I like the premise of this book. A girl who can see and speak to spirits seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, I made it to around 60% and DNFed it. I loved the characters. They were fun and well written and I honestly imagined them as my friends in I in school. Olive is even a spooky rockabilly girl like myself. But my issue came in what I can only describe and me feeling like the story was just dragging on too slowly. Maybe I'm too old to read and enjoy the book, and I did go into it knowing it's for a younger audience. Or maybe I'd have enjoyed a physical copy better. I do plan to pick one up and try it again. I did enjoy Kate Anderson's writing style. It was descriptive and fun and just easy to follow. I'd probably try out more books by her.

DNF @21%

I'm going to refrain from rating or reviewing this one on Goodreads as I struggled to get invested enough in the story to have any constructive comments either way.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for providing me the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thank you to Flux books for the ARC and for including me on the book tour and cover reveal a few months ago!

I loved the cover for this when I first saw it and the synopsis sounded right up my alley from the start and i'm so glad i ended up enjoying this. Olive was an easy character to read from and it was also really easy to empathize with the very obvious grief she's still going through from losing someone close to her (even if she doesn't like to admit it) and dealing with complicated feelings from her OWN near death experience. Seeing everything she did to try and shield herself from ever feeling that type of hurt again and then getting to watch those shields come down as she learned that it wasn't the right way to deal with it made me happy to watch. I liked what all the characters did for the story even if i didn't like some of them totally either lol. Maren was my favorite honestly, I loved how her difficult feelings on being a Seymour were handled and how that changed her character as we learned more about her. She's a fierce character that never just took things, she always fought it but she was also the first to admit the Seymour's wrongdoings. I wish we got more about Davis though, besides the stuff we learned from Olive since she was already his best friend I kinda wanted to know how his relationship with his parents changed at the end and how that all resolved. Vanessa wasn't my favorite at all, but if you've read the book I think she's literally written to be that way, being as its said multiple times she's manipulative and Olive doesn't even trust her. I cant say a ton about that whole thing without spoiling stuff though so Ill leave it there. I still don't completely understand what exactly freed Jay in the end so I also wish there was more explanation to that but I thought he was such a sweetheart of a character, i'm glad he got his peaceful ending.

I like how the paranormal spooky ghost things were just kind of common place and normal in the story, it mixed really easily with I guess you would call it "real world" stuff. It wasn't shocking to any of the characters and it didnt slow the story down so that they could have their "oh no, this cant be happening this stuff is fake!" moment and I appreciated that they just easily understood and accepted it and moved along. I wish the plot had moved a little quicker though even still because I feel like there were a few chapters that dragged before we got back into the action. But I loved all the chapter titles they were so fun and so in theme with the book, I wish more books used them still and had as much character in them as Here Lies Olive did. Overall I had fun with this story, I think if your looking for something quick to read that will give you a tiny bit of the spooks (the shades were a lil scary alright) but also have a lot of great things to say about grief, trauma, shame and guilt then this ones for you. Thank you again to Flux for the arc!

Meanwhile, someone—or something—is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.

What happens when a girl wants to find out what is beyond after life ends?
We meet Olive. What she won’t tell you that she died. For a brief time, 5 minutes to be exact and she experienced that there’s… nothing. Floating in darkness. That can’t be it right? She’s terrified that life is meaningless without something to look forward to after it’s all over.
When she summons a spirit to answer her questions. She meets Jay, the hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help to help find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers on what lies on the other side.Meanwhile, someone- or something-is targeting Olive's classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become.Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay's spirit before he's trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly.But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.
For me this book left me feeling meh after reading the final sentence. Mainly cause I’m not the books target audience cause I feel like these are high school kids discovering ghosts and their sexuality. Which is relatable back in the day but the way it was handled was kind of a fumble. I didn’t find myself really connecting with any of the characters on a deeper level and this book took forever to get to the point.
I could tell who was the bad guy ( or girl in this case) from half way through the book and wasn’t impressed.
I did like that I could decipher one of the messages the author was trying to get a-crossed: tell people you love them while you have the chance.
Which was a sweet message. I just wish it was handled a little better.
2 star read.
Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for a copy of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

This was hard to get into and hard to follow at the beginning. I also found the chapter title pages to be distracting.
Once I got into it, it got interesting, and I thought it was a cool story with decent character development. I would have liked more description of the town, as it was mentioned in the description.

This book had a surprise ending, and I just love a good twist. I had a sneaking feeling about a character, and I was right, but man did I have a brief moment where I thought I was wrong. This story is delicately queer; meaning it’s slow to rise to the surface. I love this spooky little town the story takes place in. Bless Jay, I adore a ghost boy. I like how this book brings up the question that we all have thought, “what happens after we die”. I thoroughly enjoyed this Halloween-esque mystery.

Between the title of the first chapter and the first sentence of the book, I was immediately engaged.

Dark, gothic ambiance and classic ghost story vibes, but with modern and diverse characters that bring a refreshing depth to the story.
Very clever exploration of what comes after we die—and how to appreciate life while we have it

DNF - this was for a younger audience than I realized, and the rushed romance and character-building wasn't for me

Thank you to NetGalley, publishers, Kate Anderson for letting me read this arc!!

It definitely screams YA, which is okay! I thought the story wasn’t too complex, so you didn’t have to do too much thinking about the plot or the characters. I enjoyed the representation of the POC, queer community!
I do wish the characters had more depth to them, but I did love Olive’s personality, I just wish there was more to the characters, whether it be more background information, or conversation between the characters.

The one thing that I wasn’t absolutely sold on was the dialogue. Some was kind of cheesy, but some sentences I could absolutely see a teenager saying, my teenage self included.
Overall, I don’t think I’d recommend this to many of my friends because of it being YA, but if you’re looking for a quick, easy, and slightly spooky read, I would absolutely recommend. I would love to go back and read the final copy that has been published!

For those looking for a great way to get in the spooky spirit or step into the horror genre, Here Lies Olive is perfect for you. It follows a teen girl who almost died from an allergy attack and starts to ponder about life and death from her experience. She invokes a spirit for answers and gets a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods. As they help each other on their journeys to seek truth, danger follows them. The writing was lyrical and the plotline was intriguing. I wish the characters had some more depth but overall was a great spooky read.

I really enjoyed this book! The writing created and wonderful atmosphere that really brought me into the story. I really loved the characters as well!

I could read queer spooky YA horrors for the rest of my life. Here Lies Olive written by Kate Anderson was massively anticipated read for me and it did not disappoint.

16 year old Olive is surrounded by death and dying living in the dark tourism capital of White Haven. But that doesn’t make her any more comfortable with the idea of dying, especially after a near death experience left her floating in a world full of nothing. In order to find answers about if there really is more than The Nothing after death, she summons a local hitchhiking ghost Jay and teams up with her nemesis and maybe crush Maren, her ex-best friend Davis and the new girl in town Vanessa in order to find Jay’s true resting place in return for her answer.

I loved this book so much. I felt like all the characters were well developed and each served a clear purpose in the story. The imagery and setting was absolutely stunning and unmatched to anything I’ve read in a long time. The only thing I’d hoped for was a little bit more time spent on the romance, but given how much was going on in the plot, it made sense to only be a small part of the story.

Overall, Here Lies Olive was a face paced and enthralling novel that I didn’t ever want to put down. A perfect spooky read for any time of the year and an incredible debut novel.

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

She almost died, and hasn’t fully come back. No matter how hard she tries, Olive can’t forget The Nothing she saw during her brief death. Because if that’s all there is after death, what’s the sense in moving on?

But when she witnesses an elderly friend’s passing and hears her call out “Mom”, Olive starts considering there being an afterlife after all. To get answers she goes to a notoriously haunted house to summon a ghost, and winds up angering an evil entity hellbent on claiming human lives. Now it’s up to Olive to put some undead souls to rest and she will—but at the cost of the answer to the afterlife being one she doesn’t want?
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I absolutely loved this book. I’m a sucker for horror thrillers that feature ghosts and this didn’t disappoint! I thought Olive’s predicament was intriguing and terrifying, and the search she went on was a little heartbreaking. Some moments scared the hell out of me, which I especially enjoyed. Creepy and unsettling, but not to the point of being too terrified to go on. Still wouldn’t read this with all of the lights turned off, though.

For last thoughts: I liked the fast pace of the plot, the personification of philosophical themes of nihilism and existentialism, and the climax/ending. I’d love to read another YA horror novel of Anderson’s and highly recommend this to those who love this genre.

Here Lies Olive is a YA novel about a teenager growing up in the dark tourism capital of the US. After a near death experience, Olive has been terrified that there is nothing after death. She decided to summon a ghost in the notoriously spooky manor with a dark past. She ends up summoning Jay, a teenager who died in the early 1900s. He also doesn't know what happens after death since he never really moved on. Olive and her new and newly reconnected friends try to find a way to put Jay's spirit to rest, and try to solve the question about what happens after death.

I liked this book! I work with teenagers and the teenagers in this book are definitely accurate, AKA making questionable decisions because of high emotions. I thought Olive was likable and I liked how the romance progresses with her previous enemy, Maren. I also enjoyed the Indigenous representation with Olive's best friend, Davis. Their reconnection as friends also worked well for me. The setting was also cool, I don't think I have ever read a book set in New Mexico. It did start to drag for me to by the end, but I had enough of a good time at the beginning and middle that it didn't bother me too much.

Overall, if you want a spooky read with some good characters, I recommend this book! 3.7 stars rounded up to 4 from me. Thank you to North Star Editions and NetGalley for the electronic advanced reader's copy of this book, my thoughts are my own!

"Here Lies Olive" is a sweet read for young readers about grief, familial expectations, and finding your personal identity.

I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and liked the story. Well plotted, interesting characters and world building.
I wasn't a fan of the style of writing that I found too baroque.
A good story, full of potential
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Rounding down to 3 just for the sake of this rating system, but overall I’d give this a 3.5. Olive is pretty relatable, as I too would probably have a 2 year long mental breakdown if I had been brought back to life and thought that there was nothing for us after death.

The reasons that I didn’t give this a higher rating are as follows:
- Written like a middle school novel, but brought up the topic of sex quite a bit. Didn’t seem to fit with the audience it seemed to be targeting.
- The plot had a clear direction, but the path it took was a little all over the place.
- Love the romance subplot as a concept, but it fell a bit flat and the crush/talking portion of the relationship felt rushed.
- HOW DID NO ONE SUSPECT A THING ABOUT VANESSA? WEARING RIBBONS AROUND YOUR NECK EVERY SECOND OF EVERY DAY IS SUSPICIOUS LIKE COME ON!!!

Overall, a cute read, but not one I would have found myself reaching for again as a teenager.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for my copy of this book! It may have taken me a while to actually finish it, but I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated. Olives character is relatable. We go through the dark times and don't want to be a burden on our loved ones, and often times end up hurting them more than we realize. I would read again, and recommend to others who are looking for a little ghost related story.