A review by aingealwroth
My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.25

If you liked the vibes of Jennifer's Body, The Craft, Lost Boys, I Feed Her To The Beast (and The Beast Was Me), you should definitely give this a go.

This is a dark, supernatural, coming of age story. While it can be cringe-worthy, embarrassing, and face-palm moments, it's level appropriate for teenagers and real people. It mentions uncomfortable topics, has serious character growth (though due to the length of book and the age of the subjects, we get mostly surface level impacts and not in-depth explorations of it), and the awful messiness of growing up. It's a very... I hesitate to say "fun" considering the darkness of the vibes but definitely enjoyable... ride through the hell that is being a teenage girl.

Finch can be a bit straightforward/timid/naive at times, but I also felt (as an autistic individual) that she was leaning towards being neurodivergent coded, so it bothered me less than it might others.
I did wish this was a bit longer, as it only touched on a number of topics that could have used more depth to them, but otherwise I have no regrets.
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