The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Alyssa Tyler editor in chief
I remember downloading Goodreads in November of 2020 and being so excited when I was able to put all the books, I wanted to read in a single list. Approximately 550 books later I’m still obsessed with listing every book that slightly grabs my interest. With that, I remember vividly grabbing this book, The Dead and the Dark at my hometown library and adding it. I am happy that I chose to read it during a slower week, the thriller novel was much needed.
The novel opens with Logan, a 17-year-old teenager who travels across the country with her ghost hunting and paranormal activity hunting dads. Together they end up back up in Snakebite Oregon. A small town filled with critical people from a small town who do not take lightly to outsiders.
One of Logans dads, Brandon has been in Snakebite for the past six months conducting research. Logan and Brandon do not get along after a fight during an episode a few years back. Together, they both awkwardly avoid each other. But within the first few weeks of Brandon getting to Snakebite, Tristan goes missing. A beloved teenager who has dated one of the most popular people in town, Ashley.
Time goes on and fingers and glares are pointed in Brandons direction. When his husband and Logan get to Snakebite, more teenagers go missing. So, who do the town members blame? Logan and her family.
This book was an interesting read, it was refreshing to have LGBT+ relationships that did not seem to be ‘forced.’ Logan was incredibly annoying throughout the first half of the book. She was the epitome of a spoiled teenager, and I could not like her even by the end of the novel. I could tolerate her, barely.
There is a horror and thriller theme to this novel which I did enjoy. The small town with a dark secret is an interesting point, but it seemed to fall flat. However, as the novel goes on and Logan begins to remember more and Ashley is able to recover more about her mother’s past, it becomes more addicting.
There was a found family feel to the novel and it was refreshing that the family was not just magically ‘perfect’ after. I am confused on how ‘The Dark’ works and how that was able to bring people back to life and then possess people but might make sense to others.
Overall, I gave this book 3/5 stars. The plot twist towards the end of the novel is really only one of the saving factors.