Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - The Dead and the Dark

Lots of thoughts about this! I loved the mystery aspect and thought it was done very well. Wanting to understand what the hell was going on in the town, with our characters, who was attacking people, and what was buried in the past drove me through the book. It was definitely horror-lite, but the dark tone was engaging and the writing was really solid for a debut novel. This also avoided falling to most of the YA tropes that bother me and draw me out of a story.
I thought the pacing was a bit rushed towards the end but the book built up enough with foreshadowing that it still worked. I would love to have spent a little bit more time with the characters, who were interesting but didn't have very strong characterisation at times. The romance also developed very quickly but not very deeply. The author should write a prequel book about Alejo, who was by far the best character and was very lovable!

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amris's review against another edition

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5.0

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czoltak's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Sawkill Girls meets Burn Our Bodies Down with some Courtney Summers Vibes

4.5 ⭐️

This book would’ve been perfect if the ending wasn’t so rushed and the pacing was more even throughout

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sn8man's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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bruhbruh's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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megelizabeth's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

"This was how it was going to be - she didn’t deserve the truth. She could get close enough to taste it, but she could never have the real thing."

This was SO good. It's so trippy and compelling and I just HAD to know what the frick was going on in Snakebite. The atmosphere and sense of place are incredible, the characters are excellently fleshed-out, and the overall vibes are just brilliant. The story is both terrifying as fuck and completely and utterly devastating and there are so many important conversations and observations in here. I was just so, so impressed by it! It's definitely one that will stay with me, and I can't wait to read more from Courtney Gould.

(Also it has a content warning at the beginning and we love to see that <333)

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was an intense read, and I was very into it. The whole character of The Dark could have been confusing and contrived, but I thought it was written so so well. All of the characters were really well-developed, and I can't wait to read more from this author. Plus,

f yeah the girlies getting together!

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djmysteryflavor's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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