Courtney GouldReviews

I received an ARC from a Goodreads giveaway.

I really enjoyed this book. My goal was to read to the halfway point today and then finish it tomorrow, but I was caught up in the mystery and relationships and ended up reading the entire book in one day.

There is so much to like here; complicated family relationships, friendships, the claustrophobic small town setting, the paranormal touches. Plus the two main characters POVs were very relatable. Would definitely recommend.

I was drawn in by both the beautiful cover and the setting. There were many problems with the book. Despite the intriguing premise and setting, I found the characters to be uninteresting, which made the book drag for me. Despite this, I think the YA readers who are this book's intended audience will enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy of this book

Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould is a twisty story that will have you pulling for a protagonist you may very well not like a lot.

I will admit this has a slow build, but I didn't mind because the background, both of information and of what makes the characters tick, helps to make the rest of the story better. I commented above about not necessarily liking the protagonist, a concept I find problematic since we never actually "know" any fictional being, but I do have a similar way of thinking about that, would I be more or less likely to want to know more about the character if it was a real person and I only know what is in the book. Frankly, I would want to know Beck better. I also have to say that I don't expect young characters to make only good decisions in a novel. Hell, I don't expect that of older adults in real life, I certainly can't expect that of a fictional teenager in a novel that, like all novels, rely on some bad decisions to help propel the plot. So, yeah, a teenager made some shallow and not very good decisions. Are you really surprised?

I saw someone comment that the romantic connection wasn't believable. Again, are you surprised if two characters in a work of fiction connect in a way that seems unusual? Their coming together here makes as much sense as the vast majority of novels, short stories, films, and even real life stories I've seen. Would I, would you, in the same circumstances? Maybe not, but we're not there. I thought it was believable enough for two characters with their own respective issues to feel a connection.

I would recommend this to readers who don't mind a slow burn that does speed up, enjoy twists that run the gamut from just unusual to perhaps supernatural/paranormal, and don't mind suspending disbelief long enough to inhabit this world.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

I really liked this one.

Spooky and gay, with a decent paranormal mystery.

2.5 Stars

Meh. Cool cover, lackluster story. Everything felt very straightforward and non-twisty. It’s a debut that really felt like a debut— writing wasn’t polished, pov was head hoppy, & characters weren’t all that interesting. This was a bummer because I really wanted to love it.

Oh and also- there are ghosts that send texts in this book and just

A very different kind of paranormal story: ghost hunters, family, death, fear, anger, longing, uncertainty all wrapped up in a place called Snakebite, where teens have gone missing and the Dark is seeking a way to tear everyone in the town apart. However, the Dark comes from a deep depression, an anger of not belonging, accepted for who you are. The Dark is a result of a lack of understanding and acceptance. This was definitely a page turner, one that will keep you reading long into the night.

Im glad I didnt see the book description before starting this because no way I would have read something described as a cross between Stephen King and RIverdale...

But in any case it was a pretty good read. The mystery was on the weaker side imo but strong characters and atmosphere.

The beautiful cover art is the only competent thing about this book.

The Dead and the Dark has a great hook: recent high-school graduate Logan has two dads who are minor celebrities thanks to their ghost-hunting TV show. When they have to return to the tiny, insular Oregon town where they grew up, both her dads and Logan herself have to grapple with long-ago secrets and whatever is making local teenagers vanish.

However, no one in this novel seems to (re)act in ways that are plausibly baseline human, let alone likely. (For instance: "There's a gravestone in this tiny town with my very unusual surname and date of birth on it. Unremarkable coincidence, nothing to ask my parents about!"; "My parents are deeply and genuinely in love and everyone can see it, but oh also one of my dads is great and the other is an absolute asshole!"; "Oh, you committed a hate crime against my family? Sure, let's hang out and drink beer in a creepy abandoned cabin in the woods!" Wtaf.) The pacing's wonky, the characterisations are shallow and inconsistent, the prose clunky, and the town of Snakebite entirely unconvincing as a real place. There are also plot holes you could drive a lorry through. (For example: The star of a network TV show gets arrested for the murder of at least one and maybe more teenagers and neither a journalist nor a lawyer turns up while he sits in the town jail for two weeks or more with absolutely no evidence against him? Huh?)

Annoyingly sloppy.

Wow. This book is THE book for fans of ghost hunters and other paranormal shows. I don't watch those shows, to be honest I can't stand them, and yet, this book was ADDICTING. After the first few pages I found myself ignoring everything around me, my eyes glued to my tablet I couldn't read fast enough. Spooky and unsettling The Dead and the Dark will twist your stomach in knots in the way only a truly gripping tale can, and leave you craving more!

Logan Ortiz-Woodley is used to bouncing around from place to place, following her two dads, the stars behind the fantastically popular ParaSpectors tv show. So when the news was given that she would be moving to Snakebite Oregon for an undetermined amount of time she see's no reason to be upset. After all, its just another place to hang out for a while before returning as a family to their home in L.A. What Logan doesn't know is something is very very wrong in Snakebite and I don't just mean the way the town treats new comers.
Things are happening, kids have gone missing with no trace, some turning up dead while others remaining missing.

The story is told from the point of view of Logan and her temporary partner, Ashely who has lost her boyfriend and determined to find him, even if it means hanging out with the girl no one wants there. Will they discover what or whom is behind this? Can they find Tristan and uncover the mysteries surrounding Logan's family and their experience in Snakebite so long ago?

The prose on this story flows well and is absolutely beautiful. The descriptions Courtney Gould was able to paint were at times breath taking. The relationship between Logan's dads is one of my favorite things in the story. It's such a fun journey learning how they came together and what makes them so absolutely perfect for each other.

This will be one of the best new releases in the second half of this year. I imagine best seller list and the way the story is told it lends itself well to fandoms, fanfic, etc.

So gather your ghost hunting tools and get ready for one mind blowing experience you won't soon forget.

Thank you to Netgalley, Courtney Gould, and publishers for providing an advance e=copy in exchange for my honest opinions. I was a little unsure before I started this book but I am truly lucky to have had the chance to dive into this one and I don't think I'll recover completely for quite some time!

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Where to even start with this one? The Dead and the Dark is a compelling, atmospheric, and utterly creepy story. The town of Snakebite reminded me a lot of Stephen King's Derry, where there's always something sinister lurking beneath the streets, laying in wait for the next victim - except in this case, it features queer main characters and the writing is far more compelling and exciting without the drudgery of excess detail that King gets bogged down in.

Logan moves to Snakebite with her dads while they investigate strange happenings for their show, ParaSpectors, and she quickly realizes that there's more to the town than her dads let on. Murder, ghosts, sapphic enemies-to-lovers, this book has it all.

I was absorbed from start to finish, and could. not. put the book down, at all (speaking figuratively of course, since this was a digital book). The plot was riveting, the mystery was woven beautifully, and the characters were dynamic. It features themes of loneliness, grief, death, and love, among others. Reading this gave me Stranger Things meets Ghost Wood Song vibes, and it was glorious. Highly recommend!

I def enjoyed this. Absolutely more of a 3.5/3.75 for me. I liked nearly all of the characters, the family dynamics were interesting, and the horror elements of the mystery kept me guessing, and through it all I liked the relationship between the two girls (and the two dads) a lot. Creepy small town horror and queerness abound—just what I like. I think, in general, I’ve just sort of moved out of the phase in my life where I get into YA books easily, and the ones I do have to REALLY hit me, ya know? If I had read this as a teen, I think it would have been a solid 4 or even 4.5 rating for me back then. Great debut, will def look out for this author in the future. AND THAT COVER ART!!? Gorgeous.

This lesbian horror YA novel would make a perfect read for the Spooky Season. Logan and her paranormal-investigator dads return to the town her parents grew up in, only for teens to start disappearing or turning up dead. Local Ashley's boyfriend was the first to go missing and months later, there's still no body. The town of Snakebite is so small and insular that outsiders are immediately suspect, especially if they're queer and Latinx. Even if they grew up in town.

As things escalate, Ashley and Logan team up to figure out what's going on and develop feelings for each other as they do. I would not call this a romance, but there is an HEA/HFN. The Dead and the Dark kept me guessing and while I had figured out some of the reveals, others were surprising and one was rather shocking. I wanted some more consequences for a few characters, but unfortunately that's not how the real world works either.

In all, a compelling horror/paranormal suspense and a very gay one at that.

Audio notes: This narration was solid, but since it's two young women in dual-POV, I would have preferred two different narrators. The characters themselves are different enough that it was mostly fine, but Soneela Nankani doesn't differentiate between their voices and I kept losing track. (This may be a "me" thing.)

***

Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder, hate crime (attempted drowning), homophobia, implied racism, possession, death of a child, gun violence, lots of violence

I received an audio and ebook review copy of this book from the publisher. I read the audio.

An excellent blend of horror, mystery and romance with some dandy plot twists and gotchas. Even though events are revealed in a smooth manner, most readers (I sure was) will find themselves surprised more than once. A very satisfying story with an ending that feels like a rainbow following a terrible storm.

teen fiction - suspense/mystery with ghosts and incidentally queer characters, set in a rural homophobic Oregon town.

I'm not into scary monsters that much and prefer funny ghosts--but I liked this ok and am glad to see more queer representation starring in all kinds of stories.

*This book was sent to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

This book is a 4.5/5, but I rounded it down to a 4.

Trigger warnings: child death, violence, homophobia, and homophobia related violence, murder, underage drinking, strangulation and attempted drowning, slurs, claustrophobia (the author also includes a page of her own trigger warnings in the book, which I love and greatly appreciate).
For a more detailed description of sensitive content please visit gouldbooks.com/books/tdatd

Fans of ya horror and mystery/thrillers must add this debut to their tbrs! There are some paranormal elements to the story as well, which make it extra intriguing. Courtney Gould's writing style is absolutely gorgeous. Gould effortlessly creates an eerie and captivating atmosphere with her writing that makes you want to read this during the day with all the lights on and the shades up. Or, if you're like me, at 1 am with the shades down and the only source of light coming from my kindle. This is the perfect sapphic romance to add to a spooky season tbr. I am looking forward to more of Gould's books in the future and I can't wait to see what her next release will be. I also will 110% be purchasing a copy of my own when I can. This cover needs to be displayed on my shelves.

What I enjoyed
~representation (f|f romance that isn't tip-toed around, gay dads)
~eerie atmosphere
~writing style
~overall unique plot
~different perspectives
~mystery is continued through the entire story and not just kept for the very end of the book

What I didn't enjoy
~some confusing timelines
~didn't feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to
~the plot dragged a little sometimes when I wished it would have been more fast-paced

~rachel½

Introduction

Something isn't quite right about the town of Snakebite, Oregon, and when now-paranormal-investigators go back to their roots to investigate the town, things get weirder. A teen disappears, and then teens start getting killed. People are holding on to old anger, and old secrets. Is something stranger than just a few missing teens going on in this sleepy town in the middle of nowhere? Something stranger? Something darker?

Cover

You're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but I will say that this cover is so gorgeous and it definitely grabbed my attention when I was browsing through Netgalley.

Tone

I loved the consistent slightly "off" vibe that runs through the whole story. Small town weird vibes are my favourite and this book delivered.

The Dark

I love the concept of The Dark being an entity of it's own. It reminds me of the "The Forest" element in We Were Restless Things by Cole Nagamatsu (review of that book here!)

Alternating POVs

I loved the alternating POVs of Ashley and Logan and The Dark. Usually when I read a book that switches POVs I find myself being less interested in one of them, and eagerly waiting for the story to switch back to the POV I like better, but that didn't happen at all with this book, and that feels so refreshing for me.

Conclusion

I loved this book. I believe the editor described it "like Riverdale, but good," and I agree. With the small town vibes with an undertone of something strange going on, the shoe fits. Because of the general spookiness of the novel I would also recommend this book to fans of After Obsession by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel, and, of course, We Were Restless Things. I will definitely be looking our for more from this author.

The Dead and the Dark
by Courtney Gould
St. Martin's Press

Logan is an adopted gal that grew up with two dads and both dads are on the ghost hunting show that is very popular. They decide to go back to their home town to do a show. One dad, Brandon, goes a week early to look for a shooting spot. A week after he is there a boy goes missing. There are secrets about why the two left town 13 years ago. This leads the town to start pointing fingers. No one will talk about it to Logan about why they left before.

Things get worse and Logan decides to try to figure it out you is taking kids with the help of another girl that can see images of the past and ghosts. This is when the story really takes a turn and suspense is cranked up to high! Twists and turns everywhere! Supernatural elements and dark human elements become terrifying.

Terrific fantasy, characters, suspense, plot, and world building. I hope this becomes a series! This is a great creepy book!
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this paranormal thriller! Loved it!