TW: death, toxic relationship, emotional abuse, manipulation, anxiety, panic attacks, death of a parent
A teenage girl is haunted by her dead abusive ex-girlfriend who gives her an ultimatumn, help possess another girl or go down for her murder. A queer horror ghost story by Kara A Kennedy.
Maya can see ghosts, but since her mom died she tries her very best to keep them away that is until an arguement with her, now ex-girlfriend Alana. Maya leaves Alana on her own and is missing for a few days until Alana turns up at Maya's sisters house as a ghost.
This intrigued me right off the bat. The characters were well written but I also found them highly annoying. As for Maya, I thought she was very stupid for lying to the police in the first place about the night her ex disappeared. It's such a crap trope. There is even evidence to back up her claims about the location of her phone but no she just keeps lying to everyone. Alana had no redeeming qualities about her at all, she was horrible and abusive right from the start. Even in death she was a toxic entity.
I will give Kennedy appause for the execution of writing a character with severe anxiety and panic attacks as well as showcasing the emotional narcasstic abuse from her girlfriend. This relationship wasn't just toxic, it was straight up emotional abuse and hits too close to home with people I know and love. For a debut novel, it's quite a solid novel and I recommend reading it if sapphic horror ghost storys are your thing.
The pacing of the book does slow down during the interlude chapters in which we get to see more glimpses of the past and how Maya perceives relationships around her. Most of these relationships have failed due to Alanas manipulation.
Maya is incredible rude to alot of people and it's explained that Alana's personality has rubbed off on her, that they are more alike because they've spent nearly every minute for the past 3 years together. Despite this, Maya also shows incredible growth throughout the book, coming to terms that she was indeed in an abusive relationship.
We also meet Rowan and I love the friendship that grows from meeting Rowan. She's everything Alana isn't. There are hints of a romance between them but it's not a main plot line.
I would have loved to read more about Maya's ability to see ghosts and perhaps some other ghosts she helped out because all we ever hear about is one ghost and it's Alana. I want to know more about the spirit realm and if other paranormal things exist in this universe. This could be the start of a 3 part series if Kennedy would let it but it also stands on its own.
I gave this book a 3.5 star rating. A good solid debut with a great representation of anxiety and emotional abuse.
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