Release Date: 09/03/2024
Publisher: Tordotcom
Where to buy: Bookshop
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Synopsis
Mara doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life. At thirty, she’s dropped out of community college, more than once, moves from job to job, and can’t seem to commit to anything. Compared to her TV host cousin Jeremy, she’s a failure. Then Jeremy offers her a job on his kitschy home renovation/ghost hunting show. Her job is to hid fog machines in the woods, make ghostly noises in pastures, and altogether fake hauntings.
A strange new coworker shows up and things start happening on the sets that Mara isn’t doing. Not to mention that this new coworker seems to be a better version of Mara, even fitting in with Mara’s family better than she does. Mara must face her own personal issues if she wants to figure out the truth.
My Thoughts
This book was fun to read. It’s short, which makes it a good in-one-sitting sort of read. I think a lot of us can understand Mara’s struggles with identity, where we belong, and just plain aimlessness. It’s hard to find our place in a society that praises grand success.
This book was so much more than a typical haunted house book. I really became invested in Mara’s growth, hoping she would find her own way in life and stop letting others’ expectations of success push her further into her self hatred. Mara shows that it’s never too late to discover who you are and what you love. It just took a bit of paranormal push to get her to realize that.
Rating
5/5
Alicia Coast 