Review: Seeing Things by Sonora Taylor

I wrote this review two months ago. I swear someday I will catch up!

Seeing Things by Sonora Taylor

Published June 2020

Dark Fiction  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon 

Source: Received for Review Consideration

Abby Gillman has discovered that with growing up, there comes a lot of blood. But nothing prepares her for the trail of blood she sees in the hallway after class - or the ghost she finds crammed inside an abandoned locker.

No one believes Abby, of course. She’s only seeing things. As much as Abby wants to be believed, what she wants more is to know why she can suddenly see the dead. Unfortunately, they won’t tell her. In fact, none of them will speak to her. At all.

Abby leaves for her annual summer visit to her uncle’s house with tons of questions. The visit will give her answers the ghosts won’t - but she may not like what she finds out.

My 2 Cents For Free!

Seeing Things is a genuinely creepy tale about a young lady named Abby who sees dead people! As if middle school weren’t tough enough. Sheesh, this poor kid!

Abby first sees a trail of blood in the school hallway. Blood no one else sees (ahhh) which leads her to a locker and more horror that again only she can see. No one seems concerned with her story because locker #751 is infamous and the stories aren’t real. Or that’s what’s she’s told. Fortunately, school is out for the summer, and Abby can put it behind her and spend some time with her uncle fixing up her grandparents' old house.

But this is a horror novel and things never go as planned. Abby thinks she’s going to spend some quality time with her uncle for the first time in years but that doesn’t really happen. She continues to see spooks who are downright rude (she gives one the finger, haha, he deserved it) and soon uncovers secrets and begins to unravel a long-buried mystery. 

There are a few different stories happening here. There’s a recent missing girl named Claire who was one of her uncle’s students (ruh oh!), the bloody scene of a summer camp murder-spree by a teen, and that infamous ghost in the locker. Abby manages to ferret out the truth about them all because the dickish ghosts won’t leave her alone. They don’t seem to be connected at first but everything ties in neatly by the end. I loved that. At times I was like “eh, there’s too much for this short novel” but it wasn’t too much and it all made perfect sense. 

This book doesn’t shy away from complicated relationships, painful emotions, and messy lives. Abby is young and full of attitude, her emotions are tumultuous and wild and she grounded the novel for me. I remember being her age. It was a crazy time of feeling ragey and upset and hurt and disappointed most of the time. As for the grown-ups? Well, for a while there I was giving many of these people the side-eye which was another thing I loved about this story. Everyone seems to have a secret or two they’d rather keep hidden. And I LOVE secret reveals. Love them to death!

The atmosphere is also done just right. Horrifying ghosts lurk all over the place wanting something from Abby and she makes it her job to figure it out. This book is dark but I expected that from the author who wrote WITHOUT CONDITION and LITTLE PARANOIAS, Sonora Taylor doesn’t shy away from the darkness and the imperfections of the human race. Life is messy and things don’t always turn out the way we hope they will.

It’s the spooky season, well it’s always the spooky season around here, but now is the perfect time to curl up with a book about sinister ghosts and dastardly goings-on and this is a good one!

⭐⭐⭐⭐