*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

This was very sweet! I felt for these teens and their struggles with parents and self-worth and their pasts and their worries about the future.

The romance was cute. The way Jaime and Theo spent time together, got to know each other, opened up to each other, not to mention just the whole weird situation they were dealing with, I could definitely believe their feelings. And it was just so nice for Jaime to finally have someone who wasn’t going to give up on him the way his parents and everyone else had.

The friendship was nice too. All three characters bonded and grew close, including Taylor.

There was also some touching family stuff. Not all of their families changed for the better, which I appreciated because it’s just not like that for everyone. But sometimes family isn’t bad, just complicated and making mistakes but trying, so I appreciate that portrayal too.

All three characters grew and changed from this experience. It was well-done, heartwarming character growth.

This was more about, well, all the things I just talked about than about a haunted house. There was a haunted house, as well as some witchcraft and spells, but the ghost story mystery was minimal (which was fine with me), and it was all more of a facilitator for the characters to figure out themselves and their lives and to come together. Still, being supernaturally stuck in the house was the main thing and did pose a very real problem for Jaime.

The ending actually took me by surprise in a good way. It was more intense than I was expecting and portrayed with a lot more gravity and realism than I usually find in books in regards to traumatic events and whatnot (I’m being vague to avoid spoilers).

Overall, this was sort of a “teens with teen problems, but also a bit of magic/supernatural” book with easy to like characters, and I really enjoyed it!

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2023 // Format: Ebook via TTS*