Forgotten Hills by Renee Lake

From the publisher: What do you do when you find a centuries-old dead woman in the basement? Come to Forgotten Hills Cemetery and Mortuary and find out! When Thana and her sisters reclaim their ancestral home, they have dreams of making it a thriving business. Little do they know they’ll also be dealing with a curse and a ghost and will uncover a family legend. Together they must expose the secrets buried in Forgotten Hills—without killing anyone in the process.

Things I liked:

• An Own Voices title
• Hispanic main character
• Bi and lesbian representation
• Engaging story that was easy to read
• A predictable but satisfactory HEA ending
• Deliciously creepy rather than graphically horrible

Things I didn't like as much:

• Some clichéd language (e.g., “She tasted like booze and cranberry, he tasted like…home.” p. 20 of the ARC)
• Breaking of the fourth wall (e.g, “Thana reached back out to the police and tried to pester Draven again, but both were, excuse the pun, dead ends.” p. 38 of the ARC, and “‘Earth to Thana,’ Lola said, throwing a flower, but let’s be honest, it was really a weed, at her head.” p. 112 of the ARC)
• Although it is pretty polished, there are areas that would benefit from a good editorial review

Setting aside some predictability and implausibility (really, your family has a curse and you don’t make sure to pass on all the relevant info to your descendants?), this was a fun read that was spooky without being too scary.

I read an advance reader copy of Forgotten Hills from Netgalley. It is available through the Galesburg Public Library as an ebook, and a print copy is on its way.