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. ( )