Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I…did not enjoy this book. 2.5/5

Perhaps the writing style is just not for me, but, it was what got us started on the wrong foot. The number of similes and metaphors used was mind-numbing. The way the narrator would pop in, in these long stories written in parenthesis, mentioning something that was only mildly related was frustrating.

My issues with the story were that in an attempt to be atmospheric, we got either too little background or too much detail. This made me want to skim the story, but I couldn't because so often an important detail was buried under unimportant information. These characters are all primarily supposed to be 16, with Lucia being 13. None of them felt like they were in their early to mid-teens, and this read like they were all in college. There would be the occasional mention of something that would remind me they were supposed to be teens, and that threw me a bit.

The actual spookier sides of this story were actually very good! There was just so little of them that it took away from those moments. I found the main character honestly unbearable, which is unfortunate, as she is the one narrating it. I really wanted to like this book especially due to the comparisons it was given…but this just was not it for me.