Hi! I’m here to talk about a paranormal mystery / thriller that I loved and it’ll be out in just a few months! **And as always, the work to support the Black community is not done, whether there is media coverage for it or not, so here is the link to click in order to support the Black Lives Matter movement in any way you can, and thank you to StarlahReads for compiling these resources. You can also visit the description of this video by booktuber Jess Owens, which has links to several additional resources about global events.**
When I was younger, I used to watch Ghosthunters all the time with my sister and my dad. We weren’t sure if we actually believed in ghosts, but we had a good time watching the overly dramatic team make their way through “haunted” locations and try to catch evidence of spiritual beings with their high-tech equipment. I have really fond memories of our TV nights. So when The Dead and the Dark, a debut YA paranormal mystery by Courtney Gould, starts off with a scene from ParaSpectors, I knew I was going to have a good time. The episode snipets throughout the story help the main characters discover what truly is wrong in this small town in Oregon, and the characters, the mystery, the representation, and the message all blew me away in the end.
Something isn’t right in Snakebite, Oregon. Things haven’t been normal since the return of Brandon Woodley, co-host of ParaSpectors and former Snakebite resident. When his husband, Alejo Ortiz, and daughter, Logan, join him in Oregon, it’s under the guise of location scouting for their television show. But Logan isn’t convinced, and the second she steps into town she has a feeling secrets are buried there. Ashley Barton, who has lived in Snakebite her entire life, has been out searching for her boyrfriend, Tristan, who disappeared without a trace six months ago, just a week after Brandon arrived in town. Since the family reunion, more teenagers have gone missing, and some have even turned up dead. Logan is convinced something far more sinister is behind these disappearances, and teams up with Ashley to uncover the truths about Snakebite and unravel the dark forces at play.
*content warnings, as listed on the author’s website, include homophobia (verbal, non-physical), child death, murder, claustrophobia (buried alive), drowning, and slurs*
As I stated above, this book really blew me away. It was dark, sinister, atmospheric, full of characters you may want to hit over the head with a shovel (I mean, I’m not condoning violence per se, I’m just saying…) and at the heart of it all there is Logan, a girl who knows she doesn’t belong and isn’t accepted in the unforgiving town but is forced to find the being behind the madness. Then enters Ashley, a girl who has lived in a conservative small town her entire life, surrounded by like-minded people who aren’t as loving to outsiders as they are to each other. She is conflicted about associating with Logan because the entire town thinks her dads are behind the murders, and additionally they don’t approve of a relationship that may form between the two of them. Even when things come to a head, and violence is inflicted towards Logan for nothing more than being who she is, Ashley’s mother still makes it a point to express how disappointed and humiliated she is at Ashley’s actions and developing feelings. I felt the tension in that scene, and it was heartbreaking yet beautifully done. The mystery itself, especially interludes from the Dark’s point of view, had me itching to know what would happen next, wanting to warn the characters before they met their untimely fate, and overall kept me guessing as to who or what exactly I was dealing with here. The force itself became such a metaphor for the hatred and discrimination that can fester for generations in a place where people just aren’t open to the idea that others can be different from them – that being different does not inherently mean bad or less-than. This book showed how a place filled with that hatred was able to push Alejo and Brandon, two men who loved each other and just wanted to raise a family, fully outside its boundaries, and did not welcome them back. This book was tough to read at times, because I could see how the adults’ world view of people who are different rubbed off on their children, who tried to incite violence upon Logan and her dads any chance they could, and in turn people who associated with them. I found it to be excellently crafted, and I will say I did not guess then ending, nor was I even confident about how the book was going to end 90% of the way through. I was terrified that the characters I’d come to care for would not make it out alive.
I’m not going to spoil here, so I guess if you want to find out who does make it out alive, you’ll just have to pick up The Dead and the Dark when it releases in just a few months on August 3rd, 2021. It will have all the atmospheric vibes to transition your reading from summer to fall, and it will truly keep you engaged the whole way through. I cannot wait to see what other books Courtney Gould has in store for the future, because if they’re anything like this one, I’m going to enjoy myself. *Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, for the e-copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.*
Where to find The Dead and the Dark:
Bookshop
Amazon
Goodreads
Courtney Gould’s site
Macmillan
Thoughts About Things 