This book was fantastic! I absolutely loved it! Very hard to explain exactly what it is that I loved there is so much that was wonderful !

Courtney Gould’s thrilling YA debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places—and people—you didn’t expect. This story takes place in Snakebite, Oregon where a lot of unusual things are happening. Teens are missing, the weather is unusual, some people are dead, and everything points to the new ghost hunters. Their daughter teams up with a local teen to solve the mystery of exactly what is going on. I have always enjoyed watching ghost hunting shows on TV and reading paranormal books. This book was absolutely perfect for me! To top it all off, I had absolutely no clue what the answer was. The end had me reeling, because I didn't even know what to expect going in. I absolutely adored every single bit of this book and would love to read more like it!

DNF - Did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this title because I did not connect with the writing or plot. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the early copy!

This book was just…wow. I came for the spooks, but it left me with so much more. It was spooky, twisty, unique, and teaches you that love will always win.

This is not my typical type of read, but I try to choose titles for a range of student writers. In this pandemic period so many of my students are turning to horror, especially reading it and writing it, and this book will be a huge hit with them. The atmosphere, characters, and plot are all strongly developed.

Okay! This book blew my mind. It was so good. It was my first time ever reading a Courtney Gould book (not sure if this is a debut)

Highly recommend it!
The writing was amazing and the story telling was out of this world.

Logan Ortiz-Woodley has never stayed in one place for long. That’s because her dad’s, Brandon and Alejo are the stars of the show ParaSpectors and they are constantly moving town to town to investigate all things haunted. So Logan isn’t surprised when she finds herself in Snakebite, Oregon. The small town has been experiencing some events that are out of the norm when a teenager goes missing and the people in town are pointing fingers at Logan and her dads.

So first of the ghost hunting show obsessed me was all about Logan’s dads being ghost hunters. 100% loved that! I also really enjoyed the mix of mystery and the horror/creepy vibe this book has. That dark creepy feel is definitely through out the whole book but there are moments that are a lot heaver than others. This books is also super easy to binge. The story sucks you in and I was honestly guessing what was going to happen until the very end.

My only complaint is that the ghost aspect of the book was a little confusing at time and because of that it make the story drag just a little.
Other then that I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it if you enjoy reading creeper mystery reads!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
I received an advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review.

I adore supernatural mysteries and novels with lgbtq+ rep, and so I was especially excited for The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould.

Logan Ortiz-Woodley's dads are stars of a paranormal investigation tv show (Paraspectors) and they are returning to their hometown of Snakebite, Oregon for the first time in years to scout location sites. Logan is along for the ride, at least until she turns 18 and can explore the world on her own. However, when she arrives, she quickly realizes that something is not quite right in Snakebite. Together with Ashley Barton, resident popular girl whose boyfriend was the first to go missing, they must figure out what happened to him, why she can still sense his presence, and what Logan's dads have to do with all of the secrets Snakebite is hiding.

I wavered between really enjoying this book and loving it. Gould writes solidly spooky scenes, but Gould's real talent is in her portrayal of relationships: the slow-burn friendship/relationship between Ashley and Logan; the relationship between Logan's dads, Brandon and Alejo (Cas/Dean vibes, anyone?); and even between Ashley and her mom. Every relationship felt real, imperfect, full of love and mistakes. And the twist was SO. GOOD. I will say the final reveal did remind me a bit - a lot - of the plot you would find in a season of Supernatural. I'm a big fan of the show (well, except that train wreck of a last episode), but it didn't make this novel feel wholly its own for me.

The Dead and the Dark is a deliciously creepy and quietly grieving story that makes for a perfect autumn read. Come for the queer rep and the chills, stay for the well-written relationships. Highly recommend giving it a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free advance reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

Scheduled to post 8/17/21.

I thoroughly enjoyed THE DEAD AND THE DARK. A lot. It had that older school YA horror feel that I've been searching for in YA books for a while now. It was a solid story with nice creepy undertones, compelling characters, and it drew me in and held onto me until the end.

The only real complaint I had about the book was the purposeful denial of information to Logan and Ashley. I get it. Parents deny their kids information all the time. But teens are literally dying and Logan point blank asks for information, to which her dads' response is "We'll tell you later." Because reasons. Of course, those reasons are half-heartedly explained at the end, but they're weak. The thing is, even if the reveal was made earlier and Logan had the information she was looking for, I don't think it would have actually changed the course of the story. It was just used as a fake tension builder when the story didn't actually need that.

I can't really go into the best parts of the book without spoiling the ending, so I'll just say I like where the story went and the messages it sent. It made me teary-eyed at the end there, and the story rounded out so nicely, although I do feel like Logan got off a little light, all things considered. But I'm okay with it.

Between Logan and Ashley, I think Ashley was the better character with way more of a character arc than Logan. Logan just kind of maintained her personality throughout the story, and even after the reveal at the end, she shifted a little bit, but nothing really monumental. Ashely was the one who had her world ripped open, not only with Tristan's death, but her own awakening about herself, her town, and the trajectory of her life. Ashley's arc was bonkers and I honestly have no idea how that girl didn't shatter at the end. But she didn't. She landed on two feet and I loved her for it.

I really liked the low key sinister element THE DEAD AND THE DARK had. It was in the overhot sun that baked the town when it really shouldn't. It was in the abnormal storms and the tenseness of everyone's shoulders. It wasn't just what was killing kids. It was something that shifted the entire demeanor of the town, even though people didn't really know it, which is scary unto itself. I really like that concept. Like a frog in a pot of water will just boil alive because it doesn't know any better. That's kind of what was happening here. Such insidious horror. I love it.

Overall, such a great book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved how sinister it was, even if so much of it was underlying. If this is the kind of story Gould continues to write, I'll be picking up her next book for sure.

4.5

I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/ Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me hooked from the get go. This is a mystery/thriller/horror that kept me guessing about who the killer was from the beginning. (I never did get it right so that's a plus for me.) This is a pretty dark read about murder, homophobia, and demons. It also covered some heavy topics of loneliness, belonging, and grief. This was labeled as one of the most anticipated books of the year and they hit it out of the park as far as YA and Paranormal go!!

I loved everything about this book. I found this book well written with a great plot. I loved all the main characters and especially the relationships between father- daughter and the two fathers. I like the development in the relationship between Logan and Ashley and how they started out as enemies to partners trying to solve a murder, to friends to lovers. Great book to pick up if you are into suspense, eerie, creepy, ghosts, ghost hunters, adoption, romance, dysfunctional families, and paranormal.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Dead and the Dark follows Logan as she moves to a small town named Snakebite. Mysterious things occur in Snakebite, and Logan’s dads decide its a perfect opportunity to location scout for their ghost hunting TV show.

This book is a super impressive debut! I really enjoy Courtney Gould’s writing style and will definitely pick up more books by her. The Dead and the Dark is full of dimensional characters and instills curiosity within the reader. While I enjoyed my time reading it, The Dead and the Dark did not truly hook me. I found myself putting the book down during super climatic parts, and I was overall a bit underwhelmed. I wanted Gould to delve deeper into the Dark and its origin, as well expand upon Logan and her dads as well as Logan and Ashley’s relationship.

Overall, I enjoyed The Dead and the Dark and would recommend it to anyone who wants to pick up a sapphic young adult paranormal mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc to review.

Impressively solid debut! Did Supernatural ever hold you in its poorly written grip based on sheer hope and denial? Well this is the book for you – it delivers on every promise it makes and it’s effortlessly queer.

For me, the strongest parts were the atmosphere of the oppressive little town and the plot. Although I felt the characters lacked a little something something, the way this book was put together was good enough that it overshadowed the flaws it did have. The past and present narratives build very well on each other and when they finally converge, it’s incredibly satisfying.

This is a big feelings book and I loved how from the very beginning I was frustrated and annoyed on Logan’s behalf. Courtney Gould makes the reader feel exactly what she wants you to feel, but with a soft touch, no heavy handed emotional manipulation needed. The emotional narrative of Logan and her parents was definitely the heart and soul of the book and I think it was a very clever choice.

What worked less for me was Logan herself as a character and our main romance. I feel like Brandon, Alejo, even Ashley were well developed characters – I got their Thing, I knew what they wanted. But with Logan, I couldn’t picture her. Maybe if we’d gotten a few scenes with her in LA, interacting with her friends, just being herself, it would’ve helped.

And this of course didn’t really help when it came to the romance. There was no build-up, no tension. We did get a bit of sweetness and a couple of ‘oh no she’s cute’ moments, but it was a bit too late in the book for me.

One other thing that I wish had been better built-up was Ashley’s friend group and the locals. Some really horrible stuff happens to people Ashley considers her best friends/basically family, but it wasn’t shocking and packed no emotional punch because, as a reader I didn’t know enough about these people to care about them. Tristan was the outlier, I really felt like I knew the guy.

But like I said, I thought the story was very strong and I enjoyed the reading experience despite my complaints. Will definitely check out whatever else Courtney Gould writes.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the free review copy!

if you're a fan of ghost hunters / ghost adventures then you'll be a fan of this book! it was fun and i enjoyed my time with it.

3.5 stars!
From the moment Logan arrives in Snakebite, she can tell something is wrong with the town. Her dads have chosen it as their most recent location to film their ghosthunting TV show. It also happens to be their hometown. Since Logan and her dads have arrived, teenagers have been going missing. The community is growing suspicious of her family. Logan is determined to prove that her dads have nothing to do with the disappearances and find out the truth about her family.

I loved the portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters in this young adult horror novel! Logan’s dads are gay and Logan is a lesbian. There’s another character in the book who is exploring her sexuality as well and I thought that her journey towards accepting herself was very well written. I love anytime I encounter main characters that represent any community that often gets marginalized as I think it is so important to readers to see them included in the book world. The homophobia that Logan and her family face was so relevant to many people today as well. I did think that the paranormal element could have used a bit more details as I was left wanting more about how the “dark” worked. I did enjoy the author’s setup of the desipcable Snakebite and the character development throughout the book. Thanks to @netgalley, @wednesdaybooks and @stmartinspress for my ARC! This one hit the shelves earlier in August.

This was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year, but unfortunately I didn't really connect with the writing style. The description and setup were amazing, and I do appreciate much of the messaging around mental health, depression, and the evils of homophobia developed throughout the novel, but it just didn't 'work' for me. This is a me problem. I'm sure many will adore this novel, and rightly so.

Courtney Gould's debut 'The Dead and the Dark' follows two teenage girls as they team up to solve a murderous mystery in the small town of Snakebite.

When I went into this book I definitely though the ghost hunting aspect was going to feature more prominently throughout. as well as the sapphic romance. I was wrong. The tv show barely featured and given how much time passes in this novel I find it hard to believe that Logan's dads can be away from work for that long, especially a television show that's been renewed.

This book felt like a first draft and very messy. There was no chemistry between Logan and Ashley, Ashley didn't properly acknowledge or come to terms with her queerness. Her characterisation wasn't fully worked through and neither was Logan, who was awful half of the time. Another example of the messiness was the way information was revealed in the text. Having characters who don't communicate when it's obviously the thing to do, especially when they're being threatened with homophobic violence, is incredibly frustrating!

That last fifteen percent of this book is what is saved it from being one star.

i've been sitting on this review for quite a while thinking about what i want to say

this definitely won't be for everyone, but i am a sucker for the weird paranormal stuff that doesn't necessarily make sense but it doesn't HAVE to make sense in order for me to enjoy because it was well done and i liked the characters. that's exactly what this was and that makes this quite literally the perfect book for me.

it has everything i enjoy in my paranormal/horror stories - characters i can love, a story that doesn't bore me, writing that was particularly great considering this is a debut, and just the right amount of paranormal creepiness (though i didn't find myself scared) for me to be invested in. i am an absolute sucker for ghost stories, regardless if i find myself actually scared, as long as the story is something i can fall in love with.

this book is insular. it's unsettling at times. it has lovable characters and a heartbreaking family dynamic. it's unapologetically queer. it's got ghosts. it's got secrets. it's heartbreaking in the best way. it made me cry. it was so freaking good.

was it a completely perfect book? no, it honestly was probably more of a 4.5 maybe even a 4 star rating but i loved it enough and i feel comfortable in my 5 star rating

The Dead and the Dark grabbed me right off the bat and never let me go. It's got great atmosphere, engaging characters, high stakes tension, fast-paced plot, and solid spooks. Just a completely well-constructed book from start to finish, with a tense, emotional story and richly depicted character relationships. Definitely recommend this haunting read for the fall, or any time of year!

CW: Child death, homophobia.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advance review copy!

I loved this book! From the minute I saw the cover I knew I had to read it! It’s a dark and creepy read! It all starts in snake bite and it all will end in snake bite!

I'm always on the lookout for a book that will grab a high schooler's attention and this is that book. I really enjoyed it. It is a good blend of horror and murder mystery, not too creepy but just creepy enough. The paranormal element was just one of the aspects that led to the dark nature of the novel.