Review Detail

The Lonely Below follows Eva as she has just started attending Blythe Academy yet this isn’t a normal school. Eva learns that fifty years ago the school collapsed and killed a classroom along with the teacher and things have been different ever since. Eva starts running into ghosts which causes her to believe that there is more to the school collapse than what she was told. What will Eva discover? Will she be able to save her friends and herself from these ghosts?

What I liked: The instant I opened this book I fell in love with our main character because it's so rare for me to find books with autistic characters. I appreciate the way that this book depicts autism and anxiety and how this shows how so many of the autistic traits are only exacerbated by anxiety.

Something else that I appreciated about this book was how the author incorporated issues that are important to people of color, more specifically Black individuals. I enjoyed the conversation that Eva had with Vee and Ami about Ami being biracial and Vee being Afro-Latina. The author also brings up important issues about being a person with a disability and the ways others view individuals with disabilities. I loved the moment when Eva stood up for herself and chose not to accept an empty apology and the comments included. That was a moment in which I was cheering for Eva and proud of her.

The moments in which Eva is taken into the past and seeing things from back then are intriguing and make it hard to put the book down. These scenes were intense and I enjoyed getting to read them as they transported you into the story. It is in these moments that you see the school really come alive and you get to learn more about the backstory.

Final Verdict: The Lonely Below is a great spooky time read for children ages 9 and up. There are enough moments in this book that will have you on the edge of your seat but nothing too scary for a younger audience to handle. This book will have you up all night to finish reading it, and then you will need some time to relax afterward to calm down from what you just read.