e-ALC, 11:28:12
Narrated by: Valerie Rose Lohman & Nicole Cash
Release Date: August 12, 2025
Published by: Books on Tape (Dutton)
Read from: August 15-16, 2025
Stand-Alone
Source: PRH Audio App (I received a free e-ALC from the publisher and their app. I also received a hardcover copy from the publisher. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Child Death, Blood, Injury/Injury Detail, Stalking
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Audio, Sparkly Covers, Horror, Most Anticipated, Multiple POV, Own, Paranormal, HistoricalFrom Dead Eleven author Jimmy Juliano, a twisty, edge-of-your-seat novel about a unique haunting in the early 2000s
Piper Lowery, a public library clerk in charge of liaising with the local middle school, can tell right away there’s something strange about the new girl in eighth grade. Avery Wallace won’t touch any kind of technology, not even the computers at the library, and her mother comes to school with her every day, refusing to leave her side—not even when Avery uses the restroom.
And then there are the rumors, the whispers Piper hears from kids in the hallway and parents around Avery’s mother is a witch. Her sister and father were killed by something supernatural. A strange virus killed them.
Seeing how isolated and lonely Avery is, Piper befriends her but quickly realizes it might just be the worst decision she’s ever made. Because there’s something dark inside Avery Wallace, and it’s spreading . . .
*MY THOUGHTS*
This one is going to be fun to review lol I was a little iffy when I heard it was a horror novel set in the early 2000’s. Idk waht I was expecing with this, but it was all that and more. I had a really good time reading this and I think some of y’all will too.
Ok so the best thing about this was the world-building. It wasn’t a lot, but the small things added up. Like the casual mentions of people only being able to access a computer from the library. That felt wild. I think I remember a Walk-Man or Disc-Man being mentioned too? I felt so old to know this is actually now considered historical because it’s about 20 years old.
The characters were really sweet tho. Piper the librarian was so sweet! She took a special interest in that child and helped her as best she could. But her help came too late. She had already done something that would change her life forever. And let me just tell you, if you think you know, you don’t. This is unhinged, but it’s so good. When the rumors start about the girl’s family, Piper wants to know more. And when she finds out more, it was more than she bargained for.
OK so the creepy factor in this was legit. I kept thinking about all the bad videos that have crossed my phone while I read this. Hell there was one bad one that I watched yesterday after the Minnesota incident. It really shows how alone I’m sure Avery was and then Piper when she realized what was going in with them. And the fact that SO MANY people own technology now, I can’t imagine if this happened right now. This whole thing freaked me out and I can’t lie, I wasn’t ready for it lol It made me think so much about the things we watch, why we watch them, and what could happen to technology in the hands of those that aren’t responsible.
This book was so weird! But I loved it because of that. And the ending? I was yelling at that more than I was about the rest of the story. But it also threw me for a loop. Because it wasn’t until the ending where I remembered that this whole thing was an interview. I was sucked into the story just like she was sucked into the virus or whatever.
Overall, I give this
