I, in the Shadows is a young adult supernatural novel about a teenage girl who can see ghosts and what happens when there’s one haunting her new room. Drew’s the new girl in town, getting used to the fact that her sibling has gone to college, but there’s also the complication that she (and her sibling) can see ghosts, and Drew’s new bedroom is haunted by Liam, a teenage boy who needs to be helped to move on before he turns into an energy consuming husk. If that wasn’t enough, Drew develops a crush on Hannah, who was Liam’s best friend before he died, and soon it is a race to help Liam whilst he helps Drew to actually talk to Hannah.
This book is a multi-faceted story that blends a supernatural narrative about grief and moving on with a queer romance and the protagonist learning to not just push people away in the fear they might leave. It’s the kind of young adult book that doesn’t just feel one dimensional, but instead offers something that is both fun and bittersweet, with a protagonist who makes mistakes but also knows herself and what she wants, even if she can struggle to say it. One element of that which I found quite refreshing was Drew’s certainty that she doesn’t want to go to college and how a little detail like that made her feel like a more interesting character. The romance is basically a classic ‘getting help from someone who knows the love interest better backfires when they find out’ story and it sits nicely alongside the paranormal aspects.
When I chose to read this book I didn’t realise it was young adult as it was just listed as horror, but it is definitely more of a supernatural mystery with a (non-supernatural) romance. I’m 15-20 years older than the target audience, but I had fun with the book and the characters are interesting (Drew’s sibling Reece could definitely get their own spin-off sequel).
Fiendfully Reading 
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