My thanks to Netgalley, Page Street YA and Tori Bovalino for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I'll start by saying I own ALL of Tori Bovalino's books, including the anthology she edited. I absolutely ADORE The Second Death of Locke and I'm currently reading My Throat an Open Grave. Bovalino's books all seem to have an undercurrent of true feeling between the characters. I believe their connections to each other, I want only the best for them, I love so many of them in the stories I've read. This is what brings me back to Bovalino's writing and why I have all of her books even though I haven't finished reading them yet. I KNOW they will be great and I'm taking my time with them. I'm also looking forward to upcoming releases and I'm on the newsletter mailing list so I can keep up to date with all announcements and news.
I will also say, I do NOT know the play Cyrano de Bergerac although I do know the premise of it. I don't think you need to know a lot about that source in order to enjoy this book. This story stands well on its own as story about grief and love and acceptance. I can't wait for my copy to go on the shelf with the rest of Bovalino's books.
I, in the Shadows is about Drew Tarpin, who has recently moved into a new house with her Dad and stepmom, Bee. Her sibling Reece is away at school so Drew is left on their own to navigate the new life in a new town and a new school, complete with a ghost haunting her bedroom. Liam died almost a year ago and now Drew has to work to find out what is keeping Liam from moving on to whatever comes next. Drew and Reece have always been able to see ghosts but Reece was usually the one to work with them to help them move on while Drew did anything else. Now Drew is on her own, trying to remember anything that Reece has said that would help. When Liam realizes that Drew has a crush on the same girl that Liam loved, Liam's best friend Hannah, Liam agrees to help Drew with talking to Hannah in exchange for working on how to help him move on. As the pair get to know each other, something starts to come out of the woods, determined to devour Liam's soul. Now Drew has to work fast to figure out what is keeping Liam from moving on before he ends up taken by the thing in the woods.
This book made me tear up, I had to take a moment to breathe and then I could continue on with reading. Always the sign of a five star read when a book makes me cry. I loved these characters, even though they were kind of jerks, and messy, and made horrible decisions but it was those realistic traits that made me believe in them and want more for them. I knew the point was to get Liam to move on but it still hurt when he was gone. I thought Drew was interesting and endearing. I mourned for the loss of Reece as a constant for Drew, I cheered when Drew started to reach out and make friends, I hissed when Drew ignored her old friends from home because it was better to cut them out of her life now when they were all going to be graduating in a year and it was going to happen anyways. Seriously, rolled my eyes at that one but I had faith in Bovalino's writing so I kept reading. I thought Hannah was so sweet and genuine with her grief over losing her best friend. I thought Rin was a great supporting character, trying to bring Drew into the group and looping Drew in on things to help them understand everyone. I LOVED Bee, the fact that she was the stepmom and the one truly steady force in Drew's life, giving support and love at every available moment. The only character I really didn't enjoy was Drew's dad, who was practically non-existent for the most part but with so many characters to focus on, it didn't matter that we barely saw him.
I thought the plot was interesting, using a ghost to help you win the girl of your dreams, or at least the girl who could end up being the girl of your dreams. I know it was supposed to come off as a bad decision to use a ghost to trick a girl but I really didn't see it as a horrible decision. Misguided? DEFINITELY. But I felt like it fit with teenagers making stupid decisions. In today's day and age, it didn't feel too far off from what could happen to get a pair of kids to like each other. It started off as just prompting Drew to talk because she got tongue-tied around her crush and it just went from there. But I will say that my impression of this plot probably has a lot to do with the fact that I think this was more of a side story to the main plot of figuring out what was keeping Liam stuck as a ghost. I really liked this kid and I hated that this horrible thing had happened to him and now he was stuck watching his friends and family move on without him. The tragedy of it was heartbreaking and I wanted him to find peace and I wanted Drew to focus on how to get him the help he needed. That journey kept me flipping pages and the outcome was worth everything that came before.
The world of this book was so intriguing. I wish there was more in terms of the background and I still have a few questions about certain things with characters and the ghost world in general. When the book started, I honestly wondered if there had been another book because of how readers are just dropped into the story. I searched through what I could find but there wasn't a previous story with these characters. I think that is a point for Bovalino in the sense that this felt like a world that was fully developed even though this was our first time stepping foot in it. As a result, I want MORE but who knows if that is in the cards.
This book was a beautiful, thoughtful exploration of grief and loss and what it does to the people left behind in more ways than one. It goes through how it changes intentions, how it makes people make decisions they never would have before, and how it can bring people together and make them stronger. I loved this book and I love this author. I'm a fan for life, as previously stated. I'm so happy I have more books of Bovalino's to read instead of waiting for more books to be released.
Rating on my Scale: 9.5 Stars because this is a short, heartbreaking kind of story and I wish there was more to come from this world in general and answers to some of the questions I still have. Still, very VERY respectable and exactly what I would expect as a book written by Tori Bovalino. Read this book if you love ghost stories and the people who can deal with them.
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