A darkly humorous story about a girl desperate for revenge against a boy who ghosts her, while trying to keep her sleep paralysis demon at bay and navigate her first serious crush on a girl—for fans of The Ex Hex and the Scary Movie franchise!
"Oh no . . . Did I hurt the big bad demon’s feelings?"
Keziah is very familiar with the concept of ghosts—after all, a sleep paralysis demon has been her closest companion for the last few years. She's, unfortunately, also all-too-familiar with the concept of being ghosted. Which isn't helping her quest to secure a date for the Homecoming dance, to get her best friend off her back and help her bid for Homecoming queen. And then she meets a guy who just transferred to the all-boys school nearby. He's charming, cute, and—unlike with her other dates—she actually sees potential with him.
Too bad he ghosts her, too.
This time, though, she isn't going to take it so easily. Not when Guy and his friends mess with her real true love, Mr. Kim's food truck, and especially not when she finds out the real reason Guy transferred in the first place. If he wants to ghost, she'll haunt him right back to where he came from.
Enacting revenge while her sleep paralysis demon keeps bugging her certainly won’t be easy but, with help from a cute girl, let the real (and well-deserved) ghosting begin!
Talia Tucker lives and writes in New Jersey. She has a BA in Communication from Rutgers University and an MA in Liberal Studies from Loyola University Maryland. She loves mindless comedies and twisty slow-burn dramas, both of which inspire her writing, as does her connection to her Korean and Jamaican communities. Rules for Rule Breaking is her YA debut.
I wanted to like this but it fell flat for me. I really struggled with the pacing of this book. It just wasn't for me.
What to Expect 👻 Revenge plot 😈 Sleep paralysis demon 🏫 Homecoming 🌈 Sapphic crush 🍜 Food truck 🖤 Dark humor _ _ _ 📅 Pub Date: November 10, 2026 📝 Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends, and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.
This was a fun read and I flew through the book. Keziah is a textbook unreliable narrator and I enjoy that in books especially horror themed ones. I also enjoyed how the initial LI and main male character doesnt even officially get a name, going by Guy throughout. It was fun reading Keziahs declining mental health and wondering were the things she saw actually happening and what was real and what was in her mind.
I enjoyed her building relationship with Gigi throughout the book a well. It felt believable and they both felt believably flawed to me. I do think a few interactions between them came off a little rushed but overall I think their relationship was the strongest and most engaging in the book. As well as watching Keziah struggle against her own self sabatoging behaviors as she half tries to ruin the relationship believing herself unworthy.
I would have liked to learn more about her heavily hinted about past and the trauma is seems she endured when younger. As well as more of her relationship with her mother and why it is so toxic. Also would like to learn more about Jessica and their relationship. It felt believable and I enjoyed their animosity though I think later developments would have gone down easier with more development of Jessica's character.
I enjoyed all the side characters as well. I guess I would have just liked there to be more of everything. It was a short and quick read but had the pacing been a little slower and more fleshed out I wouldnt have minded either.
Only thing keeping it from a 5 star read for me is I felt the ending maybe last 20 pages were a little rushed. I am not completely sold on ending though I understand the cyclical nature of it. I think taking more time and really drawing up the dread and angst and resolutions there would elevate it.
At end of the day I enjoyed the book and it made me interested in viewing the authors other books as well!
Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Netgalley sending me this ARC!!
First of all, great writing. I loved the figurative language the author used, and it really pulled the book up a star in my opinion. I will say though, the plot didn't make too much sense, especially because the whole point is she gets back at a guy who ghosted her (but we don't see him until like 25 percent of the way through, after she was ghosted by ANOTHER completely different dude). Secondly, maybe this is because I don't suffer from sleep paralysis but the whole thing with the demon was confusing because there were whole chapters in his perspective, buthe barely affected the plot at all. He was used as an excuse most of the time but NEVER actually interacted with any characters other than the main one. On top of that, the demon (Steve) never helped the main character in anyway (even though that was what the summary said) and I was a little sad, because I expected a book about a love/hate relationship between the two and they solve her problems together but the demon is snarky. As much as the book was all over the place, I did like that it was just casually gay. It could have been done a lot better though. When she came out, she just kind of was like "Oh. Okay then." AND IT WAS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED BY ANYONE ELSE. At most it was met with mild surprise. That was a bit weird to me.
Ghosted by Talia Tucker is a dark humour book with paranormal, revenge and a splash of queer romance elements thrown in.
The book is about a teenager named Keziah who is dealing with her insecurities. On top of that, she has a sleep paralysis demon who haunts her on a daily basis, which plays heavily on her insecurities.
After she has had enough of being ghosted by every guy she comes across, she plots her revenge. With the help of her new friend, she decided that the best way to get revenge was to haunt him, just as her sleep paralysis demon had been haunting her. Throughout the book, she questions herself and her emotional conflicts, which frustrate both her and the reader.
My opinion: The book has potential. It deals with queer romantic feelings that might be confusing for teenagers, especially when they’re at that age. The queer romance element is not forced and developed very organically, which I loved, but the pacing of the whole book is slow and painful to finish. It might be because I’m not in the right age demographic and couldn’t hide my frustration with the protagonist. The decisions she made seemed selfish and questionable, even though she kept saying she would rather not hurt anyone. It took me a week to finish the book instead of a few hours. Therefore, this book is a 2-star read for me.
I received this book as an Arc from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Ghosted by Talia Tucker has a little bit of everything. There's romance of course, but you also get mystery, secret societies, and paranormal elements. And as a Stay, I personally truly enjoyed Bang Chan of Stray Kids "cameo" in the story. Because, of course, Stray Kids everywhere, all around the world! But just a little warning, if you prefer a nice, neat, happy ending, then this book may not be for you. I actually couldn't put it down and finished it in a day or two. Overall, I give this 5 stars!
I love a good unreliable narrator and Keziah is now up there as one of my favorites. It was so refreshing to not have an HEA but still have such a satisfying end!