Wow, this was an odd but good book. All about those weird queer friendships where friendship and romance lines blur. Messy and chaotic, this was a deeply funny read with some obvious sadness that comes with a coming of age story.

Theron David Alden first meets Jake when he gets a summer job while staying with his father in New Hampshire. Jake is the manager of the hardware store where they both work. Two years older, Jake is everything Theron is not — seemingly effortlessly cool and sure of his place in the world. Despite their differences, Jake and Theron develop a strong friendship and, Theron wonders, maybe more.

The summer comes to an end too quickly. Theron returns to his home with his mother in California, and Jake returns home in Texas. The two sporadically stay in touch but don’t see each other until six years later, when Jake comes to visit Theron in New York. The visit is both everything that Theron hoped for, but also ultimately an end to a question that persisted for him since that fateful summer.

This is a perceptive and moving novel about growing up and finding your place in the world. The author captures the strong emotions Theron feels for Jake, and the way the uncertainty around how Jake feels exerts a powerful force on Theron throughout most of his early adulthood. It also portrayals effectively the way you can be so close to another person and yet not really understand them at all.

Highly recommended.

This story was captivating and engaging the whole time through! For a debut, I loved the depth of our main characters and how you could feel the emotion and connection they held between them. Half of the time it felt like I was reading a memoir it was that powerful. Thank you so much NetGalley for the ARC!

Almost exactly half of this was gorgeous. Equal parts awkward, lovely and perfect.

The other half fell short. I struggled to get through it, but ultimately finished because I wanted to see it through. The ending was deeply sad, as I expected it to be.

My biggest problem with this is that the substance abuse was incredibly heavy handed. I also felt like the connection between Theron and Lou was, for lack of better words…corny? It was played up, from the beginning, as being this soulmate-level relationship, and yet I could never buy into it.

I appreciated a lot about this novel. A bisexual coming of age? Forgiving your parents for their shortcomings? There were so many lines that made me laugh without thinking about it.

I think this could be really special, for the right person.

Hauntingly beautiful, made me sob, I don't know when I'll recover from this.

As mainly a romance reader, I fear I won't do this book justice as I don't think I have the proper words to even explain my thoughts on this book.

This book is half coming of age as a teen and then some more in their 20s.

Coming back to NH for his first summer alone with his dad since his parents' divorce, Davey spends all his time getting high until his dad finds out and makes him get a job at the local hardware store. He meets Jake there, a cool 17, almost 18, year old who has his same taste in music. Awkward Davey has his chance to reinvent himself with this stranger who's in town from Texas visiting his mom. He doesn't have to be Davey anymore, he doesn't even have to be David. He's not Theron, introducing himself to Jake and starting a friendship. They spend all their time together, at work, getting high and drunk, watching sunsets in the Walmart parking lot, and just existing in the same space. Theron doesn't know himself, let alone anyone else, but he knows there's something there for Jake, knows he doesn't want to hear about his fiancee, knows that this is the summer of his life. It all ends in a car crash.

6 years later Jake reaches out again. They haven't seen each other since Jake was carted off to the ambulance, Theron following behind him to the hospital, to never reconnect. But Jake is headed to NYC and Theron has a place for him to crash.

And it ultimately all ends at the third of the car accidents - the one which takes Jake's life.

I don't often seek out books about any queer pain, but this is exactly that. IT was written beautifully, I cannot express how much I loved the language and felt drawn in. This is very character-heavy, and at times the characters aren't great. They don't handle things well, even if they go to therapy. Being in Theron's head is a lot at times, and I had to put the book down and only read a little at a time. This book handles hard topics and discussions. They spend a lot of time not sober. They talk about suicidal ideation and depression. There is a lot of internalized homophobia. There's death lacing its way through the pages.

We know how it ends, but we get to see the start of their summer together, their time before Jake's ultimate crash.

This one will last in my memory for a while. An absolutely stunning debut.

When I say I would do anything for Theron I'm not being dramatic. I adored this book. Out of the 250 I have read this year, this one is my favorite by far. I loved the journey from teen to adult and feeling like we got to get into Theron's head. The coming of age in this book is absolutely unmatched. I will be recommending this book for the rest of my life. 6 stars.

Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson is a captivating and deeply emotional debut novel that explores love, friendship, and the haunting memories that linger from one unforgettable summer. Set against the evocative backdrop of rural New Hampshire and later, New York City, the novel traces the lives of two young men, Theron and Jake, whose intense bond during their teenage years leaves an indelible mark on both of them.

The novel opens with a haunting premise: it took three car crashes to kill Jake. Theron witnesses the first two, which bookend the crucial moments of their relationship—one during a transformative summer when they first meet, and another six years later, when their complicated connection takes an even deeper emotional toll. The novel alternates between the simplicity of their teenage bond and the complexities of their adult lives, exploring themes of love, insecurity, and the ache of longing for something just out of reach.

Thompson’s writing is lyrical and haunting, with a remarkable ability to distill the pain and beauty of fleeting moments. The novel captures the rawness of youth, the intoxicating pull of first love, and the enduring impact of loss. While it delves into heavy themes like grief and self-discovery, it’s also filled with moments of joy and warmth, making it a rich and layered reading experience.

Anyone's Ghost beautifully portrays the fragility of relationships and the weight of unspoken emotions. With its blend of nostalgia, heartbreak, and hope, this debut is sure to resonate with readers who appreciate complex, character-driven stories that linger long after the final page.

Thank you Penguin Press and NetGalley for the eARC of Anyone's Ghost! All opinions in this review are my own.

I ended up enjoying this one way more than I thought I would. It is definitely a sadder and darker book than I have been reading lately but I like how it tells the story of how intense a relationship can be even if you don't see someone that often.

The story is framed around three car accidents and you learn in the opening chapter that Theron was there for the first two with Jake, but not the third. The story them cuts to the summer of the first accident that details Theron and Jake's meeting and hang outs. Although on the surface not a lot happens, time in this section has the syrupy elasticity that a summer of youth has. All they do is hang out but it is also some of the best times. Despite only being with Jake one more time before his death, Theron's recounting of the stories show how deep this relationship was for him.

I feel like it's hard to put into words why I like this book so much but I look forward to more from this author.

Lovely and sad and artfully captures a very specific New England Feeling. I enjoyed this book a lot and thought it was very precise and well written.

Such a quintessential book. The audiobook is also perfection. I highly recommend this book for all libraries and queer literary collections. Absolutely gut-wrenching in all the right ways, and a read that will stay with me for a very long time.

2.5 stars.

August Thompson’s Anyone’s Ghost has a great premise, to say the least. It follows two young men and their relationship right from the first time they meet to the younger man, David, receiving news of Jake’s death in his third car crash. We are then taken through his memory and all the self-destructive things that these two teenagers indulge in, including drugs and DUIs.

My problem with this book is that it focuses too much on the drugs. I mean, I get it. They are teenagers and teenagers are wont to do stupid things and take bad decisions, and only then do they realize that those things were stupid and those decisions were bad. God knows I’ve done a few in my life. (Not drugs and DUIs. Calm down, Dad.)

But here, it’s as if these are what make the boys’ lives. As if there is nothing else about them that makes them interesting as characters. They aren’t too young to expect depth of character in a book like this either. So it just makes it feel like the story is just a long repetition of “we drank, we smoked, we drank, we smoked.”
Okay. Then what?
Sometimes such descriptions are reductive for a book, but Anyone’s Ghost does that to itself. It promises a lot of depth but all it ends up being is 2 boys doing drugs and both pining for each other but unable to be with each other because Jake has a girlfriend. And then he has the audacity to say, “The timing has been wrong since I met Jess.”

Not a huge fan of this book unfortunately. :/

𝗔𝗡𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘’𝗦 𝗚𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗧 by debut author August Thompson is a book I’d best describe as haunting. We know from the opening pages that one of its main characters, Jake, will die by the end in his third car accident. But before we get to that we meet Theron, a 15 year old boy who’s returned to New Hampshire to spend the summer with his dad after his parents’ recent divorce. He’s bored and resentful and dreading the entire visit. He’s also a little confused and unsure of himself and his place in the world. Forced to take a job at the local hardware store, Theron’s summer improves when he meets Jake, two years older, beautiful, and all the cool that Theron longs to be.⁣
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Throughout the story I was moved by Theron’s tender adoration for, and wistful attraction to Jake. He keeps those feelings in check for a very long time, settling for friendship above all else. As the two grow older, they rarely see each other, their lives diverge, and yet a connection is always there.⁣
⁣
I found the middle portion of this coming-of-age story really tugging at my heartstrings and not just for Theron, but for Jake, too. Sometimes life can just be so hard and Thompson did an especially good job of showing the reader that rather than telling them. I, for one, so appreciate that. Parts of this book might be difficult for more tender readers, but it also has elements almost anyone can relate to. It’s dark, but sweet, a combination that almost always works for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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Thanks to @PenguinPress for an electronic copy of this book via @NetGalley.

Great great book. I thought about the opening lines for weeks, very tragic, very beautiful. I loved the writing style and the rawness of the characters. I really wish to have more of it.

Wow. An extraordinary debut novel, indeed.

Anyone’s Ghost is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that follows Theron, an insecure fifteen-year-old whose life is upended when a slightly older boy named Jake shows up as his manager at his part-time job one summer. Jake is confident and self-assured — everything Theron wants to be and everything Theron wants, full stop. Over the years, Jake flits in and out of Theron’s life, and Theron finds himself utterly consumed and intoxicated, every time. But Jake is a little too wild for his own good, and the third car crash finally gets him.

The first thing that grabbed me was undoubtedly the writing style. It was raw and perfectly captured the quiet devastation of internalized homophobia and grief. I was captivated by Theron’s narration from start to finish, and he was just such a well-written, multi-layered character. Jake was also very clearly his own character but we were able to see him through Theron’s eyes, giving him a sort of “mythical” quality that was just very intriguing.

While the blurb mentions the three car crashes and essentially gives away the ending, it’s actually not a huge part of the book. There is so much more to Theron and Jake’s story.

My only wish would probably be that I wish there was more connectivity between the time skips, even if it was just a few mini-chapter. Maybe this is me being greedy and just wanting more, but I also just feel like it took me a little while to get me situated when the setting changed.

Other than that, I really don’t have anything bad to say about this book. The writing style is extremely immersive and the narration is captivating. As someone who loved movies like Maurice, I felt like this book gave me the same feelings I had watching that, and it has the same sort of mysterious atmosphere. I would highly highly recommend this one.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin Press for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it now in your local and online bookstores and libraries.

I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped to.
It was engaging and there were moments of beautiful writing here and there but I felt the story could have been much more but unfortunately it fell short. I fear it came close to the bullseye but missed.

I really loved this story. It moved me in so many ways, the characters felt like real people and I have continued to think of them often after finishing the book. The real standout though was the writing. Wow, was this well written. I'm anxious to pick up anything else this author writes just to be back in their storytelling.

I was so afraid to read this and I get why. This just absolutely destroyed me. I don't think I've ugly cried like I did for this book in a long time.

Anyone’s ghost is a coming of age story that follows Theron and Jake as they become fast friends during a summer in their teens. Throughout the years, their relationship transforms into something much deeper.

This book was incredibly intimate and emotional. You find out in the first sentence of the book that Jake is going to die, but the book is told from Theron’s perspective. So you really spend the whole book watching Theron fall for this person, knowing it’s going to end in tragedy. I thought it was incredibly effective to let us know what was going to happen right from the start.

I thought it was a beautiful read overall, but I’m taking off a point because the pacing was a little all over the place. It lost my attention at times.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Press for the ARC!

**Many thanks to Shelf Awareness, Penguin, and August Thompson for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

It takes a special kind of book to make you wonder "Is this a memoir? Or is this fiction?"

August Thompson's compelling debut, Anyone's Ghost, is JUST that kind of haunting, memorable, emotionally penned, and evocative read.

Our story begins with a shocking message: "It took three car crashes to kill Jake." Theron Alden is more than devastated to hear of this passing...he is forever altered. As he returns to attend Jake's funeral, we then jump back in time to a summer when Theron was just beginning to find himself...but not knowing where or how this journey was supposed to start. A strained relationship with his father has left him in a vulnerable place, but when he takes a summer job at a store in his tiny New Hampshire town, he meets Jake and is instantly blown away by this effortlessly cool 17 year old who is EVERYTHING Theron (or David, as he is called by everyone else in his life) wants to be: edgy, funny, and a bit dangerous. The pair bond over their love of the same rock music, and Jake gets Theron intimately involved with drugs, theft, and a dangerous joyride or two...until one day, everything changes.

Theron begins to realize that his feelings for Jake aren't brotherly love, or the simple, unspoken kinship of two teenage boys: they are reminiscent of first love. At first, Theron doesn't know what to make of the emotions and hormones that are coursing through him...and he's also terrified to lose the person closest to him by exploring anything more or making his intentions known. But after a planned trip away together falls apart and Jake goes off the grid for a while...Theron knows that this MUST be something more. When the two reconnect, however, Theron discovers that Jake has spent a significant portion of this time with his fiancee, Jess...and something deeper than jealousy grabs hold. After a devastating car crash that both boys are lucky to escape, however, something changes...and for the first time Theron gets an indication that perhaps he isn't the only one with burgeoning feelings. But is Jake held hostage by what society and his fiancee 'expects' him to do? Or are some feelings just too strong and too complex to be ignored? Has all of the tension building between these two been leading to a crescendo of passion...or will Theron finally get his answer and be forced to repair his broken heart all alone, WITHOUT his best friend at his side....before he eventually loses him forever?

While I respect and applaud Thompson's brilliance in starting the book with the revelation that Jake would not survive his third car crash, I have to admit, this beginning made it difficult for me to immediately jump into the story. This opening points to how vital Jake is to the story, but without the context of his character, the mentions of death and the funeral from the jump felt almost off-putting to me as a reader. I was a bit concerned I wasn't going to get into the book at all, and knowing such a vital and saddening piece of information from the beginning ALMOST made me question whether I would feel the emotional push and pull I had initially anticipated. Much like Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End, giving away THAT much from the very beginning can make you question the author's intent or if the story to follow will be ABLE to surprise you.

But by about 30% through this book, I honestly was questioning whether this was fiction or fact: Theron's vulnerability, openness, and frank reflective nature felt just THAT real.

This book is part coming-of-age, part light buddy comedy, and part love story...but with all the emotional heft of a no-holds-barred memoir as Jake lets his readers in on not only his transformation from boy to man, but the exploration of his sexuality and the blurred edges he experiences over the course of many years with Jake. The interplay of Jake and Theron's other relationships with their respective girlfriends, as well as Theron's complex relationship with his father are also interspersed throughout the book and help to give depth and breadth to the complexity of his journey of self-discovery. Although you know the period that will come at the 'end of the book's sentence' (so to speak) every word is worth reading along the way. Though I haven't read Call Me By Your Name (a source of inspiration for the author), Thompson also credits a long list of musical acts at the end, from the National to Metallica, and as a music aficionado, THIS I can confirm: the songs here are chosen with a purpose, and you'll almost feel as though you're riding along in the car with Jake and Theron, wind blowing in your hair, as you let the thumping bass move through you: it's simply that visceral.

Theron's connection to Jake is far more than skin deep, and despite their somewhat disparate life journeys (and Jake's untimely demise), one passage in particular sums up the pain of being alive and the sort of unwavering devotion that only the purest and most selfless kind of love can deliver:

"He told me I didn't need to say sorry because it wasn't my fault. I could never understand why people needed to clarify that. That I'm sorry is not an apology from me to you but an apology for being. I'm sorry that life is this difficult. I'm sorry that there's so much harm to be found. I would give anything to change the nature of the world, even if I could just change it for you."

4 stars