e-Audio, 10:58:00
Narrated by: Jennifer Aquino
Release Date: May 9, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: May 9-12, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: PRH App
TW: Death of a parent, Death of a Child, Injury/Injury Detail, Violence, Infidelity, Stalking, Abandonment
For Readers Interested In: Paranormal, Romance, Ghosts, YA, Sparkly Covers, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, LGBTQ+ (Bi)From the author of Deep in Providence comes a paranormal young adult romance that follows a teen convinced that her best friend–turned-enemy is possessed by a ghost, perfect for fans of White Smoke and Twilight.
Seventeen-year-old Aria Cayetano dreams of ghosts. She used to see them too, but thanks to a special tea brewed by her grandfather, Aria’s connection to the spirit world has been severed. Until a decades old rosebush suddenly dies across the street, convincing Aria that something supernatural is happening in her neighborhood.
She aches to investigate it, but the rosebush sits on her ex best friend Derek Johnson’s front lawn, and she can’t question him because he hates her now. Aria doesn’t know what drove them apart years ago, but she does know Derek’s been acting strange for weeks, sneaking out in the dead of night to who knows where.
Then, days after the rosebush dies, Derek begins speaking to her again. At least Aria thinks it’s him. Until she discovers there’s a ghost inside of Derek that will take his life if it doesn’t find what it’s searching for. As Aria and Derek race to uncover the mystery, another kind of magic takes them by surprise: love. But Aria has to decide how far she’s willing to go to save Derek, especially when helping the ghost means tapping into whatever the tea has buried inside of her.
Bone-chilling and spellbinding, I’m Not Supposed to Be in the Dark is an alluring ghost story that’s about exorcising the past to find a future to believe in.
*MY THOUGHTS*
When I first saw this cover I was hella excited. I really enjoyed Neilson’s first novel even though there was some triggering stuff in there for me, so I was super excited to see her second book come out. I enjoyed this one as well. Her writing style just always sucks me in!
Ok so this one was a lot weirder than her first novel. That one also deals with a ghost, but it was more so just weird things happening and there was some possession. This one also had possession it was more present? Idk. It just seemed like in this novel she let her ghost go and be crazy when before it was kind of guarded. I mention this because this time was actually really scare. The two personalities of the person he possessed and the kid were different enough that it was actually really creepy when it started going back and forth. I say that was the weirdest, but really it was the coolest lol
The writing style of this one was a little weird tho. It immediately opens on her denying her tea that her mother’s been forcing her to drink. She doesn’t explain why she’s having reservations or why she’s decided she’s done. And then all these things that she’s started seeing that no one else sees and it’s like we were just thrown in there? I wasn’t a huge fan of that. I would have liked a bit more back story first and then went into that scene.
The part of her writing style that drew me in tho was the descriptions of things. Like the rose bushes and the trees and the way Derek was acting and all that. I just got lost in the descriptions. It was like watching a movie. I could smell the tea and everything. She just has really pretty writing. It just needs to be molded in a different way? I don’t know how to explain it.
The rest of it was the mystery, but I don’t want to say anything to spoil it. It didn’t actually feel like a mystery tho. It was a bit repetitive in that department actually. I wish there had been more red herrings or other clues rather than just having the same ones about Derek or her “gift” over and over. Especially since she doesn’t even know what it means. It wasn’t exactly boring, but it wasn’t my favorite part of this book either tho.
This was my favorite of her books, but it still wasn’t my favorite in this genre. I’ll still mostly definitely be recommending this, but it just wasn’t my favorite. Just because it wasn’t my favorite, I’m not going to deny it being someone else’s! Neilson is super nice and so are her books! Give them a try!
Overall, I give this
