Scan barcode
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Vomit, and Chronic illness
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Alcohol, and Dementia
whatthegayle's review
mysterious
sad
tense
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
3.25
The book started out a bit on the slow side but by the time I reached 40 or so pages I was invested.
I loved the overall mystery and how the story developed. The main three characters were enjoyable even though I was aggravated at how long it took Dare to realize there were in facts ghosts in the house.
I love any type of story to have to do with old haunted houses so this was right up my alley. I loved the final conclusion and thought it wrapped up nicely.
I loved the overall mystery and how the story developed. The main three characters were enjoyable even though I was aggravated at how long it took Dare to realize there were in facts ghosts in the house.
I love any type of story to have to do with old haunted houses so this was right up my alley. I loved the final conclusion and thought it wrapped up nicely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping and Dementia
hannahpings'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: Medical content, Vomit, Death of parent, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Animal death
Minor: Child death
p_izag's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. Maybe half way in I started to feel scared and a little sad reading it. I hope to continue reading about Dare's adventures and I really hope she and Quinn end up together
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent
thereadedit's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75
Unsettling: 😬😬
SCARY: 👻👻
DEATH: 💀💀💀
INTRIGUE: 🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠
TW: Drowning, Death, Gore
Sapphic Romance Meets The House on Haunted Hill on a Lake
The girls are never gone was definitely a journey through time and circumstances much different than our own. It explored the 1800s all the way through today. With time comes people and conflict. And people choose conflict over resolving what issues may lie.
We all know that teenage girls can have a mind of their own. It's a time when you feel as if you may never come across a time and space where you aren't safe or could fathom the worst happening to you. But also exploring who you are to find you and what makes you feel happy. Until you are thrust into such a situation, you have no way of knowing unless you follow the history of people before us.
I'm this instance there is a beautiful home that is being restored to become a museum to show how much of a time capsule it is. You have a very wealthy family with 10 kids who lived there and while there were many there was one who perished. She built the strength and power over the years and chose to take a girl her age each time one moved into the home. The town refused to do anything about it so they just pretended it didn't happen. Until it made it impossible for the girls coming there to have a dream summer of working in the house. Three girls are there to be in an internship to help restore the home into a museum. All three go through this time to find who they are in life. A sapphic romance between two of the girls begins just when things start happening in the home.
Vengeful spirits always wants the last say in everything yet they can't even speak. The girls in this book go through so much and yet are stronger for everything in the end.
I would highly recommend reading this book if you want to go on a ghost filled haunted house tour!
Unsettling: 😬😬
SCARY: 👻👻
DEATH: 💀💀💀
INTRIGUE: 🧠🧠🧠🧠🧠
TW: Drowning, Death, Gore
Sapphic Romance Meets The House on Haunted Hill on a Lake
The girls are never gone was definitely a journey through time and circumstances much different than our own. It explored the 1800s all the way through today. With time comes people and conflict. And people choose conflict over resolving what issues may lie.
We all know that teenage girls can have a mind of their own. It's a time when you feel as if you may never come across a time and space where you aren't safe or could fathom the worst happening to you. But also exploring who you are to find you and what makes you feel happy. Until you are thrust into such a situation, you have no way of knowing unless you follow the history of people before us.
I'm this instance there is a beautiful home that is being restored to become a museum to show how much of a time capsule it is. You have a very wealthy family with 10 kids who lived there and while there were many there was one who perished. She built the strength and power over the years and chose to take a girl her age each time one moved into the home. The town refused to do anything about it so they just pretended it didn't happen. Until it made it impossible for the girls coming there to have a dream summer of working in the house. Three girls are there to be in an internship to help restore the home into a museum. All three go through this time to find who they are in life. A sapphic romance between two of the girls begins just when things start happening in the home.
Vengeful spirits always wants the last say in everything yet they can't even speak. The girls in this book go through so much and yet are stronger for everything in the end.
I would highly recommend reading this book if you want to go on a ghost filled haunted house tour!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, Animal death, Death, and Death of parent
beholderess's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Gore
Moderate: Death and Child death
Drowning Death of wild animalsbetyplush's review
dark
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.5
Not superb, but I enjoyed it.
The hints of diet culture and orthorexia are basically entirely dropped, for better or worse, after the first quarter of the book and it ends up being a very minor feature of a character. I feel like the book wouldn’t have lost anything editing it out and could have gained some nuance focusing on it further, and the degree to which it was involved was just in an awkward space.
I think my favorite part was incorporating the diabetes in a way that characterized the MC and her relationships and was plot-relevant without using it in a damsel in distress way.
I also felt the bisexual rep was honest and realistic. It didn’t feel queerbaity or male-gazey to me. Also no SA and incorporated request for verbal consent which I liked.
The hints of diet culture and orthorexia are basically entirely dropped, for better or worse, after the first quarter of the book and it ends up being a very minor feature of a character. I feel like the book wouldn’t have lost anything editing it out and could have gained some nuance focusing on it further, and the degree to which it was involved was just in an awkward space.
I think my favorite part was incorporating the diabetes in a way that characterized the MC and her relationships and was plot-relevant without using it in a damsel in distress way.
I also felt the bisexual rep was honest and realistic. It didn’t feel queerbaity or male-gazey to me. Also no SA and incorporated request for verbal consent which I liked.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death
aspring's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
i ADORED this. it was creepy and sapphic and all around a whirlwind of emotions. also waffles the service dog??? owns my heart. what an angel.
but also, i found this ending really disappointing and abrupt, the book was going so well and this ending just didn’t fit the narrative that was set up for it. i would’ve liked to see a bit more closure and more of a final ‘boss battle’ at the end.
also also! the plot twists! i did not see any of them coming! (if you actually think about it, you probably will but i didn’t and i loved it) <3
but also, i found this ending really disappointing and abrupt, the book was going so well and this ending just didn’t fit the narrative that was set up for it. i would’ve liked to see a bit more closure and more of a final ‘boss battle’ at the end.
also also! the plot twists! i did not see any of them coming! (if you actually think about it, you probably will but i didn’t and i loved it) <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Animal death, and Child death
collinsd'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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Minor: Animal 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: Medical content, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Vomit