You’re not a very nice girl, are you?

PLOT SUMMARY:

The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter—and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.

Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she’s just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she’s been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?

GRADE: A+

REVIEW:

I absolutely loved this novel. Usually, reading about hauntings isn’t my thing because books with ghosts tend to be so tropey- however, Kiste’s novel is so intriguing and fresh that it takes haunting to a whole new level. A whole neighborhood disappears with the people that lived there and no one can enter it except for the three friends that used to live there and are the only survivors. I love the idea of childhood friends that return to their original home to try to understand what exactly happened twenty years ago. I love the dynamic that Talitha and Brett had, you couldn’t help but root for these childhood friends that realized years ago that maybe their feelings verged more than friendship but in the world they lived in, their love couldn’t ever be front and center. This is a character driven novel, but the lush, Gothic atmosphere will completely seduce you too. I couldn’t put this book down and read it in two days! That’s to say that I was completely mesmerized by the story and just wanted to bask in it, and I loved that it had The Virgin Suicides vibes but being told from the female perspective instead of the male gaze.

I recommend this book if you love hauntings, ghosts, Gothic feels, queer characters, and mystery soaked in suspense.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Saga Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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