Full review to be posted soonish.

I would like to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting, well-written novel. Unfortunately I had trouble losing myself in it and that kept me disconnected. Not my thing, but I can see others enjoying it!

I got more than I expected in this creepy and intriguing story. It was the perfect mix of scary, romance, and paranormal. I loved pretty much all the characters and their roles in the story. All the characters were detail vividly and easily imagined. The author did amazing job with the writing in this book and I would highly recommend it!

3.5

This book was OK until the second half of the book, then it got much better. The ending was great!
The whole book reminded me of Sawkill Girls, so I would recommend it to those who liked that book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I don't feel like we got to the action quite quick enough for me in this one, and I didn't end up finishing it. I love the cover though :')

This book was much different than I originally thought. Definitely a slow burn thriller that focuses on Logan, a teen newly relocated with her dads (ghost hunters!) to Snakebite Oregon.

As soon as she gets there, mysterious eerie things start to happen. I liked the aspect of the diverse characters and the never knowing who to suspect!

If you want an entertaining and supernatural thriller, this book is for you. The story is initially about this popular show, where the crew travel around the country hunting ghosts. Then they return to the hometown that had been left years beforehand, Snakebite, Oregon. At first it appears to be for good reason, they returned to see their daughter meet some friends and get involved, instead of just hanging around the crew and show. She meets some local kids and seems to make easy relationships and then one of the boys has been missing. Everyone goes to search for him and this becomes the next theme for the show. The plot is engaging and definitely grabs you with the supernatural twists.
Fun and quick read.
#TheDeadandtheDark #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #WednesdayBooks

*Arc provided by Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review."

Snakebite, Oregon is about as small town as small town can get. Everyone knows everyone and the circles are tight. When Logan and her dad's, famed tv paranormal investigators, come to town the town's teens start going missing and of course the best suspects are the towns newcomers. Logan teams up with Ashley, the town's popular girl and girlfriend of the first missing teen, to launch an investigation of their own into what is happening to clear her parent's names.

Not sure why I put this one off for so long, but I shouldn't have. I really loved this book. I haven't read anything YA that the paranormal entity wasn't somehow a love interest or stereotypical supernatural creature and I need more books like this. While keeping the creepy vibe The Dead and the Dark was able to still dive into social issues in a realistic way. The characters were really fleshed out and by the end everyone's actions felt genuine to their story arcs. While this doesn't end with a cliff hanger I would be interested in reading more tales from Logan and her dad's past ghost hunts.

I can't believe I never reviewed this! This book still sticks with me after I read it because I love me a small town horror novel. With the creepy atmosphere that builds up and a mystery that keeps the book going, I found my interest lied even more in the family and romantic relationships--which is how I like my horror!

This was a pretty solid read for me, but I found that it meandered quite a bit near the beginning, which led to the ending being too rushed for me. In this book, we follow Logan, who is moving to the small town of Snakebite, the place where her dads both grew up. Since her dad got there, the town has felt off and a high school student has gone missing. The town has turned its backs on Logan's family, but they are there to find out what has happened and stop other high school students from going missing or turning up dead.

This was a super atmospheric YA horror/thriller book. Logan's dads host a paranormal show and bring those vibes to Snakebit while they are there and the creepy small-town atmosphere was great. There were definitely parts of the book that creeped me out. Our main characters were interesting as well. We had Ashley, your typical small-town girl, who has no plans of leaving and whose boyfriend has gone missing. Then we have Logan, the rebellious teen who angers all the townspeople for daring to be herself. And while they did develop further throughout the book, Ashley especially, I wish we saw more character development from them. I wish the same of all the side characters, who felt one note and stereotypical the whole time. The romance was super cute and really helped change my perception of Ashley.

My main problem with this book was the rushed ending. We had a lot of time skips with little plot development throughout the story, and the ending action takes place in the last 10% of the book. I just wished the mystery revealed itself little by little instead of all at once at the end via flashbacks. I also wished it leaned into the horror aspect a bit more.

Overall, this was a solid paranormal book with an interesting mystery. It just left me wanting a little bit more.

This was fun! It took me a long time to get around to reading it and now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long. It's so creepy and engaging! A quick read.

While I don't think I'll be teaching this in my college-level courses, I will absolutely use excerpts from the text to discuss how to write more chilling narratives.

Did not realize this was sapphic when I picked it up. Bonus!

I would love this book for one thing in particular, even if everything else wasn't to my liking. That thing? The main character calls herself a lesbian, actually uses the word!

Thankfully, I also loved everything about the novel.

The Dead and the Dark is atmospheric, it's creepy in the most delicious of ways, It has ghosts, it has secrets, it has interesting family dynamics. It truly is a little bit of a perfect book, especially given how beautiful the prose is.

I just can't help myself, I love any storyline that has an intertextual element like a tv show or podcast or movie.

Great spooky character study with an unsettling pitch black mystery at it's heart.

This is the first Gould story I've read but I can't wait to read more.

3.5 rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an arc of this title.

im on a roll with my reviews!!! i really liked the atmosphere with this book!!! the setting was great and i liked the storyline as well. very fast paced and easy to read!

The description of this book on NetGalley piqued my interest and I just had to request it in both e-book and audiobook and I am so glad that I had access to both. This book is a debut novel written by Courtney Gould and I have to give her kudos for her well-written supernatural mystery.
The setting is Snakebite, a name that grabs my interest immediately, and eerie town name. When I first read “Snakebite” I immediately felt like it was foreshadowing of what was to come. Logan lives there with her fathers, Brandon Woodley and Alejo Ortiz. They are not only ghost hunters, but famous on TV for their ghost hunting.

What is a good mystery without someone going missing or being murdered? Not much for me, but Gould didn’t leave me hanging. Ashley Barton’s boyfriend, Tristan, is missing and she’ll do just about anything to find him. The suspense builds more and more as other teens go missing, and the fun/intrigue really starts with Logan and Ashley decide to team up and look for Tristan.
Much of the mystery, at least to townspeople, is centered around the ghost hunters who many believe might be the culprits of missing teens. There are some unforeseen twists which I always enjoy, especially when they add to the plot and don’t seem unrealistic.

I loved the narrator of the audiobook, Soneela Nankani. Her voice inflections and eerie tones at the appropriate times really added to my enjoyment of the story. I was mesmerized at times by her narration and will definitely read other audiobooks that she narrated.

I would like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for a free e-ARC and audiobook in exchange for my opinion.

First... look at that cover. Drawn right in. Had to read t just for the cover and title alone. Then add in YA sapphic horror and I was in.

The entire story was intriguing. I loved that one of the main characters comes from a family of paranormal hunters. It felt kitschy that they do that for a living and then come home to Snakebite to possibly film more for their show.

There is so much more than meets the eye since there are disappearances happening, weird things happening and so many secrets.

I enjoyed the two main characters POV and hiw their relationship unravels.

The creep factor is definitely there with this writing and so many unusual things hapen that I found the story very engaging and not a cookie cutter story.

I'll be checking out more from this author soon.

The Dead and the Dark is author Courtney Gould debut book. I would like to thanks first Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book.

Something is wrong in the small town of Snakebite in Oregon. Teens are disappearing, or turning dead. And even the weather is not acting normal. All the town seems to blame Logan, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, a really popular ghosts hunter.

Ashley boyfriend, who was the first of the teen that went missing, will team up with Logan, when she will start seeing his ghost. Logan who she think the only person in town she can trust with this. They will try to figure what is really hauting Snakebite.

Heart-stoppingly good, full of spooks and frights, and deeply emotional, The Dead and The Dark is highly recommended for teen collections.

The Dead and the Dark is a wonderfully creepy book. It is filled with many twists, and has ghosts, romance, and an excellent family dynamic. Well worth reading.

I can't even begin to explain to you what I just read. Just know that it was really good, really gay and REALLY amazing.