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ezwolf's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This gets three stars for the diabetic rep but otherwise it would be 2.
By about 30% in I had lost interest and started skimming. I skipped multiple chapters and didn’t feel like I was missing any information at all by the end.
The pop culture references were unnecessary and completely removed me from the story each time. The way Dare spoke about things with similes also felt very clunky.
I knew Rose was the younger sister from the second it was hinted that they were going to look for her. It was not at all a surprise. Also how did Quinn not know about her mother? When she was fighting with Dare about leaving to meet the police officer, she specifically calls Athleen “family”? Dare kept saying she thought Quinn might have been in on it with her mother, so why even have us have evidence that she probably is for it to turn in to nothing? So how can she not have known? The thing with Holly probably being dead was also weird and unfinished.
By about 30% in I had lost interest and started skimming. I skipped multiple chapters and didn’t feel like I was missing any information at all by the end.
The pop culture references were unnecessary and completely removed me from the story each time. The way Dare spoke about things with similes also felt very clunky.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal death and Dementia
obsetress's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
if i had a nickel for every time i consumed a sapphic love story about a vindictive lake ghost who trapped other souls on the grounds with her i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
monicalaurette's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“Leave, Dare. She won’t save you either.”
This book is not one of my normal ones in a few ways. Yes, it’s YA & gay, but it’s also paranormal and ghost hunting, the first book of it’s kind to land on my ‘read’ shelf in my room. Besides it being YA & Gay (that’s a fun rhyme), I got this book because of the author. I love Sarah’s work so much that I knew that I had to try this one out. This book is even inspired by her ancestral home with it’s own haunting history (and an episode on Ghost Hunters!).
“I’ll reach out into the darkness, safe in knowing nothing ever reaches back.”
The Girls Are Never Gone follows Dare, a young teen with Type 1 Diabetes and a passion for uncovering the truth around ‘hauntings’. She doesn’t believe in ghosts and a month-long trip to a famously haunted house in Virginia is just another haunt, and a chance to show her own skills away from her past YouTube show. However, while at the famous Arrington estate, researching the death of one of it’s past residents, things start to change the way Dare has always thought the world around her to be.
I loved the different aspects of this book so much. The Type 1 rep was nice to see, it was something that was weaved in through the whole book and not just something mentioned at the beginning and forgotten about (like some other books, shows, and movies do with stuff like that). My family history falls more on Type 2, but I always grew up knowing about both and it was nice to see that as something that never hindered Dare, but instead helped her to remember that she was always strong. “Type 1 diabetics are like Girl Scouts….”
Then there’s the Bisexual rep that I obviously loved. While Dare being Bi wasn’t like a main plot point, it was nice to have it there. She was mainly exploring & navigating those feelings during this book after a recent break-up from her ex-boyfriend. And it was nice to have the different texts from Dare’s friends who just didn’t care that Dare was bi, just letting her know that they still cared about her and how much they loved her podcast so far.
Moments in this book, some of the twists and reveals I found myself figuring out along with the characters like when they found out Hettie was killing her ‘sisters’ at the same age, I had picked up on that when they found Atheleen’s list and read the next chapter I felt so smart . But then there were other moments that I just did NOT see coming at all. However, that made for the book to be enjoyable so I wasn’t guessing everything happening before it did; Sarah and the Arrington Estate kept me on my toes.
With all that said, I give The Girls Are Never Gone 5 stars. I wish there was more that I could learn about it all or even hear the podcast that Dare created while in the house. Either way, I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good ghost story and unsuspecting twists.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit