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betweentheshelves 's review for:

A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat
4.5
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Despite the fact that this is a horror novel with bugs (probably my least favorite kind of horror), I was hooked for the second half of this book. I had to know what was going to happen next! The sort of lore and mythology behind the house that Libby and her family end up moving into was unravelled slowly with interesting details that all add to the build up by the end.

This book does deal with a lot of heavy things, as Libby is the survivor of suicide. She's trying to recover from that as well as deal with her bipolar III diagnosis. Which is hard even when your house isn't trying to kill you. I appreciated the way her struggles with the spirits in their house sort of mirrored her own struggles dealing with her mental health. It was overall so well done.

Also bonus for having an aro/ace mom! I don't think I've seen that in a teen book before. If you're interested in YA horror, definitely try picking this one up.

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