There's a Ghost Girl in my House

by Sophie Mutiara Nova

There's a dead girl in the fine print of Kai's housing contract.



HOW TO MAKE A HAUNTED HOUSE INTO A



1. figure out how to feed the birds on the windowsill

2. fix that leaky shower

3. find out WHY there are eyes following them in the vents...



Kai's new ghost roommate has forgotten her past life. Meanwhile, Kai has trouble living their current one due to their severe anxiety. Can Kai help this beautiful phantom recover her memories while confronting demons from their own past?



And is the best roommate for an agoraphobe a beautiful phantomess?

Genres: LGBT, Novella, Romance, Lesbian, Paranormal, Mystery

159 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2026

About the author

Yearning for the return of the bees, Sophie Mutiara Nova (they/them) – is a Queer, mixed Indonesian American, immunocompromised filmmaker and glittery garden fairy goth. They’re the Writing Fellow of Lambda Literary and the ACEX TV Initiative, and winner of the Launchpad Pilot Competition, ScreenCraft Horror Competition, and many other awards. Their fantastical short films have screened internationally— like at Cheryl Dunye’s and Madeline Lim’s QWOCFF (Queer Women of Color Film Festival). They’ve been featured in: Deadline, Book Riot, Macabre Daily, and more publications for their stories of the delightfully strange. Originally from Chicago, Sophie’s now based in Los Angeles where they possess a Dartmouth College BFA & an MFA in Film Directing from CalArts. They are represented by the wonderful Patricia Court Entertainment. You may find them haunting socials otherwise @thesophiewhit.

Reviews

[BookaholicallyBridie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thrilled to receive an ARC of this book from the author. Here is my honest review:

This book is an absolute delight. It was exactly what I wanted from a cosy ghost fantasy story, and the horror elements were also perfect.

I loved the references to necromancy. I especially loved the questionable sourcing of ingredients, it really had me giggling.

The relationship between GG and Kai was absolutely adorable. Kai’s anxiety and agoraphobia was beautifully handled, and I loved their character development over the course of the novel. I loved how close Kai and GG got, and how used to occupying the same space they were. GG haunting the bathroom had me cackling.

The pacing was really fast paced and enjoyable, I felt like I was speeding through the book!

If you want an adorable ghostly romance, this one is perfect for spooky season!

[Love · Rating 1.25 out of 5]

1.25 stars

First of all, thank you & Netgalley so much for sending me a copy of this book.

“There's a Ghost Girl in my House” is a paranormal LGBT romance book about a gender-ambiguous person with anxiety.
I would like to start this review by always trying to look for the good in a book. This is the first time I will be mostly negative in a review. I really don’t mean this as an attack towards the author, I appreciate that I got the ARC but I will always be honest.

Let’s start with the positive: I could see the author can write pretty well, especially part 2 was significantly better than part 1.

Ok, now here are my issues: the first thing I have a major issue with is the fact the terms “butch” and “masc” are represented. Trying to say our main character wants to ‘step in the footsteps of elder queer role models’ by going by as butch to then say it’s the same as masc is just straight offensive. Butch is a role/gender identity with a LOT of history and it’s used by lesbians only. Masc however, is an umbrella term for all masculine queers. The two terms might overlap, but they will never be the same.

What I also don’t like is the fact the fourth wall was broken to explain what something is, especially when it’s combined with the same thing being described via dialogue a page later. This book suffers a lot from trying to dumbify the reader, at least a third of this 150 page novel is repeating the same sentences.

The book also tends to explain a lot via the main characters thoughts, then it would’ve been better if it was by dialogue. For example: Ghost Girl is this old spirit, yet never questions the main character's gender. It would’ve been better if we got to know their gender via questions asked by Ghost Girl to make the acceptance more natural.

Another thing is that the plot moves along via an anonymous chatbox user. The main character never questions anything about that character and their instant knowledge of current life updates. Not to mention the fact it’s obviously a person their age based on the gen-Z language. It really threw me off the book.

I also found the mental health representation poorly done. In this case it’s anxiety. I have social anxiety myself, so I know what it is like. It seems like the anxiety was only used when it could be used for the plot. There was a mention of call-anxiety but I never felt the panic that goes through your body when someone calls you without warning (or even with warning). I also never noticed the anxiety that we were supposed to feel when the main character had to talk to strangers. It was awkward at best.

Some small other things: this book suffers from the overuse of bold and italic texts. At one point everyone was talking with one of those and it just was too much. The writing is also super, super corny.

So to wrap this review up, the book wasn’t for me and has many many flaws. It’s super corny and should be read as a parody more than a good novella. Again, no harm to the author at all.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun, light read! I enjoyed the characters and the story a lot! My only complaint is that it is rather short, and I don't think we get to know/understand the characters and the situation as well as we could if it was longer. I think there is definitely room to explore a little bit more without rushing the story along. Otherwise, it is a good quick read if that's what you're into! And a great choice going into fall and Halloween.

This was an ARC provided by the author and I am voluntarily providing this review!

[BookishAdventuresWithJules · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's A Ghost Girl In My House is a beautifully written book that had me captivated from the first page. Reading a book that embraces the complexities of anxiety and the search for comfort and belonging a queer person hit home in a very deep way.
I appreciate books like this, with highly relatable characters. Books that do not shy away from the messy, complicated parts of life and the human experience that most people shy away from. It left me feeling very seen and accepted.

The relationships in this book are handled with compassion, allowing for a wide range of emotions and responses that feel genuine and honest in their imperfection.

This book acknowledges the courage required to be fully seen, exactly as you are. In a world constantly trying to restrict and minimize queer identity this feels like an essential and important act of visibility. The characters are imperfect and uncertain (who among us is not) and this makes them even more relatable.

The phantom elements of this book worked really well for me, I appreciated that they were woven into the narrative from the beginning. There is a surreal aspect to the story that works well with how the characters relate to each other and the world around them. I did not need to suspend disbelief, instead I allowed myself to ease into the story and all of the elements blended together seamlessly.

I don't want to delve further into this and give away spoilers so I will simply say the book left me feeling satisfied with the narrative and ending. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to exploring other writing by this author!

This is an ARC copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Saphly and Sophie Mutiara Nova for the ARC! This is a very fun and silly novella. Kai just moved into a new place and immediately realizes it’s haunted by a ghost they nickname GG. Due to agoraphobia and severe anxiety, Kai has a hard time meeting new people and making friends. This is why Kai initially thinks GG has to be a hallucination. There is no way there’s a ghost girl in their home who is genuinely interested in them and wants to spend time with them. The dialogue between these two is incredibly funny and at times very cheesy. The gestures they make to put a smile on the other’s face really warmed my heart. Their quiet life gets turned upside down when a necromancer informs Kai of a curse. Kai and GG now have to work together to try to break this curse.

If you’re looking for a spooky (but not scary) and whimsical sapphic novella to enjoy this fall then this is a solid contender. While Kai is battling a lot of mental health struggles, it’s still a pretty light hearted and very funny story.

[Kelly Preston]

I expected more from a book from a Publisher—there is a certain quality to uphold as a publisher. I was really excited to read this one, but there were too many pacing issues and grammar and spelling errors for me too really get to enjoy this work. The actual story would have been really cute with a quality set of dev and CopyLine edits :( author you deserved better guidance. Due to this I don’t feel comfortable rating this arc because I can’t say the book was great with all these errors, but the story underneath really deserved to shine and props to the author for such a cozy paranormal tale.

Ghost girl was cute and freaky, I loved the unsettling feelings. The MC was hard for me to connect with at times but I felt for her at others.

One line stayed with my the whole book “I just liked to dance”. Heartbreakingly beautiful there. I would give this author another shot with a new editor :) if long side bars and errors don’t bother you give it a go

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to BookSirens and Sophie Mutiara Nova for the eARC of There's A Ghost Girl In My House - all opinions are honest and my own, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a fun sapphic novella featuring a ghost girl and our agoraphobic MC Kai. Living their life through a computer screen and no-contact delivery orders, Kai appears to learn to live more through living with the ghost girl - affectionately named GG. We see their love develop over the 170 pages as they gather the ingredients for a spell from an online necromancer and regain GG's memories.

I just want to say there was nothing wrong with this book, it was fun, and I enjoyed reading it, but the portal/travel to hell part just wasn't for me personally and that's where my rating falls short. If you're a fan of Sapphic Paranormal romances then this may be the novella for you.

[Demetri Papadimitropoulos · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Ghost, an Agoraphobe, and a Very Bad Idea About Exposure Therapy Walk Into an Apartment
Sophie Mutiara Nova’s “There’s a Ghost Girl in My House” is funniest when its supernatural absurdities reveal real relational problems – and best when its lovers learn that neither fear nor death gives one person permission to manage the other.
By Demetris Papadimitropoulos | September 27th, 2026

Dread enters Sophie Mutiara Nova’s “There’s a Ghost Girl in My House” as somebody else’s eyes inside Kai’s bathroom mirror. Silver, long-lashed, almost flirtatious, they call up dance halls and glances across bars before Kai’s thought seizes: intruder, alone, no one to hear a scream. When the eyes vanish, the mirror leaves only Kai’s own cropped-haired reflection and its “permanently frightened expression.” Nova has put desire and surveillance in the same rectangle. For the rest of the novel, looking keeps changing moral temperature: to be seen can mean being wanted, diagnosed, judged, invaded, remembered, or trusted.

Even the premise works by making incompatibility look like compatibility. Kai is a queer, nonbinary remote content writer whose agoraphobia has reduced much of life to an apartment, laptop, grocery deliveries, deadlines, and strategic avoidance; the cheap new apartment is already occupied by an amnesiac ghost who cannot leave it. Kai calls her GG, then Gigi, because she cannot remember the name she once had. Alarm softens into breakfast, birdwatching, teasing, flirtation, and love. The obvious joke is excellent: the ideal roommate for someone who cannot bear to go outside may be someone supernaturally incapable of doing so. Nova keeps worrying the joke until refuge begins to resemble confinement and companionship begins to raise a less comfortable question: who gets to decide what another person needs?

Maybe the romance’s deepest symmetry is that both lovers have vanished without going anywhere. Nova said in a 2025 VoyageLA interview that ghost stories comfort them because ghosts suggest that we are not alone, a remark that fits the book without explaining it away. Kai is alive but retreating from shared life; GG is dead but ravenously attentive to it. Kai remembers who they were and cannot quite inhabit that person anymore. GG can inhabit the apartment but not remember who she was. Nova also gives the ghost a brief prologue before surrendering the novel to Kai’s first person. We therefore know the haunting is real before Kai does. The early suspense is not “Is this a ghost?” so much as “What does it cost someone who distrusts their own perception to believe an impossible experience?” The dead woman is not the only ghost here.

Everything in Kai’s voice arrives slightly overclocked. Sentences spool through metaphor, pop reference, bodily sensation, self-correction, joke, and catastrophic forecast, then snap into fragments when panic takes over. Kai narrates as if language might provide a handrail where the body cannot: rename an encounter as a bit, an analogy, a private riff, and perhaps it becomes survivable. The diction compounds the effect by smashing workplace jargon, queer vernacular, internet shorthand, occult vocabulary, and gothic imagery into the same consciousness. Hades never gets to stay antique for long because Kai has brought the chat window with them. This abundance is most persuasive when it reveals the work of staying regulated. It is least persuasive when it stops describing Kai’s mind and starts supplying the reader with an answer key.

Take the mirror scene. Kai’s first association with the unknown eyes is flirtation; fear arrives half a beat later and hijacks the syntax. A flowing sentence about lashes and dance-hall glances collapses into blunt, isolated thoughts about an intruder and being alone. The rhythm narrows as the body takes command. Then the ghost’s eyes disappear and Kai’s own reflection occupies their place. Another person’s gaze and Kai’s frightened self-image have been superimposed before the romance begins. Notice, too, that attraction precedes safety: Kai thinks of flirtation before remembering to be afraid. Nova does not build the romance by replacing dread with desire so much as by showing how closely the two can occupy the same instant. Later, when GG’s ritual-enhanced form stabilizes, she asks Kai to look at her before removing the mask that has made her shifting face bearable. Kai answers first with reassurance, then with attention. Visibility is again charged, but this time chosen. What matters is not learning to enjoy scrutiny. It is learning who controls the look.

Reciprocity gives the plot its first clean promise. GG wants her human memories back; Kai admits that they used to write their own stories, go dancing, listen to music, and move through the world with less calculation. Now they write commercial copy on command and keep most other people safely on the far side of a screen or door. GG proposes a pact: “we will teach each other how to live.” It is almost too symmetrical, the kind of sentence a romance might spend two hundred pages obediently proving. Nova’s better instinct is to break it. “Teach” contains more danger than either of them has noticed.

In the novel’s decisive rupture, GG forces Kai out of the apartment to collect grave dirt because she thinks a hard push will break the fear. Plot-wise, the errand succeeds; relationally, it is a disaster. Kai returns feeling betrayed and stops speaking to her. During the reconciliation, Kai says, “My fear isn’t something to be fixed…” and the declaration immediately falters into “I’m not broken…” followed by “…am I?” The ellipses leak certainty. The first sentence wants to be a boundary; the next two reveal how quickly Kai has learned to turn other people’s impatience inward. Even the joke about going “cold turkey” lands strangely here, a reflexive attempt to make the confession easier to bear while GG, for once, does not laugh it away. Kai can state the principle before they can fully believe it. GG answers by replacing the vocabulary of brokenness and weakness with hurt, then apologizes for pushing Kai outside without asking. NIMH describes exposure therapy as brief, repeated confrontation with feared material in a supportive therapeutic setting, continued over time as tolerance changes. The novel gets wiser the moment its lovers discover that good intentions do not confer consent.

Progress after that is quieter. Kai puts on formalwear for a relative’s virtual wedding, worries that a camera will make their gender presentation available for family judgment, and turns it on anyway because the necromantic scavenger hunt requires petals from a church bouquet. The feared reckoning never arrives. A cousin is simply happy to see Kai and compliments the tie. The scene does not prove that Kai’s anxiety is foolish, nor does one successful video call function as a cure. Its achievement is procedural: Kai chooses the risk, GG accompanies rather than compels them, and the world turns out to contain one more possible response than dread had budgeted for.

After GG’s memories start returning, the novel finds its cleanest ethic in a very small sentence. Kai is hurt that she has concealed them, yet does not demand the whole archive as compensation for intimacy. Instead, Kai asks for a happy memory, “One you consent to share.” GG chooses her mother’s face and the invented bedtime stories whose endings changed from night to night. In a book fond of spectral snow, blood pentagrams, chat alerts, and ingredient-list slapstick, the quietness is almost startling. Quinn, the necromancer who eventually steals GG and treats her as supernatural equipment, operates by extraction. Kai’s better version of intimacy learns that love does not automatically grant access.

Perhaps the most economical object in the book is a blanket, which is not a sentence paranormal romance gets to inspire often enough. Kai begins wrapped in one made by the ex who betrayed them, keeping the failed relationship physically close after trust has gone. GG later orders a moon-patterned replacement. Because her own body is unstable and intangible, fabric can supply the pressure she cannot; the blanket settles around Kai as a domestic proxy for touch. Later still, the old blanket produces a stray hair that satisfies the ritual’s requirement for hair from an oath breaker. Nova’s wit is sharpest at this scale. The residue of one relationship becomes, quite literally, an ingredient in another.

As the book widens, geography begins doing psychological work. Part I stays largely inside the apartment. Part II lets the world enter through deliveries, video calls, group chats, Faith, and the increasingly ridiculous ingredient quest. The quest could have become pure fetch mechanics, but its better episodes make each object alter a relationship: grave dirt produces rupture, wedding petals produce chosen visibility, the ex’s hair makes old hurt useful, and the Venus Glass makes memory itself dangerous. Only later does Kai move farther into physical space, first toward Quinn and then into Hades. Returning home matters just as much as leaving it. The apartment is not exposed as a pathological mistake; it simply stops being the only place where life can happen. The proportions wobble, though: fourteen chapters belong to the necromancer section, while the underworld receives five and must carry far more historical, erotic, metaphysical, and psychological weight.

Delaying GG’s name until Hades is the book’s best sleight of hand. For most of the novel she lives under affectionate placeholders: GG, Gigi, ghost girl, phantomess. The underworld restores the identity she lost, and Nova arrests the flow around the revelation: “You may call me Annabelle.” Then the name appears by itself in emphatic capitals, a typographic little resurrection. Mystery solved, apparently. But the certainty lasts less than a paragraph. Kai’s next movement is possessive – “my Annabelle” – and the scene promptly withdraws the satisfaction it created. Annabelle remembers Annabelle and does not remember Kai. The page first isolates the name, then isolates Kai from the person who owns it. The capitals briefly promise the solidity GG’s flickering body has lacked, yet the pronoun that follows tries to fold that solidity back into Kai’s romance: “my Annabelle.” Then memory refuses the possessive. Name, emphasis, possession, loss: recovery itself becomes unstable.

If that reversal sharpens the novel, it also exposes a complication the romance cannot tidy away. A story increasingly alert to the danger of defining other people remains almost entirely filtered through Kai’s interpretive first person. Annabelle’s recovered name is followed instantly by “my.” Kai enters Hades convinced that rescue means bringing her back, even when the Annabelle they meet initially has no memory of wanting that life. The novel eventually restores the shared memories that make escape mutually desired, which is emotionally satisfying. Still, something resists closure. Annabelle gets a recovered history, a recovered name, even flashes of a life outside Kai, but almost no sustained narrative territory from which to interpret Kai in return. The imbalance is built into the form, not merely the plot. How fully can a book about protecting another person’s self-definition free its ghost from the lover whose gaze supplies nearly all of her meaning?

Memory returns through the novel’s riskiest scene. Imprisoned inside the underworld’s replay of Annabelle’s persecutory past, Kai and Annabelle consummate their attraction, turning a cell built by sexual and religious shame into a site of queer pleasure. Immediately afterward, Annabelle begins remembering Kai, Quinn, the kidnapping, and the fact that she relives her death there. The adjacency can be read in two directions. Desire lets Annabelle inhabit a body that history treated as evidence against her; pleasure interrupts punishment. Yet the scene also makes erotic intimacy look suspiciously like a supernatural key that unlocks identity. Both readings belong. The problem is not explicitness. It is that the compressed final act barely lets the consequences breathe.

In Hades, Nova borrows the charged shorthand of Salem. The Putnam name has genuine historical resonance: members of the historical Putnam family were deeply involved in the 1692 accusations and testimony. Nova is not reconstructing those events so much as using their vocabulary for an invented underworld in which Annabelle’s minister father condemns her supposed witchcraft and queer desire. That gives the climax instant legibility. It also thins the past. A historically tangled catastrophe becomes a corridor of severe collars, hostile villagers, sexual repression, and paternal betrayal, all ready to be translated into Kai’s emotional language.

That same impatience with implication shows up in Quinn. Their voice modulator, online handle, isolation, hunger for status, and need to impress other necromancers have already established them as Kai’s distorted double. Then Kai says, “In a lot of ways, Quinn really is me,” and itemizes the resemblance. The interpretation is right; that is almost the trouble. Nova has built the correspondence and then attached its answer key. Kai’s habit of compulsive interpretation can explain some of this, but not all of it. At times the novel seems nervous that a pattern left unlabelled might go uncredited.

Recognition gets heavier still when Preacher Putnam confronts Kai. His gaze evokes, in rapid succession, relatives who rejected Kai’s queerness, an ex who treated their anxiety as burdensome, the mirror of self-loathing, and the internal judge of panic. The scene has force because the person Kai must physically oppose becomes a concentrated version of the scrutiny they ordinarily flee. It also reveals the cost of concentration. Putnam is asked to become father, church, historical persecution, familial rejection, romantic humiliation, and internalized shame at once. Where the blanket gathers meanings lightly, Putnam buckles under them.

Overstatement should not be mistaken for tonal incompetence. Kai is genuinely funny, particularly when the joke grows out of the material problem at hand. A family dog named Cerberus can supply “hellhound” spit. An ex’s hair becomes occult evidence of oath-breaking. Necromancy behaves like a customer-service problem staffed by somebody with supernatural access and bad boundaries. The humor works because panic does not make Kai tonally pure. The weaker moments are those in which every feeling receives a metaphor, every metaphor receives a gloss, and the gloss insists on one last wink. Some scenes need less company.

Paranormal romance has obvious neighbors – Ashley Poston’s “The Dead Romantics,” for instance, also brings writing, romantic disillusionment, and an actual ghost into intimate proximity – but Nova’s sharper contemporary detail is infrastructural. Work, groceries, family attendance, social contact, research, flirtation, and danger can all reach Kai through a screen or a knock at the door. The digital economy does not create Kai’s isolation; it makes isolation remarkably serviceable. That gives the haunting its particular modern texture. The ghost does not rupture an otherwise social life. She slips into systems already designed to let a person survive with very little physical contact and slowly turns those same systems back toward relation.

Ordinary life is where the ending earns its weight. Kai can cross Hades, confront a homicidal preacher, and still panic in a grocery store. That is not a continuity problem; it is the novel refusing the idea that one heroic act permanently renovates a nervous system. In the epilogue, some days Kai stays in bed facing the wall; on others they shop with Faith as an accountability buddy, visit a gaming tavern at quieter hours, work, flirt, and tolerate a little more world. The verbs are wonderfully undramatic after the mythic climax: shop, play, write, eat. Even self-checkout matters because the book refuses to confuse accommodation with failure; Kai can leave the house and still choose the version of an errand that asks less of an already taxed nervous system. Annabelle remains a ghost. Resurrection is a possible future experiment rather than the relationship’s required prize. More life has been added without requiring either lover to become conventional.

Underneath the content-mill jokes, Kai’s work supplies another modest measure of return. Early on, they write commercial copy while fearing professional replacement and trying to match a machine’s stamina. More painfully, they admit that they used to tell stories of their own. By the epilogue, the deadlines remain, but Kai is also writing a collection of romantic ghost stories. “I meet all my boss’s deadlines, but I’m also writing a book” works because nothing grand happens around it. Kai does not resign into artistic destiny. Creative authorship simply reappears beside the obligations that never left. That is closer to the novel’s real model of repair than any trip through Hades.

Love follows the same untidy logic. GG does not become valuable only when she regains the name Annabelle; Annabelle does not invalidate the ghost who loved Kai; Kai’s frightened self is not exposed as false once a braver self becomes possible. The recurring objects understand this before the speeches do: old blanket and new blanket, broken shower and repaired shower, apartment as bunker and apartment as home, window as border and window as perch for a bird somebody has decided to feed. Repair here does not mean restoring an untouched original. It means making room for use, intimacy, residue, and change.

Once the noise settles, “There’s a Ghost Girl in My House” lands at 82/100, or 4/5 Goodreads stars. Nova’s prose is more abundant than disciplined, and the five-chapter underworld asks allegory to do work that fuller historical and psychological development might have carried better. Yet the novel has a narrator with an unmistakable pulse, a romance built through domestic accumulation rather than proclamation, and a structural imagination that keeps turning thresholds into choices. Its most persuasive idea is smaller than cure: intimacy can change the terms on which fear organizes a life.

Still, the shower may say more than Hades. At the beginning, its leak is a ridiculous domestic problem Kai cannot quite solve because a proper repair would require admitting a stranger into the apartment. The bathroom mirror supplies another person’s eyes before Kai is ready to be watched at all. By the epilogue, the leak is repaired, the mold is gone, and Annabelle may still watch Kai there – but only after asking. Nothing essential has been exorcised: not the house, not the ghost, not the gaze, not the fear. What has changed is who gets to set the terms of entry. The opposite of being haunted is not being alone. It is having some say in what, and whom, you let in.

[Bee Bayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"There’s a Ghost Girl in My House" was my introduction to Sophie's work and I am happy to say that it has made me want to continue on my journey through many more of their romances to come. I'm a sucker for some well written toothache-inducing sweetness between characters that feel made to be each others' "other half" of sorts, and Kai and GG's blossoming love through their discoveries of one another was beautiful to read.

When writing a character where mental illness is an important factor in the conflict of the story, it can be easy to portray said mental illness as a protagonist that must be defeated moreso than a factor of the protagonist's life. The character of Kai teeters on this line very well as they balance a blossoming love with the deeply ingrained feelings of fear that hold them back. As far as their arc is concerned, it was well laid out and felt realistic in its unsteadiness. My only critique would be that I wish there was more of a payoff for the repeated use of their ex as a conflict point. I'm not upset with how things resolved, but I was expecting this specific conflict to have more of a pivotal moment in its resolution, whether internal or external.

When writing a fem presenting character with memory loss it can be very easy to accidentally fall into the "born sexy yesterday" trope, and thankfully our lovely ghost girl does not fall into this pitfall. GG, the moniker she is given by Kai early on in their time together, is given a strong sense of character despite not having a solid sense of who she truly is. As we view her through Kai's eyes, we get a rose tinted view of an, ironically, very lively personality who acts as a great counterbalance to Kia through her unwavering passion and desire for experience. My main critique when it comes to our dear GG is more to do with a confusion on how the ghost physics of it all works. While she seems to be able to very masterfully interact and do certain things, there are certain actions that seem locked away for no other reason than the plot not being ready for it yet. This, on its own, isn't technically a bad thing, but I do wish we got to explore the way her ghostly abilities grew through the story in more plot focused beats.

Beyond characters, Sophie does a phenomenal job with descriptions so textured and vibrant you can truly see and feel them as you read. The story was full of these moments where you are truly transported through the eyes of Kai and you can't help but feel your cheeks blush alongside them.

I would recommend "There’s a Ghost Girl in My House" to anyone who has a love for artful storytelling and a desire to see love blossom between an unlikely duo. Oh and anyone who really wants to kiss ghosts, you'd get a kick out of it as well.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[CordeliaGrey Oriana Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was charming, relatable, and tender. It touched on these topics of mental health in such a real way- it left me aching. The kind of ache where you feel seen- through the characters challenges and emotions portrayed so acutely on the page.

This book stars a non-binary person- someone in my own life just came out to me- AND I happened to read this as spooky season hit- ahhhh. It was just perfect timing.

I needed the breath of fresh air that is a character like Kai. Someone who doesn’t see the strength and character and bravery inside themselves as anything extraordinary- It reminded me deeply of someone I love, and it was cool to get to know a character who faced such big struggles- but still were confident in who they were as a person in their identity. They also were not “fixed” in this story. Their identity and their mental health struggles stayed with them- good and bad days. Perfect moments and imperfect moments. I think that approach made this book very real and charming.

A light easy read that sucks you in by the time the ingredient collecting begins!

I did notice a couple small inconsistencies or errors, and I would have liked to see a bit more depth and polish in the ways of the writing itself, but I feel that was a both because I got an early copy and due to a style preference as I’m used to reading heavy intense stuff and this was more light- like a holiday read you can pick up and finish in a satisfying amount of time for the Halloween season! I also am a big fan of human work, and with human work comes all sorts of flavors and errors and I am someone who finds that endearing not off putting. It was an honor to be an early reader, and I hope that I get to return to these characters again in the future!

I think anytime someone is brave enough write a whole book- it should be honored. Thank you author for putting your world into words and for creating a refreshing work for us to add to our shelves.

I am OBSESSED with Gigi- the beloved ghost character- and I want to draw her, know her, be her… This book helped me get back into reading after a depressive phase myself, something the main characters treated so tenderly. I wish we all had a Gigi in our lives for those momenets. I’m glad this book was there for me in mine. I felt like they were in the room with me.

Very compelling and real characters that came to life for me during this read!

[SullenSapphic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spice Level: 1/5 Fade-to-Black

Kai moves into a new house but little do they know, there is already a tenant. Kai is haunted by a phantomess who cannot remember her own name, where she came from, or why she is even there. Kai and this phantomess begin an everyday routine all the while trying to figure out who she is. One day, Kai receives a message from a necromancer telling them that if they get the ingredients to create a potion, the phantomess will remember who she is and the curse will be lifted from Kai. Will Kai be able to help the phantomess remember who she is? Will their constant closeness spark a romance between the two?

I received this book from NetGalley and the Author in return for my honest review. I am having mixed feelings about this book. I love Kai as a character and I love their inner monologue. They’re pretty funny. I had a hard time with the phantomess. I couldn’t get a visual grasp on what this character looked like. I understand she is an ethereal being and ever changing but my brain just couldn’t put it together.

Then there’s the mission to locate the ingredients needed to create the potion for the the necromancer. It seemed like there was an urgency to find those ingredients but at the same time, in the story, it was taking weeks if not longer to find the ingredients with no sense or urgency and then all of a sudden they had all the ingredients quickly. The pacing of this story was really weird and it threw me off as well. There is a continuity error towards the end of the book but I’m not saying what it is because it is a spoiler but it was very noticeable to me. I had to go back and reread a couple pages to make sure I didn’t miss something. It might be fixed in the final edition but it was not in this edition.

Overall, this was a decent story. Unlikely for me to reread in the future. However, huge props for the LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent representation with Kai.

👻 Queer Romance
👻 Agoraphobia
👻 Neurodivergent Representation
👻 Ghost Romance
👻 Paranormal
👻 Mystery
👻 Anxiety
👻 Death
👻 Curse
👻 Forced Proximity
👻 Cozy Spooky Vibes

[Laya Judith]

There's a Ghost Girl in My House by Sophie Mutiara Nova is a paranormal novella that follows Kai, a gender-ambiguous agoraphobe. They find themselves in an unconventional living situation, sharing a home with a ghost girl as a roommate. They embark on a quest to help the ghost girl recall her memories. Will they succeed, or is everything just their mind playing tricks on them?


The book explores several themes through the ghost girl and Kai, but the most unique one, to me, is freedom and confinement, and how the author plays with it.

Kai is physically free; they have the freedom to go outside, leave the house, travel, meet people, do whatever they want, but their fear makes that freedom feel like a prison. Therefore, they are confined to their home, which is the only safe space for them. They can leave physically, but they lack the psychological capacity.

The ghost girl, on the other hand, is the opposite of Kai's situation. She lacks physical ability but has psychological capacity, although she is also confined to the house by supernatural elements.

Kai is seeking freedom from mental restraints, while the ghost girl is seeking freedom from her physical restraints. In hindsight, they both possess what the other wants.


The writer did a great job with pacing. The story was extremely fast-paced and did not lag at any point, as tension was built across every scene and chapter. The book was so compelling that I read it in one sitting.
Although the plot was fast-paced, the romance was not. The romance never felt rushed; it was left to simmer, making it emotionally rewarding and satisfying.

The writer gave me a smile at the end of the book. It was satisfying but not profoundly so. I seriously hope there's a sequel so some unresolved issues can be addressed.

Overall, it was a fantastic and quick read, just the right book to pull you out of a reading slump. I would also recommend it to those into paranormal romance, queer representation, and fast-paced romance.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Luna Bruno · Rating 4 out of 5]

“A ghost girl...” She murmurs.
“And an agoraphobe.” I volley back with a toothy grin.


The right person always comes when you need them most and least expect it. And sometimes, that person is a ghost girl.

💌 Imagine the whimsical and romantic tone of A Midsummer Night's Dream and its Shakespearean poetic wordplay; now add the love and tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice, but put it in a contemporary setting and with a queer and modern twist ✨.

This is what it felt like reading There’s a Ghost Girl in My House.

👻 Amongst the novella’s dreamy atmosphere, where reality seems to blend with illusion, we have two main protagonists: Kai, a non-binary agoraphobe ghostwriter struggling with severe anxiety and isolation; and Ghost Girl, a wandering phantomess who has lost her memories and is stuck between the dead and the living.

As you can see, the book navigates culturally relevant themes such as mental health, identity, and the courage to heal our trauma.

✍ Speaking on a structural level, the chapters are short, and the story flows easily like the pages of a diary. Time seems not to exist in this novella, and it fits perfectly with the worldbuilding: it doesn’t matter what the outside is doing; all the actions revolve around the house where the ghost girl and Kai live.

The only criticism I have regards the conclusion, which felt simple and wrapped up too quickly. I kind of wanted more, maybe because I’ve grown affectionate toward both the characters🫂.

To conclude, my reading experience felt like a fever dream (in a good way). There were times I didn’t fully grasp what was going on, but I love it anyway🥹. If you are looking for something spooky, romantic, and poetic all at once, this reading is for you.


P.S. Can we talk about chapter 43?! Sophie Mutiara Nova, I have never read a scene written so beautifully and poetically like that❤️‍🔥 Thank you, Book Sirens and Sophie Mutiara Nova, for providing the ARC.

[Lara Rafaël Cabrales-Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

THERE'S A GHOST GIRL IN MY HOUSE was one of the most cute books that I read recently. It's a love story between a lovely genderqueer folk and the ghost of the girl that lives in the flat they recently bought. And while a fews things of the story were a little bit sad, it was mostly written as a cozy slice-of-life story. I really loved that. This book found me in the perfect moment, when I was reading it, I was in the mood of reading something that was sweet and cozy (and it did not disappoint.)

Kai (the human) is agoraphobic and every since a romantic betrayal, they haven't been able to get out of their little cocoon. Because they got scared of being judged or to be screamed at for simply not fitting in the little bocks that exists in our society. I really loved the writing for Kai's POV, it was funny and well written (as in FUNNNNY as helll). As someone that is ALSO non-binary, anxious and someone with ADHD, I REALLYYYY felt represented and I GOT IT. In her case, Gigi (the ghost girl) is unable, because of some mysterious reason, to get out of the house and to remember her past. After being contacted by someone in the internet (a presumed necromancer), Kai and Gigi get a quest to be able to get Gigi's memories back.

An other consequence of forgetting her past (that isn't only to not remember her own name) is not being able to remember her appearances. This is why, her face is always "twitching" trying to find the right version, at some point Kai gets so perturbed by it, that Gigi start using a mask to hide her face. I found the contrast between them concerning appearances very interesting, considering the fact that Kai hates their body and would love to be able to change their body on a whim. And during this time, the only thing that the GHOST GIRL wants is to remember her own body and her memories.

One of the things that I really liked was the fact that it was simple to read. The chapters where short and so was the story (i ate it up, in like two days. And i would have done faster, if there wasn't school to worry about). Also the fact that there was not a lot of characters was really fun, it really felt like I had entered their little bubble, and I really liked the secondary characters : I loved Quinn, GG's pet birds, I even liked the necromancer, he was very pathetic and I found it very funny. As someone that I is accustomed to read way darker books, I really liked that the villain was really just a "evil magical scientist" and that he couldn't really be taken very serious by the readers.

I felt very happy at the end, because as everyone else : I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING. It was great to know that after everything my lovely Kai and Gigi are happy and alive. Most importantly ALIVE, and while I love a slow-burn I was very happy that this wasn't quite one (mostly because like said previously it was short and a simple reading. I loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!). One last thing that I loved was the fact that it was a paranormal story but it wasn't scary. I strongly believe that ghosts are supposed to be cool and sweet and not evil like most people believe it so, I was very fun to see this in a book.

IN CONCLUSION : I LOVED THIS BOOK, I WOULD RECOMMEND IT A HUNDRED PERCENT, AND I AM GLAD THAT I REACHED OUT TO HAVE AN ADVANCED READER'S COPY OF IT.

[Book Cove Diaries · Rating 4 out of 5]

👻 There’s A Ghost Girl In My House 👻
By: Sophie Mutiara Nova
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first Spooky Season Read (Ever) and it was a perfect choice! It was a cute read with a lot of touching moments between the characters. I had a lot of fun reading this one. I received this ARC from NetGalley and I’m so happy I requested it! My only complaints:
1) I wish it was longer. Many places within the book could have been explored more, but that’s not to say it wasn’t a good read in general on its own.
2) Throughout the book I came across areas that the writing seemed a bit off. Spelling or just "making sense" for a few spots. But, it wasn't horrible and it was easy to understand regardless. It might have just been the ARC copy I received. So don't take that into fact for the paperback or eBook copy.

With that being said let’s dive into the book a little bit here.

It’s about 2 individuals lost in different ways. First, we have our “phantom” or Ghost Girl who gets the name “GG” for short. She doesn’t know who she is, where or even how she died. All her memories are gone. All she knows is what she learned in her time as a ghost from watching others.

Then we have Kai, a Nonbinary agoraphobic remote content writer. Everything is done online, as to avoid people. But when they meet GG it all changes. Finding comfort with her that it makes the silence no longer hurtful.

Together they make a Ghost Pact to help find their way through their worlds. Playful banter, sweet words, kind gestures, and thoughtful gifts all lead to a freedom neither sees coming. With the help of a creepy Necromancer hiding within the internet, Kai begins to help GG get her memories back. A twist in the plan and an unexpected trip to the realm of the dead cause things to change.

Would you walk through the world of the dead for your “roommate”?

[Cyri T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blessed with the chance to read an ARC copy of this by Sophie themselves! Thank you again for this opportunity, you know I love your work!

Wow, what a tale this was... There's a Ghost Girl in My House definitely took some turns that I didn't expect at all, especially towards the latter half of the book. As someone who lives with an agoraphobic partner, and as someone who has dealt with severe social anxiety myself, it was very interesting to read through Kai's journey with GG from an outside perspective. Not only did I see both myself & my partner within bits of their character, but I also felt a deep resonation with GG as well in her trying to get Kai to step outside of the box that was the slightly haunted apartment. The small snippets of change you get to witness within Kai's character growth spoke volumes, especially at the end few chapters of this book. It was incredible to see where the story went, as literary-wise, it turned into what is actually one of my favourite themes for writing; such a surprise and a treat to read, tragedy and all.

If you have time, please give this book a chance at weaving it's story into your life. It was an adventure, in more ways than one, and I can't wait to recommend it to my friends!

[Brittanie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a Ghost Girl in My House by Sophie Mutiara Nova

I absolutely loved this book. Like… I genuinely have nothing bad to say about it. 👻❤️

This book gave me everything I want in a read—mystery, ghosts, romance, creepy moments, humor, and SO many feelings. I got completely invested in Kai and GG and their story.

There were definitely moments that had me on the edge of my seat, but the part that really got me was when Kai got stabbed. 😭 I was NOT okay. I actually cried! That’s when I realized just how attached I had gotten to these characters.

And then there was Kai and GG in the shed in the underworld… 🥹❤️ That scene just felt so full of love. I could feel the connection between them, and it honestly made my heart happy.

I loved the way the story brought everything together. It was spooky and mysterious, but at the same time it had so much heart. I found myself completely wrapped up in what was happening and not wanting to put it down.

If you like ghosts, paranormal romance, sapphic romance, mystery, emotional moments, and a story that makes you actually CARE about the characters, put this one on your TBR. 👻📚💕 I would absolutely recommend it! ❤️

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️ ARC Review ⭐️

Thank you Sophie Mutiara Nova and your publisher for allowing me the opportunity to be an ARC reader for There’s a Ghost Girl in my House!

I was captivated by Sophie’s writing as Kai, the FMC, comes to life just as we meet her very dead-ghostie roommate! I immediately found myself identifying with the anxiety Kai feels and the internal dialogue that portrays the concerns of the perception others have of them…and the crush that’s just right out of her reach! At moments I found myself questioning how Sophie got in my head and translated my own thoughts into coherent and sometimes some not so coherent sentences! 😂

The author does an incredible job at realistically painting the challenges of mental health, love, heartbreak, and LGBTQIA+ experiences through the characters’ development, dialogue, and lives. There’s a Ghost Girl in my House is a fun, easy, and hilarious read! Sophie Mutiera Nova strings you along word by word as she paints each scene and setting. Read it for yourself and let yourself be transported into the connection between Kai and their Ghost Girl! 👻 Easily a 5 ⭐️ read!

[Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

So grateful to receive this as an ARC! When Kai moves into their new home, the last thing they’re looking for is companionship, but the ghost that haunts their house has other ideas. I was drawn in with a promise of a cozy, sapphic, paranormal romance, and TAGGIMH definitely delivered.

I was consistently chuckling to myself or giggling and kicking my feet while reading this; biting humor and playful flirtation make the characters engaging and the romance feel so comfortable. The themes around mental and health and anxiety resonate farrrr too much for me (Sophie, have you snuck inside my brain?) but I loved the gentle way the main characters navigated trauma, communication, and boundaries. I also really connected with the internal conflicts that Kai has surrounding their gender identity, presentation, and others’ perception.

I highly recommend this novella to anyone looking for a book to read that will make them smile, laugh, and relax. Overall, this was a great book and I am looking forward to reading more by Sophie Mutiara Nova.

[Erin Wickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fabulous, spooky novella, I am on a roll this month😍 and the wonderful Sophie has done it again - this is a beautiful story and I am so glad to know you, Sophie!💛

This novella follows Kai as they move into a new apartment but they quickly discover that they are not living alone, as expected👀 I don't want to give too much away about the story but the relationship between Kai and GG (Ghost Girl) is so heartwarming and beautiful - Kai's loneliness and anxiety makes them quite vulnerable but GG gives them strength and company that is more valuable than any other connection that Kai has had in life before. The idea of having a ghost as a roommate is such a brilliant concept, especially at this time of year💛 I really value the characters that Sophie writes - I love the NB representation and the real/raw mental health rep too, it is so important for me! The emotions that I felt in just 160 pages is insane, I loved every second of this book and really took my time with it because I didn't want it to end! I can't wait to read more of what you create, Sophie - thank you💛

[Queer Book]

I adored There Is a Ghost Girl in My House! This cozy paranormal romance has wonderful mental health representation, charming characters, and just the right amount of supernatural intrigue. While it isn't overly spicy, the paranormal spice definitely had me intrigued and wanting more!

One of my favorite things about this novella was the fantastic nonbinary representation. Kai's experiences with stress, anxiety, and past dating trauma felt incredibly relatable and thoughtfully portrayed. I loved how these experiences were woven into the story without overshadowing the romance, allowing the characters to feel authentic and fully developed.

The characters were so endearing that I genuinely didn't want this novella to end! There were plenty of emotional twists and turns, and I loved that I couldn't quite predict what would happen until the very end. That's always part of the fun of a good paranormal romance!

A sweet, emotional, slightly spicy, and delightfully queer read that left me wishing I could spend just a little more time with these characters!

[Jay Beau · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning didn't do much for me. It didn't hook me in and the emotions were lacking. Now this could be just me. I had read an intense read before this. And this read is more cozy and cute.

With that in mind, the rest of the book was a cozy respite from tension.

For me, the writing improves once the Love Interest is introduced. From then on, it follows a clear structure that is easy to follow.

The only flaws going for it is the character work. There is one point where all hope is lost, but I can't care because I wasn't given reason to. This moment impacts the character in ways readers should be able to understand. It should act as an obstacle. Not something to gloss over.

Other than this flaw, it was a pleasant read. Though not my usual tension-filled story, it was rreally nice to read. Especially if you need to step back from heavier books.

I enjoyed the author's writing style. I would definitely read their books.

*This book was free, but this opinion is my own.*

[Marisa Saber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all the feels wrapped in one! The MC Kai was written so well, they are relatable and funny without trying to be and the chemistry between them and ghost girl was playful and refreshing from the start. I would have loved for them to reach a deeper connection before things picked up in the story but it all ties together wonderfully in the end. The story had a nostalgic feel to it for me which made it hard to put the book down. There were points in the story I was guessing at possibilities and I was ultimately wrong in the best way. It touches on heartbreak, finding oneself and overcoming the fears that block us from our own blessings sometimes! It was a great reminder that sometimes we are in our own way. Fantastic story and one I will be picking up again and again.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this. I got to 31% but that's it.
The premise is fine, but I feel like a lot of the story is missing. 
The book seems like it wasn't proofread. A lot of the sentences get repeated after half-a-page, or even some words later 
Example: "Or eyes that move and dart like goldfish about her face like goldfish in a bowl." That's one goldfish too many. 
Explaining what a Venus Glass is twice within 7 sentences. 
Egg yolk is not the chicken and egg white is not it's food. 

This was my first ARC, and I'm grateful for the opportunity. I really wanted to continue the story, for the cozy factor, to see where the story goes. But it fell short on many aspects for me.

[Stephanie Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a Ghost Girl in my House isn’t your standard romance. This sapphic novella features two lost souls - a ghost girl and an agoraphobic nonbinary shut in named Kai.

The author does an incredible job at painting scenes and setting. They touch on topics like mental health and LGBTQIA+ experiences through the characters' development and dialogue. Despite some tougher topics, this novella is a fun and easy read. Overall I really enjoyed it. The transition from the apartment to the underworld was a little rough, but it recovered quickly.

Thank you to Sophie Mutiara Nova, and NetGalley for the eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐️ I was quite intrigued when I saw this book and knew I just had to read it! I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I loved the rep in this story. Gender. Sexuality. Magic. Paranormal. Agoraphobia. Witches. Tattoos. ;).

Kai moves into a place of her own and soon finds she’s not alone. Is this ‘spirit’ friend or foe? Will they be able coexist or maybe even build something that supports and uplifts them both?

This story takes you on an interesting journey!

[Space Station Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

The extremely relatable agoraphobic Kai moves into an apartment that turns out to already have an occupant--the eponymous ghost girl. The short novella reads like a trippy and queer Star Trek episode. I'm not surprised the author is a filmographer. Grounded in Kai's anxiety and the sweet relationship between Kai and GG (Ghost Girl), the reader roots for them to prevail against internet necromancers and undead Puritans alike.

Received for review from BookSirens; all opinions are my own.

[Alice Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was unlike anything I’d ever read before but in the best way.

I went into this not knowing what to expect, and I’m pleased to say I loved every second of it. It was an amazing story, so creative with such lovable characters. It kept me hooked and wanting more

I received an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review 🩷

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute fast paced spooky story with some tiny bit of romance, I really liked the concept and the message behind it. I just wish I could have read it during Halloween month for the vibes.

Lost a star because I wished there could have been more romance but I guess that’s a me thing expectation wise and not necessarily something bad about the story.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC.

What a fun and quirky book. I thought that the paranormal aspects of the story worked well. Both Kai and GG are adorable characters in their own right and their romance is so sweet that didn't feel surface level at all. This is the kind of books that sits with you for a few moments after it ends because it was just so lovely.