Snakebite, Oregon is a small, tight knit town. It’s also the home of Logan Ortiz-Woodley’s ghost hunting dads, or it was until they were driven out thirteen years ago by the homophobic locals. But is that the whole story?

When Logan’s father Brandon goes back to Snakebite to scout for another episode of their TV show, Paraspectors, a disappearance not long after leaves the locals suspicious and wishing he’d never come back. A few months later, Logan and Alejo (Logan’s other father) join Brandon in the middle-of-nowhere town to uncover the mysteries that plague their past and the darkness that hovers over their lives.

To start, this was really enjoyable. Courtney Gould’s writing had a way of pulling me in and kept me reading until I’d finished it in one day.
Logan and Ashley’s relationship (eventually) was really intriguing. Logan was raised by two gay dads, Ashley grew up in a small town that sneered at anybody who was other. It was an interesting dynamic as they grappled with their feelings for each other while trying to uncover the mystery of Ashley’s boyfriend’s disappearance.

The atmosphere of The Dead and The Dark was eerie, commingled with short sections of The Dark as it took hold of a townie. I also have to say, I was smugly thinking ‘I know who did it’ the entire book. I was wrong, that was a really good twist, I definitely wasn’t expecting it. The cover’s vibes are extremely accurate, I loved looking at it after finishing the book and being like ‘oh’.

Overall, I can’t wait to have a physical copy of this book in my hands and I’m eagerly awaiting Courtney Gould’s next book!

The Dead and the Dark gave me the TV show Ghosthunter vibes, and I was LOVING it. I plowed through this book; I was compelled to know what was happening!!
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There are quite a few stories in this book, and while all the ghostly, sinister dark references held my attention- it was the relationship between Logan and her father Brandon I wanted answers for the most. You see Logan is the adopted daughter of Brandon & Alejo, who hunt the paranormal on their TC series ParaSpectors. The one time when Logan was on the show, something shifted between her and Brandon, she felt as if he hated her and she didn’t quite belong any more. At the start of this book Brandon is back in his and Alejo’s hometown of Snakebite; after being there for 6 weeks ‘scouting’ the town for their next show location, Alejo and Logan join Brandon in Snakebite to see what’s going on.
A local teen, Tristen, went missing a week after Brandon’s appearance, and of course the town thinks he is the dark evil over their town. While Brandon and Alejo do their digging, Logan is left with questions of her own. Questions she and Ashley, Tristen’s girlfriend, both want answers to. So the unlikely two pair up; and what the find along the way is more bodies of friends and more questions they’re not entirely sure they want the answers to.
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My hat is off to the author for snagging her readers attention and keeping tight hold of the reigns until the very end! Thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to read more paranormal adventures from Courtney Gould.

CW- death, grief, murder, child death, homophobia, hate crime

The Dead and the Dark follows Logan and Ashley as they uncover the paranormal secrets in their small town and work to find the town’s missing teenagers, including Ashley’s boyfriend.
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I LOVED this book. It was a twisty paranormal thriller complete with an eerie cabin in the woods. I loved the atmosphere, the setting of a bright shining town with secrets was just so perfect, and it really brought me into the story.
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The characters were great! Each of them was multi-layered, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire story. I loved Logan and Ashley, and I thought they had great characterization.
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Overall, I would recommend this to thriller fans and fans of books like Wilder Girls.
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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more secrets buried here than they originally let on. Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness. This was suspenseful and creepy! Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Logan Ortiz-Woodley doesn't buy into her dads' paranormal tv show. Still, when one of her dads goes away to Snakebite, Oregon to scout out locations for the show, things begin to go sideways. When Logan and her dad join him, she discovers secrets that may just rip their family apart for good.

I found this to be a book that was well balanced. The scenes with the TV show were super cheesy, but I think they were meant to be that way. This isn't a typical ghost story, and is more about how darkness can hide in plain sight. I enjoyed how the story developed and how relationships shifted, as should occur in a good story.

Genre bending, spooky and paranormal. This dark suspense is unlike anything I've read before. It will have you rethinking shadows and bumps in the night.

Fantasic characters. Interesting plot. The story will keep you engaged the whole time. I loved it from the first sentence. Courtney really has a special story here. Everyone will love it.

UMMMMM!!!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ No contest. I LOVED this book!

"Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon."

Uh, you got that right.

The Dead and the Dark is, what I would call, a delightful, dark, YA suspense featuring small-town mysteries, ghosts, and a classic enemies-to-lovers scenario that I couldn't get enough of from the beginning. Here we follow Logan, the daughter of a pair of ghost-hunting husbands who keep far too many secrets, and Ashley, Snakebite's resident spoiled princess. It is her boyfriend Tristan who is the first to disappear not long after one of Logan's dads shows up in town...alone. When more teens start coming up dead, the two girls are forced to work together to unravel the many mysteries surrounding their town, their parents, and themselves. But the truth may prove too much to bear when the dead start talking.

I'll say it again. I. Loved. This. Book. Debut releases have their technical flaws; pacing, characterization, dropped threads, etc, but the beauty about 'The Dead and the Dark' was that I was too sucked into the plot and the whole absolutely bizarre situation to mind any of those issues for very long. This was endlessly creative. I was totally racing to get to the end because I had to *know*. I had to find out the story of this thing that was tormenting everyone and everything in this town. Was it a person? A ghost? A demon? The end result was SO strange and different and we all know I'm a big sucker for that! Not to mention that classic happy ending? The resolution? The bittersweet departure? The sense of hopefulness? Yes. Love this. Here for this. Give those girls EVERYTHING.

I fell in love with Logan instantly. Ashley took some time but she grew on me as she grew on Logan. My only wish is that the poor thing had a little more ...oomph*. At times she didn't seem so much as a person as she did a walking reflection of Snakebite, but, well, it does make sense. I wish the ensemble characters got a little more screen time as well, but considering the sheer amount of plot packed into this book sometimes that just is how it is. The family dynamic in Logan's home—wow. There is so much longing. So much desire for love and fear that she is nothing but a spare part. I was truly tearing up by the end and couldn't BELIEVE I was doing so but it just packed such an emotional punch.

We had ghosts, murder, supernatural creatures, psychics, complicated family dynamics, small-town politics, a reluctant love story between two girls who challenged each other and left such potential for joint growth. This, to me, hit all the right points.

Friends, this is just a wonderfully crafted book. It's got a bit of 'Supernatural' in its heart, and while that may not vibe for some people, anyone who loves a good ghost story (and, a good love story, in many facets) will love this book. I think it's going to be one of the strongest debuts of the year, so watch for it on 17 August 2021!

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

First up a big big thank you for allowing me to read this book. However... I had to DNF it because we just didn't click. The story was pretty bland, didn't seem to go anywhere, I had to read spoilers to get to 26% because if I hadn't I would have probably dropped it at 4%. I am also not a fan of murder/villain/baddie POVs, they just make me feel sick and disgusted. I really don't get why POV from evil people have to be added. Have seen them pop up more and more and NO THANK YOU. The characters themselves, meh. Ashley was just the worst, even later when she started to finally melt a bit she just wasn't my kind of character. I found her a stuck-up little princess. :| The rest of her posse was also just as bad. :|
I didn't like how the whole town acted towards the dads, what a horrible horrible place... :| Come on peeps we are in 2021 get with the times. :|
Nothing happened. I mean, at 26% slowly things started coming but it was just still not that interesting and I really struggled to get anywhere. Just to compare, I started a book with around the same number of pages yesterday and read 18% in 30 minutes... whereas with this book it took me 2-3 hours to get to 26%...

The good things, so this book still gets 1.5 stars for that:
Logan (who I kept thinking was a guy given I have never heard of a girl with that name, sorry) was the only character I cared about. I felt for her as her whole life meant moving around, not seeing a lot of her dads. I loved her attitude and loved how she stood up for those she cares about and is also not afraid to voice her opinion.
I loved that she had two dads and that her two dads were in a ghost hunting show (wished we had seen more of that as that would have been an even cooler premise).
The cover is absolutely stunning.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The basic plot was quite good. The "Dark" is a paranormal entity that feeds on negative emotions -- hate, fear, loneliness -- but needs a host to manifest itself. The "Dark" can aid its host, but it comes at quite a cost. The book opens with the host, at the urging of the "Dark", killing a teenage boy (Tristan) in the small Oregon town of Snakebite.

Brandon Woodley and his husband Alejo Ortiz are the stars of the hit TV show ParaSpectors, where they investigate paranormal activity. They are also former residents of Snakebite, where Brandon has returned, allegedly to scout out locations for filming the next season. However, he has been wandering around seemingly aimlessly for months. That is my main gripe with the story. It is not until the story is almost over that an explanation is provided as to what Brandon was doing all those months. Even in a story that involves paranormal entities and some people being able to see such entities, it was unrealistic that Brandon was able to go so long without having to explain his actions/behavior.

Alejo was the former golden boy of Snakebite, but when he returned after college and revealed he was gay, he was suddenly a pariah, a situation that did not improve when he began a relationship with Brandon, a quiet guy who had been overlooked most of his life. Thirteen years ago they suddenly left Snakebite, but Brandon's return corresponded with the disappearance of Tristan and other strange events. The townspeople are convinced that Brandon is responsible, but cannot prove it. The tension in town only increases when Alejo and their adopted daughter Logan come to Snakebite to join Brandon. The welcoming committee is anything but friendly. Making things more difficult is the considerable tension between Brandon and Logan, who feels unloved and unwanted by Brandon, which is not helped by Brandon's unwillingness to open up to her. Logan knows that Brandon and Alejo are keeping secrets from her and cannot help but wonder if Brandon is somehow connected to the strange events in the town. She ends up forming a partnership with Ashley Barton, Tristan's girlfriend, who is determined to find Tristan, as they both want answers.

The dynamic between Logan and Ashley is quite good, especially as their partnership evolves into something more and Ashley is forced to reconsider who she is and what she believes, especially in a town like Snakebite. The author does a good job of keeping the reader guessing about the possible identity of the "host" and the multiple secrets in the town -- some of which are literally life-altering. The author utilizes the paranormal aspect of the story quite well. While the explanation for Brandon's actions does not come until rather late in the book, it is a satisfying explanation. The origin story of the "Dark" is well done. "The Dead and the Dark" is worth reading.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

The Dead and the Dark completely surprised me. I actually didn't realize it was going to be scary until after I got this book, and I am a **complete and total scaredy cat.** So needless to say I was incredibly apprehensive going into this book. However, it was absolutely delightful. **I really liked it and had a ton of fun reading it.**

The Dead and the Dark follows Logan and her two ghost-hunters-on-television dads. They've always lived on the road shooting their show, and this time they are packing up and leave from LA to the dads hometown of Snakebite in rural Oregon. They're supposedly there to scout for an episode of the show, but **Logan feels something is off right from the beginning.** Needless to say she was right.

What I really loved about this book was that it kept me guessing and wondering the entire time. As soon as I started to forget about the Dark that was introduced in the prologue, **Gould would draw me back in at just the right time** to start to wonder about it all over again. It is such a delight for me to read **a book that brings life to something that generally isn't alive,** in this case the Dark.

Another wonderful thing that I loved about this book was that feeling that, **even though there is something going bump in the night, it feels like uneducated humans are the real monster.** You know the feeling. Where there is literally something supernatural happening, but you can't help being more scared for the lives of the queer family in a very small and very conservative town that is secluded away from the rest of the world... **where no one will hear their screams.** *It gives me goosebumps!*

And of course, you can't exactly judge a book this way, but the cover is absolutely gorgeous. But every single time I opened it to read, I just stared at the cover for a second (which was a little lame, considering I read ebooks almost exclusively). It just made it feel good reading! ***Is anyone else like this?***

# Big Takeaway

The Dead and the Dark is a wonderful, not so scary, queer ghost story. I absolutely loved the Dark in this book and the "humans are the real monster" dread that came through the entire novel. Courtney Gould definitely delivered in the atmosphere in this creepy rural Oregon town. Can't wait for more of Gould's books!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday books for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book was absolutely stunning! It was original and like nothing I've read before. It's spooky and it's small town weirdness had me reading this in one day a few weeks back! It follows two badass female leads who fall in love despite the mystery and the horror that's engulfed the town of Snakebite, Oregon. There's secrets and strange graves, an abandoned creepy cabin, murders, a lost boy, ghosts and a strange darkness. I loved this book with all my heart!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!

'"For the first time in thirteen years, it snowed in snakebite''

The Dead and the Dark is about a girl named Logan who travels back to her dads' hometown. When she goes there she realizes there is more than meets the eye and something dangerous lies within the town. She meets Ashley and after a rough start they decide to investigate the deaths and the happenings of the town.

The Dead and the Dark seriously blew me away with how brilliant and surprising it was. I am not someone who gravitates to spooky-esque books but when I do I never find them to be that unnerving. But this book for some reason kept me up at night and gave me chills while reading it. Courtney did such a great job writing a chilling ,mysterious, and creepy novel that kept me wanting to see what would happen. There were so many questions and things happening that i never knew what was going to happen next.
This book had everything for me. It had family secrets, queer rep, mysteries and so much more
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dead and the Dark is seriously such an amazing piece of horror! It borders suspenseful and humorous at the same time which is something I haven't seen for a while. Logan is such a fun character with sass, wit, and this darkness to her that I think all teenagers can relate to. Ashley is someone who reminds me of myself at her age, both learning to understand herself while still trying to fit into this box of what she's SUPPOSED to be.

When I hit halfway through this novel I was on a speed run. It picks up so quickly that I wished I could get rid of my real world responsibilities so I could find out what creepy thing has taken over Snakebite. The twist is something you won't see until the very end and I was so in awe of how well it was kept from the reader but I'm sure if I go back and reread I'll see little hints along the way.

I cannot recommend this enough, both the plot and the characters are rich in depth and makes me want to read more horror (which is something I rarely do because of my scaredy cat tendencies). Definitely a must read!

This book was really good! It was definitely dark and spooky and it reminded me of the show Supernatural at times. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for a good YA mystery/horror novel.

Mystery and intrigue, with a sprinkling of something darker. This book was captivating, and every page had me hungry for more answers. Solid book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ecopy for review.
I would give this book 4 stars! I definitely loved the spookiness and mystery of the story and I think the cover reflects that pretty well, it certainly draws you in! I loved how one of the main characters was the daughter of ghost hunters who had their own show, I thought that was unique and definitely tied in with the overall theme of the story.
Another aspect of this novel that I was drawn to was the romance and I feel like it was handled beautifully and really fleshed out. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who loves spooky stories, mysterious towns and strong young women determined to figure them out.

4 stars!

Courtney Gould has an authentic way of writing. It's true and honest, interesting, and at times, poetry on the page.
Whenever possible, put the good things about a book or author upfront. "Now that he knew what it felt like to be loved, he could never go back," is a true encapsulation of the theme. We are all looking for love and acceptance, a place to fit in, where we find our people. While this is a paranormal thriller, at the heart, it's about human relationships and the human condition of needing love and acceptance.

The Dead and the Dark is a young adult thriller like none I've ever read. It's unpredictable, intriguing, and kept me wanting more. On my quest for LGBT horror/thriller, most use the representation as a footnote. It's refreshing to have LGBT authors writing stories where the characters simply are also part of the community. It's not forced, it's not to push the plot. These characters are simply existing in their world and experiencing things - in this case, an otherworldly entity set on destroying happiness.

This was good! Every character that was introduced had a purpose. No one was left behind! This easily became one of those books where the characters become familiar and homey. While I didn’t love each character (some of them were douche bags), they fit in well with the story.

I finished in a day without feeling like I needed to rush through. It just flowed very well which made it easy to keep reading.
Loved the Ghost Hunter aspect. I feel like it really broke up specific areas while adding value to the story.

There only thing that slowed the story a bit for me was where the darkness was present. I could have done without or had it be formatted a different way.

Over all really enjoyed this!!

I reached this ARC from @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was in love with this book the second I read the summary because omg! When i first started reading it, i adored it. I truly loved this book so much and it was such a quick, fast read and i love the ghost paranormal aspect because I feel that it's so rare for there to be paranormal in murder mysteries especially ya ones.