I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU

Those who love you will always be with you; those who control you will never let you go.

Los Angeles teenager Maya is about to graduate from high school. She and her longtime girlfriend, Alana, set out on a hike to see the superbloom of brilliant wildflowers in Antelope Valley, just like they do every year. Maya, who struggles with anxiety, loves Alana fervently, even though she can be mean and cutting, dismissing Maya’s needs whenever she actually manages to voice them. Showing some real strength, Maya breaks up with Alana as they stand among the flowers—and then, after Alana mocks her, Maya leaves her there without a ride. But back at home, Maya’s anxiety flares—Alana hasn’t reached out to Maya or her own mom; what if something happened to her? Soon, Alana is declared missing, and Maya is anxious that she’ll get blamed for ditching her. In a panic, Maya returns to the lake house where her family used to summer, and where ghosts, both literal and figurative, haunt her. This eerie and captivating debut manifests deep-seated internalized trauma as living paranormal metaphors. The narrative reads like a gothic romance that acknowledges the intense damage that unhealthy relationships can cause: Maya, who suffers from depression and panic attacks and experiences emotional abuse at Alana’s hands, courageously struggles for the right to live for herself and pursue her own happiness. The teens are both white.

A healing paranormal tale.