The Other Ones: a spooky, cosy LGBTQ+ romance perfect for fans of Alice Oseman

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This is billed as spooky and haunted but I perhaps would disagree, it is eerie ish but the focus is more so on recovery and healing from grief, found family and first love. I thought this was a very cute and sweet little contemporary story, but I do think the marketing for it was very misleading. I was expecting a really spooky, Halloween read considering all of the orange and pumpkins on the cover. This book doesn’t have a single pumpkin in it, and the spooky vibes are not very spooky at all. We talk about ghosts for like two chapters and then that plotline feels like it just falls off the face of the Earth. I feel like this could have done so much better if it was more focused, and the marketing reflected that. The eventual ‘plot twist’ to this story could have been revealed in a much more powerful way if the aspect of the haunted house had been built on a bit more. It turned out by then that I didn’t really care much about the mystery aspect of the book because it was so weak. The Other Ones is a queer ghostly YA love story. It centres around Sal, who lives in a haunted house, and the unlikely friendship he develops with the new boy in town, Pax. While the book has elements of a ghost story, it’s mostly about being different and finding your place in the world.

A spooky, cosy romance to curl up in front of the fire with - perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Gilmore Girls. We were promised a group of misfits finding their own "normal" together, but the plot was extremely biased towards the whole Pax/Sal romance, without the friendships being explored as I'd hoped. Regardless the book was a solid read. It’s a wholesome warm romance and I really was happy that it lived up to the comparison to Heartstopper, whilst entirely unique it has the same warm romance feeling.

Perfect for Heartstopper fans, this cute and spooky ghost story is deliciously romantic and it has the best characters. I loved it!’ – Amy McCaw Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark...

It’s definitely got MASSIVE Heartstopper vibes so if you’re an Alice Oseman fan you will likely enjoy this. It’s cute and endearing, mushy and warm just like the comic. Pax and Sal are cute as hell together and there’s something very endearing about Pax and his quirks, I thought he was actually one of the most fleshed out and unique characters here. Everybody knows the haunted house in the neighbourhood. Unfortunately this means that young Sal, who prefers to stay hidden, is thrown into the spot light. He envies an ordinary life with ordinary experiences but a strange boy, Pax, winds up on his door step, and his life grows even more complicated. Their unlikely friendship grows and flourishes, but the true meaning behind the hauntings puts their unlikely friendship at risk. United by being outcasts, Sal becomes friends with others who are just as marginalised. Sal hates standing out. But he lives in a haunted house - and everybody knows it. His oldest friend, Dirk, tries to help... but he wants to stay popular, and Sal isn't helping. Elsie was popular - until recently. Now she's on the outcast's table too... and she doesn't want to talk about it. Then there's the new boy, Pax, who won't leave Sal alone. His idea of a good time is hanging out in graveyards. And, for some reason, Sal just can't stay away. The story itself was not exactly spooky. Yes, there were mentions of ghosts and haunted houses and living by a graveyard, but, the story was light and sweet. Obviously with something sweet there must be something bitter.Unnecessary and pointless repetition of EVERYTHING Sal eats or drinks being hotter than Hell. Why? What's the point? Elsie was popular – until recently. Now she’s on the outcast’s table too…and she doesn’t want to talk about it. I don’t usually like character driven books but The Other Ones spoke to me in such a way I can only compare it to I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (which is one of my all time faves and is definitely a compliment). The writing is beautiful🥹 We are experiencing delays with deliveries to many countries, but in most cases local services have now resumed. For more details, please consult the latest information provided by Royal Mail's International Incident Bulletin.