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shesreadingagain_'s review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
This book is essentially Coraline but make it black and throw in time travel reminiscent of Dark Matter. This was a short and loving book. The bond between Hylee and her older brother Bubba really pulled at my heart strings. I think most can relate to Hylee’s struggle of trying to understand her parents while they don’t seem to want to understand her better. It was a beautifully tragic book.
I really wanted a bit more. I wanted more of grandmommy’s background. I wanted to dive deeper into the relationship Eliam and his grandfather. I just wanted more. I know that’s hard to do when you’re trying to keep the book under 300 pages but overall I really enjoyed this one.
I really wanted a bit more. I wanted more of grandmommy’s background. I wanted to dive deeper into the relationship Eliam and his grandfather. I just wanted more. I know that’s hard to do when you’re trying to keep the book under 300 pages but overall I really enjoyed this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Death
Moderate: Child death
kaerene's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I liked The Dark Place, I enjoyed the scary bits and the twists I didn’t see coming but felt like it came up short for me. I think the little blurb before the actual summary does a disservice to the book as it compares the writing and themes to John Green’s books and Jordan Peele’s horror movies and I just didn’t get either of those vibes. Both of those creators have such a specific voice in their projects that I kept expecting to be wowed and end up feeling really profound in this exploration of romance/horror/time travel while reading The Dark Place and it just didn’t happen.
It’s a good read if you like the fated mates trope and really short chapters. I would check trigger warnings though. It’s very sad and depressing.
It’s a good read if you like the fated mates trope and really short chapters. I would check trigger warnings though. It’s very sad and depressing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Murder, Grief, and Death
boredomandwordsofbooks's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
This book was so good! If you like Life is Strange, Stephen King, or Coraline, you will love this book.
More review to come later when it's not 2am.
More review to come later when it's not 2am.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Drug use and Toxic friendship
bookishmillennial's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
Britney has described this as having Coraline vibes, because the main character Hylee slips into an alternate timeline, and time travels to a time her brother was alive & well. In the present, Hylee has moved to the suburbs in Missouri from Kansas City, Kansas, and her brother has gone missing. Her family refuses to discuss him, as they are all in denial and struggling with their grieving process.
Hylee meets a boy at a party, Eilam, and she accidentally disappears right in front of him, much to her chagrin. They begin to unravel what happened the night her brother went missing, and navigate what is happening to Hylee and her time traveling!
I appreciated the way that Hylee's entire family approached or avoided the conversation about her brother. It showed a realistic representation of what grief looks like, and how it can feel differently based on the person. I don't blame Hylee's parents for the way they behaved, because I can only imagine being in their positions. I have read so much about the inexplicable pain a parent feels when their child goes missing, and feeling resigned to never having answers. It's devastating, and I think Lewis illustrated their utter hopelessness and avoidance so perfectly.
I enjoyed the subplot of romance between Hylee and Eilam; I loved the little reveal between them, and thought they were both valid in their frustrations with the other. I especially enjoyed the ending, because I adore the trope of having to find each other after inevitably changing the present by altering the past. I imagine a HFN for them, as they re-get to know each other, and as Hylee fills in Eilam on all they did in her alternate timeline .
This book was a beautiful tale of coming-of-age, eerie paranormal/science fiction, different types of grief, loss of a sibling, and finding the truth out for yourself!
Britney has described this as having Coraline vibes, because the main character Hylee slips into an alternate timeline, and time travels to a time her brother was alive & well. In the present, Hylee has moved to the suburbs in Missouri from Kansas City, Kansas, and her brother has gone missing. Her family refuses to discuss him, as they are all in denial and struggling with their grieving process.
Hylee meets a boy at a party, Eilam, and she accidentally disappears right in front of him, much to her chagrin. They begin to unravel what happened the night her brother went missing, and navigate what is happening to Hylee and her time traveling!
I appreciated the way that Hylee's entire family approached or avoided the conversation about her brother. It showed a realistic representation of what grief looks like, and how it can feel differently based on the person. I don't blame Hylee's parents for the way they behaved, because I can only imagine being in their positions. I have read so much about the inexplicable pain a parent feels when their child goes missing, and feeling resigned to never having answers. It's devastating, and I think Lewis illustrated their utter hopelessness and avoidance so perfectly.
I enjoyed the subplot of romance between Hylee and Eilam; I loved the little reveal between them, and thought they were both valid in their frustrations with the other. I especially enjoyed the ending, because I adore the trope of having to
This book was a beautiful tale of coming-of-age, eerie paranormal/science fiction, different types of grief, loss of a sibling, and finding the truth out for yourself!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Grief, Death, Blood, Racism, and Body horror
lanawhite's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
YA, horror/thriller, magical realism, time travel, grief and self-discovery
When Hylee disappears and materialises in a dark, distorted version of her old family home on the night her brother went missing, she realises this moment could be the key to unveiling what really happened all those years ago. Before she can investigate further, she is pulled from the dark place back to our world. Her parents, unable to look at her the same after her disappearance, send Hylee to stay with her grandmommy, and neither her family nor her once-best friend will speak to her about her disappearance. Meeting Eilam at a party, a handsome boy who seems inexplicably familiar appears to signal a return to some sense of normality until she disappears in front of him. But unlike everyone else in Hylee’s life, Eilam listens to her, and together, they investigate the truth about time, space, and reality itself. As they dive deeper into time travel, Hylee realises that darkness isn’t confined to the dark place; it is pervasive, all-encompassing, and slowly draining her dry.
It’s hard to explain just how beautifully unsettling this book is. The Dark Place covers the devastating loss of a sibling, processing grief, the experience of Black culture as defined by its loss of ancestral history, and how complex childhood trauma affects every aspect of a person’s being.
Britney’s writing is poetic and magical. The way she uses words and literary devices to describe the dark place creates this sense of unnatural life, where it is so twisted that its very existence is an affront to the nature of life itself. There are a ridiculous amount of quotes from the book I could cite here as an example of this and one of my favourites is, “The darkness wrapped itself around me like a tourniquet, pressing into me until I felt my heartbeat throbbing against my neck.” This doesn’t just create the perfect unsettled feeling I want when I’m reading this type of horror but also paints an amazingly accurate and complex depiction of a child’s experience of trauma.
As a psychology student, I loved how Britney portrayed Hylee’s experience of trauma. The issues that we see Hylee struggling with (particularly with relationships and her sense of self) are typical of survivors of this type of trauma. The specific points that Hylee remembers from what happened and how she describes them, anthropomorphising her surroundings and being unable to remember much of what happened, felt so real to me. That sense of reality immersed me in the story, making me connect to and understand Hylee, her thoughts, feelings, and choices. Her journey of self-discovery and process of healing from her trauma through having to experience the ‘dark place’ shows us how it’s not possible for any of us to truly progress in our own self-discovery or healing journey without accepting our own dark places and experiencing them knowing we have loved ones waiting on either side for us to make it through.
I have seen some reviews expressing that it didn’t make sense that none of Hylee’s family members supported her or would talk to her about both her brother going missing and her disappearing, but once again, I think Britney did an excellent job of showing that dealing with grief and the way that affects familial relationships can look vastly different depending on a whole host of factors. Given what each family member had been through, the systematic culture of silence around Black issues in America, the family’s socioeconomic status, generational differences, and the inherent intergenerational trauma of growing up Black in America, it made sense to me that each family member reacted as they did. In this, Britney has shown just how much our individual and communal experiences shape how we view tragedies/trauma and how we respond to them, amongst other complex points, whilst still remaining firmly in the YA fiction genre, and that’s no easy feat. I will clarify here, though, that social issues and their effects on people’s behaviour are something I am studying, so I am aware that this was perhaps not as clear to other readers (especially those of the target demographic) and so should have been made more explicit. Bryanna Bond’s review of The Dark Place on Goodreads discusses this in terms of Black families and their response to trauma, and I would recommend reading that.
Finally, in terms of the exploration of time travel in The Dark Place, I enjoyed the depiction of the Butterfly Effect, how seemingly little things can shape and alter the future in significant ways, and also how big things like trauma and tragedies affect every aspect of people and the world down to seemingly little things. I haven’t seen this specific approach to time travel before (inherited ability and the ‘dark place’ concept) and appreciated the unique spin Britney has on it.
Although I understand that this is a YA book and we learn about the system of time travel through what Eilam has learned from his grandfather, I would’ve loved to understand more about the nature of time travelling in this universe and how that ability could be inherited genetically. Partly due to this lack of explanation of the time travel system, I felt Eilam and Hylee’s relationship and connection felt a little rushed, which did take me out of the immersion a bit towards the end.
Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it to others looking for an unsettling YA horror/magical realism type read. It definitely isn’t quite the same, but the feelings this inspired in me reminded me of watching the Fear Street trilogy, and they are some of my all-time favourite films. Britney’s writing creates such a vivid and tense picture, and the depiction of complex childhood trauma and how that affected Hylee made me feel so deeply understood. I will definitely be reading Britney’s first work and eagerly anticipating whatever she creates next!
Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for the Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gun violence
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Racism
pages_with_panda's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
(Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley.)
I'm giving this book 3 stars - it wasn't awful, but it wasn't great. I don't think I'll recommend it to anyone however.
The summary was interesting and promised a story about "time, space, and reality," but the first half of the book was so slow and boring I had to force myself to finish it. The second half of the book was so rushed and everything happened with no explanation that it was jarring.
No one around Hylee wants to talk about what happens to her, and they instantly villainize her for something she can't control, can't explain, and can't talk about. Her only friend cuts her off, and her parents ship her away to live with her grandmother, who also will not acknowledge what happened: "...I had to live with Grandmommy because Mama and Daddy didn't know what to do with me after my sudden disappearance (and reappearance)." They treat her like a pariah despite her being a victim of what happened to her.
Beyond the gag order of her "curse," Hylee is forced to deal with the traumatic disappearance of her brother, that also no one wants to talk about, and we're left with a very confusing first half of the book where Hylee is forced into a very mundane routine where honestly nothing happens.
There's no "investigating" anything. Hylee and Eilam meet at a party and he tells her a few lines about what he knows about time travel (mostly from Marvel movies). Their relationship is so forced with very little chemistry, but Eilam is the only one who will actually talk to Hylee so of course they end up spending time together.
I wish the "dark place" would've been explored more. We're given no reason for it's existence or the strange creatures that live there or why the creatures have their horrific characters of no eyes and sewn mouths.
The ending was very sad and bittersweet, but I felt like we weren't given any time to actually feel it. There was no emotional connection before the book ended.
I wanted to like this book and thought we were going to have a nice "Corline" meets "Get Out" story, but it left a lot to be desired and didn't feel as fleshed out as it should've been.
I'm giving this book 3 stars - it wasn't awful, but it wasn't great. I don't think I'll recommend it to anyone however.
The summary was interesting and promised a story about "time, space, and reality," but the first half of the book was so slow and boring I had to force myself to finish it. The second half of the book was so rushed and everything happened with no explanation that it was jarring.
No one around Hylee wants to talk about what happens to her, and they instantly villainize her for something she can't control, can't explain, and can't talk about. Her only friend cuts her off, and her parents ship her away to live with her grandmother, who also will not acknowledge what happened: "...I had to live with Grandmommy because Mama and Daddy didn't know what to do with me after my sudden disappearance (and reappearance)." They treat her like a pariah despite her being a victim of what happened to her.
Beyond the gag order of her "curse," Hylee is forced to deal with the traumatic disappearance of her brother, that also no one wants to talk about, and we're left with a very confusing first half of the book where Hylee is forced into a very mundane routine where honestly nothing happens.
There's no "investigating" anything. Hylee and Eilam meet at a party and he tells her a few lines about what he knows about time travel (mostly from Marvel movies). Their relationship is so forced with very little chemistry, but Eilam is the only one who will actually talk to Hylee so of course they end up spending time together.
I wish the "dark place" would've been explored more. We're given no reason for it's existence or the strange creatures that live there or why the creatures have their horrific characters of no eyes and sewn mouths.
The ending was very sad and bittersweet, but I felt like we weren't given any time to actually feel it. There was no emotional connection before the book ended.
I wanted to like this book and thought we were going to have a nice "Corline" meets "Get Out" story, but it left a lot to be desired and didn't feel as fleshed out as it should've been.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Gun violence
Moderate: Grief and Body horror
Minor: Racism and Blood
cortanasreadingnook's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Thanks to Britney S. Lewis and Disney Publishing Worldwide for the complimentary copy through Netgalley! It doesn’t affect my review in any way and I’m very happy to read another book by this author.
Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams has always carried the grief of the day her older brother went missing. However, she started disappearing to a place that is a twisted version of our world, full of creeping vines, moss, and complete darkness. And when she meets a boy named Eilam after going to a party with her bestfriend, things take for a turn when she disappears right in front of him. And as her disappearances become more frequent, Hylee soon realizes she’s not alone in the world, and that she holds the key to finding the truth about her brother, and possibly save him.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time meets Stranger Things in The Dark Place, which tells such a remarkable story of grief that involves elements of science fiction and fantasy. It is a wonderful tale that warps of time and reality with a little bit of the classic cliché teen romance. Lewis’s characters are exceptional, and I absolutely love her storytelling. Her writing has improved, and her pacing is perfect, hitting right into a reader’s heart. This YA horror novel does not only tell us a sentimental story of love between siblings, but it navigates a story of regret, truth, and acceptance leading towards a bittersweet and emotional ending. I do believe a few elements were left untouched and felt that they should’ve been explored more, but this stand-alone just hits right in the feels! I would absolutely love to hear more from this author.
P.S. I would really love to time travel just to see my grandmother again like how Eilam does. I don’t know if she’ll recognize me, but I would do it just to hear her voice again and ask her all the things I wasn’t given a chance to. She passed away a year ago and I truly miss her a lot.
Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams has always carried the grief of the day her older brother went missing. However, she started disappearing to a place that is a twisted version of our world, full of creeping vines, moss, and complete darkness. And when she meets a boy named Eilam after going to a party with her bestfriend, things take for a turn when she disappears right in front of him. And as her disappearances become more frequent, Hylee soon realizes she’s not alone in the world, and that she holds the key to finding the truth about her brother, and possibly save him.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time meets Stranger Things in The Dark Place, which tells such a remarkable story of grief that involves elements of science fiction and fantasy. It is a wonderful tale that warps of time and reality with a little bit of the classic cliché teen romance. Lewis’s characters are exceptional, and I absolutely love her storytelling. Her writing has improved, and her pacing is perfect, hitting right into a reader’s heart. This YA horror novel does not only tell us a sentimental story of love between siblings, but it navigates a story of regret, truth, and acceptance leading towards a bittersweet and emotional ending. I do believe a few elements were left untouched and felt that they should’ve been explored more, but this stand-alone just hits right in the feels! I would absolutely love to hear more from this author.
P.S. I would really love to time travel just to see my grandmother again like how Eilam does. I don’t know if she’ll recognize me, but I would do it just to hear her voice again and ask her all the things I wasn’t given a chance to. She passed away a year ago and I truly miss her a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Murder, Gun violence, and Grief
briaellereads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
One.
Inhale.
Two.
Exhale.
Three.
I was gone.
17 year old Hylee keeps getting sucked back in time to the worst night of her life; the night her brother disappears. The night that sets off her continuous jumps between the present and… somewhere else. Now, she has to solve the mysterious disappearance for her brother and for herself.
—
This book has such spooky vibes and feels like the perfect transition book from light summer reads to the moodier darker vibes of fall. With an august 2023 release date, it comes at a perfect time to ease you into your more sinister TBR pile.
The book has been likened to Jordan Peele’s films and I can definitely see it as a inspiration source. However, while Lewis definitely embraces the Get Out and Us vibes she still keeps her voice present in the story.
Hylee, the main character in the story is just trying to figure out herself, her new family dynamic, and her new home all while navigating grief. What I loved about her character was that while she grew within the story it was slow and often times a little messy. She had moments of reflection where she could recognize the duality in the world around her but it was in a way that very much seemed appropriate for someone her age. I loved that we witnessed her clouded judgement and mistakes as well as her ability to learn how to communicate. It was fun, scary, and had a sweet little hint of romance.
I also enjoyed a lot of the horror elements but found that sometimes they would be pushed to the back-burner in favor to some of the more sci-fi elements in the story. The horror felt more successful in that we were really in those moments with Hylee. It felt real, gripping, and even relatable. I was often reminded of the many sleep paralysis demons I’ve faced lol.
Once thing I did struggle with was the pacing in the story. It took me a long while to get into the story and it was a little heavy on the foundation of the story. However, once the story is going, I was fully committed. I finished it in like 4 hours and didn’t want to put it down. But another thing revealed itself while reading and that was the fact that the beginning felt like it had too much time and the rest of the story had soooo little time. This lead to a few friendships being underdeveloped and a strong desire to be left in certain key moments a little bit longer.
Despite the pacing issue, I really enjoyed this story. I didn’t want to put it down and it kept me on my feet! I actually let out some gasps at different revelations and I definitely shed a tear at the end!
A Special thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC to me for Review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Racism
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