Let's Talk Books

A classic haunted house story run through with a sweet, affirming queer romance, The Haunting Between Us starts slow. Introducing the reader to the world of Port Townsend, and our two leads, Hugo and Cameron. Hugo and his dad, both still struggling with the death of his mother years prior, have bought the infamous Crimson House, a property so named for its creepy ‘bleeding’ walls. Unaware of the home’s history Hugo struggles to build relationships, but soon his friendship with Cameron flourishes… and ok, maybe it’s more than just friendship.

Over the course of the narrative Hugo and Cameron, and their friends, uncover the history of the terrifying house, keep each other safe, and celebrate the joy and excitement of adolescent romance. Dealing with terrifying spirits and casual homophobia with the same levels of devotion, care, and intensity, this novel explores the darkest elements of humanity, and the inherent goodness of people.

Eminently readable, The Haunting Between Us is also deeply YA ‘Heartstopper with ghosts’ would be my pitch line here. That is not by any means an issue, but in my opinion this did struggle, as some YA books do, to find the balance between simplistic enough language to capture the weaker or more reluctant readers, and maintaining a tone appropriate for some of the more adult themes. I do also wonder about some of the insults / jibes used. I didn’t grow up in the US, but some of those just didn’t strike me as especially believable interactions, and it really undermined the scariness of the bullies.

Overall, this was a solid read. There are definitely places where I felt this could be tighter, but it is very readable, and an exciting and engrossing story. 3 stars.