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I think I've hurt my vocal cords after screaming too much! Well, Josh Malerman seemed to see through my bluff when I insisted I rarely get scared by horror movies and novels because real-life experiences are more terrifying than fiction. He raised the level of fear for pretentious readers like me a notch higher! Now, I'm on the verge of panicking, afraid to walk in my own house. Every cracking sound makes me jump down to the floor, covering my head with my hands and closing my eyes, counting to ten thousand. That's how my dear husband found me and took pictures, which he shared on his Insta, already garnering 15 thousand likes! I hate my life!

Anyways, writing a book review without giving too much away is the toughest job, especially for this book. I can barely say a few words to define the plot. Here they are: Little Bela meets her imaginary friend, "the other mother," who lives in her closet and sometimes appears at her bedside, chatting and giggling with her. She even mentioned her existence to her momma Ursula and daddo Russ, and they acted like it was a joke. But when the other mother talks about carnation or reincarnation, and Bela refuses to let her into her heart, things take a dark turn. As more days pass, Bela realizes the other mother is not her friend; she's an entity that truly wants to enter her heart, growing stronger and following her everywhere. When Bela's family's foundation starts crumbling down, the entity becomes even stronger.

Bela is not the only one who sees her, and there's no escaping this monstrous entity. It traces every step Bela takes. What happens if Bela decides to say yes? Can she save her family, or is there a way to kill the monster before it takes her heart? If there is, what would be the cost?

Oh boy! I've never been so scared by any book! It chilled me to my bones; my blood ran cold! I'm honestly whispering because I lost my voice from screaming at each chapter. I couldn't take it anymore and covered my eyes not to read more, but my prankster husband took the book, read aloud, and dropped it as he cried like a baby! I'm not exaggerating, guys; this book scared the living daylights out of me! But it's incredibly good! The narration style was like it's written by a child, which was a bit distracting, but it never failed to send shivers down my spine.

I cannot give less than 5 stars to this book, the fairest grade, but I warn you—it's extremely spine-tingling. You might want to leave a light on when you sleep for weeks and invite all your relatives to sleep in your living room together for a month. That's how frightening it is. But, absolutely, I recommend it to horror lovers looking for something creative and mind-blowing!

I hope this book gets adapted into a screenplay so I can hit the theaters to watch and scream through the scenes like an opera lady or young Jamie Lee Curtis.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballentine/Del Rey for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

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