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Here Lies Olive
Growing up in the dark tourism capital of the United States, sixteen-year-old Olive should be comfortable with death. But ever since an allergic reaction almost sent her to the wrong side of the grass, she’s been terrified that there is no afterlife. And after the death of her surrogate grandmother, Olive has kept everyone at arm’s length because if there’s Nothing after we die, relationships and love can only end in sorrow.
When she summons a spirit to answer her questions about death, Olive meets Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers about the other side and what comes next.
Meanwhile, someone―or something―is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.
When she summons a spirit to answer her questions about death, Olive meets Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers about the other side and what comes next.
Meanwhile, someone―or something―is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.
304 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 165 reviews
November 1, 2024
4.75/5 stars
Olive should be totally cool with death. I mean her mom is a mortuary cosmetologist and her dad is a monumental mason. But after an allergic reaction caused her to see the other side, she’s been petrified of returning to the Nothing. She has cut off all ties with anyone she cares about to protect herself from total emotional devastation. Even her parents and now ex-best friend Davis. So when the closest thing she’s ever had to a grandma passes right in front of her, she must find out what’s waiting after death.
However, after summoning the mysterious ghost Jay who proves to be less help than she expected, her classmates start getting attacked. Olive must find his grave and help him pass to the other side with the aid of Davis, new girl Vanessa, and her enemy/potential love interest Maren before more people get hurt. While also confronting her own fears of death, life, and love. Unless Jay isn’t the one causing these attacks…
This book surprised the crap out of me! A cozy horror steeped with spooky thrills and ghostly chills. I was not expecting such a twisted and enthralling mystery. Usually, there is a trade-off between plot and character development in the YA genre. And I normally have a bone to pick with the overly simplistic and needly descriptive writing style. However, Here Lies Olive may have caused me to change my opinion on the genre as a whole.
The mystery of this plot, although somewhat predictable, kept me turning pages faster than I have in a long time. And even I didn’t see the plot twists at the very end coming. Yes, there were ghosts, witches, and a general sense of the macabre. But there were also themes of self-discovery, friendship, forgiveness, grief, and trauma. Done in a tasteful and not at all pandering way. Which is so rare for both YA and horror. I truly felt Olive’s trauma and fear over the Nothing.
Olive was such a fun and unexpected main character. I loved her retro goth vibes and dedication to protecting the people she cared about. Plus her journey of queer self-discovery was perfectly woven into the overall story. It never felt forced or heteronormative. And her pure as-heck friendship with Davis had me rooting for them the whole time.
Speaking of Davis, I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of Navajo representation throughout the book. I appreciated that it was informative without being tokenistic. Davis and his family's Navajo roots and storyline were, again, tastefully woven in with the overall plot. Although I’m not indigenous myself, my girlfriend is Chippewa and gave her stamp of approval on Davis and his family.
All in all, if you’re in the mood for a ghost story with plenty of depth and twists I highly recommend this read. And don’t let the YA stamp sway you. I promise you’ll fly through this spooky mystery faster than you can say Halloween. Happy reading!
Thank you to NetGalley, Flux, and North Star Editions for sending this eARC for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
CW: Blood, bones, bullying, child death, death, depression, gore, hallucinations, murder, occult, PTSD, torture, violence.
Olive should be totally cool with death. I mean her mom is a mortuary cosmetologist and her dad is a monumental mason. But after an allergic reaction caused her to see the other side, she’s been petrified of returning to the Nothing. She has cut off all ties with anyone she cares about to protect herself from total emotional devastation. Even her parents and now ex-best friend Davis. So when the closest thing she’s ever had to a grandma passes right in front of her, she must find out what’s waiting after death.
However, after summoning the mysterious ghost Jay who proves to be less help than she expected, her classmates start getting attacked. Olive must find his grave and help him pass to the other side with the aid of Davis, new girl Vanessa, and her enemy/potential love interest Maren before more people get hurt. While also confronting her own fears of death, life, and love. Unless Jay isn’t the one causing these attacks…
This book surprised the crap out of me! A cozy horror steeped with spooky thrills and ghostly chills. I was not expecting such a twisted and enthralling mystery. Usually, there is a trade-off between plot and character development in the YA genre. And I normally have a bone to pick with the overly simplistic and needly descriptive writing style. However, Here Lies Olive may have caused me to change my opinion on the genre as a whole.
The mystery of this plot, although somewhat predictable, kept me turning pages faster than I have in a long time. And even I didn’t see the plot twists at the very end coming. Yes, there were ghosts, witches, and a general sense of the macabre. But there were also themes of self-discovery, friendship, forgiveness, grief, and trauma. Done in a tasteful and not at all pandering way. Which is so rare for both YA and horror. I truly felt Olive’s trauma and fear over the Nothing.
Olive was such a fun and unexpected main character. I loved her retro goth vibes and dedication to protecting the people she cared about. Plus her journey of queer self-discovery was perfectly woven into the overall story. It never felt forced or heteronormative. And her pure as-heck friendship with Davis had me rooting for them the whole time.
Speaking of Davis, I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of Navajo representation throughout the book. I appreciated that it was informative without being tokenistic. Davis and his family's Navajo roots and storyline were, again, tastefully woven in with the overall plot. Although I’m not indigenous myself, my girlfriend is Chippewa and gave her stamp of approval on Davis and his family.
All in all, if you’re in the mood for a ghost story with plenty of depth and twists I highly recommend this read. And don’t let the YA stamp sway you. I promise you’ll fly through this spooky mystery faster than you can say Halloween. Happy reading!
Thank you to NetGalley, Flux, and North Star Editions for sending this eARC for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
CW: Blood, bones, bullying, child death, death, depression, gore, hallucinations, murder, occult, PTSD, torture, violence.
May 27, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
Thank you NetGalley for approving me to read this arc <3
Let me preface this by saying that I normally don’t like paranormal books, but the cover and synopsis intrigued me. I’m giving it 3.5 stars but I enjoyed it and I think someone who likes ghost stories would really like this.
The writing in this book is flowery and poetic-the author has obvious talent and I liked a lot of her expressions and turns of phrases. However, in the scenes with paranormal/spooky activity I couldn’t understand what was going on half the time, the writing was confusing and I couldn’t visualise what was happening.
The characters were my favourite part of this; I love Olive and Maren, they are adorable. I also loved Olive’s relationship with Davis, but when it came to Jay she only really had one solid conversation with him and I felt the author could have expanded further on their relationship, there was more potential there.
The ending was really sweet, I enjoyed the way it all ended happily but not too perfectly wrapped up. It had me thinking a lot about life and death.
Overall, a solid read, I enjoyed it! Would recommend to those who like spooky stories <3
Thank you NetGalley for approving me to read this arc <3
Let me preface this by saying that I normally don’t like paranormal books, but the cover and synopsis intrigued me. I’m giving it 3.5 stars but I enjoyed it and I think someone who likes ghost stories would really like this.
The writing in this book is flowery and poetic-the author has obvious talent and I liked a lot of her expressions and turns of phrases. However, in the scenes with paranormal/spooky activity I couldn’t understand what was going on half the time, the writing was confusing and I couldn’t visualise what was happening.
The characters were my favourite part of this; I love Olive and Maren, they are adorable. I also loved Olive’s relationship with Davis, but when it came to Jay she only really had one solid conversation with him and I felt the author could have expanded further on their relationship, there was more potential there.
The ending was really sweet, I enjoyed the way it all ended happily but not too perfectly wrapped up. It had me thinking a lot about life and death.
Overall, a solid read, I enjoyed it! Would recommend to those who like spooky stories <3
October 24, 2023
ENGLISH
The first thing that appealed to me about the book was that it was scary and it had lesbian representation. And we like a good scary story with lesbians hehe.
The main character, Olive, had a near-death experience, in fact she was dead for a few minutes, due to an allergy. Yet she lives fearing there is nothing after death. She has been pushing people away for years because she doesn't want to allow herself to love anyone as she doesn't see the point if they are all going to die anyway. One night, together with his former best friend Davis and Vanessa, a new girl who has just arrived in town, they decide to explore an abandoned part of the city. They go to the most "haunted" place in town: the Seymour Asylum, an institution that used to bring together poor, disabled, troubled people... and Olive performs a ritual to summon a ghost, to put an end to her doubt as to whether there is something after death or if it is indeed nothingness. . The summoned ghost turns out to be Jay, who died there over 100 years ago. But things get messy. The problem was that Jay didn't even know he was dead and now they have to help him cross over to the other side, both for his sake, otherwise he will become a shadow that haunts the living, and for Olive, who needs to put an end to her fears.
From here on, it is a series of investigations and quests to find Jay's grave and put Jay's unfinished business to rest. The problem is that suddenly her high school classmates start being attacked by someone who is becoming a shadow. Olive asks for help from Maren, who she describes as her arch nemesis but after spending time together we see things change.
I thought the book was good overall. As a Halloween read it's not bad because there were quite a few things that could be considered spooky that I thought were pretty well told. The first scene I read that was a bit scary and I wasn't expecting that at all so I was pleasantly surprised. But I think that some things were very obvious and although they tried to play with misdirection, they didn't succeed since everything was quite clear.
On the subject of relationships, the truth is that I saw very little development. I would have liked to see more depth because at times we focused on things that were a bit repetitive and could have been shortened.
Although in my opinion it lacks a couple of things, I like the author's style and I think she can play very well with the tense situations and the moments of anguish, which for a scary novel is very good.
-ALI
SPANISH
Lo primero que me llamó de este libro es que era de miedo y era con bolleras. Y nos gusta una buena historia de miedo con bolleras jeje. La temática de Halloween parecía interesante. La protagonista, Olive, tuvo una experiencia cercana a la muerte, de hecho estuvo muerta unos minutos debido a una alergia, y vive con miedo de que no haya nada después de la muerte. Lleva años alejando a la gente porque no quiere permitirse querer a nadie ya que no le ve el sentido. Una noche, junto a su, anteriormente, mejor amigo Davis y Vanessa, una chica nueva que acaba de llegar al pueblo, deciden ir a explorar un lugar abandonado de la ciudad.
Van al sitio más “encantado» que puede haber en el pueblo: el asilo Seymour, una institución que reunía a la gente pobre, incapacitada, con problemas… y Olive realiza un ritual para invocar a un fantasma, Jay, que murió en el asilo hace más de 100 años, para poner fin a su duda de si hay algo después de la muerte o si efectivamente es la Nada. Pero la cosa se lía. Resulta que Jay no sabía ni que estaba muerto y ahora tienen que ayudarlo a cruzar al otro lado, tanto por su bien, ya que si no se convertirá en una sombra que acecha a los vivos; como por Olive, que necesita poner punto y final a sus miedos.
A partir de aquí es una serie de investigaciones y búsquedas para poder encontrar la tumba de Jay y poner fin a sus asuntos pendientes para que pueda descansar en paz. El problema es, que de repente sus compañeros de instituto empiezan a ser atacados por alguien que presumiblemente es Jay, convirtiéndose en una sombra. Olive pide ayuda a Maren, a quién califica de su archienemiga pero tras pasar tiempo juntas vemos que la cosa va cambian, porque ella es la última descendiente de la familia Seymour.
Creo que el libro en general ha estado bien. Como lectura de Halloween no está mal porque ha habido bastantes cosas que se podrían considerar tenebrosas y que creo que estaban bastante bien contadas. La primera escena que leí que daba un poco de miedito no me la esperaba para nada y me dejó gratamente sorprendida. Pero creo que algunas cosas eran muy evidentes y aunque se ha intentado jugar con el despiste, no se ha terminado de conseguir porque todo estaba bastante claro. En el tema relaciones, la verdad que he visto muy poquito desarrollo y me hubiera gustado que se profundizara más porque a ratos nos centrábamos en cosas que eran un poco repetitivas y que podrían haberse acortado.
A pesar de que en mi opinión le faltan un par de cosas, me gusta el estilo de la autora y creo que puede jugar muy bien con las situaciones tensas y los momentos de angustia, lo cuál para una novela de miedo viene muy bien.
-ALI
The first thing that appealed to me about the book was that it was scary and it had lesbian representation. And we like a good scary story with lesbians hehe.
The main character, Olive, had a near-death experience, in fact she was dead for a few minutes, due to an allergy. Yet she lives fearing there is nothing after death. She has been pushing people away for years because she doesn't want to allow herself to love anyone as she doesn't see the point if they are all going to die anyway. One night, together with his former best friend Davis and Vanessa, a new girl who has just arrived in town, they decide to explore an abandoned part of the city. They go to the most "haunted" place in town: the Seymour Asylum, an institution that used to bring together poor, disabled, troubled people... and Olive performs a ritual to summon a ghost, to put an end to her doubt as to whether there is something after death or if it is indeed nothingness. . The summoned ghost turns out to be Jay, who died there over 100 years ago. But things get messy. The problem was that Jay didn't even know he was dead and now they have to help him cross over to the other side, both for his sake, otherwise he will become a shadow that haunts the living, and for Olive, who needs to put an end to her fears.
From here on, it is a series of investigations and quests to find Jay's grave and put Jay's unfinished business to rest. The problem is that suddenly her high school classmates start being attacked by someone who is becoming a shadow. Olive asks for help from Maren, who she describes as her arch nemesis but after spending time together we see things change.
I thought the book was good overall. As a Halloween read it's not bad because there were quite a few things that could be considered spooky that I thought were pretty well told. The first scene I read that was a bit scary and I wasn't expecting that at all so I was pleasantly surprised. But I think that some things were very obvious and although they tried to play with misdirection, they didn't succeed since everything was quite clear.
On the subject of relationships, the truth is that I saw very little development. I would have liked to see more depth because at times we focused on things that were a bit repetitive and could have been shortened.
Although in my opinion it lacks a couple of things, I like the author's style and I think she can play very well with the tense situations and the moments of anguish, which for a scary novel is very good.
-ALI
SPANISH
Lo primero que me llamó de este libro es que era de miedo y era con bolleras. Y nos gusta una buena historia de miedo con bolleras jeje. La temática de Halloween parecía interesante. La protagonista, Olive, tuvo una experiencia cercana a la muerte, de hecho estuvo muerta unos minutos debido a una alergia, y vive con miedo de que no haya nada después de la muerte. Lleva años alejando a la gente porque no quiere permitirse querer a nadie ya que no le ve el sentido. Una noche, junto a su, anteriormente, mejor amigo Davis y Vanessa, una chica nueva que acaba de llegar al pueblo, deciden ir a explorar un lugar abandonado de la ciudad.
Van al sitio más “encantado» que puede haber en el pueblo: el asilo Seymour, una institución que reunía a la gente pobre, incapacitada, con problemas… y Olive realiza un ritual para invocar a un fantasma, Jay, que murió en el asilo hace más de 100 años, para poner fin a su duda de si hay algo después de la muerte o si efectivamente es la Nada. Pero la cosa se lía. Resulta que Jay no sabía ni que estaba muerto y ahora tienen que ayudarlo a cruzar al otro lado, tanto por su bien, ya que si no se convertirá en una sombra que acecha a los vivos; como por Olive, que necesita poner punto y final a sus miedos.
A partir de aquí es una serie de investigaciones y búsquedas para poder encontrar la tumba de Jay y poner fin a sus asuntos pendientes para que pueda descansar en paz. El problema es, que de repente sus compañeros de instituto empiezan a ser atacados por alguien que presumiblemente es Jay, convirtiéndose en una sombra. Olive pide ayuda a Maren, a quién califica de su archienemiga pero tras pasar tiempo juntas vemos que la cosa va cambian, porque ella es la última descendiente de la familia Seymour.
Creo que el libro en general ha estado bien. Como lectura de Halloween no está mal porque ha habido bastantes cosas que se podrían considerar tenebrosas y que creo que estaban bastante bien contadas. La primera escena que leí que daba un poco de miedito no me la esperaba para nada y me dejó gratamente sorprendida. Pero creo que algunas cosas eran muy evidentes y aunque se ha intentado jugar con el despiste, no se ha terminado de conseguir porque todo estaba bastante claro. En el tema relaciones, la verdad que he visto muy poquito desarrollo y me hubiera gustado que se profundizara más porque a ratos nos centrábamos en cosas que eran un poco repetitivas y que podrían haberse acortado.
A pesar de que en mi opinión le faltan un par de cosas, me gusta el estilo de la autora y creo que puede jugar muy bien con las situaciones tensas y los momentos de angustia, lo cuál para una novela de miedo viene muy bien.
-ALI
June 25, 2023
I am always up for a ghost story. Throw in LGBTQIAP= rep and its a prefect recipe for imaginative yet all too real drama. Dash of horror never hurts either. Anderson manages to hit every note with this story.
Thank you to North Star Editions, Flux, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.
Thank you to North Star Editions, Flux, and NetGalley for providing an eARC for an honest review.
April 28, 2023
"I say this like I know, like I actually do stuff with other people, like I won't be sitting alone in my room lighting candles and muttering made-up spells to summon the dead" - I mean, girl, SAME 🧙♀️
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This was such a sweet YA horror book that deals with themes of death/friendship/found family/coming of age with some paranormal fun sprinkled on top, the character of Olive is so relatable and likeable and I was rooting for her from the start, she is angsty but its not overdone. The writing was engaging and witty, I loved the setting of White Haven and how spooky it was, if you like feisty female leads and books that might make you a lil sad (in a good way) you will 100% appreciate Olive and her journey, plus how gorgeous is the cover! Releasing 24th october (perfect for a halloween read) thanks to the author, netgalley and fluxbooks for the eARC!
.
.
This was such a sweet YA horror book that deals with themes of death/friendship/found family/coming of age with some paranormal fun sprinkled on top, the character of Olive is so relatable and likeable and I was rooting for her from the start, she is angsty but its not overdone. The writing was engaging and witty, I loved the setting of White Haven and how spooky it was, if you like feisty female leads and books that might make you a lil sad (in a good way) you will 100% appreciate Olive and her journey, plus how gorgeous is the cover! Releasing 24th october (perfect for a halloween read) thanks to the author, netgalley and fluxbooks for the eARC!
July 11, 2023
After Olive has a near death experience, she fears there’s Nothing waiting for her at the end of her life. Then she befriends an elderly woman who, when she dies, gives Olive a reason to believe there may be something at the end after all. Olive needs to know the truth and makes it her mission to explore the afterlife.
Good thing she lives in a small New Mexico town with a haunted asylum and an obsession with Halloween.
In her quest to see what happens in her death, Olive unintentionally begins living her real life. She rekindles a friendship she thought was lost and learns the girl the hates might not be so awful after all.
A combined ghost story, mystery, and exploration of love, life and death, this is a must read for spooky season!
Good thing she lives in a small New Mexico town with a haunted asylum and an obsession with Halloween.
In her quest to see what happens in her death, Olive unintentionally begins living her real life. She rekindles a friendship she thought was lost and learns the girl the hates might not be so awful after all.
A combined ghost story, mystery, and exploration of love, life and death, this is a must read for spooky season!
September 3, 2023
"Here Lies Olive" by Kate Anderson introduces us to sixteen-year-old Olive, navigating life. Despite her surroundings, Olive harbors a deep fear that there might be nothing after death, stemming from a near-death experience. This fear leads her to keep others at arm's length, fearing the inevitable sorrow of relationships and love.
When Olive summons the spirit of Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods, her quest for answers begins. She agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for insights into the afterlife.
Amidst this quest, a mysterious force starts targeting Olive's classmates. The longer Jay stays, the more dangerous the attacks become. Feeling responsible for Jay's return, Olive forms an unlikely team with maybe-nemesis Maren, maybe-crush Davis, and newcomer Vanessa to save Jay's spirit from turning malevolent and to stop the escalating danger.
In "Here Lies Olive," Olive confronts her fear of death and faces the prospect of losing another loved one to the unknown "Nothing." This gripping YA tale explores themes of mortality, love, and the supernatural, offering an engaging read for all ages.
Thank you to NetGalley and North Star Editions, Flux, for providing this ARC. Kate Anderson's debut delivers an intriguing blend of suspense and emotion that will leave readers pondering the mysteries of life and death.
When Olive summons the spirit of Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods, her quest for answers begins. She agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for insights into the afterlife.
Amidst this quest, a mysterious force starts targeting Olive's classmates. The longer Jay stays, the more dangerous the attacks become. Feeling responsible for Jay's return, Olive forms an unlikely team with maybe-nemesis Maren, maybe-crush Davis, and newcomer Vanessa to save Jay's spirit from turning malevolent and to stop the escalating danger.
In "Here Lies Olive," Olive confronts her fear of death and faces the prospect of losing another loved one to the unknown "Nothing." This gripping YA tale explores themes of mortality, love, and the supernatural, offering an engaging read for all ages.
Thank you to NetGalley and North Star Editions, Flux, for providing this ARC. Kate Anderson's debut delivers an intriguing blend of suspense and emotion that will leave readers pondering the mysteries of life and death.
July 25, 2023
I absolutely loved this book. The ghost story atmosphere is dead on (pun intended), and makes it a perfect read for someone looking for a nice, spooky book. The characters are all so well done, and their interactions make this a lot of fun.
I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to think at first. Olive’s inner voice at the beginning of the book is clouded by depression and I didn’t know where the story was going to go. But then, by the time I found myself surrounded by all the other characters, and the way it happened so gradually that you experience the change with Olive, I was completely sold.
The plot was good as well. I appreciated that there weren’t any annoying plot devices like the characters purposely ignoring the signs that were right there in front of them. I did suspect the main plot twist, but there was so much going on that I doubted myself and forgot about it in the tensest moments, which I think is the sign of a well-developed plot point tbh, you don’t want people to be blind to it if you didn’t plant any seeds.
I do still feel a bit conflicted about the fact that Olive was clearly hurting for two years and needed help from a mental health professional, but this is never mentioned. I think the author knew what was happening, it’d be weird to write such a faithful representation of depression without planning it, but I don’t know, it feels weird that it was never mentioned.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC, I truly had the best time reading it.
I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to think at first. Olive’s inner voice at the beginning of the book is clouded by depression and I didn’t know where the story was going to go. But then, by the time I found myself surrounded by all the other characters, and the way it happened so gradually that you experience the change with Olive, I was completely sold.
The plot was good as well. I appreciated that there weren’t any annoying plot devices like the characters purposely ignoring the signs that were right there in front of them. I did suspect the main plot twist, but there was so much going on that I doubted myself and forgot about it in the tensest moments, which I think is the sign of a well-developed plot point tbh, you don’t want people to be blind to it if you didn’t plant any seeds.
I do still feel a bit conflicted about the fact that Olive was clearly hurting for two years and needed help from a mental health professional, but this is never mentioned. I think the author knew what was happening, it’d be weird to write such a faithful representation of depression without planning it, but I don’t know, it feels weird that it was never mentioned.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC, I truly had the best time reading it.
July 29, 2023
"Here Lies Olive" is a ya paranormal, with horror elements, written by Kate Anderson.
The story follows 16-year-old Olive, who grew up in the quaint town of White Haven, New Mexico, the dark tourism capital of the United States. Ever since an allergic reaction to shellfish threatened to kill her, Olive has been terrified of the possibility that there is no afterlife. For five whole minutes her heart stopped beating, five minutes in which she floated in darkness, with no light or sudden appearance, surrounded by Nothing. Following this event she began to keep everyone at a distance, sinking into a kind of apathy, convinced that if Nothing is all there is after death, then relationships can only end in sorrow. The death of her beloved surrogate grandmother, an elderly lady who was able to rouse her from her torpor, shakes her world even more. It is this tragic episode that prompts Olive to try to summon a spirit so she can ask it questions about death. The attempt is successful and Jay, a hitchhiker ghost stuck in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died, appears. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave so he can be free, in exchange for answers about the other side and what will be there next. Meanwhile, someone, or something, begins targeting Olive's classmates, and the longer Jay lingers in the world of the living, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for bringing Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe nemesis or maybe crush Maren, her ex-best friend Davis, and newcomer Vanessa to free Jay's spirit before he turns into a malevolent shadow and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive will have to face her fear of death and the risk of losing another person she loves in the Nothing.
I loved this book so much! Funny, emotional and addictive, it made me laugh and move at the same time.
I was quite fascinated by the writing! I found it very evocative and atmospheric, able to fully render the small town atmosphere and spooky settings. The author, in my opinion, managed to create an excellent interweaving of witty, dark and melancholic tones. I loved a lot the mysterious and dark nuances of the tale, the subtle eeriness that oozes from the pages, in my opinion well constructed. The horror component, though soft, I thought was handled fantastically. I admit that I sensed a more desolate, more disconsolate vein in the background, which moved me greatly. The fast pace and short chapters make it an extremely smooth read.
The setting is another element that I loved! The story is set in the fictional town of White Haven, New Mexico, considered the dark tourism capital of the United States. Everything, or almost everything, in White Haven revolves around death or sinister events. The elementary school is housed in an old mortuary, many people work in the morgue or, more generally, in the death business, and an open-air funeral pyre, a Museum of the Macabre, and a Home for Wraith Foundlings and Spirit Children stand out among the various facilities. Festivals, events and themed tours abound, drawing curious visitors from all over. However, the places that most mark White Haven are two: the former renowned and luxurious sanatorium for tuberculosis patients and the now-closed poorhouse. It is the latter in particular that has a terrible reputation, with its infamous asylum past, known for cruel management and brutal treatments. Seriously, I loved it all! The town is so quaint, full of traditions and legends, secrets and mysteries, that I was completely captivated. The descriptions, which I thought were vivid and effective, allowed me to visualize the various places in my head.
The story proceeds smoothly, full of events and mysterious phenomena, without being rushed. In fact, the narration takes its time, analyzing the various developments, coming to a conclusion that satisfied me quite a bit. I enjoyed the lighter and funnier parts, but especially the more creepy ones. Between the bleak buildings, gloomy woods, unsettling sounds, terrifying visions, and ominous apparitions, I ended up in juices! The tale places importance on the theme of death, the afterlife, making numerous reflections. This topic, combined with the presence of ghosts and the former asylum, then becomes a way to talk about remorse, grief, misery, and mourning, as well as the difficult, not to say inhumane, conditions of a facility that was supposed to be in charge of protecting the most fragile. I don't know, I found it all so intense that on more than one occasion I shed a few tears. I confess that I solved the mystery early, but that did not affect my very high rating.
I absolutely loved Olive, protagonist and only pov in the first person! Olive is a 16-year-old girl who, due to an allergic reaction to shellfish, nearly died. Her heart stopped for five whole minutes before beating again, five whole minutes in which she remembers floating in absolute darkness, enveloped and devoured by Nothing. It was an experience that deeply unsettled her, prompting her to question the afterlife, to distance herself from friends and various relationships, and to plunge her into apathy. Olive is a very sarcastic, cynical and reclusive person who loves dark colors and dark looks. Introverted, antisocial, she detests crowded places, group activities and studying. What is the point of establishing relationships if all that awaits, after death, is Nothing? Outwardly determined and confident, under a mask of biting irony hides an extremely fragile and sensitive side. Olive is obsessed with death, with the need to know if there is an afterlife, terrified that the Nothing can take her. I found her to be a complex, intense character with excellent development. I grew fond of her, at certain moments I was moved and on more than one occasion I wanted to hug her.
The secondary characters convinced me! With one exception, I loved them too much! They seemed deep and layered to me, to the point that I became attached to most of them. I enjoyed the bonds that were made or recreated, and I admit to being moved by certain situations. There is a Sapphic romance component, never dominant over the plot but well interwoven with it, which I found really sweet and lovely.
All in all, I found it a wonderful spooky, fun, exciting, and intense read that I highly recommend!
Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.
The story follows 16-year-old Olive, who grew up in the quaint town of White Haven, New Mexico, the dark tourism capital of the United States. Ever since an allergic reaction to shellfish threatened to kill her, Olive has been terrified of the possibility that there is no afterlife. For five whole minutes her heart stopped beating, five minutes in which she floated in darkness, with no light or sudden appearance, surrounded by Nothing. Following this event she began to keep everyone at a distance, sinking into a kind of apathy, convinced that if Nothing is all there is after death, then relationships can only end in sorrow. The death of her beloved surrogate grandmother, an elderly lady who was able to rouse her from her torpor, shakes her world even more. It is this tragic episode that prompts Olive to try to summon a spirit so she can ask it questions about death. The attempt is successful and Jay, a hitchhiker ghost stuck in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died, appears. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave so he can be free, in exchange for answers about the other side and what will be there next. Meanwhile, someone, or something, begins targeting Olive's classmates, and the longer Jay lingers in the world of the living, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for bringing Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe nemesis or maybe crush Maren, her ex-best friend Davis, and newcomer Vanessa to free Jay's spirit before he turns into a malevolent shadow and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive will have to face her fear of death and the risk of losing another person she loves in the Nothing.
I loved this book so much! Funny, emotional and addictive, it made me laugh and move at the same time.
I was quite fascinated by the writing! I found it very evocative and atmospheric, able to fully render the small town atmosphere and spooky settings. The author, in my opinion, managed to create an excellent interweaving of witty, dark and melancholic tones. I loved a lot the mysterious and dark nuances of the tale, the subtle eeriness that oozes from the pages, in my opinion well constructed. The horror component, though soft, I thought was handled fantastically. I admit that I sensed a more desolate, more disconsolate vein in the background, which moved me greatly. The fast pace and short chapters make it an extremely smooth read.
The setting is another element that I loved! The story is set in the fictional town of White Haven, New Mexico, considered the dark tourism capital of the United States. Everything, or almost everything, in White Haven revolves around death or sinister events. The elementary school is housed in an old mortuary, many people work in the morgue or, more generally, in the death business, and an open-air funeral pyre, a Museum of the Macabre, and a Home for Wraith Foundlings and Spirit Children stand out among the various facilities. Festivals, events and themed tours abound, drawing curious visitors from all over. However, the places that most mark White Haven are two: the former renowned and luxurious sanatorium for tuberculosis patients and the now-closed poorhouse. It is the latter in particular that has a terrible reputation, with its infamous asylum past, known for cruel management and brutal treatments. Seriously, I loved it all! The town is so quaint, full of traditions and legends, secrets and mysteries, that I was completely captivated. The descriptions, which I thought were vivid and effective, allowed me to visualize the various places in my head.
The story proceeds smoothly, full of events and mysterious phenomena, without being rushed. In fact, the narration takes its time, analyzing the various developments, coming to a conclusion that satisfied me quite a bit. I enjoyed the lighter and funnier parts, but especially the more creepy ones. Between the bleak buildings, gloomy woods, unsettling sounds, terrifying visions, and ominous apparitions, I ended up in juices! The tale places importance on the theme of death, the afterlife, making numerous reflections. This topic, combined with the presence of ghosts and the former asylum, then becomes a way to talk about remorse, grief, misery, and mourning, as well as the difficult, not to say inhumane, conditions of a facility that was supposed to be in charge of protecting the most fragile. I don't know, I found it all so intense that on more than one occasion I shed a few tears. I confess that I solved the mystery early, but that did not affect my very high rating.
I absolutely loved Olive, protagonist and only pov in the first person! Olive is a 16-year-old girl who, due to an allergic reaction to shellfish, nearly died. Her heart stopped for five whole minutes before beating again, five whole minutes in which she remembers floating in absolute darkness, enveloped and devoured by Nothing. It was an experience that deeply unsettled her, prompting her to question the afterlife, to distance herself from friends and various relationships, and to plunge her into apathy. Olive is a very sarcastic, cynical and reclusive person who loves dark colors and dark looks. Introverted, antisocial, she detests crowded places, group activities and studying. What is the point of establishing relationships if all that awaits, after death, is Nothing? Outwardly determined and confident, under a mask of biting irony hides an extremely fragile and sensitive side. Olive is obsessed with death, with the need to know if there is an afterlife, terrified that the Nothing can take her. I found her to be a complex, intense character with excellent development. I grew fond of her, at certain moments I was moved and on more than one occasion I wanted to hug her.
The secondary characters convinced me! With one exception, I loved them too much! They seemed deep and layered to me, to the point that I became attached to most of them. I enjoyed the bonds that were made or recreated, and I admit to being moved by certain situations. There is a Sapphic romance component, never dominant over the plot but well interwoven with it, which I found really sweet and lovely.
All in all, I found it a wonderful spooky, fun, exciting, and intense read that I highly recommend!
Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.
June 11, 2023
Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers North Star Editions and Flux for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.75- Essentially a 4-star for me :)
This was an enjoyable YA horror that's perfect if you're in the mood for a great spooky book.
If you like: Found Family, Mental Health REP, Nice ghosts and coming-of-age stories this book may just be for you.
This story focuses on our MC Olive who has just spent the last two years in a chasm of depression after a couple of brushes with death. She becomes trapped in an obsession with death, what happens after we die? Is it nothing? Why bother living for nothing?
So our dear Olive does the only thing that makes any sense, She goes to an old asylum and summons a ghost! With her group of misfit friends a mysterious adventure unravels.
What I Enjoyed:
- Cute Sapphis Relationship (Slow burn)
- Platonic love (Say I love you to your homies or it's not real /j)
- Relationships rekindled
- The atmosphere of White Haven was so stupidly fun
My biggest critiques for this book were:
- Jay sort of fell off after one or two big conversations with Olive
- A lot of repetition of details
- It was pretty apparent who the antagonist was; there was no real subtly around their character
3.75- Essentially a 4-star for me :)
This was an enjoyable YA horror that's perfect if you're in the mood for a great spooky book.
If you like: Found Family, Mental Health REP, Nice ghosts and coming-of-age stories this book may just be for you.
This story focuses on our MC Olive who has just spent the last two years in a chasm of depression after a couple of brushes with death. She becomes trapped in an obsession with death, what happens after we die? Is it nothing? Why bother living for nothing?
So our dear Olive does the only thing that makes any sense, She goes to an old asylum and summons a ghost! With her group of misfit friends a mysterious adventure unravels.
What I Enjoyed:
- Cute Sapphis Relationship (Slow burn)
- Platonic love (Say I love you to your homies or it's not real /j)
- Relationships rekindled
- The atmosphere of White Haven was so stupidly fun
My biggest critiques for this book were:
- Jay sort of fell off after one or two big conversations with Olive
- A lot of repetition of details
- It was pretty apparent who the antagonist was; there was no real subtly around their character
July 10, 2022
Deliciously sarcastic yet simultaneously earnest in all the right ways, HERE LIES OLIVE will make you laugh out loud and then tweak your heartstrings in the next sentence. The teenagers in this story feel truly authentic—which is not always a given in YA lit—and alongside the fantastic elements in the plot, they deal with real-life issues, worries, and angst. This book is for you if you liked the Netflix reboot of Sabrina or the CW's Riverdale!
March 27, 2024
Thank you for letting me read an ARC of this book! I really enjoyed reading it and I felt that it was a perfect read for spooky season! The story was super fun and also deep at the same time. I also thought that the characters were well-developed and I felt a genuine connection to all of them, not only the main character. Additionally, the plot twists in the novel were absolutely crazy and always kept me hooked. Overall I liked to book a lot and would reccomend!
October 6, 2023
1/5 Stars
TL;DR - Long, overdrawn, and ultimately underwhelming. A one-dimensional protagonist who acts both too young and too old for her age, a nearly non-existent plot, and a laughably cliche and underwhelming conclusion. I should have stopped at like 30%, but it became a hate-read, and now I, too, want to find out if there’s an afterlife.
Big thanks to North Star Editions, Flux, and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!
***Trigger warnings for: death, PTSD, death of a loved one, divorce, mentions of living in a sanitarium/asylum, mentions of murder, mentions of child sex trafficking, attempted murder, serious harm inflicted by a knife/blade, blood, and disability after violence.***
‘Here Lies Olive’ by Kate Anderson is a YA “horror” book that follows the story of Olive, a 16 year old who has a near-death experience and becomes obsessed with the possibility that there might not be an afterlife. She decides to summon a ghost to find out the truth, and everything goes awry from there. She has to navigate this haunting, as well as her own trauma, drama between friends, and her growing attraction to her lifelong rival, a girl named Meren.
Sounds cool, right? It’s not. It is, most assuredly, not.
(Spoiler, the only good thing about this book is that it features sapphic characters and a prominent guy-girl platonic friendship. That’s it, end of list.)
I straight up did not enjoy this book. As I said in the TL;DR, I should have stopped at ~30% when I realized that this book had all the emotional depth of spilled milk and all the subtlety of a stampeding elephant, but it morphed into a hate-read that I couldn’t put down because it was just so bad. I’m legitimately angry at this book for being so bad, and at myself for not sparing myself the migraine and the lost hours of my life.
I don’t even know where to begin, kind of like how this book doesn’t know where to stop. Everything is so laboriously over-explained, and so much is told instead of shown. Endless details about things that don’t matter and never-ending trivia about death-related things, none of which added anything but pages to the narrative. 100+ pages could have been shaved off of this if Olive and the author had just shut up. Purple prose to no end - there are a lot of lines where I asked myself, out loud, “What does that even mean?”, and nope, I still don’t know. So much melodrama and yet no discernible emotional depth.
And the repetition, y’all. The same basic ideas repeated over and over and over with just slightly varied wording. I get it, Olive is sad and afraid of death. Bad things are bad, everything’s her fault. Just beating us over the head with long-winded purple prose, telling us exactly how we should feel and exactly what’s going on with no room to breathe. All these “big emotional moments” are just the same stuff over and over in excruciatingly heavy-handed detail, that in no way seems either realistic or relatable. Just the author holding your hand and over-explaining like you’ve never felt a single emotion in your life and you desperately need three whole pages to deal with a single shallow outline of a feeling. This book actively gave me anxiety because of how much the author feels I need to know every single thought that goes through Olive’s head.
(From my notes: If I have to read the phrase “Maren effing Seymour” one more effing time, I will find out quickly if there’s an afterlife. And if I have to read one more description of bare, “spooky” trees, I will return from said afterlife and actively haunt the author for making me read it approximately seven billion times.)
Speaking of Olive. She is a one-dimensional cartoon caricature of a teenager, and yet, I do not believe for one second this girl is sixteen. She is entirely too self-aware to be realistic, and is, inexplicably, also dumb as a bag of rocks, and that’s being generous. She spends so much time psychoanalyzing everyone and knowing exactly why everyone does everything they do, knows all of their deep dark personal failings, can spot trauma and maladaptive coping mechanisms from a mile away, and yet…never once thinks maybe she’s the one who needs therapy for ACTUALLY DYING. She admits (laments, really, and repeatedly) that she’s “so broken” but never actually does anything to remedy that? No attempt at personal growth, no processing of the trauma she endured except in ham-fisted “revelations” that are apropos of nothing. No, no, don’t go to therapy, just get a girlfriend and all your trauma is gone! Her grandiose introspection sounds like a 30+ year old who���s had years of therapy to understand the trauma she went through, not a 16 year old with no mentioned psych help. I don’t think the words “therapy” or “mental health” are ever mentioned in this book, but I sure need to talk to my counselor after the psychological torture that was the experience of reading this.
(Olive’s also not like other girls, you see, because she’s a GOTH who wears DARK LIPSTICK and DOC MARTENS and is OBSESSED WITH DEATH…in the self-proclaimed “dark tourism capital of the United States” where literally everyone in town is obsessed with death. Yeah, okay, sure.)
Which brings me to her parents. They just willfully ignore that their daughter made a complete 180 in terms of personality and engagement in life after she was literally dead for five minutes, and they just go, “Oh, teenagers are so quirky!”. Like, the fuck? Girl is depressed and clearly has PTSD. Doesn’t do her homework, skips school, ghosts her lifelong best friend, yeah cool, all normal and not at all indicative of mental health issues. Not even after she witnesses the death of her adoptive grandmother do they try to get her some counseling. Olive literally breaks down and tells them about what happened when she died and how it affected her, and they’re just…completely and utterly shocked. They “didn’t think about what it meant for [her] emotionally”…excuse me? And then, yep, no therapy! A+ parenting, no notes.
(I can see why Olive is so stupid, her parents are clearly not possessed of any brains or common sense whatsoever.)
Plot, next to non-existent. Horror, none; supernatural elements, the bare minimum. Brains in these kids, definitely not a one. 35% of the book spent angsting about what’s going to happen to the ghost boy, and yet doing nothing at all to find the MacGuffin to avoid said fate. Obvious foreshadowing and plot twists, a clear progression of cause to effect, and Olive and her friends are just, completely bewildered and make the dumbest decisions possible. As other reviewers have said, this absolutely reads more like middle-grade than YA in terms of complexity (or lack thereof) and the simplicity of the writing. Except weirdly interspersed with the aforementioned late 20s therapy talk.
(Except I wouldn’t recommend this at all to actual teenagers because the mental health rep is just so bad. Not at all a good example for young people to draw from.)
The villain is obvious, and trite, and they even get an entire cliche villain monologue. Neat! And the entire climax is maybe five pages and, I shit you not, is resolved with the power of love. Pure garbage.
And then. AND THEN. The author has the gall to acknowledge the Navajo Nation in her author’s note when one of the only three BIPOC characters in this book (all three of whom are Navajo), ends up Not to mention Olive calling the land on which the haunted house is built a white character’s “ancestral land”, when earlier in the book, she acknowledges that the land was stolen from the Navajo and they were “pushed out”. Yeah, okay, sure. Everyone cares an awful lot about the dead white boy on the property, but no one bats an eye about the Native lives likely lost there. Writing such poor Native rep (and I struggle to call it even that) and then tossing a last-minute mention to the people she spent the book brutalizing and erasing the history of just does not sit well with me at all. I don't understand how this all got past her Navajo sensitivity reader, but hey, here we are.
Final Thoughts:
This could have been a really powerful story about trauma and depression and mortality and death, but instead it’s just a bloated, mediocre “love story” with a dash of nonsensical paranormal flavor. Deleting it off my Kindle and going to find that promised afterlife.
TL;DR - Long, overdrawn, and ultimately underwhelming. A one-dimensional protagonist who acts both too young and too old for her age, a nearly non-existent plot, and a laughably cliche and underwhelming conclusion. I should have stopped at like 30%, but it became a hate-read, and now I, too, want to find out if there’s an afterlife.
Big thanks to North Star Editions, Flux, and NetGalley for providing the ARC for this book in exchange for an honest review!
***Trigger warnings for: death, PTSD, death of a loved one, divorce, mentions of living in a sanitarium/asylum, mentions of murder, mentions of child sex trafficking, attempted murder, serious harm inflicted by a knife/blade, blood, and disability after violence.***
‘Here Lies Olive’ by Kate Anderson is a YA “horror” book that follows the story of Olive, a 16 year old who has a near-death experience and becomes obsessed with the possibility that there might not be an afterlife. She decides to summon a ghost to find out the truth, and everything goes awry from there. She has to navigate this haunting, as well as her own trauma, drama between friends, and her growing attraction to her lifelong rival, a girl named Meren.
Sounds cool, right? It’s not. It is, most assuredly, not.
(Spoiler, the only good thing about this book is that it features sapphic characters and a prominent guy-girl platonic friendship. That’s it, end of list.)
I straight up did not enjoy this book. As I said in the TL;DR, I should have stopped at ~30% when I realized that this book had all the emotional depth of spilled milk and all the subtlety of a stampeding elephant, but it morphed into a hate-read that I couldn’t put down because it was just so bad. I’m legitimately angry at this book for being so bad, and at myself for not sparing myself the migraine and the lost hours of my life.
I don’t even know where to begin, kind of like how this book doesn’t know where to stop. Everything is so laboriously over-explained, and so much is told instead of shown. Endless details about things that don’t matter and never-ending trivia about death-related things, none of which added anything but pages to the narrative. 100+ pages could have been shaved off of this if Olive and the author had just shut up. Purple prose to no end - there are a lot of lines where I asked myself, out loud, “What does that even mean?”, and nope, I still don’t know. So much melodrama and yet no discernible emotional depth.
And the repetition, y’all. The same basic ideas repeated over and over and over with just slightly varied wording. I get it, Olive is sad and afraid of death. Bad things are bad, everything’s her fault. Just beating us over the head with long-winded purple prose, telling us exactly how we should feel and exactly what’s going on with no room to breathe. All these “big emotional moments” are just the same stuff over and over in excruciatingly heavy-handed detail, that in no way seems either realistic or relatable. Just the author holding your hand and over-explaining like you’ve never felt a single emotion in your life and you desperately need three whole pages to deal with a single shallow outline of a feeling. This book actively gave me anxiety because of how much the author feels I need to know every single thought that goes through Olive’s head.
(From my notes: If I have to read the phrase “Maren effing Seymour” one more effing time, I will find out quickly if there’s an afterlife. And if I have to read one more description of bare, “spooky” trees, I will return from said afterlife and actively haunt the author for making me read it approximately seven billion times.)
Speaking of Olive. She is a one-dimensional cartoon caricature of a teenager, and yet, I do not believe for one second this girl is sixteen. She is entirely too self-aware to be realistic, and is, inexplicably, also dumb as a bag of rocks, and that’s being generous. She spends so much time psychoanalyzing everyone and knowing exactly why everyone does everything they do, knows all of their deep dark personal failings, can spot trauma and maladaptive coping mechanisms from a mile away, and yet…never once thinks maybe she’s the one who needs therapy for ACTUALLY DYING. She admits (laments, really, and repeatedly) that she’s “so broken” but never actually does anything to remedy that? No attempt at personal growth, no processing of the trauma she endured except in ham-fisted “revelations” that are apropos of nothing. No, no, don’t go to therapy, just get a girlfriend and all your trauma is gone! Her grandiose introspection sounds like a 30+ year old who���s had years of therapy to understand the trauma she went through, not a 16 year old with no mentioned psych help. I don’t think the words “therapy” or “mental health” are ever mentioned in this book, but I sure need to talk to my counselor after the psychological torture that was the experience of reading this.
(Olive’s also not like other girls, you see, because she’s a GOTH who wears DARK LIPSTICK and DOC MARTENS and is OBSESSED WITH DEATH…in the self-proclaimed “dark tourism capital of the United States” where literally everyone in town is obsessed with death. Yeah, okay, sure.)
Which brings me to her parents. They just willfully ignore that their daughter made a complete 180 in terms of personality and engagement in life after she was literally dead for five minutes, and they just go, “Oh, teenagers are so quirky!”. Like, the fuck? Girl is depressed and clearly has PTSD. Doesn’t do her homework, skips school, ghosts her lifelong best friend, yeah cool, all normal and not at all indicative of mental health issues. Not even after she witnesses the death of her adoptive grandmother do they try to get her some counseling. Olive literally breaks down and tells them about what happened when she died and how it affected her, and they’re just…completely and utterly shocked. They “didn’t think about what it meant for [her] emotionally”…excuse me? And then, yep, no therapy! A+ parenting, no notes.
(I can see why Olive is so stupid, her parents are clearly not possessed of any brains or common sense whatsoever.)
Plot, next to non-existent. Horror, none; supernatural elements, the bare minimum. Brains in these kids, definitely not a one. 35% of the book spent angsting about what’s going to happen to the ghost boy, and yet doing nothing at all to find the MacGuffin to avoid said fate. Obvious foreshadowing and plot twists, a clear progression of cause to effect, and Olive and her friends are just, completely bewildered and make the dumbest decisions possible. As other reviewers have said, this absolutely reads more like middle-grade than YA in terms of complexity (or lack thereof) and the simplicity of the writing. Except weirdly interspersed with the aforementioned late 20s therapy talk.
(Except I wouldn’t recommend this at all to actual teenagers because the mental health rep is just so bad. Not at all a good example for young people to draw from.)
The villain is obvious, and trite, and they even get an entire cliche villain monologue. Neat! And the entire climax is maybe five pages and, I shit you not, is resolved with the power of love. Pure garbage.
And then. AND THEN. The author has the gall to acknowledge the Navajo Nation in her author’s note when one of the only three BIPOC characters in this book (all three of whom are Navajo), ends up Not to mention Olive calling the land on which the haunted house is built a white character’s “ancestral land”, when earlier in the book, she acknowledges that the land was stolen from the Navajo and they were “pushed out”. Yeah, okay, sure. Everyone cares an awful lot about the dead white boy on the property, but no one bats an eye about the Native lives likely lost there. Writing such poor Native rep (and I struggle to call it even that) and then tossing a last-minute mention to the people she spent the book brutalizing and erasing the history of just does not sit well with me at all. I don't understand how this all got past her Navajo sensitivity reader, but hey, here we are.
Final Thoughts:
This could have been a really powerful story about trauma and depression and mortality and death, but instead it’s just a bloated, mediocre “love story” with a dash of nonsensical paranormal flavor. Deleting it off my Kindle and going to find that promised afterlife.
March 20, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and the team at Flux for gifting me and ARC in exchange for my completly honest review.
Really wanted to rate this higher as I loved the tension during the first asylum scene. The first big scene within the house was so well described and unnerving ~ easily could have been pages longer, gotta love descriptions of abandoned buildings.
The setting gets one star alone, the spooky nature and eh characterisation get half a star each.
Unfortunately I ended up putting this book down for a few months (binge read the last 70% in one day) because: the similes.
Man, the similes really started to get me right away. Like okay we get it. I usually love over-descriptive writing. I’m even guilty of doing it in my own writing but there were times were even I felt like every action was over described constantly. Sometimes people just breathe, or sit or have emotions they don’t have to be likened to something else.
For example “made a noise in the back of my throat like a bone snapping” - I- I really don’t know how to even interpret that in my imagination because what? I get what it was going for I really do but no. (No like really, have a go - I don’t think it’s anatomically possible for us to actually make that noise with our throats). One quote I really did like however was phase “with a voice full of dirt”, that-that was eerie (and very good foreshadowing.)
Also because the repetition really got the better of me, for your reading entertainment I present the ‘Here Lies Olive Drinking Game’:
Drink everytime there’s a death pun
Drink everytime Olive brings up almost dying
double points if she mentions the cause…again!
Drink everytime Vanessa fondles her ribbon
Drink everytime Jay turns into part-skeleton
Drink every time Maron (somehow?) twists her hair around her wrists
Drink every time the word brittle is used when describing speech
Drink every time Olive’s fillings ‘jolt’, she should really get those checked.
And lastly shot for everytime you think ‘you just openly communicated you know you’re being manipulated and then completely ignoring it a sentence later and going along with it anyway — Why?’
Disclaimer: DO NOT attempt this drinking game as it will most likely lead to severe alcohol poisoning and/or death and after reading this book there may or may not actually be an afterlife for you to end up in.
Really wanted to rate this higher as I loved the tension during the first asylum scene. The first big scene within the house was so well described and unnerving ~ easily could have been pages longer, gotta love descriptions of abandoned buildings.
The setting gets one star alone, the spooky nature and eh characterisation get half a star each.
Unfortunately I ended up putting this book down for a few months (binge read the last 70% in one day) because: the similes.
Man, the similes really started to get me right away. Like okay we get it. I usually love over-descriptive writing. I’m even guilty of doing it in my own writing but there were times were even I felt like every action was over described constantly. Sometimes people just breathe, or sit or have emotions they don’t have to be likened to something else.
For example “made a noise in the back of my throat like a bone snapping” - I- I really don’t know how to even interpret that in my imagination because what? I get what it was going for I really do but no. (No like really, have a go - I don’t think it’s anatomically possible for us to actually make that noise with our throats). One quote I really did like however was phase “with a voice full of dirt”, that-that was eerie (and very good foreshadowing.)
Also because the repetition really got the better of me, for your reading entertainment I present the ‘Here Lies Olive Drinking Game’:
Drink everytime there’s a death pun
Drink everytime Olive brings up almost dying
double points if she mentions the cause…again!
Drink everytime Vanessa fondles her ribbon
Drink everytime Jay turns into part-skeleton
Drink every time Maron (somehow?) twists her hair around her wrists
Drink every time the word brittle is used when describing speech
Drink every time Olive’s fillings ‘jolt’, she should really get those checked.
And lastly shot for everytime you think ‘you just openly communicated you know you’re being manipulated and then completely ignoring it a sentence later and going along with it anyway — Why?’
Disclaimer: DO NOT attempt this drinking game as it will most likely lead to severe alcohol poisoning and/or death and after reading this book there may or may not actually be an afterlife for you to end up in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2023
Huge thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for providing this arc!
To preface - I had a pretty grand ol’ time, despite the audience that this was aimed for. I am a known lover of horror and the spooky world, so this premise already earns a handful of points from me just based off of that fact alone. The characters, while cheesy, weren’t annoying to follow along with. I really enjoyed the themes in this, as well as the representation. I have been really loving the trend of introducing LGBTQ+ themes into YA literature, and this part was overall really well done! It was intentional with the mentions but not overwhelming blaring in the way that it was introduced.
As in every general YA book, this story certainly holds your hand through a lot of the book. I went into this book expecting this much. However, the *amount* of hand-holding that goes on in this book did make it feel as though it were more middle-grade than YA. If it weren’t for the gore and ghost summoning premise I probably would have assumed this was YA. Some of the slang and overall character dialogue also made this feel more middle grade than YA—but I also think that is also due to the fact that more recently, YA has been stretching further into the ‘adult’ category than to the younger crowd.
The characters, as previously mentioned, are fine—you can’t expect much from teenage characters. The world building, however, fell a little short for me? There were parts that the author introduced the town as an interesting setting, but the descriptions and development never seemed to completely fill me in on why it was an interesting place. Additionally, the supernatural elements had a tendency of coming out of nowhere—particularly when one of the main characters suddenly had a power?
Overall, this was a great debut. Aside from my difficulty with mentally accepting that this is a YA, I had a good time and look forward to reading more of the author’s work!
To preface - I had a pretty grand ol’ time, despite the audience that this was aimed for. I am a known lover of horror and the spooky world, so this premise already earns a handful of points from me just based off of that fact alone. The characters, while cheesy, weren’t annoying to follow along with. I really enjoyed the themes in this, as well as the representation. I have been really loving the trend of introducing LGBTQ+ themes into YA literature, and this part was overall really well done! It was intentional with the mentions but not overwhelming blaring in the way that it was introduced.
As in every general YA book, this story certainly holds your hand through a lot of the book. I went into this book expecting this much. However, the *amount* of hand-holding that goes on in this book did make it feel as though it were more middle-grade than YA. If it weren’t for the gore and ghost summoning premise I probably would have assumed this was YA. Some of the slang and overall character dialogue also made this feel more middle grade than YA—but I also think that is also due to the fact that more recently, YA has been stretching further into the ‘adult’ category than to the younger crowd.
The characters, as previously mentioned, are fine—you can’t expect much from teenage characters. The world building, however, fell a little short for me? There were parts that the author introduced the town as an interesting setting, but the descriptions and development never seemed to completely fill me in on why it was an interesting place. Additionally, the supernatural elements had a tendency of coming out of nowhere—particularly when one of the main characters suddenly had a power?
Overall, this was a great debut. Aside from my difficulty with mentally accepting that this is a YA, I had a good time and look forward to reading more of the author’s work!
October 24, 2023
⭐⭐⭐⭐
🕯️𖤐 🪦🌕🎀
Here Lies Olive is the perfect book if you want Wednesday, Hocas Pocas, Nancy Drew, and (early-seasons) Riverdale vibes. I loved this YA horror story, just in time for Halloween.
Here Lies Olive follows our main character Olive, who after having a brush with death spirals into a dark, self-isolation hole wondering what the point of life is if there is nothing afterwards. All she wants is answers and what exactly happens after death, especially after seeing the one and only person she let in after the "Nothing," Mrs. H dies, and she sees the light in her eyes and recalls her calling for her Mom. She wants answers so badly that she tries to conjure the spirit of Mrs. H in an old abandoned and haunted asylum, Seymour House.
After weird things start to happen, she and her group of friends, including her ex-best friend, his girlfriend and new friend Vanessa, her nemesis/maybe crush Maren, and Jay the friendly ghost, band together to help figure everything out about Seymour House and help Jay cross over.
It's such a great plot, that even though I think I figured it out halfway through, I was still intrigued to finish and and find out the secrets. And I loved it. Not only was there a great plot, but Olive's self-journey and realizing that there is more to living than just living until there is Nothing was beautifully written. I loved her realization that she had feelings for her nemesis, and how she went about them. It's wholesome and cute.
This was a great debut by Kate Anderson, and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.
Thanks to Netgalley and Flux for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.
🕯️𖤐 🪦🌕🎀
Here Lies Olive is the perfect book if you want Wednesday, Hocas Pocas, Nancy Drew, and (early-seasons) Riverdale vibes. I loved this YA horror story, just in time for Halloween.
Here Lies Olive follows our main character Olive, who after having a brush with death spirals into a dark, self-isolation hole wondering what the point of life is if there is nothing afterwards. All she wants is answers and what exactly happens after death, especially after seeing the one and only person she let in after the "Nothing," Mrs. H dies, and she sees the light in her eyes and recalls her calling for her Mom. She wants answers so badly that she tries to conjure the spirit of Mrs. H in an old abandoned and haunted asylum, Seymour House.
After weird things start to happen, she and her group of friends, including her ex-best friend, his girlfriend and new friend Vanessa, her nemesis/maybe crush Maren, and Jay the friendly ghost, band together to help figure everything out about Seymour House and help Jay cross over.
It's such a great plot, that even though I think I figured it out halfway through, I was still intrigued to finish and and find out the secrets. And I loved it. Not only was there a great plot, but Olive's self-journey and realizing that there is more to living than just living until there is Nothing was beautifully written. I loved her realization that she had feelings for her nemesis, and how she went about them. It's wholesome and cute.
This was a great debut by Kate Anderson, and I am looking forward to reading more of her work.
Thanks to Netgalley and Flux for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.
May 15, 2023
Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers North Star Editions and Flux for this E-ARC in an exchange for an honest review.
The story revolves around Olive, who had a near-death experience two years ago. Since then she started to isolate herself and asking what comes after death. Is there just the Nothing? Just blackness we all float in? She decides to summon a ghost. A wild journey starts.
I really enjoyed the story and read through it within two days. The book involves a few heavy themes like loss of a loved one, grief and so on. But I think it's absolutely necessary that the younger generation also learns about the negative parts in life like death, griefing and loss.
The writing style is amazing and very easy to get into, which is always a good thing for me. The characters were loveable and the queer haters-to-lover trope got perfectly adapted for this story. The only issue I had was the kind of predictable antagonist in this set of characters. Unfortunately, I can't get into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but I wish it would have been less predictable, because the plot twist was no plot twist at all in the end.
Overall, a solid and very enjoyable debut by Kate Anderson!
The story revolves around Olive, who had a near-death experience two years ago. Since then she started to isolate herself and asking what comes after death. Is there just the Nothing? Just blackness we all float in? She decides to summon a ghost. A wild journey starts.
I really enjoyed the story and read through it within two days. The book involves a few heavy themes like loss of a loved one, grief and so on. But I think it's absolutely necessary that the younger generation also learns about the negative parts in life like death, griefing and loss.
The writing style is amazing and very easy to get into, which is always a good thing for me. The characters were loveable and the queer haters-to-lover trope got perfectly adapted for this story. The only issue I had was the kind of predictable antagonist in this set of characters. Unfortunately, I can't get into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but I wish it would have been less predictable, because the plot twist was no plot twist at all in the end.
Overall, a solid and very enjoyable debut by Kate Anderson!
December 12, 2023
I could read queer spooky YA horrors for the rest of my life. Here Lies Olive written by Kate Anderson was massively anticipated read for me and it did not disappoint.
16 year old Olive is surrounded by death and dying living in the dark tourism capital of White Haven. But that doesn’t make her any more comfortable with the idea of dying, especially after a near death experience left her floating in a world full of nothing. In order to find answers about if there really is more than The Nothing after death, she summons a local hitchhiking ghost Jay and teams up with her nemesis and maybe crush Maren, her ex-best friend Davis and the new girl in town Vanessa in order to find Jay’s true resting place in return for her answer.
I loved this book so much. I felt like all the characters were well developed and each served a clear purpose in the story. The imagery and setting was absolutely stunning and unmatched to anything I’ve read in a long time. The only thing I’d hoped for was a little bit more time spent on the romance, but given how much was going on in the plot, it made sense to only be a small part of the story.
Overall, Here Lies Olive was a face paced and enthralling novel that I didn’t ever want to put down. A perfect spooky read for any time of the year and an incredible debut novel.
I post about diverse & queer novels @niksreadss on Instagram
16 year old Olive is surrounded by death and dying living in the dark tourism capital of White Haven. But that doesn’t make her any more comfortable with the idea of dying, especially after a near death experience left her floating in a world full of nothing. In order to find answers about if there really is more than The Nothing after death, she summons a local hitchhiking ghost Jay and teams up with her nemesis and maybe crush Maren, her ex-best friend Davis and the new girl in town Vanessa in order to find Jay’s true resting place in return for her answer.
I loved this book so much. I felt like all the characters were well developed and each served a clear purpose in the story. The imagery and setting was absolutely stunning and unmatched to anything I’ve read in a long time. The only thing I’d hoped for was a little bit more time spent on the romance, but given how much was going on in the plot, it made sense to only be a small part of the story.
Overall, Here Lies Olive was a face paced and enthralling novel that I didn’t ever want to put down. A perfect spooky read for any time of the year and an incredible debut novel.
I post about diverse & queer novels @niksreadss on Instagram
August 21, 2023
"Sometimes it feels like the entire world is bustling around, passing hammers and nails and planks back and forth. They say they’re building something together, but I’m the only one who can see that it’s a casket."
I think we finally got a realistic depiction of the teenage hero. Olive and her friends, Davis, Vanessa, and Maren, encounter Jay, a spirit who can't pass on to the other side. For once, our teenage protagonists have no idea what they are doing. That doesn't mean they are fumbling around aimlessly, but that does mean that they make some very educated guesses and some very human mistakes.
This book has so many high points from the character development, world-building, plot, and overall writing style. It stands out from other books in this genre and is such a breath of fresh air! Of course, there are things I could nitpick over, but they are minor in terms of the overall plot. Here Lies Olive was such a great read and one that I would read again!
I think we finally got a realistic depiction of the teenage hero. Olive and her friends, Davis, Vanessa, and Maren, encounter Jay, a spirit who can't pass on to the other side. For once, our teenage protagonists have no idea what they are doing. That doesn't mean they are fumbling around aimlessly, but that does mean that they make some very educated guesses and some very human mistakes.
This book has so many high points from the character development, world-building, plot, and overall writing style. It stands out from other books in this genre and is such a breath of fresh air! Of course, there are things I could nitpick over, but they are minor in terms of the overall plot. Here Lies Olive was such a great read and one that I would read again!
August 27, 2023
Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the Arc in exchange for a honest review.
Olive learned she had a shellfish allergy and escaped "the nothing," however this left her questioning what happens after death. After Mrs. H passes, leaving Olive feeling alone, she seeks to communicate with Ms. H after death to find the answer to her question: is there an afterlife? Instead of summoning her stand in grandma, she summons a spirit named Jay. This leads her to embark on a quest to get him to his gravesite and brings Olive back to old friendships and new.
Olive was an enjoyable 16-year old main character. Reading about her struggling with her trauma and the consequences of how she coped helped me really connect with her. I wish the emotional development with her feeling towards all the side characters was more pronounced though. I really loved the involvement of culture and the descriptions of generational trauma with the secondary character, Davis. Reading about his pull to his Navajo culture but struggling with his parents, who were apart of a cultural erasure program as children, was a breath of fresh air to read about. Too often I find books do not delve into culture or cultural issues, and this was done subtly and well. The incorporation of generational trauma with the secondary characters was done great and provided so much depth and character development.
All in all I give this a 3.5-4 star review. I would recommend this to friends as an easy pallet cleansing read if someone is seeking some spooky stories with a lot of depth.
Olive learned she had a shellfish allergy and escaped "the nothing," however this left her questioning what happens after death. After Mrs. H passes, leaving Olive feeling alone, she seeks to communicate with Ms. H after death to find the answer to her question: is there an afterlife? Instead of summoning her stand in grandma, she summons a spirit named Jay. This leads her to embark on a quest to get him to his gravesite and brings Olive back to old friendships and new.
Olive was an enjoyable 16-year old main character. Reading about her struggling with her trauma and the consequences of how she coped helped me really connect with her. I wish the emotional development with her feeling towards all the side characters was more pronounced though. I really loved the involvement of culture and the descriptions of generational trauma with the secondary character, Davis. Reading about his pull to his Navajo culture but struggling with his parents, who were apart of a cultural erasure program as children, was a breath of fresh air to read about. Too often I find books do not delve into culture or cultural issues, and this was done subtly and well. The incorporation of generational trauma with the secondary characters was done great and provided so much depth and character development.
All in all I give this a 3.5-4 star review. I would recommend this to friends as an easy pallet cleansing read if someone is seeking some spooky stories with a lot of depth.
October 16, 2023
I received a copy from Netgalley for review.
So I'm DNFing at 35%. I don't know what it is about this story. but I'm just not into it at all. We follow Olive (who recently had a brush with death), Davis, Vanessa and Maren, while they try to assist Jay (who's like dead for real) find his grave so that he can finally be at rest, and maybe get some details about the ever after for Olive. Which sounds like a decent story, but I don't think it was well executed (obviously because I'm DNFing). There was just something missing to make me want to hold my interest while I read. I literally would rather doom scroll on tiktok than read this story.
So I'm DNFing at 35%. I don't know what it is about this story. but I'm just not into it at all. We follow Olive (who recently had a brush with death), Davis, Vanessa and Maren, while they try to assist Jay (who's like dead for real) find his grave so that he can finally be at rest, and maybe get some details about the ever after for Olive. Which sounds like a decent story, but I don't think it was well executed (obviously because I'm DNFing). There was just something missing to make me want to hold my interest while I read. I literally would rather doom scroll on tiktok than read this story.
September 9, 2023
I LOVED IT!
At first it was a bit boring for me because it started slowly, but as the pages turned the story began to take action. The plot twist that happened in the story I didn't expect it to happen. I saw something coming related to "that person" but not THAT, I loved that twist. I liked that the protagonist could heal it was really beautiful, not only her relationship with death but with her loves one. I loved that little rivalry that went on between Maren and Olive, how at the end of the day they are very similar but different at the same time. I love this "hate to love" trope.
At first it was a bit boring for me because it started slowly, but as the pages turned the story began to take action. The plot twist that happened in the story I didn't expect it to happen. I saw something coming related to "that person" but not THAT, I loved that twist. I liked that the protagonist could heal it was really beautiful, not only her relationship with death but with her loves one. I loved that little rivalry that went on between Maren and Olive, how at the end of the day they are very similar but different at the same time. I love this "hate to love" trope.
June 1, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I had a really tough time getting into this book. The premise sounded interesting, but overall I just don't think it was executed well. I think ultimately it would be better suited as a middle grade book (with the removal of some more YA moments) and would appeal more to that audience. Olive's mental health struggles with death were done well, as were her relationships with the other characters. As much of a horror book as this set out to be however, the supernatural aspects and ghosts represented fell flat.
September 5, 2023
A big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this arc!
I really enjoyed the spooky atmosphere of this book and how the author managed to discuss such heavy themes of death and grief in a way that feels approachable.
I absolutely adore Olive and her POV and her relationship with the other characters. Something that really stood out to me is how she’s not grieving over someone’s death–but over her own brief passing and her life.
Overall, I had lots of fun with this book and I can’t wait to read more of the author in the future!
I really enjoyed the spooky atmosphere of this book and how the author managed to discuss such heavy themes of death and grief in a way that feels approachable.
I absolutely adore Olive and her POV and her relationship with the other characters. Something that really stood out to me is how she’s not grieving over someone’s death–but over her own brief passing and her life.
Overall, I had lots of fun with this book and I can’t wait to read more of the author in the future!
September 12, 2023
3.25 Wow, this was a debut novel- it’s great for a debut for sure, not exactly my genre though. Maren is my favorite character I love her sm, I only guessed part of the “plot twist”? Spoilers; Vanessa being a ghost or whatever but not her being related to the Seymour’s and the ribbon I thought was holding her head up in a headless type of way nkt tieing her to her victims at all. The “closure” for the book and Olive felt great.
October 5, 2023
This was such an interesting and fantastical young adult book. I was immediately pulled in by the cover of this one! I loved the paranormal elements mixed into this story as I found those particular aspects to be very interesting. I appreciated how Olive’s journey to find answers about the afterlife led her to meet Jay and I enjoyed their interactions with one another while they helped each other. Overall this was an enjoyable young adult paranormal fantasy.
October 20, 2023
A perfect Halloween read, this book was quite the wild ride!
It started like any typical Disney Channel Halloween Movie: the high school drama, the Halloween obsessed town, the girl who wants to conjure a ghost. It drew me into a false sense of security and then slowly got darker and darker as the book went on. By the end of the book, I felt like I was in a horror movie, reading as fast as I could to find out what happened next and make sure my favorite characters were ok.
If you’re looking for those spooky vibes this fall, this is definitely worth checking out!
It started like any typical Disney Channel Halloween Movie: the high school drama, the Halloween obsessed town, the girl who wants to conjure a ghost. It drew me into a false sense of security and then slowly got darker and darker as the book went on. By the end of the book, I felt like I was in a horror movie, reading as fast as I could to find out what happened next and make sure my favorite characters were ok.
If you’re looking for those spooky vibes this fall, this is definitely worth checking out!
June 29, 2023
Okay this book was so much fun to read! I wasn't expecting much at the start but it just got better and better. There are definitely creepy qualities and dark vibes, but also friendship and falling in love and dealing with life's questions. I loved this story and I hope Kate Anderson writes a lot more books with this vibe.
December 27, 2023
Between the title of the first chapter and the first sentence of the book, I was immediately engaged.
Dark, gothic ambiance and classic ghost story vibes, but with modern and diverse characters that bring a refreshing depth to the story.
Very clever exploration of what comes after we die—and how to appreciate life while we have it
Dark, gothic ambiance and classic ghost story vibes, but with modern and diverse characters that bring a refreshing depth to the story.
Very clever exploration of what comes after we die—and how to appreciate life while we have it
December 20, 2023
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the author. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
This YA contemporary is full of ghosts and friendship. It's a story that explores universal themes of being scared to let someone in because they could leave us. But for Olive she finds that to help Jay she will have to make some unlikely allies, and friends. At the same time, Here Lies Olive explores the past which the world would like us to forget specifically the injustice and treatment of the hospitals and how society has treated the mentally ill and those they want to make disappear.
This YA contemporary is full of ghosts and friendship. It's a story that explores universal themes of being scared to let someone in because they could leave us. But for Olive she finds that to help Jay she will have to make some unlikely allies, and friends. At the same time, Here Lies Olive explores the past which the world would like us to forget specifically the injustice and treatment of the hospitals and how society has treated the mentally ill and those they want to make disappear.
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