The girls are never gone

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

On the heels of a recent breakup with her boyfriend, queer, implied-white teen and paranormal podcaster Dare Chase, who has type 1 diabetes, volunteers to spend July on the Arrington estate in New Hope, Va., to investigate 17-year-old Atheleen Bell's mysterious 1992 drowning. Acting as part of the estate's renovation team, Dare makes fast friends with Quinn Reyes, the new owner's pretty college-age half-Boricua, half-white daughter, and Holly, 18, a white local intern interested in the house's haunted history. By day, the teens work together to restore the crumbling house; by night, they uncover its unnerving secrets--including a series of drownings in the estate's vast lake, beginning with that of the original owner's daughter in 1871. But the more the trio uncovers, the more the house and the lake seem determined to claim them as its next victims. Marsh (the Reign of the Fallen series) establishes a chillingly gothic atmosphere, where house and lake are as much characters as the living and the dead. Though the comparably static adult characters have their part to play, the three clever girls at the center of this unsettling narrative steal the show. Ages 12--up. (Sept.)

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 7 Up--A horror mystery that will keep readers guessing until the end. Dare Chase enjoys all things supernatural, but she's never experienced anything supernatural herself. She's visited supposedly haunted places, sat in the dark all night waiting to feel or see something, and has even starred in a YouTube show, all to no avail. However, a new project is calling and after a breakup with her boyfriend, her costar on Strange Virginia, Dare decides to start a podcast documenting her experience at Arrington Estate, the place where Atheleen Bell mysteriously drowned. Under the guise of volunteering to help renovate Arrington as a museum, Dare packs her ghost hunting gear in hopes to discover what really happened to Atheleen. The story is a little slow to start but interesting enough that readers will stick around until it heats up. Dare is a Type 1 diabetic and information about how she lives with this condition is sprinkled throughout. She is also bisexual, but her sexuality is not at the forefront of the story even when a relationship blossoms. All characters are well written and developed and added details make them feel authentic. Not for the faint of heart; some grisly descriptions are included. The race of most characters is not mentioned, but one character has light brown skin and is half Puerto Rican. VERDICT An excellent choice for libraries in need of horror, mystery, and suspense novels.--Lisa Buffi, Sterling M.S., VA

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Nancy Drew meets Ghost Hunters in this queer thriller. High school junior Dare Chase is headed to New Hope, Virginia. After her boyfriend broke up with her, their ghost-hunting YouTube series came to an end. Now, she has accepted a monthlong internship restoring the Arrington Estate where 17-year-old Atheleen Bell mysteriously drowned in 1992--the subject of Dare's new podcast, Attachments. Dare clicks with the two other interns: Holly, a local teen desperate to leave her hometown, and college student Quinn, who is assisting her mother, who owns the estate and wants to convert it into a museum. As Dare and Quinn take tentative steps toward a romantic relationship--Dare's first with another girl--the trio begins to experience signs of the paranormal, including scratching in the walls, a haunted doll, and ominous painted messages. Could the spirit of Atheleen be responsible, or does the mystery go even deeper? Marsh gives Dare a strong, confident voice, portraying her Type 1 diabetes as a challenge she gains strength from learning to handle responsibly. The female-centered cast is shown to be both complex and human. Segments from Attachments appear only at the beginning and end--the story would have benefited from more--and the backstory grows heavy, leaving readers with too many names to track and derailing the otherwise exceptional plot. The book follows a White default; Quinn has a White mom and Puerto Rican dad. A detail-bloated but utterly addictive ghost story. (Paranormal. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Once we've crossed the bridge, we take another dirt road, this one less traveled. The path ahead is studded with the occasional rock that makes Mom gasp when it plinks against the windshield. At last, we reach the base of the gentle slope up to the house and begin a slow crawl along the driveway. Paradise Lake looks murkier up close, less pristine than it did from above on the bridge, as it laps at the shore to our left. You'd think the water in a lake called Paradise would be a little less muddy. Out my window is a wooded field. Most of the trees have been reduced to stumps poking out of the earth like jagged teeth, no doubt waiting to be ground to dust to make way for a visitors' parking lot. The house itself watches our approach through shattered eyes, having taken a few rocks to its front windows. It's just as big as the beast it appeared to be in pictures, though less polished. It crouches against the trees that flank it on either side, as if trying to disappear into the sprawling woods, afraid of someone seeing the slight sag in its double-­story columned porch, the lingering graffiti stark on its white, peeling sides, the overgrown lawn, the moss that clings patchily to its shingles. Behind the house, farther away than they appear, the mountains, those huddled blue giants, see everything. Was Atheleen Bell happy to see this place when her family arrived? Did she flash her wide, carefree smile, imagining thesummer adventures she'd have on the grounds? Did she--­like I soon would--­shoulder her bags and stride eagerly toward the porch, her little black-­and-­white cat at her side? Or did she shrink back from the sight of the neglected building starved for love? Perhaps it looked less forbidding in her day, even though it was old back then, too. By the time Mom stops the car as close to the front door as she seems willing to get, the afternoon clouds covering the sun have stained the mountains the deep plum of a bruise. I lean against her, inhaling the familiar scents of coffee, dog dander, and spring meadow fabric softener--­of home. "You're sure you want to do this, baby girl?" she asks softly, frowning up at the house. "You're just salty because you're going to miss my cooking for a whole month, and you'll have to order takeout every night," I try to tease, but as I follow her gaze, my voice gets smaller until it vanishes altogether. There are secrets in that house, concealed by cracked paint and faded grandeur. Who knows what I might dig up during the renovation process ahead? Perhaps evidence about the life and death of a girl my age--­and I'm ready to explore. I'm not leaving without some insight into Atheleen's final days and a bigger follower count. The Arrington Estate is a dark place, but I like the dark. It's content, it's quiet and empty. Just as I've done so many times before, I'll reach out into the darkness, safe in knowing nothing ever reaches back. Excerpted from The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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