The pacing in this was just too slow for me so I DNF it which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to this.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me an early release copy in exchange for my honest review.

DNF 35%

So, this review is very late, but after purchasing the book to give it a review, all I can say is that I was disappointed. I read this author's other book and really enjoyed it. It had the same unique idea/style that this one had, but the spark I loved from her last book was not in this one.

I felt the pacing was slow, and I didn't enjoy the main character. I was so annoyed with them that I could not stay connected with the story.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

Roxie Clark's family is cursed. Maybe. She's been giving a tour of her family's cursed history, mentioning every death apart from one. Colin Riley, who wasn't family by blood but might as well have been. Colin was Roxie's sisters bf and the brother of Tristian, Roxie's childhood best friend. Roxie and Tristan work together to figure out what really happened to Colin. A great read for the spooky season.

Diving into the new popular podcast plot line genre, this book sets out at a fast pace and keeps you hanging on for a wild thrill ride with twists you won’t see coming. Absolutely loved this book.

A teen who turns her gruesome family history into a ghost tour? As someone who’s been on several, I couldn’t get my hands on this book fast enough.

With her love of all things spooky and creepy (the girl has a real talent for decorations), Roxie immediately captured my heart. The women in the Clark family seem to be cursed (it goes back for generations) and have met untimely and sometimes brutal demises. As a history lover, Roxie does her research and turns these stories into a popular ghost tour. Maybe she occasionally embellishes a tad, but it only adds to the intrigue. She has a tough outer shell, but I loved how her vulnerabilities are gradually revealed, which only makes it easier to relate to her character.

Roxie’s best friend Travis is also a bit of an outcast – his personality isn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy kind. His brother Riley was the boyfriend of Roxie’s sister, Skylar, and Riley was found brutally murdered a year ago. Roxie has tried being supportive, but she and Skylar are polar opposites and see the world in completely different ways. As a result, their relationship is all kinds of messy and can alternate between loving and combative in the blink of an eye. Skylar is withdrawn and still grieving, but an unexpected discovery inspires her to launch her own investigation into Riley’s death. And it soon reveals wave after wave of secrets and surprises. Even though most of the clues were right in front of me, the mystery kept me guessing. I even yelled at the book at one point because I didn’t want to believe a revelation, and I plowed through it in less than two days.

Charmingly campy at times, occasionally amusing, and heavily atmospheric, this is a perfect Halloween read. I’d take Roxie’s ghost tour anytime.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

AFTER DARK WITH ROXIE CLARK by Brooke Lauren Davis has a fun premise and is an interesting read for spooky szn. I doubt I'll use it for any specific creative writing lessons, but I'll keep it with a list of other recommended reads for fall and/or Halloween titles. I enjoyed reading it and appreciated the early access to the e-galley. Thank you!

Loved this! Perfect YA read for Halloween. Roxie Clark runs ghost tours exploring her town's dark legends. Her sister Skylar is grieving the murder of her boyfriend Collin when she gets a note that sets her on a quest to find the killer, pulling Roxie along, Problem is Skylar suspects Collin's half brother Tristan, who is also Roxie's best friend. Loved the creepy atmosphere set by the various ghost stories, as well as the relationship of the sisters as they investigate Collin's murder. Did not see the big twist coming!

This is a book that I had a hard time putting down at times. For a thriller/mystery, it had a fair amount of plausible twists, but what really sold me was Roxie, the protagonist. She was very authentic, genuine, and sympathetic yet not overly so. Her relationship with Skylar is one I think a lot of readers will see themselves in, or begin to understand dynamics that come from family that you love so deeply but don't always necessarily agree with. I appreciated the nuance with which the book handled the whole situation with Colin, rather than romanticizing anything. Roxie's interest in her families legacy also brought some interesting parallels between her present and the past.

One detractor against the book is the lack of character diversity. While it is set in a small town in the midwest, that doesn't mean that all the main characters must be straight, cishet, and white (or at least implied to be so).

First off let me state that I tried. I tried so hard to enjoy this YA thriller, I really truly did! BUT

***SPOILERS INCOMING***
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SPOILER - okay if you read past here you were warned and therefore it will be your own fault it things get
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Ok, so premise: For generations, the Clark women have suffer mysterious or violent deaths. This has always fed into the local rumors that the Clark women are cursed. But instead of being careful in the face of her possible demise, Roxie Clark embraces the macabre with gusto, even organizing and running her own ghost tour specifically around the topic of her family’s curse. Skylar, on the other hand, has always been the studious and socially acceptable one of the Clark sisters. These differences have always caused a wedge between the sisters, and they never quite got the hang of being friends.

Years before, two half brothers - Colin and Tristan, moved in down the street and the four of them quickly became inseparable. Tristan and Roxie had there own outcast ways about them to quickly make them best friends, while Skylar and Colin slowly fell deeply in love with one another.

When Colin is gruesomely murdered, Skylar completely shuts down, leaving her dreams of leaving their small town to attend Yale behind in order to stay reclusive in her bedroom. When Roxie locates an unopened letter next to a present she had helped Colin pick out for her acceptance into the Ivy League school, she is excited at the prospect that this may help Skylar move on with her life, and understand that this was not the life he would have ever wanted for her,

Except. The unopened letter was a breakup letter. (Gasp!)

This, logically, makes Skylar snap out of her malaise and jump straight to the most obvious conclusion about Colin’s murderer - it was his brother Tristan! Despite the two being incredibly close, despite there never seeming to be a large enough rift to ever premeditate murder, despite Tristan being Roxie’s only and best friend,,,

So of course, out of loyalty to her sister than she hasn’t truly communicated with in the year since Colin’s death, and never really connected to in the first place, Roxie agrees to help her investigate Tristan on her behalf. Makes sense. Makes total sense.

Ok. This whole clusterf*ck of a plot was introduced fairly early on, and despite the interesting (I guess?) investigation, I just could never get past the utter ludicrousness of this plot. None of it felt right, and honestly I spent 3/4 of the book so irritated that when the mysteries were finally solved I simply could not care less.

Also, Roxie was super annoying in her overly commercialized goth-ness.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury YA for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I was looking forward to reading this one after reading her debut last year. I like her writing style and that didn’t change. It was a good mystery/thriller but I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped.

The book is told from third person narrative with the point-of-view following Roxie Clark. She has a unique business when it comes to her ghost tour because it involves all of the women in her family that came before her. Besides being family, the one thing they have in common is the Clark curse. I did like this a lot and enjoyed being told the tales of those that died. It gives it a creepy feel that is different than the mystery.

Roxie was a good character and she finds herself trying to sort through loyalty and understanding her sister who is still grieving. Both sisters, and even their grandma, have dealt with a lot in their lives. It was interesting to see how each one dealt with it. I wish we would have gotten more from grandma though. Roxie’s sister Skylar was not very likeable. I understand that she is still dealing with grief but everything she did was irrational and she was always at arms with her sister.

The other characters, even the brothers, felt like they only had one purpose. I didn’t really feel anything for them and I guess that was fine haha.

The pacing is on the slower side until you get about halfway and the plot is fine but nothing that really grabbed me. It does wrap up nicely by then and I guess I understand the ending but kind of just wanted more from it? It felt a bit rushed.

Overall, this was a good book. I did like certain aspects of the story and will still continue on with this author if and when she writes more.

I just have to start by saying that the twists in this book are awesome! and I absolutely love the cover. This is a perfect book for the spooky season, it's a fast-paced story, full of mysteries, which I enjoy very much. I really enjoyed this book, it was right up my alley. I love the setting and small town full of ghosts. It was a very good book and the author did awesomely. It was my first book by Brooke Lauren Davis and I don't regret it. If you like spooky ghosts and mysteries this one is for you.

The Clarke women must be cursed since most of them die young and under mysterious circumstances. On top of that, there’s a murder in town and two of the remaining women must solve it.

With a premise like that, I had to read this one! Right of the bat, it’s a really great Halloween read if you’re looking for something not scary but with great vibes. Throughout the books there are great ghost stories about different Clarke women that could actually make great standalones.

The lead character is pretty badass, the way her style is described, her ghost tour business and the love she has for the ones close to her.
I also really like her grandmother Gertie and Tristan, which are both interesting. Now, I really don’t like Skylar, Roxie’s sister. I understand that she’s mourning but she was mean to everyone and to be honest kind of annoying throughout the book.

The plot twist at the end was pretty unexpected and satisfying. Overall, it had its flaws but it’s a good book for spooky season.

Thank you Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, Bloomsbury YA, Dreamscape Media, Brooke Lauren Davis, and Jordan Killam (audio narrator) for the opportunity to read and listen to After Dark With Roxie Clark in exchange for an honest review.

The catchy title and cover certainly drew me in. While this wasn't quite as spooky as I was hoping and expecting, the ghosts and murder mystery are certainly a thrill to read for spooky season.

Roxie's family is supposedly cursed, as the majority of her ancestors have died from extremely tragic deaths. Some of her ancestors are ghosts, the haunts of which she exhibits on her ghost tour, considering she can actually see them and has some way of understanding. The only person she won't exhibit on her tour is the recently deceased Colin Riley, Roxie's sister's boyfriend. After only a year, the death starts to haunt Roxie (no pun intended...or was it?), and Roxie makes it her mission to find out just who killed him.

With ghostly help, Roxie learns more about herself and more about Colin's muder than she ever expected. Too many people involved makes for too many lies. At least Roxie has the help of the dead on her side.

The pacing of this book is quick. I have seen many reviews where people just could not put this one down, and I am one of those. While the story wasn't as creepy or ghost filled as I would have liked (I guess I was expecting a bit more toward the gore side for some reason), it was still a fast, enjoyable read that only lasted about a day before I had to pick a new book.

The audiobook narrator executes the story perfectly, bringing life to Roxie's character and her flavorful ghost tours. The book is an enjoyable listen, a more mellow book if you want something festive, yet fast, for an October read.

Roxie Clark comes from a supposedly cursed family, which she uses to her advantage by turning her family's history into a ghost tour around her town. The only person she hasn't featured on her tours is her sister's boyfriend, Colin, who was murdered in a cornfield.

The mystery surrounding the murder kept me hooked and the spooky atmosphere and likable characters were enjoyable. A good book to pick up for the Halloween season.

As soon as August hits, I am ready to read spooky books. The cover and description of this book pulled me in right away.  I love thrillers that work to deconstruct our ideas of true crime and the pain and grief it leaves behind and After Dark with Roxie Clark does an excellent job of this. What's not to like? You have a family curse, mystery, ghost tours, and intense family dynamics. Pick it up this October to get you in the Halloween spirit!

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this Arc!

This was such a fun ya murder/mystery. It revolves around family sticking together, appreciating the past and a few ghost stories as well.

Roxie gives ghost tours about her ancestors that had some sudden and surprising deaths over the past 150 years or so. Her sister has been in mourning for her once boyfriend for over a year but things are about to change. Roxie's sister, Skylar, has a plan to find her boyfriends murderer herself, and of course, Roxie is there to help.

This book is exciting and fast-paced with some interesting twists and turns! A good read for spooky season!

Out October 4, 2022!

Content warnings for gun violence, murder, some gore and grief.

An unsolved murder, a girl who runs a ghost tour and her sister still dealing with the grief of her murdered boyfriend. Roxie Clark has always loved the morbid and she runs her own ghost tour featuring her ancestors who have met tragic ends. However the most recent tragic death occurs when Roxie’s sister Skylar’s boyfriend is brutally murdered and no one knows who did it. Skylar is still reeling from it, having completely shut down... until she becomes convinced it’s his brother who happens to be Roxie’s best friend/crush who is the one who murdered him. Skylar decides to investigate, piecing back the night of events and as Roxie is dragged into it both girls begin to realize that someone has been lying about what really occurred and that someone knows more than what they are letting on. Soon Roxie finds herself questioning whether the boy she’s known and loved her entire life is capable of murder. This was a fantastic read, perfect for the spooky season. It deals with an interesting mystery and the ghost tour aspect of it was so interesting. I loved the journey that Roxie goes through, dealing with trying to prove her best friend’s innocence while also trying to help her sister find out who really killed her boyfriend. The final twist was definitely an interesting one and one I didn’t expect ( sort of). Overall, I had a great time reading this and would definitely recommend it for fans of mysteries.

*Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, Bloomsbury YA for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was such a great read! I enjoyed the mystery and the twists and turns. Brooke Lauren Davis has written an even better book than her debut and teens will be left wanting more adventures with Roxie Clark.

Every now and then you come across a book that is a really good story. This is one of those books. It's a curl up in a comfy chair with your hot cocoa, hot tea, or pumpkin spice whatever in front of a fire and forget about your troubles. This is a perfect fall or Halloween read as it definitely has a spooky vibe. Family curses, ghost tours, a brutal murder, and two sisters set out to solve the crime all combine to keep you intrigued until the very end.