The Dead and the DarkAuthor: Courtney Gould
Published: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 3, 2021
Genres: Horror
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
Source: Library
Goodreads
Courtney Gould’s thrilling debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places―and people―you didn’t expect.
The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won't stay hidden any longer.
Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV's ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there's more secrets buried here than they originally let on.
Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.
Courtney Gould’s thrilling debut The Dead and the Dark is about the things that lurk in dark corners, the parts of you that can’t remain hidden, and about finding home in places—and people—you didn’t expect.
The Review
Dear Reader. I will admit that I am not much of a young adult fiction reader. I’m a geriatric millennial and try to stay in an adult literary place. Because as we know, Dear Reader, I am not the target audience of YA fiction. But over the years, thanks to Booktube, I have been dipping my bookmarks into some young adult fiction. Courtney Gould’s The Dead and the Dark is my first dive into young adult horror since I was a young adult myself. Back then, I only had access to Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine. I am excited by the range of authors the youth of today have to choose from. That’s why I decided to see what young adult horror had to offer.
The characters were a real mixed bag. The story opens in Logan’s point of view. Logan’s a great character. Her dry sarcastic sense of humor worked well with me. The complicated strained relationship with her parents made me curious to know how it got there and the how their relationship shifted throughout the story. The relationship also offered a bit of dimension to Logan’s character. Logan appears strong and independent on the outside, but inside she’s insecure about her place in not only the world but also her family. Which leads to a hard exterior people, including her fathers, have a hard time of breaking through.
The characters were a real mixed bag. The story opens in Logan’s point of view. Logan’s a great character. Her dry sarcastic sense of humor worked well with me. The complicated strained relationship with her parents made me curious to know how it got there and the how their relationship shifted throughout the story. The relationship also offered a bit of dimension to Logan’s character. Logan appears strong and independent on the outside, but inside she’s insecure about her place in not only the world but also her family. Which leads to a hard exterior people, including her fathers, have a hard time of breaking through.
I wish Logan wasn’t the only highlight of The Dead and the Dark, Dear Reader. But I am afraid I am going to disappoint you, like Gould disappointed me with the other point of view character, Ashley. Frankly, Ashley was underdeveloped. Her whole character was mourning the disappearance of her boyfriend. When Gould switched the narrative to Ashley, it was all about her missing boyfriend and their relationship. Even when she teams up with Logan to solve the mystery of Snakebite she only cares about it in relationship to how it will bring her boyfriend home. Her character is so flat and one-dimensional that it only seemed that Ashley existed as a character to help Logan, the outsider, investigate the Snakebites mystery and the boy’s disappearance by herself.
The other issue I had with the characters, Dear Reader, was the diversity. I know it’s weird to complain about a book that contains a diversity of characters. But Dear Reader, I am. Most of the characters were coded as white, but one of Logan’s fathers was Latino and when the family arrives to Snakebite they live with his relatives. Well, if Gould hadn’t clarified it, I would have read them as white as well. I thought ethnicity would play an important role, since her fathers hadn’t been back to their childhood home since they left and Logan knew little about either of her father’s families. I’m not one to think bipoc characters have to experience racism. I also don’t like it when characters of color are added to books like sprinkles to a donut, for decoration only.
The atmosphere was great. From the start, Gould made me feel unsettled. There was something mysterious and dangerous going on, it’s threaded throughout the narrative. The combination of the missing boy, the possibility of paranormal phenomenon, and a town with secrets, mixed with strange weather patterns and hostile locals. I wanted to know what was happening. I worried about what was going to happen next. I want to know how all the puzzle pieces fit together.
I wish the plots had come together as well as the atmosphere. The first plot overarching plot of the missing teenager was good. I didn’t see the twist coming a reread would be necessary for me to find the clues Gould dropped the clues but I missed. There were more interesting subplots but I was disappointed by how they developed. The plot surrounding the town secrets and how Logan and Ashley’s families were involved with it was very underwhelming. I didn’t understand the amount of severity that Gould placed upon it when it turned out to be so minor. After the reveal, I kept thinking there had to be more. There just had to be. There wasn’t.
The romantic plot felt thrown in. Throughout the story Logan expresses an attraction to Ashely but Ashley doesn’t seem to return the feelings. Ashley showed no signs that she was attracted to Logan. As story climax approached, Dear Reader, I began thinking the synopsis was wrong and it was going to be an unrequited love type of plot. Which would have been a first for me. But nope, out of know where Gould presses the gas peddle and sped up so fast on the romantic plot I got whipped lash.
The Dead and the Dark didn’t come together as nicely as I would have liked. I enjoyed my time with this strong debut. Dear Reader, I enjoyed it so much that I’m looking forward to Courtney Gould’s next release and have already added it to my GoodReads TBR.
