The Dead and the Dark

The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won’t stay hidden any longer.

Whoever said to not be afraid of the dark, did not know what he/she was talking about!

Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. You can feel it, can’t you? It is as if there is a static buzz hidden somewhere underground. You cannot see it, you cannot almost hear it, but you can feel it deep in your soul. Plus, the weather is changing, and teens are disappearing, and some are dead. People are on edge, and they become even more suspicious and unhinged when TV’s most popular ghost hunters, Brandon and Alejo, have returned to town with their daughter, Logan.

Logan Ortiz-Woodley has never been to Snakebite before even though it is where her fathers grew up, where they met and where they fell in love. Her first impression is one of unease. The town makes it clear that they are not welcome.

Ashley Barton’s boyfriend, Tristan, is the first teenager to go missing. Ashley has been searching for him, she can feel his presence and his ghost following her. When she meets Logan, they decide to ban together, determined to uncover the towns secrets, find what is haunting the town, and in the process learn more about themselves. As the tension mounts and the darkness spreads, they soon realize not only do they have feelings for each other but that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

This was a delight to read. I loved, loved, loved the sections where The Dark is featured. I thought those were brilliant and were some of my favorite parts of the book. Those sections are sinister, creepy and dare I say delightful. Plus, I almost tripped wading through all the secrets in this book!

The characters are both interesting and frustrating at the same time. I wanted to knock some heads together while thinking “Why doesn’t anyone just say why you are doing things? How about tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?” Jeepers. Now that I am done shaking my head, back to Logan being interesting. Logan grew up lonely, always on the move. With fathers who travel to various location to film their television show, she did not have a semblance of a normal happy family life. She pulled on my heartstrings right there. She is not only lonely, but also spunky, brave and a connoisseur of weird food combinations. Logan also believes that her fathers are keeping things from her. Of course, there are things that parents do not tell their children, but this goes deeper than that.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into this book but once it grabbed my attention, it held it. It has just the right amount of spookiness and underlying unease. As the story progresses, things get darker and more tense. If paranormal and tension filled books are your thing, this may be the book for you! This book also has a strong LGBTQ representation as well.

There are a lot of themes in the book: loneliness, family, home, friendship, love, acceptance, secrets, and belonging to name a few. The themes of home and loneliness stood out for me. What makes a home? Is it a location, a building, a town, or the people in your life? You can be alone and be lonely, but you can also be surrounded by people and still feel incredible lonely as well.

Plus, if you have not looked – check out the book’s cover!

Dark, tense and entertaining.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.