Publishers Weekly
04/08/2024
Eighteen-year-old Mae Mansour is the only person who believes that her disappeared older sister Inez is still alive. Seizing the opportunity to escape her overbearing parents, Mae drives from rural Pennsylvania to clean out her sister’s Brooklyn apartment. There, she meets Inez’s charming neighbor Dev, who offers to help Mae investigate Inez’s vanishing. As they scour the apartment for clues, Mae finds a painting—entirely white except for a tantalizing curl of paint peeling from the corner—and a notebook detailing the work’s sordid history. Unwilling to let this lead slip away, Mae and Dev embark on an impromptu road trip to solve the mystery of the painting, during which they become embroiled in a sinister paranormal plot whose origin spans decades. Metoui (A Guide to the Dark) wields frequent flashbacks rendered in sensorial prose to craft a tightly paced thriller that deftly touches on issues of forced cultural assimilation and parental pressure. Though the ending may leave readers with more questions than answers, Metoui delivers a tale of love, obsession, and betrayal that’s a wild ride from start to finish. Mae’s parents are from Tunisia; Dev is of Indian descent. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary. (July)
From the Publisher
★ "Masterfully written, this is a deceptively charming horror story that also skillfully weaves in romance, sacrifice, and heartbreak. Thrilling intrigue that leverages desperation and deception in almost equal measures." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Metoui doles out the history of the painting slowly, intensifying the unease . . . Mae’s dogged need to discover the truth fuels this suspenseful paranormal thriller about selfish greed." - Booklist
"[A] tightly paced thriller that deftly touches on issues of forced cultural assimilation and parental pressure . . . Metoui delivers a tale of love, obsession, and betrayal that’s a wild ride from start to finish." - Publishers Weekly
"Metoui has woven a twisting tale of desperation, sisterhood, lies, and what you’re willing to give up–or destroy–in pursuit of what you want most. This book left me reeling…and you’ll never look at a white painting the same way again." - Andrew Joseph White, New York Times bestselling author of Hell Followed With Us and The Spirit Bares Its Teeth
“Metoui weaves in so many twists and turns, mystery fans will be frantically turning the page to see what comes next!" - Sara Farizan, award-winning and critically acclaimed author of If You Could Be Mine
PRAISE FOR MERIAM METOUI'S A GUIDE TO THE DARK:
★ "Readers will have trouble putting this one down even for a minute." –School Library Journal, starred review
"Metoui masterfully handles perspective...themes of grief, fraught and romantic queer connections to a friend, and familial expectations are thoughtfully explored."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"A ghostly mystery and an impactful exploration of grief and loss." —Publisher's Weekly
"Introspective, character-driven, and—most importantly—haunting."—Kirkus Reviews
“Terrifically haunting. A Guide to the Dark delves into the complexities of grief and the frightening metamorphosis of ghosts that aren’t put to rest. Meriam Metoui has created something spectacular.”—Chloe Gong, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of These Violent Delights
“Meriam Metoui’s exquisite debut is a bone-chilling story about grief, guilt, and what happens when our deepest secrets refuse to stay hidden in the dark. A Guide to the Dark will crawl under your skin and stay there long after you’ve closed its pages.”—Aiden Thomas, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and The Sunbearer Trials
“Chilling, sultry, and smart. . .this slow-burn horror story hooked me with its portrayal of two friends navigating an attraction amidst fears both earthly and uncanny. . .as well as its probing of the fine line between grief and guilt."—Jodi Lynn Anderson, New York Times–bestselling author
“Fabulously creepy and compulsively readable. Part roadside horror, part cozy mystery, Metoui breathes life into the genre by exploring the tangled roots of friendship, love, and guilt. Chilling photography complements beautiful prose for an altogether innovative storytelling experience. I’ll think twice before checking into a motel again."—David Arnold, New York Times–bestselling author of Mosquitoland
"Peppered with black-and-white photographs, this emotionally raw story explores loss, grief, queerness, and family expectations through contemplative alternating-narrative perspectives. A delightfully haunting and insightful debut for horror and thriller fans." –Booklist
School Library Journal
08/01/2024
Gr 8 Up—Mae's sister, Inez, went missing over six months ago; the police and her parents have given up on finding her, and the trail has gone cold. But Mae is haunted by memories of her sister and stubbornly refuses to believe she is really gone. When she arrives at her sister's Brooklyn apartment to clear out her things, she not only meets Inez's mysterious and attractive neighbor, but also finds a large white painting in the space. The paint is peeling, and it is in an old and ornate frame, but, most importantly, there is something off about it—Mae isn't sure what. What follows is a mysterious unraveling of the painting and the people who have owned it in the past and a quest to find out what actually happened to Inez. Metoui's second novel is atmospheric and tense, with plenty of twists and turns, and is well paced and engaging. VERDICT A thoroughly engrossing novel, with a satisfying plot and enough mystery to stay up all night reading, sure to cause goosebumps.—Tara Peace
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2024-04-05
A girl’s search for her missing sister peels back a deeper mystery.
Inez moved to Brooklyn five years ago to get her master’s in art history, but she’s been missing since December, and now it’s July. Eighteen-year-old Mae has volunteered to pack up Inez’s apartment, and so their Tunisian immigrant parents give Mae their car for the three-hour drive to New York from their small-town Pennsylvania home. When Mae arrives, she’s surprised to encounter Indian American Dev, the neighbor boy who’s ostensibly watering the dead plants in her sister’s studio. For his part, Dev is surprised to learn that Inez has a sister. What other secrets might Inez have kept? As she searches the apartment, Mae comes upon an 1891 first edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Inez’s diary hidden under the floorboards, and, in the back of a closet, an all-white painting like the one Inez has been researching, along with a business card for a Boston art dealer. Mae is sure this painting is somehow connected to her sister’s disappearance, and Dev offers to help with her search. He’s attractive, and he knows a side of Inez that Mae doesn’t, so she agrees. Still, he’s not exactly forthcoming with information, giving her half answers rather than complete truths. Masterfully written, this is a deceptively charming horror story that also skillfully weaves in romance, sacrifice, and heartbreak.
Thrilling intrigue that leverages desperation and deception in almost equal measures. (Paranormal romance. 14-18)
