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mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
“The Girls Are Never Gone” – a spooky read that I really enjoyed!
A spooky tale about a girl going for a vacation to renovate a spooky building, meeting friends, getting a romance, seeing ghosts, and oh yes, tons more! It was fantastic.
The spookiness and the mystery? Super well done. At first things were just pretty quiet, but as we learn more and see more things do get very hairy and scary. And wet. So wet. The ghosts really like that water. Or well, one of them especially does. We get flickering lights (classic), weird noises (classic), a ghost coming from the ceiling (oh welp), muddy water everywhere (nope), damp smells (nope), scary noises and doors opening on their own (run run run), and there is more. I was definitely spooked out many times and so this was a perfect read for Halloween. Plus, the mystery was perfection. We slowly get more and more puzzle pieces on what has happened in this house. What is happening in this house. Why. And what is next. I have to say there was one revelation that made me very pissed and made me want to throw that person into the freaking lake. WHAT is wrong with you? We do learn some things that may add to understanding, but for most I was just pissed. How it all came together and how the ending was just one big banger. YAS!
The romance? Love love love it! I loved how these girls talked. How they tried to make things work, but also set boundaries. We read about cute kisses and fun evenings just lying next to each other. Read about them having fun talking about their favourite shows. It was a bit instalove, but I didn’t mind it that much as I normally do. XD They just had such chemistry that I was rooting hard for them and that the ghosts wouldn’t be able to break them up.
Absolutely love love the rep on diabetes. I don’t have diabetes myself, but I do know how important it is to get more diversity and various reps in stories. We see how our MC has a pump and how she checks her levels with an app (or if her adorable dog has a good moment, that as well). We read how she has an emergency kit. How she has everything ready to get the pump working or clean it up. We read on her having to change the position of the pump. And more. Plus, I also loved the girl our MC was crushing on because she went to do research, made sure to keep her eyes peeled in case of something happening and making sure that she has snacks or drinks present just in case.
Bonus points to the adorable dog. I am always happy to get some good boys and girls in the story and this one was just the best.
But one big SAD SAD thing was that we barely got any podcast. We get a podcast before and after, but those are pretty small and other than that we do read that she is working on it and releasing them, but do we get to see them? No. Not at all. I get that we follow along on her mystery hunting, but I would still have liked to see the podcast. Plus, I am sure there could have been extra things added to the podcast. I was really looking forward to the podcast, that is one of the biggest reasons I bought the book. I love a book with a podcast element (and that comes from a girl who is not big on podcasts, mostly because my ADHD).
But despite the disappointing almost no podcast… I had tons of fun with this one. It was spooky as heck.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
A spooky tale about a girl going for a vacation to renovate a spooky building, meeting friends, getting a romance, seeing ghosts, and oh yes, tons more! It was fantastic.
The spookiness and the mystery? Super well done. At first things were just pretty quiet, but as we learn more and see more things do get very hairy and scary. And wet. So wet. The ghosts really like that water. Or well, one of them especially does. We get flickering lights (classic), weird noises (classic), a ghost coming from the ceiling (oh welp), muddy water everywhere (nope), damp smells (nope), scary noises and doors opening on their own (run run run), and there is more. I was definitely spooked out many times and so this was a perfect read for Halloween. Plus, the mystery was perfection. We slowly get more and more puzzle pieces on what has happened in this house. What is happening in this house. Why. And what is next. I have to say there was one revelation that made me very pissed and made me want to throw that person into the freaking lake. WHAT is wrong with you? We do learn some things that may add to understanding, but for most I was just pissed. How it all came together and how the ending was just one big banger. YAS!
The romance? Love love love it! I loved how these girls talked. How they tried to make things work, but also set boundaries. We read about cute kisses and fun evenings just lying next to each other. Read about them having fun talking about their favourite shows. It was a bit instalove, but I didn’t mind it that much as I normally do. XD They just had such chemistry that I was rooting hard for them and that the ghosts wouldn’t be able to break them up.
Absolutely love love the rep on diabetes. I don’t have diabetes myself, but I do know how important it is to get more diversity and various reps in stories. We see how our MC has a pump and how she checks her levels with an app (or if her adorable dog has a good moment, that as well). We read how she has an emergency kit. How she has everything ready to get the pump working or clean it up. We read on her having to change the position of the pump. And more. Plus, I also loved the girl our MC was crushing on because she went to do research, made sure to keep her eyes peeled in case of something happening and making sure that she has snacks or drinks present just in case.
Bonus points to the adorable dog. I am always happy to get some good boys and girls in the story and this one was just the best.
But one big SAD SAD thing was that we barely got any podcast. We get a podcast before and after, but those are pretty small and other than that we do read that she is working on it and releasing them, but do we get to see them? No. Not at all. I get that we follow along on her mystery hunting, but I would still have liked to see the podcast. Plus, I am sure there could have been extra things added to the podcast. I was really looking forward to the podcast, that is one of the biggest reasons I bought the book. I love a book with a podcast element (and that comes from a girl who is not big on podcasts, mostly because my ADHD).
But despite the disappointing almost no podcast… I had tons of fun with this one. It was spooky as heck.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
lizzzz43's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
3.25
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, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Dementia, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Murder, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death and Dementia
apurplehyacinth's review against another edition
4.0
i would give this like a 3.5 or a 4
it was very interesting, i finished it in like a day and a half because i really wanted to know how it ended! i definitely enjoyed the mystery theme in this book. i didn’t know where the book was going, which i loved! since i hate predictable stories. i wasn’t as scared as i would have liked (weird thing to say i know.) but i was DEFINITELY creeped out. also stan waffles the dog
it was very interesting, i finished it in like a day and a half because i really wanted to know how it ended! i definitely enjoyed the mystery theme in this book. i didn’t know where the book was going, which i loved! since i hate predictable stories. i wasn’t as scared as i would have liked (weird thing to say i know.) but i was DEFINITELY creeped out. also stan waffles the dog
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
lermonysnickers's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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
4.0
chocolatemilo9's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
virgilsinferno's review
dark
mysterious
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
zgreyz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
It was mostly a fun read. I like that the main character was skeptical but at some point I feel like that should've died down or at least taken a backseat to be at least a tiny bit empathetic to other people. especially her supposed love interest. glad they didnt end up together at least because i wasn't feeling anything between them. they were both pretty inconsiderate and unempathetic to each other so it didn't make any sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Death of parent and Death