A creative and unique tale of haunting and magic. It was everything I expected it to be. I highly recommend this book.

Solid 4 star read!

Reminded me of old school cartoons? Just throw in some Native American culture & a slow burn budding romance.

The main character resonated a lot with me. I think about the complex subject of death A LOT. However, I feel like Olive lacked some depth.

Perfect for a spooky hopeless romantic !

Thank you to the publisher, the author, & to NetGalley for a copy of the ARC!

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this cover but let me tell you, it’s true when they say not to judge a book by it.

So I actually chose this book because of it's cover. And well, because it talked about death and I do like some spooky vibes. The book was so much more than I thought it was going to be. I went in with low hopes because I've had books like this before and I didn't really like it but it held me in a grip! And much more scary than I thought. This was one of those books where I had to stop reading to go to sleep because between the characters and the story made it exciting. I loved reading it and especially during the spooky month of the year!

“After my brush with death, everyone asked me if I saw a light at the end of a tunnel. And the fact that I didn't scared me so much that I almost convinced myself nothing mattered. But I guess I didn't think about what that expression really means.

To get to the light, you have to go through the darkness.

So I feel the pain, and then I feel the joy.” 🪦🪴

I feel like everyone is starting to celebrate Christmas, but I’m usually in spooky-mode all the way up until December 1st!

Here Lies Olive is about a girl who has a brush with death and is obsessed with finding a ghost to confirm if what she experienced was all that is waiting for everyone on the other side - nothingness. Because of this, she’s emotionally estranged from her friends and family…until she finds a real ghost trying to move on. They make a deal: she helps him find the afterlife, and he sends a sign about what awaits her after death. Olive is forced to team up with her ex-best friend, the new girl who is suspiciously manipulative, and her sworn enemy who she may or may not be attracted to. What could go wrong?

This book was creepy and exciting! I really enjoyed the historical elements and how Maren was dedicated to righting the wrongs of the past. Even though I didn’t exactly understand Olive’s perspective of shutting herself away from everyone just because there might be nothing after death, her existential crisis was relatable and I’m glad she eventually opened herself up. The only thing that bothered me was how Davis had such a shitty ending compared to everyone else. The whole situation was technically Olive’s fault, but he suffered the worst consequences.

Thank you NetGalley and North Star Editions for this arc!

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.

https://lesbrary.com/here-lies-olive-by-kate-anderson/

Here Lies Olive by Kate Anderson is a young adult fiction novel that follows sixteen-year-old Olive as she navigates unwitting friendships to save a ghost that she accidentally-on-purpose brings into the material plane in order to find out if the Nothing that she saw when she “died” after an allergic reaction is really all there is at the end. She is constantly thinking about the Nothing; it becomes such a preoccupation and such a big source of anxiety for her that she abruptly ends her friendship with her best friend Davis, and she has to figure out how to be by his side again post-Nothing when his new girlfriend pulls both Olive and Olive’s school enemy Maren into his life.

I’m not usually a YA person, but the premise of Here Lies Olive was so good that I decided to give it a chance. I’m glad I did! I liked this story a lot more than I expected. The author really captures the drama of being a teenager in a way that I found myself able to get into. At times when I typically would have started rolling my eyes or DNF-ing any other YA novel, I instead found myself able to accept the over-the-top reactions to the dramatic situations Olive and her friends find themselves in due to the way Kate Anderson set up the story. Of course Olive is dramatic; she’s a teen who died, came back to life, and is now terrified about the dark, lonely fate that she thinks awaits her and everyone she’s ever cared about. Of course she stopped hanging out with her best friend and thinks that losing his friendship will hurt less than losing him to the Nothing; she’s a teenager. She doesn’t know any better. I completely understood where Olive was coming from. It reminded me of how big every emotion felt during my own teenage years, and I didn’t even have ghosts or the Nothing to deal with. Olive is definitely the sort of character I could see a younger me finding a lot of solace in.

I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the budding relationship between Olive and Maren. I’m a big fan of enemies to lovers, and while their rivalry wasn’t as strong or visceral as I typically like my rivalries to be, it still seemed plenty important to Olive and Maren, and that was good enough for me to keep reading. A slow-burn has to be a very specific brand of slow-burn for me to love it, and I think Olive and Maren almost hit that mark within this genre.

What really kept me reading, though, was the supernatural aspect of the book. I really love the way Kate Anderson made sure to keep the ghostly details going throughout the story. I was worried that, at some point, the ghost stuff would drop off to be replaced by just regular teenage life, but the book’s supernatural element was up and in your face until the very end. Even the town Olive lives in is spooky! Nearly everybody has a job somehow associated with death, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one hundred percent of the population claimed that Halloween was their favorite holiday. Olive always thinks of the Nothing once she comes back from it, and the moment she brings Jay’s ghost into the fold, she stays with him, intent on righting her wrong and getting the confirmation she craves about what truly happens after death. Olive never loses her curiosity with the thing that led me to pick up the book in the first place, and that kept me holding on when I could have dropped off.

Here Lies Olive still contains some of the regular qualms I have with the Young Adult genre: a villain revealed in the third act who the main character could have figured out was the villain in the first act, parents who talk to their teenagers like they either have no time for them or like they’ve all gone to therapy, and a solution to a problem at the end that feels way too perfect. But I still enjoyed it, and I would easily recommend this book to anyone who wants a YA novel with a bit of a dark twist.

Content warnings for death (obviously), ghosts, and some gore that I didn’t expect but actually really liked.

I found this to be very engaging and well written . I definitely see myself rereading this book again because I loved how grief is explored in it .

Thank you for the arc !

This was a spooky book, perfect for those who like horror-lite like me!

Olive died two years ago, if only for 5 minutes. She had an allergic reaction to shellfish. As long as she stays away from them, she should be fine, but she doesn't feel fine. Instead of seeing an afterlife, all she saw was blackness. She calls it the Nothing. She drops her friends, even her best friend Davis, to protect her heart from ever losing anyone again.

She accidentally becomes friends with Mrs. H at the local nursing home, and is there when she passes away. But Mrs. H isn't afraid when she dies - her face lights up and she says, "Mom." Olive has a tiny sliver of hope. Maybe she's wrong and there is an afterlife. She decides to ask a ghost.

After finding a ritual to bring someone back, she goes to the most haunted place in their (very haunted) town, and drags along new girl Vanessa and her ex-bestie, Davis. She brings Jay back, but unwittingly ties him to this world and dooms him to turn into a shade, unless she can find his grave. She needs the help of Davis, Vanessa and her nemesis/frenemy/crush Maren to free Jay from this world and find out what happens after death (and maybe save her town as well).

You'll struggle to figure out who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in this book, but that's part of the fun! There is some romance, although most of the action is off-page. There definitely is violence, but this is horror-lite for the most part. You won't be kept up with nightmares!

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

The premise of "Here Lies Olive" is very intriguing and I couldn't wait for the weather to get colder to let myself fall into a dark read.

Unfortunately I couldn't get on with the writing style from the first page on. Kate Anderson attempts to create atmosphere through details but I couldn't get over the really hard-trying decorations and the thoughts of our protagonist about those. Maybe it is because I live in Germany where the most Halloween decoration is a carved pumpkin for the majority of residents - and here are way more people living in apartements than in houses that can afford to put a pumpkin out there on the streets.

The first positive reaction I had about Olive was when she gave directions to the new kid. Just to destroy it through making fun of a group of tourists.

Overall I am sad to say that this book didn't click with me but I hope that it will find its readers!

dnf at 45%. i just couldn’t care for the story of the characters. maybe i’m not in the right mood or the book simply isn’t for me but it’s a big meh on my part

I thought this was so fun! It reminds me of Scooby doo, with ghosts and comedy and heart. It really has a lot of heart to it, and I loved the cast of characters and their interactions. I think all of the characters are quite likeable and interesting, but I honestly loved them most when they were interacting. This book is spooky and haunted, and the setting is so well written. Definitely a good read for spooky season.

Holy hell here I go!
1 adored the characters in this book. Absolutely, positively adored them.
Each one had their own unique personality, with a gothic main character who has stared death in the eyes and being set in small town America with a vintage 1950's vibe.. it seriously can't get any better!
But somehow it does; we add in a sprinkle of generational trauma, a healthy dump of paranormal themes (including a vengeful witch and lost ghost boy), and finally top it off with one of the most adorable sapphic relationships I've ever read. You get this fantastic work of art.
Olives character development, Maren's integrity and willingness to make amends, Davis' loyalty and Vanessa's character arc? Chefs kiss!
Not to mention the way Olive manages to set aside both her grudge for the towns "local villain," the descendant of a man who exploited the poor to make a profit and hid their untimely deaths, Maren, and surpass her fear of death to fall in love...I can't! They could not be any more perfect for each other.
A small side note I have to add; I'm hard of hearing, use a hearing aid in my day-to-day life. Although I don't use sign language, it's always a welcome inclusion in any book I read. It fills me with joy seeing a character use it to communicate.

I absolutely loved Here Lies Olive.
It was just the right amount of spooky to get me into the Halloween spirit.
White Haven was such a fun setting. I could easily picture the characters, and loved their journey.
I loved olives journey, and felt for her and how she so desperately wanted to know what comes after death. And realizing you need to darkness in order to see the light.
I loved her journey of self discovery, and building the relationship with Davis again and Maren for the first time.
Some reveals at the end had my head spinning. It was such a fun and spooky read!

Top 5 Reasons to Read

1. Every once in a while, a book just hits right for the season in which you're reading it. This year for me, it's this book -- it's absolutely perfect for spooky season! This book is not just spooky and creepy, but downright scary in parts.

2. Just look at that stunning cover! It's got everything -- the ribbons, the candles, the gravestones that Olive's dad carves! It's absolutely perfect.

3. The book is a great exploration of existential dread, from a teenage point of view. Ever since Olive's near-death experience from an allergic reaction, where her heart stopped for five minutes, she's been terrified of the Nothing she believes awaits her in the afterlife.

4. Olive lives in *the* cutest little town, where I'd absolutely love to live myself! I love it when the setting becomes a character itself, and White Haven does that here.

5. Here Lies Olive is a tender examination of a girl's awakening sexual attraction, in this case to another girl. And it's enemies to lovers, which is absolutely my favorite romantic trope!

Thanks so much to the publisher and author for an early e-copy of the book, and to TBR and Beyond Tours for having me on the tour!

this was amazing, not a 5 star but still good regardless, I liked it a lot

thank you netgalley for the arc

Dnf @ 50%

Thank you to netgalley and flux for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This started off as what seemed to be the perfect read for spooky season, but the writing, plot and characters were very inconsistent. At times the writing was beautiful and held depth and at other times I felt like the plot was pulling at strings, attempting to pull itself together.

The overall premise was intriguing, asking the question: what happens after you die? It made a lot of important commentary on life and death and what lies in between but this just wasn’t enough to save this book for me.

The twists were predictable and the one I didn’t see coming was basically revealed in a game of truth or dare. Rather than hinted at, it almost entirely revealed itself leaving me wishing that particular scene had been cut completely.

I felt like the characters back tracked a lot, and their feelings toward each other switched back and forth much too quickly leaving me struggling to figure out their true feelings and intentions.

Perhaps this book was just meant for a much younger audience than me, but i felt like some of the scenes delving into death and blood may be too much for some younger readers.

While I loved the paranormal aspects the references to some of my favorite pop punk bands and the lgbt rep, the bad still outweighed the good.


I do think there are people who will highly enjoy this book, especially with its release right in the prime of spooky season, but it just wasn’t for me.

I really love when spooky books get published in October. It feels right to read something eery and paranormal during October. It brings me memories of being younger and curling under the covers during the scary season. Here lies Olive is perfect for this season.

I think it’s so human to consider death, not even in a morbid way. Everyone dies, it’s normal to wonder what exists after or if there even if is an after. I loved how that was portrayed in this book and how Olive handles it.

Overall, this was a lovely frightening book. I’m a big baby and this did give me creeps where the creeps were due. I enjoyed the friendship and relationships aspects that we see in this story. I would’ve liked the pacing to be a more consistent but other than that a solid October book.

Thanks to North Star Editions and Netgalley for this copy.

Here Lies Olive follows teenager Olive Morana as she struggles with a very hard question 'Is there anything after death?' after her own brush with it. What follows is a story of summoning spirits, revenge, and digging up skeletons that some in the town of White Haven would rather stay buried.

This story was good, my biggest issue is that there were some parts that felt just a bit plodding, but when things start to come together, holy jeez do they come together. The atmosphere is spooky and Olive's journey is bittersweet as she reconnects with friends, falls in love, and struggles with these connections among the fear and pain of losing someone.

I am a sucker for stories about grief and this one was beautiful, touching not just on mourning people who have died but also mourning the people we used to be before something traumatic happens, but also how difficult and rewarding it is to open oneself back up again. This was a very cathartic read on that front. In terms of spookiness, Seymour house was properly creepy but the true horror of people having enough money to do whatever they want and get away with it was *chef's kiss*. There were plenty of hints at who the true culprit was and it felt like a reward in how it culminated in the final standoff.

I absolutely hated the protagonist from page one -- she very much felt like a teen written for an even younger, maybe middle-grade, audience, and spoke in a very Disney Channel way that was both cloying and unrealistic. There was minimal plot to speak of, other than a forced and drawn-out romance, and I would barely consider this horror.