The Other Side of Dark by Sarah Smith

Every since Katie Mullins' mother died she's been going crazy. She talks to her dead father every night and she sees a young boy at the park who no one but dogs see. But Katie still doesn't believe she sees ghosts, just that she's making these people up. Because people don't really see ghosts. If she did that would just make her crazier. When she meets a boy from her school named Law, who can look past the fact that she might be crazy, they begin to work together to save a house in their local park:  Pinebank. The house is more than it looks: an abandoned, burnt, cruddy old house. The house is hiding some secrets about who owned it, how it was paid for, and what mysterious box is hidden in the basement. So Law and Katie must work together to save the house and deal with the romance, race, and ghost-seeing obstacles in their way.

The Good: So I am going to begin with the ending. This books last 50-60 pages or so made the book. Without them this book would probably be down to a C. So try and stick with it I promise it will be worth it. Now back to the beginning, this book was absolutely not what I was expecting. As some of you may know, I hate summaries on the backs of books. They are way to spoilery for me; it’s the reason I write my own. So when I decide to read a book it is usually based on what other people have said about the book or I will read a bunch of book summaries at once that way when I go to read the book I don’t really remember what it’s about, only the basics. So anyway, all I remembered of this book is a crazy girl who sees ghosts falls in love with a boy. Boy, was I surprised. But this book is definitely worth reading if your interested in a very unique blend of romance, supernatural, real life, and history.

The Bad: I am going to be right up front and say this book is dark. It’s depressing. It’s even a little disturbing. It is no happy, bubbly summer romance; it’s quite the opposite. So be prepared to read it slowly, maybe take a break from it for a while. It is really going to make you think so tread carefully. That said, another big problem in this book is some sentences made no sense. I would read them over and over and still be so confused and this happened a lot. I’m not sure if I was just being spacey or there was something different about Smith’s writing but it was somewhat annoying to not know what was going on.

Ugly Updates: Smith has written several mystery novels and one historical novel for adults. The Other Side Of Dark is her first and only book for teens. I do not believe there will be any sequel to this book. The Other Side of Dark comes out November 2nd. Pre-order it here. And check out Smith's site here. 

Overall: B

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