NOT DEAD ENOUGH

A teenage girl must deal with the aftermath of a complicated tragedy.

After Charlotte’s boyfriend, Jerry, dies in a car accident the night of prom, everyone around her assumes she must be heartbroken and wants to reminisce about what a great guy he was. But Charlotte knew a different and darker side of him: Jerry wasn’t the golden boy everyone thought he was, a secret she’s been desperately trying to keep. Charlotte is trying to live a normal life while attending therapy to treat her PTSD from the events leading up to that night and also grappling with mixed feelings about Jerry’s death. When she starts receiving texts from her dead boyfriend, she realizes she might be in danger. With the help of her friends and a new romantic interest, Charlotte must figure out if the source of everything going on is paranormal—or maybe something even more sinister. Neiheiser’s prose is confident and compelling, but with the blending of thriller and paranormal genres and the inclusion of multiple serious themes, such as trauma, alcoholism, and abuse, the story occasionally feels like it’s trying to accomplish too much without enough room to do everything justice. Nevertheless, the pacing makes for a riveting page-turner with genuinely scary and nerve-wracking scenes that does a mostly effective job of tackling the complicated events. Most main characters are cued white.

Goose bump inducing and thought provoking.