4.5 stars
Dang this book was good! It was so twisted and creepy and I just loved it.
The characters were great. The main character was Logan. She has traveled to Snakebite, OR with her dads so they can investigate and film an episode of their paranormal show ParaSpectors. She is snarky and sarcastic, but is also lonely. Ashely is what Logan thinks is the typical blonde popular girl, but finds out that's not true.
The plot immediately hooked me. Ashley's boyfriend goes missing, presumed dead, but Ashley can still feel his presence and sees shapes in the woods. But he isn't the only one who goes missing and it looks like someone in Snakebite (possibly one of Logan's dads?) is killing teenagers. Logan and Ashley need to find out who is doing this before it's one of them who is murdered. Throughout the whole book I just needed to know what was going to happen next. I was so invested in these characters.
If you are looking for a new thriller, definitely check this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould - 4 stars (It was more of a 3.5 for me, but given the target demographic I think it deserves a 4)

This book was creepy, I listened to it before bed one night and I double-checked my window was locked.

Although The Dead and the Dark is different from my normal reads, I often drift into the horror genre without even batting an eyelid, but this one made me uneasy. Even after finishing it, I still am not sure what/who the big bad truly is (my buffy fans will get that reference).

In a way, this book did kind of remind me of the campy 80s/90s tv shows like charmed and buffy where the major evil is this ominous over-hanging bad that isn't tied to just one being. Overall I enjoyed this audiobook. While listening I was fascinated, creeped out, and excited to continue. A few days out, the storyline doesn't stand up to scrutiny but I'll mark it a win for enjoyment. I think it's an excellent creepy YA book, and would be excellent for its intended audience.

Without giving spoilers below is a list of my likes and dislikes.

Liked:
The classic backwoods small-town backdrop.
The queer rep and sapphic romance. I like how being gay in a small backward town is central to this story.
That I thought I had figured it all out only to discover I had not.
The eerie imagery.
The gay dads who happen to be on-screen paranormal investigators.

Disliked:
The unrealistic decision making, even for teenagers not a single ounce of self-preservation seems to exist for these people - but alas it's YA horror, logic is your enemy.
The abrupt and unexplained resolution to the big bad. (I guess it's the power of love or something)

This book had do many twists and turns. I had no idea what was going on and was completely dumb founded when everything came to light. Great characters, great story. Lots of relationships and the things that come in between family friends with murder and intrigue to boot. This was a very engaging read. Will definitely pick up more from this author.
4.25⭐️
I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I wanted to like this audiobook. I really, really did. The book itself is engaging and I want to read more. However, the narrator does not seem to fit well with the content. It’s not terrible but I found it difficult to follow along.

On the positive note, I was able to talk with our YA librarian and got the title added to her list of potential new acquisitions. The title deserves to be read, I just couldn’t take the audio version.

The Dead and the Dark
Courtney Gould
I rarely read horror but the description of this one intrigued me.
The setting is Snakebite OR. With a name like Snakebite, you must know something bad is going to happen. The main character is this tale is a gay female 18 years old, her name is Logan Ortiz-Woodley, and she was raised by a gay couple. Her fathers are ghost hunters on a reality show.
Logan is angry with one of her father’s; he is distant and seems uncaring. She lives out of hotel rooms as she is forced to travel from town to town with her fathers’ reality show. There latest adventure has brought them to Snakebite, OR where her dads first met. The town is judgmental and do not want gays in their midst. Something strange is happening in the town, something dark and frightening. Teens are disappearing. Tristan was the first teen to disappear. Ashley Baron was Tristan’s closest friend; she asks Logan to help her find him. Logan’s fathers are accused of killing the missing teens. Logan investigates the missing teens in hopes of clearing her dads. Through the investigation she learns a great deal about her fathers and the reason they originally left Snakebite. There is evil in the town.
The deeper I dove into this tale the more involved I became. This book is filled with the supernatural and paranormal events. Ashley is able to communicate with the dead and with the past. We see Logan and her fathers being persecuted. This is a suspense filled tale. You can filled the evil growing as the tale progresses. The focus audience for the tale is Young Adult.

As the title promises, this one's dark! With a subtle twisty narrative, this is perfect for readers who might be a little shy of horror, but still want to feel the subtle twisty discomfort that horror brings. The interpersonal and family dynamics were stellar, and I loved the sapphic elements as well!

Things to Know:
Supernatural
Multiple viewpoints
LGBTQIA
Murder

The premise was super interesting. I actually live not too far from where the story takes place which I thought was really cool!

I did not enjoy the narrator for the audiobook. Their voice showed no emotion and it was very monotone. It made it a little difficult to continue to listen.

There are MANY twists that I didn't see coming which was super refreshing.

You should read this book because it is original. I would recommend the book versus the audiobook. This book is creepy and has some wonderful twists I did not see coming. I would rate it 3.5/5 stars.

4.25 Stars
Content Warnings at end of review!

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an e-arc and an ALC of this book!

When Logan is forced to temporarily move to Snakebite, Oregon for her dads' ghost-hunting show, she doesn't expect what they will find. The small town is plagued by more than just small-minded people, and Logan will have to team up with town-sweetheart, Ashley in order to discover what is really at play.

I loved this book! It was the perfect amount of spooky for me and I really loved the twists and turns! I especially loved to see Logan and Ashley slowly getting to know each other better through their sleuthing. I loved the way things turned out with Logan's dads and am so glad things worked out the way they did. This was the perfect sapphic ghost story for me!

Pub Date: August 3, 2021
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Violence, and Bullying
Moderate: Emotional abuse

I should have read the description on this before requesting. That was my bad. I am not interested in reading about paranormal experiences and I found these teens to be way too angsty for my taste. The audiobook narrator was good, so if you are into ghost hunting, this would be good on audio.

THE DEAD AND THE DARK was a great audiobook. Soneela Nankani did a wonderful job narrating this story and bringing it to life.

As for the actual novel, was surprised by how much I loved this. I picked up THE DEAD AND THE DARK because I was interested in the f/f romance, but was immediately sucked in. I couldn’t put this down, and for me this was a standout YA paranormal read.

I recommend this book if you love:
-Queer teens
-Sharp, three-dimensional female leads
-Gay ghostbuster dads
-Mysteries with paranormal elements
-A strong sense of setting

I enjoyed every moment of this debut, but interestingly enough, the romance wasn’t what stuck out for me. I loved both Logan and Ashley as individual narrators and I did overall like them as a couple. However, I would have appreciated more chemistry (or maybe just sapphic yearning?) between the two. I also guessed the murderer pretty easily, but there were still additional twists in the plot that were shocking.

The pacing of this novel was fantastic, the writing was lovely, and I certainly look forward to Courtney Gould’s future releases.

This was a terrific book to read. I truly enjoyed the main character’s relationship. Given the gravity of missing people in our world today, it is quite relatable.

The Dead and the Dark is a murder mystery following teen Logan and her tv ghost hunting dads. They arrive in Snakebite, the typical ignorant small town and are quickly blamed for the murder/ disaperence of another teen. The dead boy’s girlfriend, Ashley, is trying everything she can to find them when she teams up with Logan, desperate to prove her and her fathers’ innocence.

I was very impressed by this book, especially given that it is the author’s first. Gould creates a believable world and sympathetic characters. I thought that the ghost hunting tv show was a very interesting way of showing backstory. Additionally, the twists in this book were incredible and the big reveal was shocking.

This is one of the best books I have read in a while. I will be recommending this book to everyone who will listen.

I am having a hard time connecting with the story thru audio book so I am going to request and read the ebook form and get back to you guys. I do love the narrator buy far very good.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould is a paranormal murder mystery and the story of family all wrapped into one. Logan and her two paranormal investigator dads end up back in Snakebite, the small town where her fathers grew up and where they eventually escaped. Tristan, a local teen, has disappeared and Ashley, his girlfriend is desperate to find him, as is the rest of the community. This is the setting for a bit of a long-winded tale of murder, mystery, ghosts and the Dark.

I enjoyed this story a lot and the narration was excellent. It was easy to listen to and differentiate between the characters and the narration definitely added to the story. I enjoyed learning about Logan and her dads and how they fit into the community of Snakebite. Her dads backstory with regards to their history with many of the "adults" in the story when they were all Logan and Ashley's age was well-written and thoughtfully incorporated into the story as well. I was entertained throughout, though I felt that the story was a bit long-winded, as mentioned above. I would still recommend this book, the author and narrator if you find the summary to be intriguing. I absolutely love the cover art as well.

I have been provided an ARC at no cost in return for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC.

Its been a while since I've read a paranormal mystery/thriller that I really loved but I freaking loved this book! The characters had depth and were well thought out, the dynamic and relationships between them were interesting and really added to the plot. The plot itself was very well paced and literally kept me guessing. The Dead and the Dark was very unique and I already want to reread it. This book had a little bit of everything including a nice spooky vibe that I feel is hard to accomplish in fiction. The audio narration was very well done and easy to listen to which was a huge plus for me! I really enjoyed it overall and highly recommend picking this one up.

This was a really interesting ghost story. It started out with the classic haunted town with a creepy backstory but it really evolved from there. The story turned into this layered story of family, friends, homophobia, and so much more. Even the ghost story and creepiness of the town had some great twist as the story unfolded. All in all this was a story with a solid idea that really took its time to layer and give nuance to what could have been a bland and predictable story.

Wow! this was eerie but so good! If you like psychological thrillers or maybe even a bit of horror, this is for you. The atmosphere was dark but at the same time so luring it kept you hooked on the plot. The twists and turns the author made us read through were definitely a big factor in the flow of the book. I would love to read more by this author. Super excited to have listed to this one! The narrator has the perfect voice for this type of book!

**Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC**

A ghost story, a love story, and a murder mystery rolled into one, but unfortunately none of the angles really caught my attention. The relationship between Ashley and Logan felt forced to me. They had a lot of chemistry as friends, but as soon as they started having feelings for each other all that chemistry disappeared. The mysterious presence that’s responsible for all the paranormal activity wasn’t scary enough and also wasn’t well enough explained for my liking (where did it come from? Why is it just lurking in this particular town?).

I actually listened to the audiobook version instead of reading this book, and I actually wonder if I would have liked it better if I had read it on the page. I liked the narrator, but it didn’t keep my attention well enough to really get every detail. I always felt like I had just missed something.

I believe this is Gould’s debut, and since I love paranormal YA, I would certainly try her next book. This one didn’t quite work for me, but it was well written and had an original premise. If the ending had been a little tighter and I had liked the main characters more as a couple, I think this book would have really worked for me.

This was a really fun ghost story that actually had more heart and emotion than I expected. At the heart is a story about family. I really liked how the layers unfolded, it started as a simple ghost story and evolved to small town secrets while touching on sexuality and homophobia.

The audio performance by Soneela Nankani was fantastic and really brought the story and characters to life.

Logan Ortiz-Woodley has been bouncing around the country most of her life. Her Dads are the stars of television's most popular ghost-hunting show, <i>ParaSpectors</i>, and owing to this, she has traveled quite extensively with them filming. When they tell her they need to return to the hometown they fled years ago, Snakebite, Oregon, she doesn't think too much of it. Just another stop on the road for another episode.

What Logan wasn't prepared for was the chilly reception the family would receive in Snakebite. The town seems to blame her Dad, Brandon, for unusual occurrences following his most recent visit. Because of this, Logan and a group of local teens get off to a rough start. There's been a lot of tension in the town since a popular boy, Tristan, went missing. In fact, on the day Logan arrives there is a vigil praying for Tristan's safe return.

His girlfriend, Ashley Barton, hasn't given up hope that Tristan will be found, although others aren't so sure. Disturbingly, Ashley begins to be plagued by visions of what appears to be Tristan's ghost. Unsure what to do, she seeks help from the only person she can think of who may actually have knowledge of paranormal activity, Logan.

The girls begin a cautious friendship and start to investigate what is going on in Snakebite. As more teens disappear the stakes are raised, as is the creep factor. In addition to all of this, Logan also learns a lot more about her Dads, their relationship and what caused them to leave Snakebite in the first place. She's been desperate to learn more about them, as her relationship with her Dad, Brandon, has been particularly strained.

I really enjoyed diving into this story. There's a lot of exploration of topics outside of the paranormal, such as family, sacrifice, grief, forgiveness, the idea of home being tied to people versus place and what it's like to be different in a small town.

I listened to the audiobook and was completely transported to Snakebite. It's that small town many of us grew up in. I felt like I had been there before and could recognize all the Town players.

For a debut, I was impressed with the flow of the story and the layers Gould was able to bring to the page. While the paranormal aspects, as well as the atmosphere, were a ton of fun, I think I enjoyed the family dynamic and character growth most of all.

If you enjoy Mysteries or Thrillers with a Paranormal twist, you absolutely need to be adding this title to your TBR!!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies of this to read and review. I had a great time with it and cannot wait to see what Courtney Gould writes next!!!