I couldn’t put it down this riveting YA paranormal fantasy/ romance novel! It piqued my interest from the beginning. I have a soft spot for ghost stories and spirits’ unfinished businesses.

A young girl who sees the spirits,forced to drink a special tea each night to protect herself from the haunted ghosts realizes something ominous is about to happen that will change her entire life!

Creepy rotting tree growing at neighbor’s house as its falling leaves turn into ashes: 17 years old Aria Cayetano realizes there’s something wrong with Johnson’s house! Not only the creepy growing tree disturbs her nerves but also her ex childhood friend she fell apart: Derek Johnson confuses her mind with his weird attitudes. He lurks around the neighborhood in the middle of the night. She even caught him in her sister’s room. What does he look for?

After radio silencing her for 2 years long, he decides to talk her. He doesn’t act like himself. He takes her midnight trips to the bridge to dance with her, walking through the woods to show blazing wisteria trees, rainbow colored flying butterflies. Then the next day he tells he was not the one he walked her to the woods. He was possessed!

Aria quickly understands three things: 1)her ex friend she has harboring complex feelings is possessed by a ghost named Marcus. If he cannot stop the ghost, he will suck the life out of Derek’s body!

2)When she stopped drinking tea: a special concoction mixed by her grandpa Lolo who has magical gifts with herbs, she starts connecting with the spirits. It means her family has been hiding a big secret from her.

3)She might be more powerful than she’s imagined and by reaching her full potential she can be the only person to help both Derek and Marcus, by guiding the spirit to his resting place!

But firstly she has to find out what kind of powers she may be harboring and learn the big secrets her family is keeping from her. But she must be quick because she tells more for Derek even though she denies to confess herself. She might lose her best friend and her potential lover forever if she doesn’t act quick to reach her powers!

The open ending gave me so much hope! I think a sequel might be coming! Yesss! I’d love to spend more time with blue bird! I also enjoyed Aria and Derek’s enemies to lovers romance subplot!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Henry Holt&Co. for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

While not as in love with this as I was with Deep in Providence, I have to say I still really enjoyed this. Riss M. Neilson has such a beautiful way of writing, and her depictions of spirits and what lies beyond the veil are phenomenal.

I loved the connection between Derek and Aria, and Marcus's story really pulled at my heartstrings.

I did feel like the book was little on the long side, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment at all.

Beautiful writing + heartfelt characters + magic = a spectacular time.

I had enjoyed Deep in Providence a lot so I was excited to read the next book by Riss M. Neilson and let me tell you it was just as good as Deep in Providence. It had the same great spark as I had enjoyed and had a great plot going on. The characters were what I was looking for and worked in this paranormal setting. It had a great concept for a romance and I'm glad I got to read this.

"My heart picks up. My grandparents know I love hearing stories from their countries. My mom’s father is from Cape Verde and when I visit him he tells me stories too. I’ve been asking for myths and folklore from Cape Verde and the Philippines since I was a child. Sometimes it feels like there’s a thick wall between me and my heritage."

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. This was a great read and I already knew it. The only con was bad world-building, I didn’t understand the connection between the magic, the plants, and her turning blue.
Tropes: paranormal young adult romance, ex-best friends to lovers, angsty romance, guy falls first, mystery elements, jealous guy.
First sentence: The dead can’t bother me if I don’t let them in.
Their chemistry😭😭😭
“There’s a magnet connecting us; i know because he notices me staring at him from across the room before he notices anyone else.”
Good writing style, I was obsessed with the pining and the confessions, don’t get me started with the moment that led to the first kiss😭.