Amazing! Couldn't put it down! Be sure to add this book to your TBR list because it will create chills that you would not expect to have.

“How to Make Friends with the Dark” had me staying up later than I should’ve, heart aching for Tiger. The scope of her grief was palpable, and her relationships with those around her were heartbreakingly realistic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronical advance copy in exchange for my honest review

After reading Girl in Pieces, I fell in love with Kathleen Glasgow. After reading How to Make Friends with the Dark, I fell even harder. Glasglow is truly a gifted writer who is able to portray her emotions on to paper. The prose is everything in this book.
Although this is marketed as a YA (Tiger, the MC is only 16), there is nothing in here at all that follows the normal YA format. This is a raw harsh look into the world of a young girl who lost her mother and is still trying to find her voice.
Its a dark but somehow beautiful read. This is one of the reason that makes Glasglow one of my favorite authors because even though the subject of the book is dark, it is beautifully written in a way that tugs at your emotions.

Following the death of Tiger’s mom, June, How To Make Friends With The Dark explores the intricacies of teenage grief. We see glimpses of Tiger lashing out, her bad decision making, and sadly, struggles with the foster care system. Through the other kids in her GG (Grief Group) at school, we also get peeks into other types of loss and grief that these kids experience. The novel brings up a very fair point: a lot of the time, broken kids with broken hearts or broken homes go unnoticed until you yourself are also broken.

This read spoke to me on so many levels, but that is likely because I’ve gone through a bit of what Tiger had gone through as well (with the loss of my father at 14); I too have a hole the size of the Grand Canyon in my heart. A lot of her internal narrative about the loss, and her confusion surrounding the loss reminded me of how I’ve felt (and sometimes still feel almost 13 years later). I too also lashed out, and made a lot of bad decisions at that time (however, thankfully not *as bad* as Tiger’s).

I really enjoyed the writing style of this one. I highlighted a few passages to return to because they really spoke to me. Now I’d love to go back and read Kathleen Glasgow’s first novel, Girl in Pieces.

Trigger warnings for: child abuse, domestic violence and suicide.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book. Look for it when it gets published April 9th, 2019!

SPOILER ALERT!!!! Some key plot points are discussed in this review.

I really enjoyed this book, although given the subject matter that feels a bit weird to write. This is a dark book about death, grief and what happens to kids who have no one who can look after them.

There were some YA tropes(dead parent, teen who said something horrible to said parent before they died) and while the dead parent was essential to the story, I really wished Tiger hadn’t said something so mean to her mom before her mom died. I would have liked to see how Tiger’s story would have played out without that trope.

I also felt that the pacing was a bit off and at times it almost felt like this was several books put together. I understand that the book takes place over the course of just two months, but I felt a lot was skimmed over. Of course, the reason for this could very well be because that’s how Tiger felt. Like everything was okay.

There was no romance/love angle and OMG how that made me happy.

Even though I had some issues with this book, I will still recommend it.

This was one of the saddest books I’ve ever read, but it was beautiful at the same time. I cried through this whole book at what Tiger went through and what everyone in this book went through. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone so close to you and it was hard to read about. But I know so many people are grieving and I feel like this book gave me a new perspective on what those people are going through. I think this book was very well written. Obviously, I can't say how accurate it is as I've never lost someone so close to me, but I imagine it's very accurate of how I would feel if my mom suddenly died. I really enjoyed Tiger and her new sister's relationship and how it grows through the book. The thing I found to be a little unbelievable was the first ever phone call she had with her father. I mean, it's not impossible that's how it would've played out, it just seemed throughout the whole book everything played out realistically and then she called her dad and he was all on board with having a new daughter. I mean, after everything she went through I am glad that this was an easy conversation, but it felt too easy and thrown in at the end. I mean, other than that, this book was beautiful and one I'm sure many people will love this year.

Thank you Netgalley for the digital ARC of this title in exchange for a review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read which explores themes of friendship, grief, and change. Interestingly enough, the beginning of the book didn’t capture my attention and there was a point I wasn’t sure if I’d continue reading. The inciting incident really amped up the autbor’s writing and suddenly I was transported to the scenes with Tiger, seeing her experiences through her eyes and feeling the jumbled up and confused emotions of grief alongside her.

If you enjoy teen realistic fiction with relatable characters and experiences, I would definitely recommend. There are some typical YA topics in this book, so this title would be best for high schoolers.

I really loved Girl In Pieces and had high expectations for How to Make Friends in the Dark. I was not disappointed! A heart wrenching, whirl of emotions story of loss and grieving. How to Make Friends in the Dark is heavy just like Girl in Pieces however it is an honest depiction of the emotions one goes through when grieving the loss of a loved one.

It is just Tiger and her mom. They have their typical mom and daughter disagreements. But one day after a horrible fight with each other, Tiger's mom unexpectedly passes away. Without any family, Tiger is placed into the foster system. As she tries to deal with the pain of losing her mother and well as never really fitting in with teens her age, she comes across her once unknown family history. She has a dad and a half sister. Experiencing the horrible, dark emotions that come with grief, Tiger tries to gain closure and begin life again. While a fantastic book, I had to put it down a few times (even though I wanted to just keep on reading because it was so good!) just because of how dark the emotions were that Tiger experienced and the sadness that children that she came across in the foster system experienced. That is a testament to the power of Kathleen Glasgow's writing. I will be reading this again!

I did enjoy this book. It took a shot warm up to the main characters but it dealt well with the topic of parental death.

This book was received as an ARC from Random House Children's in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book was really intense to read. Nobody likes the feeling when your loved ones die all of a sudden and they end up being all you have in order to survive on your own. This was the case when Tiger looses her mom and her mom was all she had. Despite the loss Tiger had instantaneously when loosing her mom, I just love how Tiger immediately showed her bravery and strength because that was all she had while making it on her own. I also am a big fan of books with figurative language such as the word dark having multiple meanings and here it was apparent that Tiger took both meanings in literally. As I mentioned before this was a pretty intense book to read but at the end when the theme is discovered, the reader will hopefully feel empowered, I certainly did.

We will consider this book for our YFiction section in our library and that is why we give this book 4 stars.

A beautifully nuanced exploration of grief, love, family, complicated relationships, and finding one’s true self in the face of adversity.