How the Light Gets In by Katy Upperman Blog Tour-Review and a Giveaway!

How the Light Gets In, by Katy Upperman
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: August 6, 2019
Length: 336 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 5/5

Since her sister’s tragic death, seventeen-year-old Callie Ryan has basically given up. Her grades have plummeted, she’s quit her swim team, and she barely recognizes the people her parents have become.

When she returns to her aunt’s run-down coastal Victorian one year after Chloe’s death, Callie resigns herself to a summer of guilt and home renovations. She doesn’t expect to be charmed by the tiny coastal town or by Tucker Morgan, a local boy brimming with sunshine.

But even as her days begin to brighten, Callie’s nights are crowded with chilling dreams, unanswered questions, and eerie phenomenon that have her convinced she’s being haunted. Will Callie be able to figure out what her sister is trying to communicate before it’s too late?

Nothing makes me happier than a new Katy Upperman book being out in the world. Thank god it’s my turn on the blog tour so I can finally talk about it!

♥ Katy writes the BEST guys. No one is ever going to take Max’s place in my heart, but Tucker is trying awfully hard! He is sweet and kind to Callie, even as she tries hard to resist his charms. But the first time she meets his friends, they tell her he talks about her all the time, and his tattoo and water polo muscles pull her in.

♥ Callie takes time to warm up. Her sister died a year ago, and Callie is still carrying a lot of guilt. Her parents haven’t really done anything to help, and in my opinion, are trash people.

My automatic reaction to anyone who questioned my parents used to be “I know they tried their best, they were doing their best, it was the best they could do at the time.” But a few years ago, my therapist told me very matter-of-factly, “That wasn’t their best.” IT WAS SO FREEING, YOU GUYS! Not all parents are shit people, and you can definitely choose to forgive them when they mess up. But they are not always going to do their best. They are just people, and sometimes they are going to behave badly. So when I see parents acting like this in books, I like it. I think it’s a good reminder to teenagers especially that parents are imperfect people who are definitely Not Doing Their Best all the time.

♥ Okay here’s where things change course from a typical Katy Upperman novel: once Callie gets to her aunt’s house for the summer, things start…happening. Weird things. Like, flowers appear when she wakes up from a nap, her sister’s swim cap and other belongings show up randomly. She even starts to see the ghost of her sister. And it is LEGIT SCARY.

I told Katy awhile ago that this book reminded me of one of Lifetime Movie Network’s October/Halloween showings, which is one of the highest compliments I can hand out as I love almost nothing like I love Lifetime movies.

Final Thoughts: Look, this book is wonderful. It’s signature Katy Upperman swoon and cute boys, only this time with GHOSTS and SCARY! What is not to like here?? It’s also beautifully written, will have you thinking about restoring an old Victorian mansion on the cliffs by the sea, and will make you hug your sister close even if she lives across the country so you have to just send one (LOVE YOU ELLIE)

Favorite Quotes: “She’s gone, an iridescent bubble, light and breezy, suddenly- carelessly- burst.”

“Maybe animals probably sense sadness the way they sense approaching storms; I wouldn’t want to be around me either.”

“It’s a problem, the way I look forward to talking with him now.”

All quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof of the book

AUTHOR INFORMATION

katy upperman Katy’s debut novel, Kissing Max Holden, was published August 1, 2017, and her sophomore effort, The Impossibility of Us, released July 31, 2018. Her third novel, How the Light Gets In, will be out August 6, 2019. All three books are with Swoon Reads/Macmillan. She’s represented by Victoria Marini of the Irene Goodman Agency.