Victoria Fulton

This novel kind of played out like a typical teen horror movie. There was a group of friends: the obsessive leader, the popular, carismatic infulencer, the tech genius, and one in touch with the spirit world (against her will). The plot kept my interest, and I enjoyed the characters. I especially enjoyed hearing multiple narrators. Even though they didn't do simultaneously or multi-narration, it was cool hearing different narrators for all of the main characters. I wish it had been scarier, show more but I can only expect so much from YA. All-in-all, it was an enjoyable listen. show less

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

I hated high school.

Getting the opportunity to write for what has become a popular tv show right out of college has been great for Ellie. Not so great, it's a tv show about highschool, something Ellie doesn't want to remember. When her ten year high school reunion invitation gets fished out of the trash at work and her boss is dangling a promotion to co-executive producer if Ellie goes to show more the reunion, she's trapped. Armed with a bucket list drawn up by her two LA bestfriends, Ellie's reluctantly ready to take on high school again.

“We'll call it Ellie Is Cool Now,” Vic says.

Told all from Ellie's point-of-view, Ellie is Cool Now was a chik-lit easy read that had a cynical, leaning mean tone as Ellie goes back home and judges the hell out of everyone and everything. I found myself glad that she was never one of the popular kids in school because she would have been an absolute monster. Ellie recognizes that she's judgmental, admitting it over and over, and while she had flashes of maybe she's going to grow from this, the ending pretty much left her the same as when she started, except she got a happily for now.

This is why I didn't want to be reunited with my past.

Too busy judging everyone, Ellie never let herself fit in, except with her childhood bestfriend Roxy. As they get older, though, and home issues with a sick and mean mom, Roxy starts to become self-destructive and turns to alcohol, eventually sleeping with a lot of classmates, earning her the Most Likely to Brighten Your Day yearbook crown. Teens can be fairly self-centered, so I didn't blame Ellie for being too wrapped up in her own head to really be there for Roxy but when they meet up again as adults, Ellie still thinks and says some pretty mean things to Roxy. This is partly from the hurt Ellie is still carrying around after seeing Roxy make-out with who Ellie thought she knew was her big high school crush, Mark. Ellie had chances with Mark senior year but when she likes someone, she treats them like dirt, due to insecurities and fear. Her attitude toward him in high school had adult Mark claiming he never even knew Ellie liked him.

“I liked you,” he says softly.

When Ellie gets back home to small-town Midwest for the reunion, she runs into Mark and Roxy fairly quickly and the reunion actually happens in the first half. Her bucket list consists of ten objectives, make-out with the Prom King, create art with Most Artistic, get your high school crush to help with at least one of objectives, etc. We get introductions to old classmate secondary characters and just about everyone is described as an alcoholic or BLW (Boring Life Wife) with one or two exceptions. I think Ellie's inner thoughts and observations were supposed to come off snarky funny but cynical and judgy bleed through it all with plain meanness.

The fantasy was always so easy. Real is so much harder.

The second half was Ellie and Mark flirting and connecting, while Ellie tries to get over the fact that only a week ago Mark broke off his engagement and is still living with his ex-fiancee and trying to reconnect with Roxy. Mark seemed nice but when his ex-fiancee referred to him as spineless, it was hard not to agree from his background story. There's some help from Mark with a couple of the bucket list items but it's mostly Mark and Roxy drama. The ending had Ellie showing no growth and going back to LA and we get a couple pages of “Three Months Later” that wrap up what's going on with Roxy and a reveal that leads to the happily for now.

I've gotten myself tangled up in the middle of an unexpected, unpredictable mess.
And I think I like it.

I don't always have to like the characters I'm reading about but when the story is told all from one character and it's a mixture of genre chik-lit and romance, I usually like to see growth in the main character and leave with a feel good feeling. How Ellie acted in the end, in regards to Mark and how she was still seeing and talking about people, I don't think she did change from that cynical first page character. There were a handful of moments throughout the story that she had self-awareness thoughts but her actions and thoughts at the end made those seem like not sticking flashes in the pan. Ellie might not have been popular but she had “mean girl” down pat. If you're someone who has to like the characters they're reading about or want to see character growth, this would be a tough read but if you like pretty constant mean snark (the only showing up two times very quickly pizza delivery guy couldn't even escape with being referred too both times as “pimply”) this had that in spades. show less

Full review on my blog here.

For a list of warnings, tropes, and representation for this book, check out its page on BookTriggerWarnings.com.

I rated this book 4 stars because it was enjoyable as a campy horror novel. Let me take a second to get my gripes out of the way. The plot of this novel is very standard for the genre: it’s a bunch of way-too-confident ghost investigators putting their noses where they shouldn’t be. There was no shortage of DONT-DO-THAT moments as these characters show more were often short-sighted, immature, and downright nonsensical. There’s also a healthy dose of teen drama thrown in, of course.

Aside from that, however, if you took the campy nature of this at face value, it was actually quite fun. It did a great job of being atmospheric and spooky by painting detailed pictures of what these kids were experiencing. The four main characters had very different personalities that helped compliment the story telling (which was told through multiple POV). The ending was quite predictable, but the path there was a thrill-filled ride.

The inspiration for this book is extremely recognizable if you know about it. It is largely based on the real-life story of Elisa Lam and the Cecil Hotel. I read a few reviews about how this bothered some readers, but as someone who isn’t that familiar with Elisa’s story, I was completely fine with this aspect of it. In fact, this book has pushed me to reading the Netflix docu-series about it to learn more (and my partner will be there this time if I get scared again).

Thank you to TBR Beyond Tours and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review. show less

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an eARC of this title!

This title caught my attention due to the beautiful and menacing cover art. In this story we follow a group of teenage ghost hunters trying to make it big on their YouTube channel. Chrissy, the star of the show, is psychic and can sense and see ghosts and paranormal activity. When the group decides to visit the Hearst Hotel, known for strange happenings and tragedies, things quickly spiral out of control and a serial killer may show more be on the loose. They can only hope they can figure out what’s going on and make it out alive.

There’s a lot packed into this quick read. It is full of vivid horror imagery, surprisingly more than I expected with it being a YA. The main character, Chrissy, can see ghosts and often will be pulled into gruesome visions where ghosts show her their deaths. The descriptions were very creepy so I felt it was a success in the horror department, it may not be for readers who do not like those types of descriptive situations. The book also crosses into multiple genres: horror, crime, mystery, paranormal. They all come together to paint an unsettling environment. This book is good for readers who are into supernatural horror and mysteries set in contemporary times. There’s a lot of tie ins to modern technology and influencer culture, so I wonder how this will age but it is a great horror read for teens and adults right now! show less