information about the characters and there wasn't as much build up to support the plot that I was expecting. It was still a good book overall, and it was a quick read for me. Very thankful to have received this ARC.

For this being a YA horror, I was still just as creeped out with this story. We follow two best friends (who are also secretly in love with each other but don't know it) into a small town, where they are forced to stay in "cursed" room 9. The only one who feels any darkness in the room is Mira which is where things start to take a creepy turn. Will room 9 take another life?

This story starts off a bit slow but once it picks up, I couldn't stop reading. I also definitely shouldn't have read this with the lights off.

This book is set to be released July 18, 2023

Mira and Layla are excited to go on a road trip together. They’re best friends, why wouldn’t they be?
While they’re driving they encounter a figure in the road and end up wrecking their car. They find their way to an odd hotel where they soon find out quite a few people have met their deaths in the room they’re staying in while their car gets fixed.
Mira starts having nightmares of an incident that involved her brother. Their curiosity piqued by the oddness of the room and the deaths, they band together with the hotel owner’s son to investigate the deaths.
Read this if you love LGBTQ+ horror/suspense!

I thought this book was very enjoyable and I LOVED the real life pictures in it they really helped me visualize the story it was such a unique idea the story itself was great a haunted hotel room great storyline great characters I really hope to read more from this author soon!
Much thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC
All thoughts and opinions are my own

Loved this read! Such an amazing book! I am so grateful to netgalley for allowing me to read this advanced reader copy

A Guide in the Dark follows two teenage Arabic girls, Mira and Layla, who, following car accident, are left no choice but to stop and seek refuge in a small motel with a ghastly history. Several of the previous occupants of Room 9, the room they are assigned, have all died in that very room, and something is not right with the hotel room.
I enjoyed this creative take on the haunted motel trope and was thrilled to see the author include pictures along with the story(one of the characters is a budding photographer). Overall, it was a solid read, one I will certainly recommend to people who like thriller and horror novels with diversity and queer representation.