How the Light gets In – Book Rambler

How the Light Gets In, written by Katy Upperman

How the Light Gets In by Katy Upperman

Publication date: August 6, 2019
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Pages: 368
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Buy: Book Depository | Wordery

Synopsis:

Since her sister’s tragic death, seventeen-year-old Callie Ryan has basically given up. Her grades have plummeted, she’s quit her swim team, and she barely recognizes the people her parents have become.

When she returns to her aunt’s run-down coastal Victorian one year after Chloe’s death, Callie resigns herself to a summer of guilt and home renovations. She doesn’t expect to be charmed by the tiny coastal town or by Tucker Morgan, a local boy brimming with sunshine.

But even as her days begin to brighten, Callie’s nights are crowded with chilling dreams, unanswered questions, and eerie phenomenon that have her convinced she’s being haunted. Will Callie be able to figure out what her sister is trying to communicate before it’s too late?

– My Thoughts –

This book is SO good!!! How the Light Gets In is a perfect mix of YA contemporary, romance and paranormal. This haunting tale is about Callie who has lost her sister almost a year ago and she doesn’t know how to live on. Her father can’t see her spiraling so he sends her to live with her Aunt Lucy in Bell Cove, to help her renovate an old inn. When Callie arrives at the old inn, she meets a guy called Tucker Morgan and her dead sister.

I did NOT see this coming! The moment since Callie starts to find Chloe’s things in her room at Bell Cove, I was hooked. At first, she suspects her Aunt Lucy of playing tricks on her but later, she finds out how wrong she is. It seems that even in death, the sisters’ bond remains unbroken and that proves troublesome for Callie who finds herself in danger every time she converses with Chloe’s ghost. If this isn’t intriguing enough for you, then let me tell you about the slow-burn romance between Callie and Tucker, which is one of the best things about the book. Like the old inn, Callie lives in, Tucker is not without secrets and I didn’t expect his secrets to having a connection with Callie.

I’m not a believer in paranormal but I’ve seen people go to seances where they hope to communicate with their dead loved ones. It is said it helps bring peace and perhaps, closure. I don’t normally write my musings in my reviews but this book hit me hard. I know the feeling of wanting so badly to talk to a dead loved one for one last time. Katy Upperman has beautifully written characters dealing with the death of a loved one while piecing themselves back together. From the quiet small town with its secrets to the mysterious incidents in the house to Callie and Tucker’s romance felt real. It felt as if the book ended too soon.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book if you love Katy Upperman’s books, YA contemporary with a twist, romance with some angst, small towns with lots of secrets, and relatable characters. Please pre-order this order this book or request at your nearest library or borrow it from someone!! You won’t regret reading this.

Thanks to the publisher for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

– About the Author –

Katy’s debut novel, Kissing Max Holden, was published August 1, 2017, and her sophomore effort, The Impossibility of Us, released July 31, 2018. Her third novel, How the Light Gets In, will be out August 6, 2019. All three books are with Swoon Reads/Macmillan. She’s represented by Victoria Marini of the Irene Goodman Agency.

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