Thanks to her best friend and crush, Blake Abrams, who performs CPR, 16-year-old Altagracia “Grace” Martínez is revived. While she’s recovering, Grace, who’s a bisexual filmmaker and musician, finds her world forever altered when she begins seeing the dead everywhere. Most notably, a ghostly teen named Mohammad Ahmadi, who died in 1987, appears in her bedroom wearing a noose. Grace, who’s grieving her mother’s suicide two years earlier, starts investigating Mohammad’s death. She faces skepticism from her friends, self-absorbed father, and judgmental stepmother, all while decoding Mohammad’s messages, which he delivers via retro song lyrics. Her search for the truth uncovers buried family secrets, political corruption, and even La Llorona herself. The author offers an original premise with cultural depth, high emotional stakes, and intriguing themes of grief, family legacy, and identity, which ground the supernatural elements. However, deeper exploration of fewer plot points would have led to a richer reading experience. The key relationships, especially that between Grace and Blake, would also have benefited from more depth. The cast of characters, which is diverse in both ethnic background and sexuality, adds richness to the narrative. Grace presents Mexican American, Blake is Jewish, and Mohammad is Afghan American.
