Twenty years ago, Talitha, Brett, and Gracie left their homes on Velkwood Street for the last time — hours later, the whole street disappeared... kind of. The Velkwood Vicinity, as it became to be called by paranormal armchair experts, was encapsulated in a paranormal bubble that killed anyone who tried to get in (even photography drones only survived for a few minutes) and only sporadically showed the homes of those inside (kind of like a ghostly Brigadoon). But a new researcher believes that Talitha and her friends can get inside, and is hoping he can convince them to explore the mysterious phenomenon. When Talitha reluctantly agrees, she unearths parts of her past that she never wanted to dig up.
This is a really fascinating idea for a story — the neighborhood itself is haunting the people who lived there and the nearby town — and the themes of running from the past and dealing with childhood trauma are perfect for exploration in a horror novel. However, the execution just isn't there for this book. It's a bit nebulous and not quite as scary as I think Kiste wants it to be, and while the researchers are intentionally anonymous, they come across as bland and boring rather than anonymously intimidating (which I suspect is what Kiste was going for). All in all, good idea, bad execution.
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