A super fun young adult contemporary romance with just enough spooky factor and stakes to keep my attention. I adored the paranormal mystery and the characters read very much as teenagers with the self-confidence issues one would expect from coming-of-age youngsters. Paul does a brilliant job of incorporating other characters as well, so we aren't reading a book that involves only the romantic pairing. The supernatural system also straddles the line between fantasy and reality in a way that I truly enjoyed. Although there were moments where tell would have worked versus showing (re: dialogue of introductions and hellos), my overall wish for this story was for more. I kept wanting more and wishing it weren't quite so YA, because the premise and characters are lovely.


Knowing what I know now about this book, would I still read it if I went back in time?
Yes


 See below for the four criteria I use to decide whether and when to read a book



CHARACTERS: Written in dual 1st-person POV, Cameron and Hugo both have very similar voices. However they're both relatable in terms of their thoughts and feelings as teenage boys struggling with identity and social traumas: Hugo from constantly moving and never having a permanent home, to Cameron who has lived in the same place his entire life and the same bullies he's grown up dealing with. He struggles with body image where Hugo struggles with letting people in, both of which feel so sadly valid. They're both instantly likeable and it's easy to follow their story of coming together as friends-to-lovers in the midst of not only these social situations, but a supernatural element that seems to be targeting them specifically.




PLOT: A contemporary romance between two teenagers contending with young love as well as a supernatural element that seems to be targeting the both of them specifically. Medium-paced, the story vacillates between the contemporary: life as students, and the paranormal: spooky happenings occurring in the creepy Crimson House, located across the street from Cameron and Hugo's new home. The spooky elements lend a really fun higher stakes and extra level to this coming-of-age.




EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: There is no good/bad here. Sometimes I just want a low-investment entertainment read whereas other times a high-stakes 'I need a therapist to recover' is what I need.

1:5/low. Very much a YA book, this one stays firmly in the entertaining aspect without delving too deeply into anything overly traumatic.



CATHARTIC FULFILLMENT: Is the emotional journey worth it? Do I finish this book feeling that I've crested the wave of the climactic moment and everything has been settled, leaving me settled and fulfilled? 

75%. I personally felt that the climactic event could have been so much more. The build-up led me to hoping for more, but it does have a HEA, which I appreciated. Again, this was a major spot where I wished it were more than a young adult, as the spooky elements felt pared down to maintain a certain level, therefore not taking advantage of their full potential. That being said, again, this is a young adult, so viewed through that lens it is a lovely ending. I'm very happy I read it.