Where No Shadow Stays

by Sara Hashem

A homecoming queen and a bad-boy loner team up to break a generational curse in this YA supernatural horror from a talented American Egyptian voice.

Seventeen-year-old Mina is always focused on what comes exams, school dances, opportunities for a picnic by the lake. Filling up the future keeps her from lingering over how little she knows about her history or where she comes from. Anytime she asks her father questions about Egypt--or about her mother's mysterious death--he struggles to open up.

When Mina receives an invitation from an aunt she’s never met to visit the Haikal mansion, her mother’s childhood home in El Agamy, Mina accepts. She can’t resist the chance to learn more about her roots or what happened to her mother, even if it means lying to her loves ones for the first time in her life.

But when Mina returns from El Agamy, she doesn’t come back alone.

A sinister entity follows Mina from the Haikal mansion to her tiny California town. Mina is forced to abandon her friends, her father, and everything she loves in order to prevent the entity from violently possessing them. Isolated and fighting for her life, Mina must seek help from an unlikely Jesse Talbot, the mortician’s hostile son and the only person who proves immune to possession. Jesse would rather floss with barbed wire than team up with social butterfly Mina, but he doesn’t exactly have a choice—after all, he’s running from family secrets of his own.

As Mina and Jesse dig deeper into Mina's family lore, they uncover a bloody debt that must be satisfied if Mina wants to finish senior year alive.

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Audiobook, YA Horror

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 31, 2026

About the author

Sara Hashem is the USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Jasad Heir and The Jasad Crown. An American-Egyptian author from Southern California, she spent many sunny days holed up indoors with a book. Sara’s love for fantasy and magical realms emerged during the two years her family lived in Egypt. When she isn’t busy naming stray cats in her neighborhood after her favorite authors, Sara can be found buried under coffee-ringed notebooks.

You can find Sara on Instagram and TikTok under @shashemwrites!

Reviews

[yuvi • ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

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❀post reading thoughts❀

(★★★★★★★★)
easiest infinite stars.
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!warning- rave review ahead!
(maybe sometime in the future, i'll be able to properly articulate my thoughts but i just finished reading this book and i'm an emotional wreck rn. sara, what have you done to me)😭😭😭
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"Where pain exists, predators thrive"

Sara hashem is an auto-buy author for me. i knew that this book was going to eat. and oh did it. this was such a beautifully written book. i'm in awe. and this book has rendered me speechless. sara, how. how do you do it?
no criticisms here. just awe. i'm so emotionally connected to this book ydek.
tbh, it's more than just a horror book. it's also a coming of age- and it explores family values, struggles of immigrants and the children w immigrant parents, loss of cultural identity and generational trauma. this was such an emotional read.
no srsly. i was an emotional wreck while reading it. and i read it in 3 hours. i was crying and laughing and blushing (bc jesse hullo?!) and it also gave me jumpscares like wth?! this book has everything. everything- beautiful writing, immersive plot, well fleshed out characters, humor, romance and horror?! this delivered on ALL ASPECTS.

the horror part was so well done. altho i LOVE horror books, ngl i've been struggling to like these for the past few months. but this book!? this fucking book. speechless. i was reading at 3 in afternoon and i srsly got jumpscares so many time- it's not even funny. the creepy and gory part was so well done. sara, ily.
the characters were so well written, albeit they were not without their flaws-but that's exactly what makes them so real and so so relatable. nadine was such a complex character. while i don't condone what she did, but the way that she was ready to sacrifice- and she did sacrifice all that- for mina. and after everything, for all that to end the way it end? that tugged at my heartstrings like ntg else. i'm dead. (*sobs uncontrollably* )
i loved mina and jesse. ohmygod. they were so sweet together. i love the emotional bond btw them. the way that jesse cared for her? please. i'm so down for emotionally intelligent mmc's. i love everything about jesse (but esp. his wry humor).
ik why mina chose to do that at the end. i wish that that hadn't happened. but the ending was so real- in a bittersweet way. and while i do get why that happened, i also wish that they'd found another way. maybe? (sigh. it's all just wishful thinking at this point)

sara hashem is a genius- i don't know how her mind works but i'm truly grateful that i was able to read TJH duology and this book. i'm reading anything this woman writes. genius. truly genius.
like, wdym that she managed to write a horror book with a compelling plot, an emotionally intelligent mmc, and sweet romance and plot twists that had me pulling my hair out.
that ending tho? i get it. i get why she'd end it like that. but atp. after TJH, i'm starting to think that she deliberately does THAT- just to make us cry. no srsly. i can't stop crying.
i had to read the last few paragraphs 6 TIMES bc i couldn't believe my eyes. I WAS SO SHOCKED. like, genuine jaw dropping moment. anyway wtv. imma still pretend like i didn't read the last chapter🥰

⤷tl;dr: this was nothing short of a masterpiece. it was such a bittersweet experience and i'm so in love w this book. i'm not the same person that i was b4 reading this book.
pls read this book🙏🙏🙏


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side note
started- april 04
finished- april 04

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❀pre-read❀
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not me casually ignoring my cr's to start this one. anyway. i hate that i couldn't start this on the release day ughhh. blame my goldfish memory or wtv. but better late than never.
i LOVEEE jasad heir duology. and sara is one of my favorite authors. plus, i do enjoy some horror at times. but it's difficult to find a good horror book ykwim? after 'anna dressed in blood', i found most of the other horror books plain ridiculous- found myself rolling my eyes during the supposed 'horror scenes' ehhh. but my fav author+a book in my fav genre? sign me up, thank you. i just know that this is going to eatttt. i just know it.

ps. sara, you know that i love you. and i'll read anything by you. but ma'am, what about a jasad heir novella now?? 🥺👉🏻👈🏻


════════≪ °❈° ≫════════
other books by sara hashem -

❀the jasad heir (scorched throne #1)- 4★
❀the jasad crown (scorched throne #2)- 5★
❀where no shadow stays (standalone)-5★

[shre ♡]

i'm reading anything this woman puts out

[Nafeeza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excuse me Sara there seems to be quite a few pages missing from my book, because what do you mean that is the ending?! You’re joking, right?! Right?!

Surely there must be a sequel to remedy this right… *insert manic laughter here*

4.5 (crying my eyes out) Stars.









*Pre review*

A new book by Sara! Consider me sat…


Also I wouldn’t mind a novella (or two) after that epilogue in The Jasad Crown… Like Sara we need more of the precious children!

[Mai ༊*·˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ★— Sara Hashem has a reader for life with me after her Scorched Throne duology, so picking up this YA horror novel, even though I’m not typically a horror reader, was a no-brainer for me!

The story follows Mina, a senior in high school who has lived the epitome of a model teenage life until that life begins to unravel when she becomes plagued by a mysterious entity that endangers both her and the people around her.

Split across different POVs and timelines, the novel explores Mina’s family back in Egypt and the circumstances of a trip to her ancestral hometown that led to her becoming tied to this entity. I’m usually someone who struggles when a book jumps too much between timelines and perspectives, but here it worked incredibly well and beautifully wove the past and present together without ever making the present-day plot feel stalled.

Mina also fits an archetype I really enjoy seeing explored. Instead of the often depicted awkward teenage loner in YA, she’s a popular girl at school, a dance captain with a star-athlete boyfriend and a supportive group of friends. Watching the decimation of that carefully built life as the entity encroaches on it was captivating, and I loved seeing the unraveling of the “perfect girl” archetype she embodies.

The horror itself was also very effective! Even as someone who’s admittedly a bit of a horror baby when it comes to books, I found the tension genuinely unsettling without ever feeling overwhelming. The depiction of the entity gave me It Follows (2014) vibes, with that constant creeping sense that something is always lurking and waiting for a chance to approach.

The romance is a subplot that develops through a growing friendship between Jesse and Mina and serves as an important emotional anchor, as Jesse is the one person who truly sees what Mina is going through. I ended up really loving their banter and playful dynamic amid the darkness of the story and also enjoyed how Jesse, who initially appears to be the classic bad boy type, has that image quietly deconstructed as the two open up to each other.

When it comes to themes in this book, I don't even know where to begin, because so much of this resonated while simultaneously flooring me.

Mina is the daughter of Egyptian immigrants who grew up in the United States, and she carries that familiar first-generation sense of feeling removed from a cultural identity that should feel like home. The story repeatedly returns to the idea that there are versions of ourselves that never got to exist. That, as the child of immigrants, there is a person you might have been if you had grown up in your parents’ homeland instead of the country they immigrated to.

There are also ever-present themes of generational trauma and the lingering consequences of the past that are tied to the horror Mina faces, which made it all feel even more visceral.

The ending left me a little speechless and had me pondering it for quite a while after I finished. It was definitely fitting, while poignant in the exact type of way I enjoy.

Really, I am so glad to see an author branch out so successfully from their debut work, and now I’m even more convinced I need to read everything Sara Hashem writes!


🎧 Audiobook Notes
🎙️ Narration Style: Solo
⭐ Listener Rating: 5/5
I seriously loved the narrator and how well she could switch from the young-sounding voice of a teenage Mina to embody the adult characters, as well as the entity when it possessed people, capturing its inhumanity perfectly! Just... gah, so much talent! I cannot recommend this audiobook enough for anyone that's even remotely interested in getting the audiobook version of this book!

____________________

Thank you to Holiday House for the ARC and to RBmedia for the ALC.

[jenny reads a lot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emotionally devastating in the way you expect from Sara Hashem.

I think I am just going to forever be mad at Sara Hashem. Why does she have to destroy us so thoroughly? And why do we come back begging for more?

This was dread inducing, packed an emotional punch, and impossible to put down. this book is layered in a way that will require a second read for me to fully grasp.

The only thing I didn’t love was the ending, but thats a me problem not a book problem.

Whats to love…
- strong friendship & found family vibes
- layered
- dread inducing horror narrative
- easy to binge
- romantic subplot
- pathetic (complimentary) mmc


Audiobook Narration: 5/5 Honestly. no notes. I’ll be seeking this narrator out in the future. her voice variation and pacing were perfection.

4.5⭐️| IG | TikTok |

Thank you publisher for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.

[Cereal Unaliver]

Me omw to raise a Sara Hashem Altar from the ground- just like a certain curly haired Qayida

[Lania · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay but how about a novella for Arin and Essiya

[Bookishness · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I was so excited to receive a Sara Hashem ARC. After the The Jasad Heir duology, I would read anything Sara writes.

This was a fun, fast read. I adored the strong friendships and the found-family elements throughout the story. I especially loved Jessi and mina’s friendship, and I really enjoyed the mystery and the curse woven into the plot. I was a little thrown off by the jumps back in time with mina’ mom, though they did add more layers and depth to the story. I still felt a bit confused a bit of how it ended. But leave it to Sara to leave us wanting more—that ending, ugh. There were definitely some scary moments too which made my hair on my arms stand!








~Pre-read~ YESSSSS! I received an ARC copy of this book! I am such a Sara Hashem fan.. I cannot wait to start this.

[Basma · Rating 5 out of 5]

wowowowow

this is a love letter to Egypt and finally finding Egyptian representation is so precious to me. The main character having my mom's last name, the dad and I having the same favorite actors, reading the nursery rhymes I sang growing up, half of this book taking place in the cities my parents were born, I could CRY. I don't think I can ever fully explain what finally seeing your culture and your lives in the media you're consuming does to you. It's validating yes but it's also a sense of community and safety? it's everything

Onto the rest of this book, I don't read the thriller/horror genre often because I get scared very very easily but I am so glad I braved this book because it is GENIUS. Sara's mind??? The curse, the characters (jesse!!!), the way we cut between past and present was all brilliant. AND THE END??? While devastating, it was truly such a fitting ending for this book and I'm still blown away

[Azanta (azantareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars // leave it to Sara to write such a gripping, devastating story in less than 300 pages 🥲🥲 honestly very sinister and foreboding yet romantic, with characters that feel like friends and gorgeous writing. the ending 🥲 ouch!!!

[Chertzo Ember [s: ia] · Rating 4 out of 5]

꒰🧟‍♂️꒱ 𝓟𝓸𝓼𝓽-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓡𝓮𝓯𝓵𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼:
Dawn: April 04, 2026 | Dusk: April 06, 2026

—4☆!

did you kiss the brick before you threw it, sara? just because it was the right ending doesn’t mean it didn’t claw my heart out and smash it into itty-bitty pieces.

i freaking loved yasmina and jesse. like, talk about a MAN.

i also loved the horror aspect. i read this in one sitting, and that too at night, so despite the heat outside, i was genuinely a little chilled.

the romance and the yearning were absolutely the end of me... if not for the ending first.

i really loved the way the story explored both past and present. it was done so well and made everything feel even more haunting and emotional.

and i especially loved seeing yasmina’s friend circle because friendship goals, actually.
and alex? go to hell.

Madam Author is officially an auto-buy writer for me, and while I did really love this, I also have this sinking feeling that I’ll forget most of it within a week. the writing itself was beautiful, but the execution didn’t fully land for me. there were too many loose ends, and they didn’t feel haunting or purposeful, just... unfinished.

i really wish the ending had given us more. even just a small glimpse into what life looked like for the others afterward would’ve made such a difference. i keep thinking about how everything turned out for them, but especially for jessie.

there’s something so devastating about knowing what he was left with in the end.

[Raghad♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

There goes Sara hashem causing damage as usual😔
That was a nice little horror/mystery, I honestly liked it a lot and it did in fact FREAK ME OUT. but yk no attachments I'm probably gonna forget it in a couple months.

[andreea ᥫ᭡ [new bio!!] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 🌟 rtc

𐔌 . ⋮ pre-read ⏳ .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱

sara hashem said spooky spring is here, so i’m choosing to believe her! where no shadow stays is about seventeen year old mina whose life is turned upside down after she returns from a visit to her mother’s childhood home in el agamy. and honestly, that’s all i need to know to pick this up. i’ve been itching to read something by this author for a while now, and while i wait for my copy of the jasad crown, this will keep me occupied

buddy reading this with my lovely raghad. it’s been a long time coming 💌

[m y r · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT WAS THAT ENDING

I am convinced Sara Hashem just loves to write the most heartbreaking, devastating endings to crush us readers. Just when I think the characters could be happy, I then have to pick up a box of tissues. This is why I love her writing, she knows how to pull a reader in, root for the characters, and catch us off caught with the plot twists and emotions.

Where No Shadow Stays follows Mina, the "golden girl" who begins experiencing haunting scenarios after a secret trip to Egypt, causing her to isolate from her friends and family. The only one who can seem to help her is the town's loner, Jesse, due to mysteries of his own. The two form an undeniable bond as they uncover secrets that date back generations. Blending history and horror together, Where No Shadow Stays will keep you on your toes throughout.

I loved the relationship between Mina and Jesse. Seeing Mina find parts of herself she never knew existed as the pair spend more time together, to then seeing their connection grow with tension and yearning is exactly why Sara Hashem is a master at crafting an unforgettable romance.

Honestly, I would read this woman's grocery list.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

[almas]

i don’t fw this genre but i will be turning up for this ✋🏻 in sara hashem i trust 😋

[gremlinkait · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5✨ As a big weenie, president of the *Super* Weenie Hut Jr.’s, I was a bit nervous to read my first horror book- but if Sara Hashem writes it, I am reading it.

While YA horror felt a bit like uncharted territory for me, it felt like home in the way Sara Hashem writes - her standout strengths to me as an author are how she writes characters and threads together all these little details into a tapestry of emotional attachment (and emotional destruction let’s be real). She will make you care so deeply about every single person that appears on the page, even if it’s just for a moment. It’s magic. They are always beautifully complex and flawed in the most authentic and natural way. She drops in these tiny and unsuspecting sprinkles that effortlessly build up the emotional investment along the way until you are in so deep you don’t even remember what life was like before knowing these characters - like the french toast??? I cried. She blends really poignant and powerful themes with lighthearted humor and sarcasm so seamlessly.

As always, I also love learning more and more about Egyptian culture and seeing that representation for people to experience in her books is so so beautiful.

The weaving of past and present, the bone-chilling mystery, the visceral fear, and the pursuit of answers really propelled this story forward - I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and couldn’t stop listening. It was soaked in this suffocating and all-consuming sense of loneliness, which tied so many different elements together.
This story as a whole really embodies the looming and lasting nature of generational trauma and what it takes to break it. I honestly haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I finished it. I wasn’t expecting it to be as deep as it was and pack such an emotional punch, especially for how short it is - one could say it is truly haunting me.

Let’s circle back to the emotional devastation part because OUCH - I screamed out loud “no no no no no!!!” and rewinded as if my ears deceived me. I will never get over Sara’s ability to just make you FEEL SO DEEPLY, like deep in the core of your being. She will hurl a brick at your face and you will say thank you.


Audiobook 🎧: 5/5
Victoria Nassif is one of my new favorite narrators. I was so in love with her voice! It was truly such a fantastic performance switching between different voices for the characters, showing her incredible range. I look forward to listening to more in the future!

Thank you so much to RBmedia for the opportunity to read and review this ALC ✨

[Allison E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guys I’m so sorry for the dramatic 2 star rating it’s more so a “disappointment” 2 star over a “quality” 2 star (…maybe). You cannot look me in the eye and tell me this is the same author who wrote Arin of mf Nizahl. Arin would eat Jesse for breakfast and clean his teeth out afterwards with his bones. Unfortunately when you write the most perfect love interest ever, it do be hard to top.

Where No Shadow Stays is about Mina, a generally nice normal girl who makes a secret visit to her mother’s hometown in El Agamy. She brings back an interesting souvenir from her trip. Who doesn’t love a generations spanning curse? An evil entity, shadows, and a force that possesses anyone Mina finds her self alone with really is the new keychain for your friends and family.

Before I just state all the things that didn’t work for me. One bone to toss out and one compliment.

- The bone: Admittedly, YA horror isn’t really my bread and butter. I’ve got nothing against it and I’ve always wanted to read more horror, but I have to believe there’s better YA horror out there than this. I liked The Weight of Blood? Does that count?
- The compliment: This story is often quite the love letter to Egypt. I think the descriptions and yearning for this part of Sara’s heritage was the biggest strength of the Where No Shadow Stays. It’s clearly pulled from a personal place and these sections around identity were successfully emotionally potent.

Complaints, & I’ll put the spoilery stuff at the end of the list:

- If this was supposed to be scary, well. I wasn’t scared once. Maybe I’ve just got ballz of steel. Someone lmk
- Sourpatch as a nick name, cute origin, overused and annoying to me by the end.
- The flashback structure made it impossible for me to get into the story. I should have wanted to read the flashbacks to further fill in the picture / mystery of the story, but I simple did not care.
- Mina has a lot of insecurity that is textbook for someone in highschool, alas her particular flavor of angst often felt super cliche to me.
- The amount of fade to blacks that were used was criminal. I’m not talking sexual fade to blacks. I mean peak climactic moment about to happen and then we’re hit with “and then everything went black”. Don’t start something you can’t follow through!! Tell me what happened!!!!
- I found myself lying on my bed and staring at the ceiling rather than read this. Which is crazy for being a ~ 300 pages book. The material clearly wasn’t hooking me. Book slump could potentially be blamed for this. I think partially also because the whole thing followed this repetitive structure: Mina being sad and alone -> flash back -> present day Mina gets harassed by the evil spirit and freaks out -> Jesse comforts her -> journal section revealed. Over and over and over again. Which made it feel somehow like there was 0 earned progress towards breaking the curse.
- The dad was one of the most important characters to Mina, why did we never actually see him interact with her more than once? Curse and him being characterized as absent minded aside, he’s genuinely never home. I don’t buy that this highschooler purposefully didn’t interact once with her father for months and he didn’t notice?
- The romance was meh
- 2 spoilery comments / referential to the text from here on out
- Jesse’s curse genuinely had no material impact on him? He has no soul. So what?? Did I miss the consequences of this? He seems completely normal? Is him being an emo angry sad boi the resulting effect of not having a soul? Why did he want to gain his soul back? This part was so half baked.
- The ending? Did that conclusion actually make any sense for the message of this story? What was the point of it? I saw a few reviews claiming it’s actually open ended, but I’m pretty sure what happened did happen. Right?? And it was supposed to be devastating for sure, but I honestly wasn’t devastated or moved. By the end I just wanted the story to be over. :( but not like that lol that was dumb.

So ya, clearly this one didn’t land for me. No one is more bummed than me! I’ll still read more from Sara, perhaps just her adult fantasy though.

[Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

But did she die though…? Because I would be more sure if there wasn’t the bit about an ‘other Mina’. Is it heaven?

I like ambiguous endings when I feel like they’re purposefully ambiguous. I just feel really dumb.

[Farah ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

SARA HASHEM.... I WILL NEVER TRUST YOU AGAIN SIS WTAFFFFFFF????????????????

April 5th: Where No Shadows Stay was a really enjoyable read for me. It blended horror and fun in a way that kept me hooked the whole time. The atmosphere was creepy without being overwhelming, and there were plenty of moments that genuinely surprised me. The Eastern lore was wonderful, and being familiar with it really helped sell this arc to me.

I also really loved Meena and Jessie as characters. They felt real and easy to care about, and their friendship added a lot of heart to the story. I found myself especially invested in what would happen to them, which made the ending hit even harder. I wish their little teenage romance had more time.

The ending. I wish it had been different, or at least given us a glimpse of what life was like for the other characters afterward. I keep wondering how everything turned out for them, especially Jessie, and it’s kind of sad knowing what he was left with.

Overall, I still really liked the book. It was a fun and spooky experience with characters I liked, even if the ending left me wishing for a little more closure.

[ohna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5


sara hashem’s prose has improved quite a lot since her last book or……..it might be because this is a ya paranormal horror set in the real world so there wasn’t any fantastical world building which is something imo was one of the weaker points of the scorched kingdom duology.

where no shadows stays is a huge pivot from her debut duology. first of all, let me mention the elements i enjoyed. egypt through the eyes of our main character,mina was beautiful at the same time harrowing. there were several times the main character talked about how different circumstances and different situations would have created a different version of her and how she could have been if she wasn’t raised in america, she imagines her life in egypt and creates parallels between her life and the life she would have had if her parents never left. the plot was engaging and fast paced. we got the whole nine yards from the diverse group of friends, the resident loner to the small town and ancient evil lurking by. one thing i appreciate about this book is the main character isn’t some recluse, she is popular and an all rounder, a social butterfly who is well liked by her community. i also liked the lore, the generational trauma, touring egypt and the banter between the two characters.

but the story felt very surface level, the concept was filmsy and the execution was poorly done. the supporting characters felt one dimensional and the writing lacked the eerie small town, haunted house allure i wanted to feel so desperately. sara hashem shines with her character work but in this case i couldn’t bring myself to care about our main character, mina. yes, she was funny at times but her growth felt rushed and devoid of emotions. alot of things were left open ended but not in a way that was satisfactory(as in it’s supposed to end like that) but rather there were gaps in the plot. things mentioned once or twice for it to be never addressed again.


although i enjoyed this book but it is utterly forgettable. i will not think about or even talk about it. this is what i would call an airport read. i had fun while i read it hence the high rating. i must also mention the audiobook narrator has become one of my favourites. victoria nassif’s vocal range is incredible. i will be looking out for any books narrated by her from now on. she is the reason this got an extra star too.

[Jessica Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Booksta Link✨

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Where No Shadows Stay is a devastating exploration of generational curses, inherited guilt, and the unbearable weight of family legacy. Our main character Mina visits Egypt after a mysterious call from an Aunt she’s never met and returns home from her Summer break with a curse.

At its core the curse is a chillingly simple but brutally effective: Banba’s bloodline (Mina’s family) must sacrifice children to an ancient entity within their sprawling estate to maintain their wealth and status in society. If they fail to meet their quota for even one year, every member of the bloodline dies. The simplicity of it makes it all the more horrifying.

The story unfolds through multiple perspectives — the women of Mina’s bloodline — interwoven with flashbacks that reveal how the curse first began. Watching the past unravel alongside Mina’s present-day investigation into her mother’s mysterious and sudden death, as well as the truth of their legacy is endlessly compelling.

The distinction between the shadows and the possessed is also fascinating. The shadows seem to pull Mina out of reality, showing her fragments of the past which help her piece her family’s history together, while the possessed are something far more immediate and violent. That layered horror keeps the tension razor sharp from beginning to end.

Sara Hashem’s Egyptian descriptions and lore are rich, immersive, and atmospheric. The setting feels alive — steeped in history, mythology, and something ancient and watchful. I could vividly imagine every scene as I read; it felt cinematic in my head. This is a large part of the world building, even while Mina is home in America. The sprawling family estate Mina visits in Egypt feels almost like a character in itself — grand, oppressive, and hungry. I wanted to read about it endlessly.

The horror elements are intensely descriptive in the best way. The suffocating dread, the decay, the looming presence of something inhuman — it’s all rendered so clearly that you don’t just read it, you experience it.

Mina absolutely shattered me. She is a painfully real, tangible character who will stay with me for the rest of my days. Written as a teenager on the edge of adulthood — about to graduate high school, with her entire future stretched out ahead of her — she is suddenly thrust into a curse she never could have imagined. That loss of normalcy is devastating. What broke my heart most were the few, fleeting moments where she fully grasps just how unfair it all is. She doesn’t get to be young. She doesn’t get to be carefree. She inherits horror instead.

Her fear is written so authentically — not exaggerated or melodramatic, but bone-deep and consuming. The idea that an earthbound entity can inhabit any body she’s alone with is terrifying. She hasn’t even seen her father in four weeks since returning from Egypt, terrified that the entity will possess him and that he might try to kill her. The loneliness of that reality is suffocating.

The quiet emotional details destroyed me. Mina describing how her father once threw away an entire loaf of bread he burned trying to make her perfect French toast with her favourite syrup? Devastating. The distance between them feels wider than the curse itself. Her guilt about stepping away from him to keep him safe is heartbreaking. Her separation from her friends is equally painful. She deliberately keeps them at a distance to protect them, knowing it harms those relationships. That self-imposed isolation adds another layer to her suffering.

And then there’s Jesse. He’s exactly what Mina needs throughout all of this; a surprising ally, friend and perhaps some a little more. The son of a Mortician who keeps to himself, despite being Mina’s neighbour and her attempts at friendship in the past. Jesse also has secrets and revelations of his own.

Valedictorian and dance team captain x mortician’s son who keeps to himself? An impeccable pairing. The banter between them is unmatched. I’m not sorry — Sara Hashem writes some of the best banter I have ever read between love interests. It’s sharp, intelligent, emotionally loaded. It feels like a lost language brought back to life. Jesse brings out a version of Mina she barely recognises:

“He brings out the side of me that I don’t recognise — someone who doesn’t think through her words ten times before she speaks, or constantly shift her presence to accommodate someone else. Someone who can be bright and irritable and snide … The worst part is that I think she might be the version of me I like best.” (p.146)

There is a moment in the book where Jesse fully inhabits the “to be loved is to be known” gestures and it stole my breath away.

The writing is honestly immaculate. The pacing is expert — fast without ever feeling rushed — diving straight into the plot while still giving space for emotional weight. Mina’s terror feels real. Her grief feels real. The devastation feels real.

I cried for thirty minutes after finishing this book. I was not prepared for the emotional response it pulled out of me. Sara Hashem truly writes an ending, bittersweet ones, that have you reeling for days in the aftermath. As a fan of these endings, I don’t think there’s anyone that does it better.

This is atmospheric, emotionally brutal, and beautifully crafted. One of my favourite reads of the year and a testament to how incredible YA Thriller and Horror can be!

[zahh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was.. heartbreaking to say the least.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved it, it was literally perfect, no notes. I loved the storyline, the characters ( Jesse? Hello!!), the romance was so adorable and sweet and you genuinely can’t not love them!! The writing was so good but there wasn’t a doubt about that, it was so witty and funny and emotional.
The ending though? Yeah I’m still crying.. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THATS THE ENDING? WHY????
I still haven’t gotten over THC and now this..
Idc give me a different ending😭 my girl has been through hell only to end up like this?

Now I understand that reading her books comes with the risk of breaking your heart.
Any way give me the next thing she writes NOW!!!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Hashem, you are on both my favorite author and shit list (the latter for emotional damage)! Review to come later because I’m so mad to be once again happily misled like a stupid puppy into pain. 🥲

(FINAL REVIEW:)

If Hashem wasn’t already an auto-buy author for me thanks to her devastating Scorched Throne duology (I still think about Arin and Sylvia and it’s been MONTHS since I left that series), this book probably would have solidified her already high ranking on my loved authors list. And that ending??? . . . . Ooo man, Hashem really knows how to drag a reader through the mud with her characters. It should also be a testament to her writing that I happily picked up a contemporary horror book that has no folklore/mythology (to my knowledge) and still loved it. ☺️

The story follows 17-year-old Mina after she returns from her secret spring break in Egypt and has her life completely turned upside down. I loved how genuinely nice she was even with the fact that she’s said to be the former it girl of the school. Mina really shows how children of migrant parents are in that liminal space between the place they grew up in and the place where their family is from, and how it can both be rewarding to have that connection as well as detrimental due to the loss of connection and perception that comes with being from some place foreign. I also love the father-daughter relationship between Mina and her father who is trying his best to move on in life after loosing his wife, as well as desperately missing the place he comes from. 🇪🇬

Jesse Talbot as a love interest/begrudging ally for Mina screamed a much healthier Arin and Sylvia to me. I loved their banter and jabs at each other, and found his growing affection for Mina quite sweet. But like an idiot, I had assumed Hashem would be kind to her readers this time, and let’s just say go get this book now because you need to know what kind of pain I’m in right now after finishing this. 🥲

There was just one little detail about a sketch book that I felt was not utilized in the end, but this is the only thing I will say because anything else will be a MASSIVE spoiler for the book. 🤐

Now, I will need to say that this is the kind of horror that I was expecting in some of the other horror books I’ve read lately. It’s DARK, CREEPY, and down right HORRIFYING in the best possible ways without going overboard for an upper YA horror novel. I would really recommend future readers of this book to think about how much they are okay with scenes of off-page deaths of children, graphic depictions of gore, and violence before going into this. If you previously read The Scorched Throne duology, you might enjoy this since Mina and Jesse reminded me of Arin and Sylvia, but that will be your decision if you choose to pick up this YA horror. ‼️

HUGE thank you goes out to Holiday House and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest review, and to Hashem for once again emotionally damaging me in the best way possible. I am STOKED for your upcoming duology and can’t wait to be pummeled yet again with Tala and Selim’s upcoming tension. 😍

Publication date: March 31!

Overall: 5/5 ⭐️

[Lauren OK · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

This story drops you off just a few weeks after Mina has started experiencing strange attacks whenever she's alone with someone—suddenly their eyes turn orange and they start trying to kill her. Because of this she feels like she needs to distance herself from her friends, her boyfriend, and her dad.

That's the most basic of basic setups. The timelines go back and forth between her and different members of her family, because turns out she's in the middle of a generational curse. One she didn't ask for, but one she definitely has to deal with.

I love Sara's writing style (yes we are on a first-name basis). It's just descriptive enough to give you a keen sense of what's going on, but not too flowery to overshadow the plot. Just my speed, actually. Mina is incredibly likeable and easy to root for as she does what she can to protect the people around her and fight off whatever it is chasing her.

I did not love the ending 🙃 That is the only reason why this wasn't a 5-star for me. It probably worked for a lot of people but I disagree with her choices here. However, if you're going to write a standalone sometimes bold decisions need to be made. I get it. I still LOVED this!!

[Mylynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're someone who's into emotional damage (don't be shy, my hand is raised too!!) then Sara Hashem is the author for you. Because wow. And also ow.

I was kind of wary because this book is billed as horror, and there were definitely parts where this book was for sure horror-- but there was also so so much more packed into this than I would expect from a YA horror novel (and tbh, I've not read a ton of those so maybe that's on me for not expecting it!!). This was darker than I expected, but also not *too* scary (for me! and i'm a scaredy cat!).

The writing was, as always, beautiful. And the characters!! Sara Hashem knows how to write emotionally rich friendships and that really shined here. Our main character, Mina, and her relationship with her parents and friends-- it all just felt so real. We also get to see an unlikely friendship blossom with Jesse, and this dynamic is so different than the dynamic with Mina's longtime friends. I really liked seeing Mina's growth here and it was so easy to root for Mina and Jesse to figure everything out!!

I also loved the conversations around immigrant families and the generational trauma of culture loss/not being able to connect/not being "enough", it felt so poignant and it was so validating to see these thoughts and fears recognized on page.

The audiobook narrator was great, there was so much emotion in her voice at points that made some scenes hit harder than they maybe would've if I'd just eyeball read it! Highly recommend listening to this if you like listening to books!!

thank you to RB Media for the ALC!

[Madison Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up because of the creepy cover and ended up hooked by the paranormal curse-breaking mystery. While it wasn’t quite as scary as I expected, the story kept me fully invested. I especially loved the touches of Egyptian culture throughout—though I wish even more of the book had taken place in Egypt. The narration was fantastic and really brought the story to life. Definitely my first Sara Hashem book, but not my last. Hoping for a sequel! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book!!

[A_dancer]

yes, but um....I'm still waiting for the novella after that epilogue...

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

My Selling Pitch:
Generational Monster House.
On my do not read list.

Pre-reading:
Absolutely feral for Sara Hashem, but I do feel too old for YA romance. If anyone can do it though…see y'all on the other side! ✌️

(obviously potential spoilers from here on)
Thick of it:
A mayo and egg sandwich at public school??? Girl.

Girl, you didn't try the first time. Hello?

Her mom’s feeding village girls to a monster? Did I hear that right?

This reads like Supernatural/Buffy fanfic.

What kind of dad tells their kid that story???

Okay, edgelord

25% and I’m not invested yet unfortunately. Just kinda meh. It reminds me of My Blood, Your Bones b

But she can grow pomegranates the fruit of the dead?

I have a hard time believing a dad wakes up disoriented in front of his only daughter’s room and doesn't check on her.

I'm not loving this. Monster House and her boyfriend Sam Winchester. And I’m like I need y'all to start having faster conversations. It's a lot of modern Egyptian culture and no sexual tension because they're 17. The plot is very slow moving rn. But I also did not like the first 1/3 of Jasad, so I’m not counting it out yet.

I fear, I may be back in. MORE BANTER. I MISS ARIN. (but then I also have to rein it in because they're 17 and mashing Barbies together now kiss style feels icky for that age demographic) and also her not being fully broken up with her boyfriend is preventing me from latching onto them. (they're 18 but they're high school 18 so)

What's wrong with her dad that he's in love with a CHILD MURDERER?

The random times and dates are her child abductions I’m assuming. (I assume wrong, but apparently, girlypop has never heard of a glue stick.)

This is an odd outfit.

This is really slow. I'm bored.

Her dad’s characterization makes no sense to me so far. I just don’t buy the man blowing through stoplights is the same guy waking up disoriented outside her bedroom door and not at least peeking in. And then he’s a brilliant professor but he doesn't know his wife is murdering kids? Hashem better have some big twist up her sleeve (and she usually does). ((BUT NOT THIS TIME.))

I wanted them to have Pip and Ravi energy, and they do not. The writing reminds me of Holly Jackson though.

I just don’t get this romance. It’s too fast. She’s still hung up on her old boyfriend, and she hasn’t properly broken up with him.

I don’t think homeboy eats.

What is she making with chocolate granola and feta cheese? I love both, but not together.

You wanna apply to speak at graduation and your father is a professor, but you don’t know what litigious means. Girl.

That is the Twilight prom dress scene.

Title drop

IM BORED

It doesn’t make sense that she suddenly cares about children.

I don’t think you can be mad at the boyfriend for kissing someone else when she’s also kissing someone else.

I’m 85% and I still feel like this book barely has a plot. So much of it reads like filler.

Like correct, that is what you deserve. You’re a horrible child murderer. Am I supposed to feel bad for this lady? She sucks!

So like she just dies?!? How unsatisfying! What’s the point of this book then? The book opens with she’s gonna die, and then she dies. Brother, that’s no net change.

Post-reading:
My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined. I love the Jasad Crown. It is one of the best fantasies I’ve read in years. I think about Arin constantly. This is nothing like it.

I was already hesitant to pick this up since I’m in the back half of my 20s and I don’t wanna read about high schoolers pretty much ever. I’m also a pretty big fan of horror and it takes a lot to spook me. This entire book felt like filler. It felt like Holly Jackson wrote some Supernatural, Twilight, Buffy fanfic. And not in a good way. Gun to my head, I would not have identified this as the same author who wrote such juicy political scheming. Because how do you open the book telling me homegirl is gonna die and then end the book with homegirl dies, so like we didn’t change anything! There’s no satisfying character journey for me here.

The romance did nothing for me. I thought it progressed way too quickly. I don’t think the banter pushed hard enough. If I had to hear that this girl was not a cheerleader one more time- Negging isn’t flirting, especially negging that relies on putting down other women to-you guessed it! put down another woman.

It’s also just a whack thing to ask your reader to have sympathy for. Oh, poor mommy dearest sacrificed herself for her child! She’s a sociopathic child serial killer. She didn’t suffer enough. Also, there’s absent parenting Charlie-style, and then there’s whatever the fuck the dad was on in this book. Did he have a pulse? I’m calling CPS. You don’t get to make French toast one time and have that absolve you from parentifying your daughter. You’re a genius professor, but you don’t have any inkling that your wife’s a shit bag? We have dance lesson and charcuterie money, but not fix the roof money?

I’ll suspend my disbelief and go along with a bastardization of Monster House for the main plot, but Jesse‘s didn’t make a lick of sense. We’re on a mission to save his soul, but no one practices any religion in this book. He’s an IVF baby-as in I vagizzled Florida and out he popped. Adopt don’t shop, Becky! Am I supposed to believe she let Satan in her lady swamp? Or like after watching his wife speaking in tongues for 12 hours, Tim, the mortician was all hot and bothered for some deviled eggs?

WHAT ARE WE DOING? This cannot be the same woman who wrote Arin all of me is written in your name Nizahl.

I didn’t like any of the characters. I thought the plot progressed way too slowly. And say by some miracle you get invested in this book, what’s your reward? Evil wins? She dies and the curse is free to move onto the next family dynasty? But it’s chill because at least lonely boy discovered how to talk to people just in time to not graduate high school? And Samantha’s like oh cool, another book where women do emotional labor for inadequate men and pay the price.

I’m just sitting here like this was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, she’s one of my favorite authors, and I’m trying to talk myself out of a one star because it wasn’t poorly written, it just wasn’t a topic worthy of a whole book. This is morbid short story material at best.

I think most people are gonna pick this up based on the strength of her adult fantasy debut and get something that doesn’t even resemble it. I don’t think that if you enjoyed the Jasad Heir you will enjoy this. This is firmly a YA horror with pacing issues, and I only really see this being enjoyed by Holly Jackson fans. I can’t believe I’m putting this on my do not read shelf.

Who should read this:
Holly Jackson fans
Kelly Andrew fans

Ideal reading time:
Fall

Do I want to reread this:
No

Would I buy this:
No

Similar books:
* My Blood, Your Bones by Kelly Andrew-YA horror, classic retelling, New England gothic, revenge thriller
* Bat Eat and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker-horror, family drama, revenge thriller, social commentary
* The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson-YA revenge thriller, family drama
* The Midnight Knock by John Fram-paranormal thriller, queer, family drama
* If I Have to be Haunted by Miranda Sun-YA paranormal, thriller, family drama

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Ramsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t believe Sara did this to me again 😫💔 full rtc

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sara Hashem does it again.
I read the Jasad heir on a whim after being recommended it by a friend on Instagram. I became fully obsessed with it and think about it almost daily.
So when Sara announced a new book, I was so excited! Horror isn’t a genre I read or watch at all, so I was a bit hesitant. But oh boy it was incredible.
Something about Sara’s writing is just so compelling. The characters she writes feel so real. So we’ll start there.
Mina is such an incredible FMC. She is popular at school and a kind girl, but because of one trip and once curse, she’s isolated from everyone she cares about for fear of them hurting her/ruining their lives. It all came from her wanting to know more about her roots, and I think that’s just so tragic. You then have to read about her being angry and having to push everyone away and it’s just so heartbreaking. Except when she finds the one person immune to her curse:
Jesse Talbot.
I had high expectations for the romance going into this book because Arin from the Jasad Heir is my #1 book boyfriend.
And Jesse did not disappoint. Loner bad boy who gives serious Jess from Gilmore girls vibes and is forced to work with the sunshine popular girl (cliche, I know but it works.) the banter is incredible and I loved watching him become soft for her.
Now, the curse. It reminded me of s3 of stranger things tbh. It was so heartbreaking and dark. There were some points where I was so tense (aka the morgue scene) wondering what was going to happen, but tbh it wasn’t that scary, more eerie.
The plot was fast paced and the writing was witty, keeping you drawn in, wondering how Jesse and Mina would break the curse.
I saw a review talking about the ending of this book before I finished it, and I got so scared, especially after the Jasad Crown.
All I can say is, tears were shed. (Look out, Holly Jackson. You have some competition.)
Should you read this book? Yes. Will you be traumatized? Also yes.

Spice: none
Language: strong