I'll start this by saying that The Dark Place is not something I would have normally read--it's outside of my comfort zone and tackles themes that I think are very important. I loved every moment I spent reading. It's discomfort is part of the narration and it makes one think--the book leaves a lasting impression.

Thank you, Britney S. Lewis, NetGalley, and Disney Publishing Worldwide/Disney Hyperion, for sending me with an eARC of The Dark Place.

Wow, the Dark Place had me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed this book. The plot was really interesting and everything that I thought was gonna happen, really did take a nice turn.
The characterization is stellar. The protagonist as well as the side-characters in the novel from arc’s is fantastic. It was complex, interesting and well-written. In addition, the writing style was excellent, especially the environment. The tone is dark and mysterious and gripping. It really does make the world feel more alive. Overall, the Dark Place has a well-drawn out plot with lovable complex-characters with suspenseful twists which will make readers crave to see more from Lewis.

The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis is an intriguing and haunting sci-fi novel that will keep readers guessing. With its intricate plot, well-crafted characters, and unexpected twists, this novel keeps readers on the edge of their seats, eagerly turning the pages to uncover the truth.
The story centers around the enigmatic protagonist, who finds herself haunted by a traumatic event from her past. As she grapples with her own inner demons, she becomes entangled in a series of mysterious and unsettling events that blur the line between reality and nightmare. Lewis's writing style is atmospheric and evocative, creating a sense of unease that permeates the narrative.
One of the standout features of The Dark Place is Lewis's ability to craft complex and layered characters. The protagonist's internal struggles are portrayed with authenticity and nuance, making her a relatable and compelling figure. The supporting characters are equally well-developed, each with their own motivations and secrets, adding depth and intrigue to the story.
While The Dark Place is a gripping and atmospheric novel, there are moments when the pacing feels slightly uneven. Some sections could have benefited from tighter editing to maintain the intensity and momentum of the story. Additionally, a few plot elements may require readers to suspend disbelief, but they do not detract significantly from the overall enjoyment of the book.
In conclusion, The Dark Place is a captivating and suspenseful YA sci-fi novel that will satisfy fans of the genre. Britney S. Lewis's adept storytelling, combined with well-drawn characters and unexpected twists, make this novel an engrossing read.

The unsettling feelings built to an emotional and heart-rending end, but one that felt incredibly healing and I was rooting right along with Hylee the whole time.

Britney S. Lewis has weaved a heart wrenching, intriguing tale of grief and love that spans across time. The Dark Place is an utter page turner.

Lewis is fantastic at creating a setting that feels real. Her writing is incredibly atmospheric and immersive, it’s like I could feel the air around me, the setting twisting and morphing as the protagonist — Hylee — moved throughout the world, making discovery after discovery.

The plot was intriguing and had me incredibly curious, and I was eager to get answers — it was a mystery I couldn’t quite figure out until a few pages before it was revealed. And my god, the heartbreak. I felt such sorrow for Hylee, mixed in with joy and relief as she finally had the answers she was looking for, and for the brief moment of hope that came with them.

I loved how this book dealt with grief, and how it is different for everybody. No one person grieves the same. I also love how this book dealt with memory, and the way we remember things. How what you recall may be accurate, but it was one piece of a larger puzzle that you weren’t able to see at the time.

I didn’t expect for time travel to be a part of this novel, but I really enjoyed it. I do wish we had a bit more to why Hylee’s experiences were so different from Eilam’s (unless I missed something in my eager page turning). I felt it was briefly touched upon but could’ve gone further.

I liked how this book also touched on friendship, although I do wish, again, that we had a bit more of that. A lot of Hylee’s relationships (or lack there of) with her friends felt rushed and underdeveloped, as Lewis spent more time on the “main” plot.

Sometimes I found the pacing off this book to be off. At times, it moved incredibly fast. At others, it lagged. It was a weird balance that could never quite find its footing, which was disappointing, but it didn’t impact my enjoyment of this novel by a large degree.

The horror elements were written well, I most certainly felt a fright with some of the descriptions. It was unnerving! This goes back to Lewis’ fantastic skill at creating imagery that jumps off of the page.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. It wasn’t what I expected to be (time travel) and that was a delightful surprise that I enjoyed.

The Dark Place by Britney S. Lewis was dark and twisted with romantic undertones. This book was poetically written and I enjoyed the pace of the plot line. The characters were witty and easily relatable. I was impressed by the writing style, and I haven't read anything like it, it was unique and artistic which I appreciated. Overall highly worth the read. I loved the cover too, it perfectly reflects the dark yet artisitc nature of the book.

Absolutely incredible story that will keep you guessing. The creepiness factor is off the charts, which makes it even more appealing to YA readers. One of my favorite horror YAs I’ve read this year.

"One.
Inhale.
Two.
Exhale.
Three.
I was gone."

17 year old Hylee keeps getting sucked back in time to the worst night of her life; the night her brother disappears. The night that sets off her continuous jumps between the present and… somewhere else. Now, she has to solve the mysterious disappearance for her brother and for herself.

—

This book has such spooky vibes and feels like the perfect transition book from light summer reads to the moodier darker vibes of fall. With an august 2023 release date, it comes at a perfect time to ease you into your more sinister TBR pile.

The book has been likened to Jordan Peele’s films and I can definitely see it as a inspiration source. However, while Lewis definitely embraces the Get Out and Us vibes she still keeps her voice present in the story.

Hylee, the main character in the story is just trying to figure out herself, her new family dynamic, and her new home all while navigating grief. What I loved about her character was that while she grew within the story it was slow and often times a little messy. She had moments of reflection where she could recognize the duality in the world around her but it was in a way that very much seemed appropriate for someone her age. I loved that we witnessed her clouded judgement and mistakes as well as her ability to learn how to communicate. It was fun, scary, and had a sweet little hint of romance.

I also enjoyed a lot of the horror elements but found that sometimes they would be pushed to the back-burner in favor to some of the more sci-fi elements in the story. The horror felt more successful in that we were really in those moments with Hylee. It felt real, gripping, and even relatable. I was often reminded of the many sleep paralysis demons I’ve faced lol.

Once thing I did struggle with was the pacing in the story. It took me a long while to get into the story and it was a little heavy on the foundation of the story. However, once the story is going, I was fully committed. I finished it in like 4 hours and didn’t want to put it down. But another thing revealed itself while reading and that was the fact that the beginning felt like it had too much time and the rest of the story had soooo little time. This lead to a few friendships being underdeveloped and a strong desire to be left in certain key moments a little bit longer.

Despite the pacing issue, I really enjoyed this story. I didn’t want to put it down and it kept me on my feet! I actually let out some gasps at different revelations and I definitely shed a tear at the end!

A Special thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC to me for Review.

This was such a fun read! The concept was really cool - I loved that the horror elements were mixed in with the science fiction of time travel, it was something I haven't seen done before. I liked the plot- the mystery and darkness sharing its seat with mundane high school life with a little bit of romance (which was so sweet I loved them so much). The way her time travel was paralleled with her grief, and how unravelling and learning more about one ended up bringing her closer to closure and acceptance with everything going on with her family, that was really well done. The second half of the book was definitely my favourite part, it was high stakes, there was a cool twist when she goes back and accidentally messes up the timeline- I wish this was explored a little more; seeing how a small shift can completely rearrange the family dynamics etc.

I feel like this book tried to do a lot of things, so some things felt a little brief- like they could've been explored in more detail. The science of time travel was touched on but was compared to Marvel/superheroes a lot (it felt like a shortcut to explain it without actually explaining how it was possible). I would've loved if we got more scenes with his grandpa talking about his experiences with different times and dimensions etc. There were also those really lovely flashes of memory/future/parallel realities where the two MC's are having really sweet, fluffy moments- I would've liked to have at least one full scene where they used time travel to do something fun - even just as a short epilogue, but their relationship definitely could've been explored more.

The interpersonal relationships (aside from her and her brother) felt kind of filler-y, her best friend who she ends up telling her biggest secret to only had a couple scenes worth of page-time. I really wanted to see more of their friendship, how it would help the MC heal a little more of her grief and maybe come out of her defensiveness a little. Speaking of, I really appreciated how self-aware the MC was of her own behaviour. She knew when she was doing something wrong/mean etc. and especially with Eilam, we see on-page reconciliation which I LOVED!! More often than not YA protagonists are oblivious to their own behaviour (especially bad/toxic) so this was really refreshing!!

Structurally, this one fell a little short for me. The pacing felt very sporadic- the middle section felt very stagnant compared to the start and the end which were very action-packed so it dragged a little there. I would've liked if maybe the time-travel training could've happened IN different timelines, it would've made the stakes a little higher and it feel less repetitive. I also would've liked if the time travel element was introduced - just a paragraph of general introduction (even if it was just a marvel lore or something like that) to set it up, because it felt very paranormal and then when the science-y time travel was revealed it felt a little anticlimactic. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the flowers growing out of their mouthes image - I really loved the idea of monstrous, invasive foliage incorporated into the physical bodies of the alternate characters but this felt a little cheesy. The ending was good, I liked the image of vines and greens growing around her brother after being trapped there for so long- like that world was consuming him slowly, stitching his mouth closed. I think if that was the tone from the start it would've leaned more into the horror which would've been fab. Sentences also started with verbs a lot, which was a little jarring to read - "Couldn't pinpoint" instead of "I couldn't pinpoint".

Overall, it was a fun read and the concepts were really cool but the execution could have been more focused.

Chills, tingles, butterfly flutters!! This was a such an easy read due to the flow of the writing and quick pace of the storyline. I absolutely adored this book! The Dark Place was truly haunting and heartbreaking, and the romance subplot was genuine and sweet and hopeful. I would read this again which I don't do that often.

Spoilers below!

I don’t know what I expected from this but I loved it! Although it was a simple book I had such a fun time reading this.

The story follows Hylee, a 17 year old who went through a traumatic event and now finds herself “disappearing”. I really enjoyed the main character and her struggles as well as the romance and mystery aspect of the story (although I am not a huge romance fan).

I didn’t see any of the twists or reveals coming and was shocked with what Hylee discovered. I would love to see a sequel of her investigating her uncles disappearance!

The Dark Place is a beautiful story of grief, friendship, self-discovery, and mystery. Britney S. Lewis is a master at imagery. I could picture the dark place and the vining threads weaved throughout the story so well that it was hard to read at night sometimes!

I really loved the relationships throughout the book. Eilam and Hylee had great chemistry, her relationship with her grandma had a lot of depth, and her various girl friendships were so relatable—even with the surface conflict of the friendships being time travel!

My only wish is that the ending was longer. I felt that the resolution was a bit rushed; I wish we could have had more.

(I also loved all of the references!)

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and was honored to receive an eARC. I can’t wait to see what Lewis does next!

Thank you Britney S. Lewis for posting your giveaway on Twitter and allowing me to come across this and read this amazing book! I love science-fiction and magical realism and it is so rare that you get to read this type of book with a Black main character. Lewis incorporates African American culture and family skillfully in this narrative. I can really relate to Hylee as the second child and first daughter of the family and always feeling like you have to fix what’s wrong with the family. The Dark Place is an amazing read that I’ve already been recommending to my friends!

This fascinating story crosses between Stranger Things and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Suppose you like a complex love story with the dark and mysteriousness of the upside-down and a parallel universe on a loop. In that case, this is the story for you. This is Britney's sophomore novel. The Dark Place follows a Seventeen-year-old, Hylee, who finds herself with the ability to vanish on a night her brother goes missing during events that change her family dynamic forever. This story is a walk with grief, trauma, love, friendship, family, and secrets. It reveals how only together can we heal and move forward. Brittney lucidly writes of PTSD and dissociative amnesia. This, paired with the mystery of her brother and the multiverse, makes for an intriguingly dark and twisted story of what's real and absent and how we must find and face it. It cleverly brings to life the physical manifestation of grief so exquisitely. This story also questions the preordained destiny of soulmates and how sometimes, lovers are timeless and fated. This tale was thoroughly researched and mapped out; it has it all. There are no lulls. This action-packed and emotionally heavy story takes you on a whirlwind. This is a five-star must-read.

Content Warnings: Murder, Alcohol/Drugs, Graphic Violence, PTSD, Trauma, Mental Health

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This books has got the be the most anticipated read of the year! Idk what it is but the darkness and recall to memory from the main character, Hylee, gives me so many chills! I went through all of the emotions with her and it actually caused me to look within. This book is truly a work of art

Hylee Williams doesn’t know why she can disappear, only that when she does, she’s thrust into a dark, rotting version of the night that has defined most of her life: the night someone violently broke into her house and her brother went missing.
She’s convinced that this terrifying place is the key to understanding what happened to her brother, but she can’t seem to stay in that other place long enough to get the answers.
When she meets Eilam Roads, he seems all too familiar despite having never met. And when she disappears right in front of him, she has two options - lie or reveal her secret. “Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world--and in herself.”


This book was stunningly creepy, and I could feel The Dark Place lurking on every page. There were so many things that I loved about this book.
The horror time travel element was so unique and effective and allowed us to really see all of these parts of Hylee and her internal world. It served so well to explore Hylee’s grief and processing of her trauma. I loved the bit of romance that develops (we all love to see a grounded, stable, positive love interest!!). Eilam is my favorite. And it’s so refreshing to read teenagers that actually act like teenagers! Britney Lewis does an incredible job at creating characters that make teenage decisions and say teenage things realistically, and I think that this book is going to be so important and meaningful in the hands of teens who need it.
In addition to the horror and time travel plot, we get complicated familial relationships, friendships, and Hylee’s own journey of grief.

I really enjoyed how the end wrapped everything up, but won't say more in order to avoid spoilers!

This is a wonderfully spooky book about coming to terms with the things we can't change and the ways that the past can fester and haunt us.

I devoured this in a single day and enjoyed every page.

Thank you Britney Lewis, NetGalley, and Disney Hyperion for the advanced readers' copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is not my first Britney Lewis book and The Dark Place will not be my last. Britney Lewis has the ability to write complicatedly, beautiful dark stories that hold vivid characters that are hard to forget. I loved the pop culture references woven within the pages of the book also it gave beautiful background to such an engaging story.
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Seventeen-year-old Hylee Williams didn't ask to disappear. But she did disappear, and not only that, but when she vanished from our world, she materialized in a dark, twisted version of the night that changed her life forever: the night her older brother went missing.

Just as Hylee realizes this moment could be the key to unraveling the truth about her brother, she's yanked away from the dark place back to our world. Craving a sense of normalcy, she goes to a party with her best friend--where she meets Eilam Roads. Tall, handsome, and undeniably, inexplicably familiar, Hylee can't help the pull she feels towards him. It's a classic teen girl-meets-boy situation, until it happens again. She disappears, right in front of him.

Together, Hylee and Eilam investigate the truth about time, space, and reality, with Hylee increasingly convinced her time travel holds the key to saving her brother. But the more they learn, the more Hylee begins to see darkness lurking in her world--and in herself.

Britney S. Lewis's sophomore novel combines the quotable relatability, swoony romance, and emotional resonance of John Green with the surrealist horror imagery and razor-sharp wit of Jordan Peele. At once haunting and enchanting and entirely unforgettable.

I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to read, the chapters weren’t really long and it was well detailed. The scene was set really well and the people were described in detail. None of the characters were irritating, I liked them all.
There was so much packed into the story and I really liked it. I wasn’t expecting the time travel part of it, I was expecting more house of hollow vibes rather than time travel. But I’m not disappointed. I felt like the author had a lot of knowledge on the subject, I felt like I was learning a lot whilst reading which was nice.
The romance was great too, I didn’t get cringed out and it wasn’t over done. The two main characters had great chemistry and you can really feel that whilst reading.
I do feel like the ending was a tad rushed, most of the book was slow going then in the last 100 pages it was all crammed in. I didn’t hate it, I just wished the author spaced the story out more of that makes any sense. I also wish we got an epilogue too.
Overall, I really really did love this book, it was dark, twisty, intriguing and informative. I was fully engrossed the whole way through. Highly recommend to anyone thinking about reading this to definitely do it. It had a great uniqueness to it.

Diet horror, grief, loss, secrets.. time travel? The dark place is a great story of all these things and a great introduction to the horror side of YA. Hylee is a complex character and what I loved most about her besides her bizarre time travelling to another dimension is that when she makes a mistake she owns it, she’s not afraid to say this is why I did that but I’m sorry for how I handled it which is a great lesson to all ages. Lucia can get lost, if my best friend suddenly has what’s basically a superpower I would be low key obsessed and I’d never leave a party and go home without knowing where my friend/s are that came with me.

You're 👏🏼 gonna 👏🏼 wanna 👏🏼 read 👏🏼 this. And you're not gonna put it down til it's done.

Time travel, dimensions, universes, mysteries, grief, romance, this story has it all. If you're a YA reader/fan and enjoy a tense story with a sprinkle of love, this is for you.

This gripping, YA mild-horror/sci-fi follows Hylee; a 17-year-old in the midst of starting a brand new school following a mysterious phenomenon that left everyone- including her- shocked and unwary.

We follow her adventures with a new, yet familiar friend that holds your interest from the moment the two characters cross each other's paths. Together, with a lil ✨romance✨ they deep-dive into the possibilities of what exactly is going on.

The pacing is a bit off for my personal taste, it feels rushed in some parts, and too slow in others- but overall, my final rating is a 4/5. If you have the patience for slightly inconsistent pacing, it'll be a 5/5 for you!


**I would love to see a prequel to this book, and I hope the author considers it!**


I received an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review- my review is 100% honest