A fascinating concept for a story. The supernatural/paranormal aspect definitely added to the story without being too much. The inclusion of the pictures was neat and not something you see often.

Having the dual perspective of Mira and Layla, seeing each character’s thoughts and feelings, worked well. You could tell that the best friends knew each other very well and how much it hurt them to keep anything from the other.

The guilt and secrets and grief that all the characters experienced was definitely heavy at times. Check the trigger/content warnings before picking this up.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved the pictures and how they added to the story. Its so rare to see ya books with photos and I always enjoy it. I also really liked the characters. They felt relatable in this situation. I can't wait to recommend this book.

I think I would have enjoyed this one much more without the interstitial chapters. If it was just Layla and Mira working through their issues large and small and finding a way to come together despite the darkness that surrounds and separates them. Mira’s grief is a hugely important part of the story, but I felt like things didn’t wholly come together until we also understood her guilt. I also think we saw Layla in too much of a negative light throughout the story - we don’t see her being supportive really until the very end, and it feels almost like a reward granted for being chosen.

I was also more than a little shocked by Mira and Layla’s complete lack of self-preservation being alone in a small town in the Midwest when they’re women of color. Like, wandering around through the woods alone? No way. Taking a jog through a town you don’t know alone? No way. Not mentioning the fear or awareness you’d have in those circumstances?

The concept of this book is really intriguing--who hasn't been in a motel they thought was a little haunted? However, I felt like the plot of the book was a bit disjointed, and the ending especially was extremely fast and scattered. I had to go back and reread it to see if I missed something, but I guess I still don't really understand how things escalated that quickly, or what was even going on. The real life photos were a novel addition, but I did sometimes wonder if the book was written to justify the photos instead of the other way around.

There is a lot to love about A Guide to the Dark, a psychological horror story about two teenage Arabic best friends, Mira and Layla, on their last trip together before starting college. On the way to their final stop, Mira crashes her car and they have to stay in the Wildwood Motel until she can get the car fixed. The girls think they're in luck that they snagged the last available room...but Room 9 has a trail of deaths stretching back 50 years, and it's hungry for more.

In between trying to solve the mystery of Room 9 with owner's son, Ellis, Mira is grappling with the death of her brother and the way the room feeds on this grief, and Layla is struggling to reconcile her budding feelings towards Mira with her traditional Arabic upbringing.

The concept is amazing, the representation is top-notch, and I love the photographs included throughout, which are both a nod to Layla's hobby and a subtly spooky addition to the mystery of the room. I liked the chapters set from the Room's POV, which felt like a haunting metaphor for grief. I also like the way it never slides into full-on horror, and is more of an unsettling, "linger with you long after" take -- kind of like the way the room sinks its claws into its residents.

Even though I liked and appreciated it, though, a couple things stopped me short of loving this book, the biggest one being the writing style. The writing in the Room's POV is lyrical, creepy, and haunting. The writing from Mira and Layla's POVs, however, is very, very plain, to the point that it defeated a lot of the effect Metoui was trying to achieve. She can clearly write, as evidenced by the Room POVs, so the choice to make the girls so flat was an odd one. Another is that the friends-to-lovers angle, a good subplot, wasn't woven as smoothly as it could have been with the Room 9 mystery plot. Going from solving the mystery to paragraphs of pining felt...jarring.

I will still eagerly follow Metoui's writing career, because I think she's got a lot of promise! And I still think this is a debut that's work a shot. I just have a very particular eye for prose and flow, but I doubt most readers will find this a deterrent.

Many thanks to NetGalley, MacMillian Publishing, and Meriam Metoui for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Not good. Beyond boring and no character development. I can’t tell you much except Layla takes photos and Mira has nothing but guilt due to her dead brother.

The plot was thin and the flow was pretty bad.

The photos took me out of the story. A few would have been fine, but it was overkill.

Full Review:

"A Guide to the Dark" follows best friends Mira and Layla. The two girls are on a road trip exploring colleges. The girls get into an accident which causes Mira's car to be undriveable for several days. Due to that, they are stranded in a motel in Indiana called the Wildwood. While there, the two girls meet the motel owner's son, Ellis, a mysterious man named Devlin, and a worker at the motel, Izzy. Ellis is worried about Mira and Layla staying in room nine where so many deaths have occurred. The 5 of them together try to figure out the why behind the mysterious deaths that have occurred at the Wildwood.

I can't really say much about the two main characters. There's not a lot there. I think if we had focused on just Mira and Layla with no outside characters, it could have worked? But instead we get smattering of information dumps at us from everyone and it was a lot. Also somehow not enough? Maybe it would have worked better if Metoui had actually started each chapter off with us getting into the head of a particular person who was about to die in room nine? The book started off that way, and instead from there we kept getting into the "head" of whatever evil presence remained. It just didn't work for me.

The flow was pretty awful. Nothing seems to occur until the very end.

The photos at first were interesting, but they started breaking up the story too much for me. One I thought was very well done! The character of Layla takes a photo of Layla in a swimming pool and you can see how the background around her is "smashed" and her face looks evil. If we had more of that, I would have loved the photo reveals.

The setting of the motel should have been more scary. I just felt bored by the whole thing. I don't want grisly bloody murder, but it just felt very meh, this is happening, oh well.

The ending was way too abrupt. I didn't get a chance to reflect on anything that was really happening or did happen.

Super spooky, and ominous vibes throughout the whole story. I also enjoyed the included photos throughout the novel. Definitely an emotional book, that should have trigger warnings because many heavy topics were discussed. I enjoyed the characters and thought they were well described. It was a great debut. 4 stars. Thank you NetGalley, Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. for in e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

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

Apparently, without realizing it, I’ve been on a bit of a “sapphic horror that’s actually a meditation on grief/guilt/coping” and honestly? I’m here for it. The vibes were appropriately spooky and atmospheric, and I enjoyed the included pictures, and flipping back to them to investigate when new things were brought to light. I also really dug that the room, or “The Pull” had its own POV chapters, so we could kind of get inside its…. brain? and understand some of the mechanics of how it worked.

Overall, this is a good, relatively quick read perfect for a nice, rainy day spent indoors.

WARNING: DO NOT READ AT NIGHT!

Oh wow! The little description blur said that I would not be able to put this down and they were actually right! Definitely definitely pick this up when it comes out because it had me on the edge of my seat and I could not put it down!

Layla and Mira's friendship is so endearing and moving and I loved the editions of the photos! And let me tell you, I would die for Izzy, she is so pretty!

This book has all the thrills that I was even scared to get out of bed while reading it at night, with a very thought provoking conversation on guilt and the impact is has on people.

Please check this book out, however make sure you check the triggers before picking it up!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Teen horror, sapphic romance, friends to lovers

I enjoyed this! It started off slow but got better for me by the second half.

Premise:
Mira & Layla are two besties who go on a road trip when their car suddenly breaks down. They check into a motel into room number 9 one night and start noticing that the room feels dark and creepy, especially Mira. Mira lost her younger brother Khalil about a year ago and her entire family is still deep in their grief. Mira is bisexual and out, and Layla is also queer but is not out yet because she is sure that her Muslim parents won't accept her, even though Mira's parents are also Muslim and were "pretty chill" (Mira's words) about her coming out.

They research the dark history of room 9 with Ellis, the boy who works at the motel with his mom, along with Ellis' friend/coworker Izzy and a mysterious man named Devlin, who has shown interest with the room too. There are black and white photographs interspersed throughout the book, with inexplicable distortions on them, that the group catches onto later.

CW: death, grief, body horror, blood, loss of a loved one, homophobia, suicide

Thoughts:
Wow, I can't believe this is the author's debut - this was creepy, dark, and devastating! It is more of a quiet buildup towards the room's jump scares but the tension and the fear that crept up, especially in Mira, sent chills down my spine. I don't want to give anything away plot-wise but I think that Meriam unraveled the story perfectly that it was mysterious enough to keep the reader wanting more. Personally, I zoomed through this because I had to know what our group would find out next, and how this would all end. Meriam fleshed out each of the characters slowly but thoroughly that even though I was well aware that there *may* be losses and held that cognitive dissonance, I still ended up caring for and rooting for all of them to make it out.

I think people who say they "aren't into horror" or make fun of the genre need to give the genre one more chance, with a book like this! One of the many beauties of horror is the pull towards a renewed sense of hope and a reignited fight to take back your life, whether that's the literal or figurative. Meriam does this so masterfully in the way she presents Mira's journey especially. Horror stories pull nefarious, unnerving truths to the surface, and forces our "final girls" to confront them in order to overcome whatever supernatural force threatens to harm them. This operates as a metaphor for overcoming our own fears, guilts, and perceived missteps. This book and these characters embody everything I love about this genre, and when people say, "it's not that deep," I'm like excuse me how dare you?! YES IT IS! EVEN THO I CAN BE FAKE DEEP, HORROR IS NOT, OKAY?!

Anyway, this book pulled at my heart strings, had me yelling "JUST KISS ALREADY!!" and made me cry. I am so impressed by Meriam and will absolutely read more from the author in the future!

When their spring break road trip is interrupted by car trouble, Layla and Mira get stuck in a small town motel for several days. Unfortunately for them, something dark has been occupying their room, and Mira is on track to become its latest victim. A Guide to the Dark is an exploration of friendship, grief, and guilt compiled into an intriguing horror novel.

It’s spring break of senior year, and the time to make college decisions is very near, so Layla and Mira convince their parents to allow them to take a road trip around the country to visit all of their prospective colleges. The final stop is meant to be Chicago, where Layla hopes portfolio day at the Art Institute will get her off the waitlist. But, things go awry when Mira’s car breaks down in Wildwood, Indiana, and the two girls get stranded for the remainder of the week. They get the last room at the Wildwood Motel, and there they meet Ellis, the teenage son of the motel owner, who is convinced that the room, Room 9, he has just rented to Mira and Layla is cursed. Despite skepticism, jealousy, and even anger, the group end up working together to find out what is going on in Room 9 and how they can save Mira, who has begun seeing and hearing her dead brother, from whatever it is.

The premise here was quite interesting, and I really liked the “monster” Metoui created. It was definitely more of a slow build horror than I am used to, and with very subtle scares and spooks, but this allowed Mira’s and Layla’s story to really shine. Layla is struggling with her romantic feeling for Mira, as a Muslim whose family is very openly against same-sex relationships. Mira is suffering in the wake of her brother’s drowning, especially with the role she played in it, and she can’t help but feel that her Arab parents, wish it was Mira who died that day instead of their son. This leads to a powerful story of forgiving yourself, and accepting yourself, even in the most difficult of situations. And, the importance of friendship is center stage, as Layla and Mira often find that no one understands them the way they do each other.

A Guide to the Dark is told in alternating chapters from Layla’s and Mira’s point of view, with a few chapters told from the perspective of the presence in Room 9. While this structure helped build the details of each girls’ story well, I did feel that the two of them had far too similar of voices. Especially as we got close to the end, I often found myself unable to tell whose perspective the chapter was being told from. It was easy enough to reorient myself by flipping to the start of the chapter to see who it was, but this definitely pulled me out of the story more than once.

An excellent choice for readers looking to dip their toes into the world of horror books, A Guide to the Dark is a low scare, paranormal story, that explores the power guilt has over us. It would also make a good fit for those craving LGBTQ+ friends to lovers stories. This novel will have no problem finding an audience.

Mira and Layla are best friends in the middle of a spring break college road trip. They unexpectedly have to spend a few days at Wildwood Motel in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Mira feels like there is something very wrong with room 9, but Layla doesn’t see or experience anything. Mira, Layla, and the hotel owner’s son, Ellis, are determined to find out once and for all what is wrong with room 9.

This book is emotionally tense and heavy at times with themes including death, suicide, and discovering one’s sexual orientation. Meriam Metoui’s writing draws you in and keeps you absorbed in the story. This is a fast-paced book with lots of pictures interspersed throughout. I really enjoyed this element of the story. The book alternates point of views between Mira, Layla, and a third non-entity that is able to come to conclusions about room 9 faster than both Mira and Layla. I truly enjoyed each character, Metoui wrote them all very realistically, including the secondary characters. I would classify this book as soft horror and I enjoyed every bit of it. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes sapphic books, soft horror, and/or ghost stories! I give it 4/5 stars.

Thank you netgalley for this arc. 3.5 stars. To start off, I have to say that the second part of this book is a lot better than the first. It gets a lot more interesting as you go along. I was bored for the first 50%, but the last fourth of the book was great. That ending was not what I was expecting (rip), but it was very stressful and exciting. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book, but the last half changed my mind. It wasn’t a favorite, but it’s a good read for Halloween or any time you’re in a spooky mood. Sapphic spooky rep🫶🫡

Teen horror is definitely my jam and I was so excited to read this book I’m going to be honest and say I will not be giving this book 5 stars but it is a definite solid fourth star read the exploration of grief and whether someone is being haunted or haunts their self was very smartly done I just wish I could’ve distinguish between the two main characters but I did love the way they kept picking up stragglers and making new friends at the impromptu stop. A really good horror story and one I highly recommend. After all who doesn’t love a forced stop at a haunted Hotel with a tad bit of romance thrown in. I received this book from McMillan publishing in NetGalley but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Let me start by saying I love a good paranormal/ ghost style thriller. This had the vibes as well as a good fun storyline. The only thing I had a problem with is the girls not being unique enough tbh it could have been the same girl talking in the POVs the whole time. I love the concept though.

I give it a 5/5

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC!

When I hear sapphic romance, I know I’m there. Especially friends to lovers? SOLD

The slow build romance between Mira and Layla was so sweet and touching, and I feel that it was very truthful to being a young high schooler unsure of how to navigate romance. Especially queer romance.

I think this book would have functioned better as a novella or a short story, cause there was a lot of “waiting” for the climax. I wanted more time learning about lore of the room and interaction with the room, but a lot of the book was spent speculating vs holding the tension tight.

Thank you NetGalley , Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group , and Henry Holt and Co. for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis
Mira and Layla are on a road trip during Spring break when a car accident causes them to stay at the Wildwood motel. The only room available, Room 9, has a dark history - 8 guests have died in that room. Now Mira is seeing her brother’s ghost, and Layla has to help her friend survive Room 9, while navigating her own feelings towards her best friend.

Review
A dark, sad, and at times funny novel, I enjoyed reading “A Guide to the Dark”. This YA novel is emotionally tense and heavy, with themes like death, suicide, and sexual orientation. Metoui’s writing is engaging, and easy to remain engrossed in. This novel’s pace ranges from medium to fast, with great photos interspersed in the pages. Alternating between three points of view, we see the events and the mystery of Room 9 unravel. The third narrator is a nonentity, and provides information that allows the reader to come to conclusions faster than the characters in the book. The characters themselves are realistic, and hold a strong presence, including some of the secondary characters.

Categorized as a horror novel, I did feel scared at times, but more from an event that happened in the novel that was more realistic than paranormal. Overall, this is novel is mild in horror, with some tiny comedic relief if you know where to look.

Pick Up or Put Down
I recommend this to people who like haunted buildings, ghost stories, and puzzles that need to be solved.

Vibes
Haunted motel in a small town.

Mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I liked the story, the romance, the exploration of grief and loss, and for the most part, I enjoyed the way in which it was told. However, it was oftentimes difficult to differentiate between Layla and Mira's voices; they just sounded much too similar in their respective chapters. I've also seen this marketed as a horror, but I would call it a mystery-thriller. It was tense, but it didn't have some of the key elements in classic horror stories. Overall, not my favorite, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it, as I can think of other books that would be a better fit in the genres of sapphic romance, YA thriller, and horror.

Thank you Netgalley, Children's Publishing Group, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) and colored book tours for the free E-arc in exchange for honest review. Wow this was a really good, creepy, coming of age book. Appreciate the photos as part of the book and story it helped visualize the scenes and what the characters look like in eyes (hand) of the author.

This was a bit darker (tw suicide, death etc) then I was originally expecting and crazy creepy should have read during day rather then just before bedtime..