whew was this a read!! i absolutely love YA Thriller and the darkness of this twisted plot really proved why. i was hooked from page 1 and didn’t even consider putting it down until i reached the end— it was that good!

the story follows the life of teenage Vivian, who has just spent a guilt ridden summer griefing over the accidental loss of her little sister. in preparation for heading back to school, Viv, who makes a little extra cash as a Twitch streamer, decides to trial run a new horror game from an anonymous invite— the rest is history.

@thebuffwriter outlines the perfect dual timeline following the present and the time of the accident, managing to simultaneously blend together the emotions of fear and guilt for the reader. i like the perspective on grief that this book details, and especially love how the nuances of highschool life are tied in. as for the thrills & chills, they were addicting! there was so much detail to the little scares that made the big scares so much more significant. if you’re looking for a thriller that features spooky video games, doppelgängers & sneaky road trips, pick this up!!!! 🤍

notable likes:

- how social media addiction was incorporated into
- Ash, everything about him was so precious
- the whiplash i got as more details about Viv’s past began to unfurl

This is one of the most unique premises I’ve ever encountered in a book, and though it terrified me at times, it was very well executed. It is a dark, intense YA horror through and through, and I’d definitely recommend checking the trigger warnings before diving in.

Such Lovely Skin follows Vivian, a high school Twitch streamer who gravitates toward all things horror on her platform. Determined to make her return to streaming after a hiatus following a recent tragedy, Vivian decides to give a new indie horror game an offline test run. When an NPC in the game asks her to tell her darkest secret, Vivian inadvertently welcomes an evil doppelgänger into her life-one determined to destroy everything in its path.

Such Lovely Skin is an exploration of grief and identity in the form of facing the most horrific encounters one can experience- from the very real trauma of losing a loved one and subsequent survivor’s guilt, to a paranormal element involving a demon feeding off of harbored deep, dark secrets rooted in that same trauma. When we first meet Vivian, she seems very young and single minded. So focused on building her online streaming platform, she tends to lie and prioritize whatever will help her get closer to her goal of indie horror stardom. But as we get to know her, we see her guilt, her grief, and her desire to improve the lives of those around her in a way that makes her someone you truly want to root for.

As a gamer who started out streaming horror on Twitch (Resident Evil era), their descriptive elements of the gameplay and of the mimic’s behavior was CHILLING. I really felt like I was in the story, experiencing the same emotions as Vivian as she moved through the story. Though this was a very fast paced, quick read, it’s one that’s going to stick with me for awhile 😅 If you’re a fan of campy horror (think The Ring, a movie that TERRIFIED me growing up 😭) then this one is definitely for you!

Think the 2018 movie 𝘊𝘢𝘮, but with Twitch streamers and even more trauma. The premise immediately hooked me—an evil doppelgänger slowly takes over a streamer’s life, and she’s harboring a dark secret. Chaos ensues. Yes, please.

It’s a rough read, though. I couldn’t put it down, but there were moments when I wished I could. Not because it wasn’t good—it’s just that the secret at the heart of the story is 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 heavy. Watching it unfold was devastating.

That said, the book is deliciously creepy. There’s some genuinely terrifying imagery that had me lowkey wanting to sleep with the lights on. If you’re looking for a fast-paced spooky read with some nightmare fuel, this is the book for you.

⭐⭐⭐💫

With the spooky season well underway, this book has been on my radar for a while. As a lover of horror movies and games alike, I was excited to see a book that combined my favorite aspects of both.

Like some of my other reads recently, Such Lovely Skin is ultimately rooted in grief. Viv lets the burden of guilt over a tragic accident weigh on her, so much so that she ends up using a video game to get it off her chest. I particularly enjoyed the third act when Viv realizes just how to get release herself of those demons, both literally and figuratively, even if it is a bit of a frightening journey to get there.

I enjoyed how the book played on the common fear of an evil twin. While my little sister and I grew up pretending to be twins on occasion, there’s something to be said about the voice in the back of your head, questioning whether or not you could have an evil look alike out in the world. In this case, the doppelganger puts its hand in so many aspects of Viv’s life, it’s overwhelming. But, it also uses her past posts and statements against her, causing her similar pain to what she’s inflicted on others. It’s clear the demon is very rooted in her life and this isn’t the first time it’s done this.

My rating is what it is because I don't think the scary aspects of the book were effective. They were rinse and repeat of things we've seen before, and they weren't done differently. I was really hopeful that there could be a new perspective or aspect to this, especially since it was on the page, and that didn't happen.

This book was everything!
The story was interesting and kept me intrigued, I was flying through the pages so the paced was fantastic. It is an YA but please do not let that discourage you, it was creepy and 100% worth the read, hands down my favorite read of September so far.

5/5

This book mentions child death multiple times and may be triggering to some readers.

Such Lovely Skin imagines demonic hauntings in a digital age. Twitch streamer Viv has had the absolute worst summer of her life. She is racked with guilt over the death of her little sister.

After taking a hiatus from gaming, Viv opens a link for a new indie horror game. It's an escape room in an abandoned house, complete with possessed children skittering up the wall. To move on to the next room, Viv must tell a hooded character her darkest secret.

Too bad demons thrive off of guilt.

---
I did not want to put this book down, I was hooked from the first few pages. The details about the little sister (Riley's) death were difficult for me to read and I do caution people to consider this before picking up the book because it's a big part of the story.

A demon doppelgänger who commits horrible acts to isolate you from friends and family sounds like an actual nightmare. It made for a really creepy book.

4.5 stars

This was dark, intense, creepy and spine- chilling horror. Viv was strong yet guilt can truly influence our decision making process. Viv is harbouring a dark secret. Danger is hovering over her. She notices strange happening and something unsettling that has happened in the past still makes her feel guilty. And it has a strong influence on her. Author has shown grief so well. I wasn’t expecting that ending. It shook me. And the idea of having a doppelgänger truly scared me.

You will like this book if you like Japanese horror movies, dark and gory games, family, relationships, dealing with grief and evil doppelgänger.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher

Thank you so much to Page Street YA for the eARC of Such Lovely Skin!

Such Lovely Skin gave me all of the vibes of an early ‘00s movie & it was a BLAST. For being a YA Horror, this one gets pretty dang dark & gruesome. The doppelgänger was actually terrifying & the writing made everything so easy to envision; creepy smiles, terrifying glitchy movements — it’s all here. Such Lovely Skin is so fast-paced & near impossible to put down, if sleep wasn’t necessary I would have easily had this read in one sitting.

I literally have no bad things to say, Such Lovely Skin was the perfect read, especially for those who miss the movies from the ‘00s like The Ring. Please pick this up & fall in love with it like I did 😅.

Rating: 5/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub Date: 9/17
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How in the world was Such Lovely Skin a debut?! This book was absolutely phenomenal. I loved every single second of this book.
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Anyone every play P.T.? It was an exclusive game that was taken off of consoles because of how terrifying it was. THIS BOOK REMINDED ME OF THAT and I’m not going to lie, it scared me half to death. Regardless, right from the start I was totally invested and the story only got better as I continued to read it.
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This is a YA horror, centered around Viv, a high school senior who recently lost her younger sister, who is a twitch streamer. She gets an invite to a horror game, she plays and once she gives this game her deepest darkest secret, her life flips upside down.
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Listen, there is about damn near nothing YA about this book, except for the fact the main character is a teen. I’m not kidding when I say it was absolutely terrifying. Tatiana does a fantastic job at creating such an atmospheric and all around creepy story.
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This is told in a dual timeline; the now, where Viv is trying to right her life and, the past, where we get glimpses into that terrible day that she lost her sister. Each one of the past chapters gives you JUST enough information about Viv’s sisters passing that you are flying though more pages just to figure out what happened. I loved how this story was pieced together bringing everything full circle.
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While yes, this is a horror, this story also has deeper elements to it such as dealing with grief, honesty, friendships and touches on influencer / social media. The character growth is *chefs kiss*. Also, I need to add that this book was so unique that it was refreshing to have something this different to read.
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Such Lovely Skin is thrilling, suspenseful, scary and absolutely perfect for spooky season! I know that I will be thinking of this one for a long time. This is a book you are going to need to add to your must read list!
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Huge thank you to Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
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Whats the scariest book you’ve read? Don’t do scary? Tell me about your weekend!

as an adult, I had a really great time with this YA read.
I loved the cover, and when the description mentioned videogames I knew I had to read it. My initial thoughts were that this will give off major vibes of "Stay Alive" horror movie from 2006 but the book went in a very different direction than the movie.

I was just a little disappointed that there wasn't as much involvement with the videogame itself in the story as I expected.

read this if you love: YA books, demons, sinister games, videogames, dark secrets, supernatural, trauma & grief, doppelgängers, self reflection.

Two YA books that come to mind that you may love if you enjoyed Such Lovely Skin are;
Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons
When Ghosts Call Us Home by Katya De Becerra

Thank you to Netgalley and Page Street YA for sharing a digital copy. As always, opinions are my own.

After spending her summer wracked with guilt because she caused an accident that killed her baby sister, Viv wants to get back into her Twitch streaming. Viv never told her parents the truth about her sister, and hopes being back on twitch will make money to help out her parents as penance. The weekend before school starts Viv finds she has been sent an email inviting her to play a horror game called LOCKED IN, and thinks it would be the perfect game to make her Twitch comeback. During an offline practice run, the game asks her for a secret and she confesses what happened on the day her sister died. Somehow this releases a demon that is a copy of herself, a doppelgänger, who is out destroy her life by exposing the liar that she is.
—-

I’ve always said kids are selfish, and Viv’s character shows just that. The lies she gets caught up with put a strain on her relationship with her parents and her friends, and all she’s worried about is her Twitch follower count. I thought she was a great character with a realistic personality and problems. She was very relatable. At times I was mad at her for all her lies, but then at times I also felt sorry for her and then at other times I was rooting for her!

I myself am not a gamer, and still appreciated the online obsession. It’s a very real thing these days and can be very dangerous. There were also themes of grief, guilt and self acceptance, but then you still got some humor and some creepy horror. It felt like the right amount of reading, not to long or drawn out but long enough to make you a part of the story. Well done in my opinion .

Overall I had fun with this one and thought it was a great debut from the author 🙌. I definitely recommend it!

I was really vibing with this in the beginning: we had really awesome video game narration (between MC Viv’s Twitch-centric narrative voice to the level of detail and description of the movement/jumpscares/dialogues in the game itself), we had a deep sense of guilt, we had a less common story focus (Twitch streaming horror games! Rather than, like, social media influencer).

But as we stepped away from the game, things didn’t hold up as well. I found myself frequently not buying people’s responses to what was happening (mostly the adults) and lots of the consequences seemed very short-lived and easily reversed. I wanted more horror things (like when her closet became the spooky hallway from the game? Stellar) and much more time spent in the game itself.

Also Viv being a known liar should have been played up much earlier. By the time it became relevant it felt almost like an afterthought.

Viv will do anything to keep the viewers and subs to her streams climbing. She has high hopes for her Twitch career and nothing is going to get in her way when she has so much to prove. Not even killing her little sister?

Indie horror games are Viv’s brand, so what better way to get back into the streaming swing of things after a horrific accident than picking up a new one. When opening a possibly dodgy link to a game she’s been sent she thought nothing too bad could come of it, right? But what if she’s just opened the doors for a hungry demon! Can she stop it before it ruins every aspect of her life?

This book haunted me. I honestly became slightly concerned about my probability for accidentally encountering a demon that would wreak absolute havoc on my life. Reading it while travelling alone on a train at night had me looking out for beady yellow eyes on every platform.

Much like one of Viv’s games it felt like there were multiple levels of horror in this story. Whilst starting off creepy, by the end it was brutal with a certain description that made me visibly shudder. I also really enjoyed the relationships between Viv and the other characters. Throughout I was feeling fear of “what if this happened to me?” “How could I possibly get anyone to believe me?” “Would anyone even believe me?” “Would I be completely doomed in this situation?” I do know that going forward I will definitely be more cautious of opening links “just in case” as this definitely feels like something that could happen. This was exactly what I was looking for and I am so glad that I read it! Will definitely be recommending this fear inducing and well-paced YA horror.

Tell me a secret. Darker. And true.


If you want a fast-paced horror book with Stay Alive and The Ring vibes, this is for you.
Such 90s nostalgia!

⚠️
Story revolves around Vivian, a live streamer/horror gamer girl. She must figure out how to stop an evil doppelganger hellbent on tormenting and destroying her life. How did she come across it? By handing over her identity and darkest secret on a silver platter to a virus from hell. ⬇️

Introducing LOCKED IN: An escape room horror game. To escape you must:
Tell your deepest secret. The darker the better.
The problem is, you can't kill it for it is not alive to begin with. An undying evil that feeds on pain and guilt. It only moves on when it takes what it wants. Someone's sanity, pain, and life.



Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street publishing for approving this arc. Ginkilig ko when I received the email. The moment I saw this cover, I knew I just had to read it. 🖤

This one deserves allllll the stars!!! Holy creepy vibes!!! I was hooked from the start and did not put this one down!!! 🙌

And this is a debut novel?!?! 😱 After reading this, I will read anything this author puts out!!! Had me at the MST3K and Crime Junkie references! 🙌

New auto-buy author for me!! It’s YA, but I didn’t feel like I was reading YA! Highly recommend this one, my book peeps!!! 👏

Thank you so much to Tatiana Schlote-Bonne, NetGalley, and Page Street Publishing for the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for my honest review! Easily one of my top reads of the year!! ❤️

Such Lovely Skin begins with the heavy fog of grief. The pain of loss which leaves holes in conversations and nights in making up excuses. With this tension of what exactly happened in the past, Such Lovely Skin manages to balance horror and mystery. What exactly is this secret haunting Viv? What could have been so bad to have it hanging over our days and nights? And why can't she tell the truth? Such Lovely Skin feels relatable - maybe not in scale - but in the secrets we hold close to our chest and what we would to prevent them from getting out.

Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC! This book had me finishing it in just a few hours because of how suspenseful and gripping it is. I absolutely loved that even though it was a horror novel it also navigated themes of grief, loss, guilt, and how Vivian grew by the end of the novel.
Thinking of a rating between 3.5-4 ⭐️ for now because while the horror and supernatural aspects were amazingly written, the dialogue could’ve used a lot more work in my opinion. Otherwise, such a great read!
More in-depth review on Tiktok

When a twitch horror streamer plays a video game the last thing she expects to unleash a demon that is hellbent on getting her to confess her darkest secret...or take out everyone she cares about until she does. Viv has a terrible secret.... she killed her little sister and made it look like it was an accident and never told anyone. Viv was an online horror twitch game streamer but took a break after her sister's death but three months later she decides to get back in.... yet the game she plays is a lot more than she could ever imagine. She unknowingly unleashes a demon that is a doppleganger of her and it wont stop terrorizing her until she confesses... but if she lets the truth out her entire life could be destroyed. The demon is destroying her life and has begun to hurt those around her and if Viv wants to get rid of it she'll have to kill it.... and that means she'll need the help of Ash, a cute social outcast whom Viv once bullied. Things are only going to get worse before they get better... that is if Viv can confess. This was a quick spooky read and one I'd recommend for spooky season. It definitely felt like a teen horror story and would make a fun horror movie. It's a fairly easy to follow storyline and the premise was fine, as a huge horror fan myself I think this was just alright but it'd be one I'd recommend for younger YA readers who want something spooky this halloween season!

Release Date: September 17,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Page Street Publishing | Page Street YA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thanks to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such Lovely Skin was a fast and fun read, centered around a great protagonist with a really solid / consistent POV.

I had no idea what this was about when I initially requested it (I liked the the title and cover) and usually stories where no-one believes a person experiencing supernatural stuff really stresses me out, but the confident writing kept me going with it. It's an impressive debut, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne is a talent to watch for sure.

This will be a movie at some point, I'll sell my soul to Sega if I'm wrong!

Such Lovely Skin burrows under your skin and heads straight into your nightmares. It is a chilling and carefully considered look at grief, guilt and the ghosts we carry with us.

I heard that concept and saw that cover and I was sold. That haunting image perfectly encapsulates this tale of deception and dopplegangers. Viv is such a layered protagonist and inhabits a space that allows for nuance. You may not agree with everything she does but you can understand her motivations behind most of her actions, especially as the narrative unfolds. The horror aspects are so well executed, blurring the line between fantasy and reality in a seamless manner. It is a concept that is just terrifying and embodies that lack of control that grief can wreck your life with. Alongside this, the pacing is relentless and the stakes are always increasing as more of Viv’s life is taken away from her.

Viv is powerless, constrained by her emotions and the secret she is carrying. It matches her life as a gamer, caught between the virtual and real spaces. I thought the depiction of grief was handled sensitively, particuarly with showing the differing reactions of the family. There is a lot to unpack there and it shows the scale of it and how it is always different for each person. We flip between the past and the present, allowing the ghosts to infect the narrative and have that trauma almost bleed through the pages. You want to uncover the truth but are a bit concerned about what you may find in the process.

Such Lovely Skin was a wonderfully unnerving horror that delved into guilt and grief, spilling your darkest secrets and having them come back to haunt you. After all, it is often the ghosts of ourselves that scare us the most.