A review by dalmavatai
The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book really wasn't for me. I admit that it was a bit of a cover buy - the cover is so gorgeous, haunting and sapphic that I was immediately intrigued. The supernatural/ghost element was not really my thing but I didn't expect it to be, I thought it would be the relationships that really grip me. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The characters sounded promising in the beginning but we don't really get to know them more deeply as the story goes on. They aren't dynamic, and the relationships between them are not particularly interesting or meaningful. I was especially disappointed by the lack of chemistry between Logan and Ashley since I was expecting so much from this story in relation to the wlw aspect, but we don't really get much of their romance and the little that we do get is lacking in depth and connection. Some twists at the end were surprising but the way the story wrapped up was so unimaginably cheesy that it ultimately added to the long list of things I disliked about this book. The atmosphere was equally lacking, we don't really get too many genuinely spooky or atmospheric scenes. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book as it does not do justice to any of its themes or tropes, i.e. the atmospheric spookiness, the wlw rep, the meaningful relationships, or the dark twistiness. 
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