Violet, Vail, and Dodie return to the home they fled eighteen years earlier, summoned by the ghost of their long-missing brother, Ben, and his unsettling plea to “come home.” Fell, New York has always been a place where strange things happen: a mysterious drowning at the local motel, a young girl found dead by the railroad tracks, and the Esmie sisters’ own terrifying childhood visions. After Ben vanished during a simple game of hide-and-seek, their parents drifted away emotionally, the hauntings escalated, and the girls ran as far as they could. Now Violet, who still sees ghosts, including the menacing presence she calls Sister, must reunite with her siblings as Ben finally leads them toward the truth they’ve feared for decades.

I’m a big fan of Simone St. James. Her mix of mystery and paranormal is usually such a perfect cocktail for me and this book definitely carries her trademark atmosphere and themes. I will say that I kept forgetting it was set in the 90s and not the present day, and that threw me off more than once. I’m still not sure how I feel about that choice, but I digress. I wanted to love this story, and I did enjoy most of it; I just felt like the answers toward the end lacked a bit of clarity, leaving me not quite as satisfied as I hoped to be.

What did I love? The shared universe. The nods to The Sundown Motel and The Broken Girls made my little reader heart so happy. I adore when authors tuck in those subtle crossovers. And the siblings were genuinely compelling: broken in different ways, bonded in others, and trying to piece together the truth about what really happened to Ben. Getting POVs from each of them added a lot of depth and made their relationships feel lived-in and complex.

In the end, it was really just the fuzzy answers that kept this from being a new favorite. I’m landing at 3.5 stars, rounded down to 3. I’d still recommend giving it a shot, especially if you love an atmospheric setting, messy-but-loyal characters, and Simone St. James’ signature hauntings.

AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKSHOP | ★★★★

A Box Full of Darkness comes out January 20, 2026 Huge thank you to Berkley Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.