My thanks to NetGalley and Flux for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT



The premise sounded interesting, but the actuality of it was a bit of a hot mess to me. I'm not overly into horror/thrillers and two of three bad guys were pretty obvious, even if their connection wasn't. If I hadn't been skimming to get to the big reveal at the end, I probably would have figured out the final bad guy, but I wasn't overly impressed, as it all seemed a tad too convoluted.

And squicky.

The scene with Melanie's drunk dad had some less than wholesome tones that left me wondering if he was going to assault her. He was drunk and going on and on about how much she looked like her mom and how much he missed her and how pretty she was, etc and it was very uncomfortable.

Then you add in the possibility that there might have been some half-sibling kissing going on and I was properly squicked out. It is quite possible, though the family tree is not fully explained, that the first Melanie and Logan are the product of wife #1 and the dad and that the second Melanie is the product of wife #2 and the dad. So when Logan is practically forcing himself onto the second Melanie, that's his half sister. And when the first Melanie, who was maybe six or so when she was killed, is kissing the boyfriend through possessing Melanie, while also kissing Melanie through possessing the boyfriend at the same time, is both possessing and kissing her half sister. And she's very underage. Yes, she was around the boyfriend for ten years after the murder, but she for her last moment on earth, she was a very young girl. Did her mind and emotions age as she was haunting the boyfriend or would they have been frozen at the age of death? Either way, disturbing on multiple levels.

And the ending was over the top and not overly believable with how the teens were allowed to go off, after they had been found the first time. Also unbelievable is how the dad managed to capture two girls who were close to the two MCs, so they had to go to save their friend and her sister, rather than call the police and have them do it.

I admit, horror and thriller are not my genre, so this book didn't work as well for me as I am sure it will for others. I will recommend to the YA horror readers who come to our store, but I wouldn't recommend to just anyone. This is a more niche book for a more niche audience I think. 1.5 stars, rounded down to 1, because I didn't enjoy the writing style, the characters or the way things unfolded. I didn't hate it, but it just isn't for me.

I'm sorry it has taken so long to review this title. I absolutely loved it and appreciate being able to have the opportunity to read it. Thank you.