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by Kara A. Kennedy
This emotional debut thriller follows a teen girl being haunted by the ghost of her toxic ex-girlfriend, who gives her a chilling ultimatum—help her possess another girl or go down for her murder.
Maya has always belonged to Alana. After four years of dating, and on the precipice of graduating high school, Maya has been too terrified to consider the idea of life outside of their volatile relationship. Until she finds the courage to break up with Alana while they're hiking in Southern California.
Then Alana goes missing. As the police get involved and the media run wild with the story, everyone seems to think that Maya is lying about Alana's disappearance. Secretly, Maya knows they're right: if Alana's dead, she's the one to blame.
But that's not Maya's only secret. Alana isn't gone, not really—and she isn't going to let Maya go so easily…
"A healing paranormal tale." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] sun-drenched paranormal thriller debut." —Publishers Weekly
"This gripping thriller debut, with its harrowing take on toxic queer love....nails its portrayal of emotional abuse, possessive relationships, and the pain of letting go." —Booklist
"A blistering exploration of the ugliest and tenderest parts of love, Kennedy turns the classic ghost story on its head. Refreshing and painful all at once, this story won't be leaving my mind for a long time." —Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark
"A modern ghost story told with hauntingly beautiful prose." —Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge
"Both a twisty horror-thriller and an emotionally complex character study, I inhaled this in one obsessive gulp. If this is Kennedy's debut, we are not ready for the full height of her power." —Laura Steven, author of The Society for Soulless Girls
This information about I Will Never Leave You was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Kara Kennedy has been telling ghost stories—and sometimes living them—since childhood. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University, where she worked as a writing tutor for years. Kara is an Author Mentor Match alumna and a Pitch Wars '21 mentee. She lives in Pennsylvania with her partner and their two kittens, Roanoke and Renegade. I Will Never Leave You is her debut novel.
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