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?

My Review

“Guilt is a vulture.
Guilt picks me a part.
Guilt never, ever flies away.”

Have you ever been in a reading slump before? Where you pick books that you think will bring you out from that funk but those don’t seem to work? I was there for the past few weeks. So I’ve picked something unconventional for getting over that slump and this definitely did the trick.

From the start, I knew that this was going to be the book that saves me because it reminded me of one of my favorite Katie McGarry books. Plus it made me forget about my own demons lurking in the shadows.

Losing a loved one is always hard to deal with. Everything you see or touch will bring back fond memories of the time you spent with that loved one. Callie is going through just that at a very young age. One night, her younger sister goes missing and the family learns the heartbreaking news the very next day. That Chloe has passed away. After that, Callie’s world crumbles around her. She quits the swim team, lets her grades plummet, disassociates herself from everything and everyone, and pushes the boy she fell for far, far away.

Her Dad is terrified to see her travel down this destructive path, so he gives her two options for the summer. Attend a summer camp or go to a small coastal town and help her Aunt renovate an old victorian home. Not really ecstatic about either option, she chooses to stay with her Aunt all summer.

Once Callie gets to the small town, she’s moody and closes up. Not letting anyone into her life but that all changes once she meets Tucker. Tucker is the boy that her Aunt has hired to take care of the lawn and other various locations outside on the property. There’s an instant connection but she doesn’t allow him to get her to open up just yet.

Then something mysterious happens, her sister’s belongings keep popping up in random locations. And then one night she spots her walking in the grass in the same yellow dress that she was buried in. She’s now convinced that she’s being haunted by her late sister. Will Callie finally find the closure she’s looking for?

How the Light Gets In was a decent book. I wasn’t expecting all the ghostly happenings, plus the secrets to the victorian house and I really enjoyed that aspect of the story. This was the exact read that I needed to pull me out of my reading slump. I’m really excited to read more books by this author, she has a lot of heart and you can tell that she has more stories to bring to this world.

Rating: 3/5