Thank you so much to the publishers, Chicken House, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Sal lives in a haunted house.
He longs to be ordinary, but when the strangest of strangers arrives on his doorstep – a fellow outcast called Pax – his life grows even more complicated.
Sal goes on to develop an unlikely friendship with Pax, whose love for all things spooky drew him to the house and its inhabitants. But as the two grow closer, the true nature of the hauntings is gradually revealed.
Will Sal find the courage to conquer his ghosts, or will he risk losing Pax for good?
The Other Ones is the perfect book to read this Autumn! If you are a fan of Heartstopper then you will love this one.
The overall vibes of this book are absolutely perfect for autumn and halloween. The town it is set in feels like something out of Hocus Pocus or Gilmore Girls and it is excellent. It is blurbed as a spooky and haunted book. I would actually say it is more of an eerie book focusing on other things. It has a big focus on recovery, healing from grief, first love and found family.
I enjoyed the characters in this book. Sal and Pax are both endearing and together they are adorable. Sal is a caring, unique and resilient main character. I loved reading about him and seeing how he deals with the grief he is currently facing. Pax was easily my favourite character. He is possibly the most well-rounded of all the characters. I loved his quirks and how unique he was.
I would have loved to see a bit more depth to Sal’s two other friends. Both Dirk and Elsie play quite big parts in the book but we don’t get to see much of them. I just wish we had got to learn a bit more about them both and their stories.
The way that The Other Ones covers the topics of grief, found family and first love is excellent. We see all the emotions that Sal goes through and how that effects his daily life. I liked seeing how differently him and his sister deal with the grief they are facing.
I will certainly be keeping an eye out for other books by Fran Hart. This one really put me in the autumn mood and had all the vibes I was looking for in an autumn book. It is a wholesome romance book that certainly lives up to its Heartstopper comparison whilst still being unique
Overall, I would definitely recommend picking up The Other Ones, especially if you are looking for a YA perfect for autumn.
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