Sweetest Darkness by Leslie Lutz is a hauntingly beautiful novel that explores themes of grief, love, and the complexities of human connections. The story follows a young protagonist who must navigate the shadows of her past while confronting her own inner demons. Lutz’s lyrical writing style captivates readers, blending magical realism with emotional depth. The vivid imagery and intricate character relationships make this a compelling read for those who enjoy dark yet enchanting narratives that linger long after the last page.

This was such a nice read.
The mystery gets you immersed so deeply in this town, with its ghost hotel and deep lore, and all it's weird residents and how they all connect to each other.

You just can't stop reading to know what will happen next.

On a dark night in Gypsum, Texas a shared recurring dream has drawn teenagers Quinn, Selena, and June to the abandoned Hotel Alvarado in search of answers. Once a stop for the rich and famous, it now draws thrill seekers and ghost hunters and pulses with disturbing energy. While the teens don’t have a clear idea of what they will find, what unfolds is a mystery that has spun generations and links Gypsum to an ancient force that brings destruction to everything it touches. Quinn has been called by something worse—a predatory, inhuman entity that threatens to wipe Gypsum off the map, along with everyone in it. And wrongly—accidentally—he's let it out. It takes the shape of a handsome young man. It walks. It talks. It laughs. It can even make you laugh. But its appetite for death can never be sated. Quinn has always had the power to see the future. Can he find the power to change it?

The author has written a maze of excitement and horror, which speeds up to a breakneck pace then winds down. . The historical plot and journal entries throughout the story are illuminating. The teens try to piece together what is happening and to save the day. The author captures both the magic and angst of life as a teenager, with Quinn being forced to try and solve problems way beyond his ability while at the same time, struggling to hold on to some of his innocence. With his world spiraling out of control, one kiss with Selena can make it all disappear, at least for a while.
The story weaves in a number of supernatural elements that should appeal to fans of the genre. Many characters have psychic or perceptive abilities that initially defy explanation, and the spookiness of the Hotel Alvarado is an immediate draw as a location. The supernatural being that Quinn and his friends encounter effectively builds tension. I was compelled to read the book as I wanted to understand the Hotel Alvarado and the supernatural being.

Sweetest Darkness is so much more than a YA horror thriller. It is a book about found family, grief, sacrifice and the love of family and friends. Quinn is trying to deal with the grief of losing his parents young and most recently his grandmother that raised him. This has made the relationship between him and his brother more of a father and son instead of brothers. They are having a hard time making ends meet. Quinn and his friends June and Selena have a recurring shared dream about the Alvarado Hotel in town. In the dream there is a safe filled with riches that will solve all of Quinn's problems. Instead what lurks in the safe is something very dangerous. The mystery is so interesting. I love the action and the creepiness. I loved the side characters too. Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

There is a lot to love here. I found the protagonist, Quinn, very real and easy to root for, the vibes are perfectly spooky, and the setting is very well done. I really appreciated the elements that I don't often see in YA (or books in general for that matter): I've read about small towns before, but never in a desert setting, and I thought the rock-climbing was unique as well.

There were very strong moments in this, times when I was truly wrapped up in the world, but they were a little too sparse for me to enjoy this more. Even though Quinn's characterization is strong, I felt that all the other characters only really exist through *his* relationship with them; they didn't stand as firm characters in their own right. Similarly, as much as I enjoyed the spooky vibes, I felt that the scene-setting and action could've been more tangible. There were multiple scenes where I thought, "Wait, where are we?"

POTENTIONAL SPOILERS: The final strong suit for me was the ending. I appreciated the humanization of the antagonist, and I especially liked the tone of the ending, the fact that Quinn didn't necessarily get everything he wanted but that he wouldn't have done anything differently. For me, this is an enjoyable contrast to the more saccharine happily-ever-after.

Small town mystery featuring a teen psychic with two other teens enter into an abandoned hotel to discover the dark secrets of their town as well as face off against a mysterious supernatural hotel. Quinn is a teen clairvoyant who has been having a reoccurring dream about a mysterious abandoned hotel. Quinn decides to investigate it with his best friends June and Selena. They all have to find a way to stop the evil entity before it destroys their town. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I could never really get into the story and just found myself not caring all that much. I tried to get into it but it never really hooked me. While this one wasn't for me if you like horror books do give it a go for spooky season~!

Release Date: September 24,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Holiday House / Peachtree / Pixel+Ink | Holiday House for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book is so lovely. Just, all around a very solid, enjoyable horror YA. Lutz clearly has a skill for building tension and knowing how to make her readers feel the dread and uncertainty her characters are feeling. The prose is pitch-perfect: evocative, lyrical, and descriptive without being overwrought. The language feels contemporary and accessible without being gimmicky, and the dialogue feels grounded in a vernacular that is recognizably Texan without being over the top about it. It feels like how my family talks, and that level of casual familiarity made the plot all the more terrifying.

I was also really impressed with the chsracterizations in this book and the grace given for real-feeling, imperfect people doing their best in untenable circumstances. Everyone felt flawed, loveable, grounded, and complex.

Plot-wise, a lot was very strong. The slow death of a town, the dusty, hopeless feeling of trying to fight for somewhere you love even though your ability to fight against systemic change is limited was such a true and realistic subplot to the cosmic horror plot that the pair did enhance each other really well. The eeriness of the Alvarado and the mines, the dreams, dread, and supernatural abilities all felt really creepy and cool.

My criticisms of this one lie in the plot and its antagonist, however. I think this was a situation of getting a REALLY excellent front quarter, but once the cat was out of the proverbial bag, I think Lutz struggled to come up with ways to ratchet up tension that felt cohesive. I think there are a lot of noodles thrown at this wall, and some stick better than others. I think I needed fewer THINGS and more concrete, terrifying details of the things that already existed. I also felt the resolution wasn’t well conceived. I think the personal, character beats were flawless, but the actual solution felt more like a stopgap than a true fix.

Overall, a really good read that left me feeling things and very much a satisfied reader, but it’s not perfect.

Books like this one are why I love YA horror - a read to sink into and enjoy as the horror aspect seeps in, while characters and emotions fall prey to whatever terror waits at the end.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

I love finding age-appropriate mystery thrillers, and this one fits the bill. It's something I can recommend to a student without question, which is always nice. It did take a minute to feel connected to the characters, but you feel like a fourth member of the team pretty quickly

This novel is the epitome of “The horrors persist but so do I.” – Just that horrors isn’t a metaphor but a reality in this novel. That you get dragged back to that house in Alvarado over and over again. At some point you don’t even know if you ever escape this place.
The novel does really well with making your skin become goosebumps in seconds and wondering if the things you see are real or not.
A super intricate book. Would pick it up again when I am back in a YA horror book phase because I love haunted places and this one just is top notch.

"A teenage psychic is drawn deep into the honeycomb of an abandoned hotel - and into a cat-and-mouse game with a predatory entity - in this riveting new supernatural horror novel.

Everyone in Gypsum, Texas knows the Hotel Alvarado changes at night - especially Quinn. A teenage clairvoyant, he's been having dreams about it... dreams that call him to its dark, abandoned halls. The hotel is a monument to the town's more prosperous past, when celebrities flocked to the mineral spas and films were shot in the desert. The Great Depression killed all of that, it killed the Alvarado, and frankly it killed Gypsum, too. Now, when the sun goes down, things no longer living stir deep within its creaking depths.

But the dreams are relentless. When Quinn braves the hotel's darkness with his best friend June and unrequited love Selena, looking for answers, he gets only one: ghosts aren't the scariest thing lurking inside the Alvarado (although they're there, cold and restless and angry).

No. He's been called by something worse: a predatory, inhuman entity that threatens to wipe Gypsum off the map, along with everyone in it. And wrongly - accidentally - he's let it out. It takes the shape of a handsome young man. It walks. It talks. It laughs. It can even make you laugh. But its appetite for death can never be sated. Quinn has always had the power to see the future... can he find the power to change it?"

People who are psychic should never go into old hotels. Period.

I truly, genuinely loved this. What a story! Stranger Things meets The Outsider. I read it in less than a day. It’s got wonderful commentary on found family and what it means to love someone. I highly recommend you give this one a shot.

Thank you to Holiday House and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are mine alone.

I loved this book from the first line. Very beautiful but succinct prose and very engaging characters and set up from the get. Teenage Witch? Sign me up. Super spooky setting too which was my favorite part.

I really appreciated how the book established a strong connection with both its characters and the town of Gypsum. It felt as though you were one of the 1,021 residents, fully immersed in the unfolding events. As a YA read, it offers a compelling introduction to the paranormal and horror genres. However, I found the resolution to be somewhat fleeting, leaving me with more questions than answers.

Thank you Netgalley and Holiday House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“Sweetest Darkness” by Leslie Lutz follows three friends—Quinn, Selena, and June—who are drawn to an abandoned hotel in their small Texan town, Gypsum, through reoccurring dreams. As they delve into the town's dark past, Quinn's psychic abilities reveal a connection to supernatural incidents at the hotel, leading them to confront a lurking menace that threatens their town. Like with many horror stories, I recommend looking into content warnings before reading, though this book is more of a suspense than a horror. It’s pretty light on the horror elements, creating a "cozy horror" feel, which I actually really enjoyed.

The atmosphere is brilliantly creepy, with a mysterious desert town and an eerie, abandoned hotel. There is definitely more of a focus on the supernatural and suspense, and the setting really allowed for those moments of suspense and dread to have an effect on the reader. The setting of Gypsum feels almost like a character itself. Lutz makes the town come alive, immersing you in its mysticism and hidden secrets. I think the setting was my favorite part of the book.

The characters are richly developed, with Quinn standing out as the hero with psychic abilities. His connection to the supernatural adds depth to the story while Selena and June are equally engaging, and Ollie’s complexity adds another layer of intrigue. I really liked Kit as a character and wished Kit was more prominent throughout the book. The book really captures the essence of teenage angst and wonder, making it relatable for YA readers. I would actually recommend this book to younger YA readers as the horror elements weren’t that prominent. The main supernatural entity takes a while to appear and doesn't dominate the narrative as expected. This might disappoint readers seeking a more traditional horror experience. Nonetheless, the mystery and suspense keep the plot engaging and enjoyable. The story’s resolution, however, feels a bit temporary, and I wanted it to be fleshed out more.

Overall, “Sweetest Darkness” is an excellent introduction to YA horror, offering a perfect balance of suspense and supernatural elements. While it may not fully satisfy hardcore horror fans, its intriguing plot, well-developed characters, and immersive setting make it a thrilling read.

Sweetest Darkness is an interesting book. While I find it haunting and captivating at points, at others it fell flat. I enjoyed a couple of things; the Alvarado hotel has a life on its own, and the town and its people have strong place in the overall plot as well as the character’s arcs. I liked the relationships formed throughout the book and I did like our main character.
I feel like the atmosphere wasn’t as well-crafted as you would expect for a horror novel. Sometimes the descriptions were great, sometimes they weren’t. As someone in love with horror movies like me, the paranormal aspect left much to be desired.
My main problem is that the payoff wasn’t satisfactory. The problem was there for the whole book, and the solution wasn’t a solution at all. It feels to me that it wouldn’t work for long, and if it does it would be solely because of a plot hole (can I call it a plot hole if the plot is already finished??). Unless it’s like that so the author can revisit the world for a sequel, which I don’t think the book needs.

Sweetest Darkness is the perfect introduction to YA horror! It’s the perfect amount of suspense with a creepy creature. While I would consider this more suspense than horror, it was still an interesting and enjoyable read!

These characters were easy to feel for, especially Quinn. Selena and June were also incredible. I loved the complexity of Ollie, his character really stood out to me. The plot was intriguing and kept me interested all the way until the last page! I do wish Kit was featured a little more, especially considering he’s very relevant to the plot.

Overall, this was still a chilling and fun read! Thank you NetGalley and Holiday House for the arc! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one was pretty great. Found it very easy to get into, and it captivated my interest just right. 10/10 would recommend.

really enjoyed this book!
i feel like it's a great introduction to begin reading YA Horror, i really liked the main character Quinn as well.

Leslie Lutz's "Sweetest Darkness" delivers a haunting tale that blends small-town intrigue with supernatural horror. Set in the fictional town of Gypsum, Texas, the novel follows Quinn O'Brien, a teenage psychic drawn into the dark mysteries of the abandoned Alvarado Hotel.

Lutz excels at creating a palpable atmosphere of dread and unease. The decaying Alvarado Hotel serves as a character in its own right, its creaking halls and shadowy corners hiding secrets both mundane and otherworldly. The author's vivid descriptions bring the setting to life, immersing readers in the eerie ambiance of a town past its prime.

The protagonist, Quinn, is a well-developed character whose struggles with his psychic abilities and family troubles add depth to the supernatural plot. His relationships with friends June and Selena feel authentic, capturing the complexities of teenage friendships and crushes. The supporting cast, while not as fully fleshed out, adds color to the story and helps ground the fantastical elements in reality.

The pacing is generally strong, with Lutz skillfully building tension as Quinn delves deeper into the hotel's mysteries. However, some readers may find the middle section slightly slow before the action picks up for the climax. The final confrontation is suitably intense and satisfying, though a few plot threads feel somewhat rushed in their resolution.

"Sweetest Darkness" successfully blends elements of horror, mystery, and coming-of-age drama. While it may not break new ground in the genre, it offers an engaging and atmospheric read that will appeal to fans of supernatural thrillers and young adult fiction alike.