surely supernatural: 8 souls by rachel rust

full disclosure: i'm the literary agent of record on 8 souls. so obviously there is a lot i love about this book. and i'm going to tell you what those things are. and why those things had me sign rachel up to be my client and why you might also enjoy this book.

as a literary agent one of the things i do to search for talent is review query letters. these are essentially cold-call emails from prospective authors telling me about their book and why i should read it. query letters are good practice for back cover copy, and i wish more authors thought of them that way. just how like a reader is in a book store and picks up your book and flips to the back to see what it's about, and then maybe opens the first page and reads a couple of sentences, that's what an agent does with a query letter.

and i'll be honest, i wasn't sure about this book rachel was pitching me. i usually read contemporary ya romance. not true crime. but this book is inspired by a true crime. check out the villisca axe murders if you haven't yet, and then read this book. anyway. i was like how is a true crime going to work as a contemporary romance? but that very question had me curious enough to keep reading though.

i usually ask that authors include the first three chapters in their query letters. rachel did exactly as i requested, which is sometimes a struggle for prospective authors, and makes it that much easier for me to say no. i also will admit that i don't always read the three chapters in full. sometimes i know in a handful of paragraphs that it's not going to work, sometimes i know immediately that i am going to want to see more. sometimes i should have more patience and read through to the end of chapter 3, but i can't help myself.

anyway, this was a case where i read all the way to the end of chapter 3. and the way chapter 3 ends, is this creepy, curious moment that had me want to know what happened next. so i requested the full manuscript. and then sitting down to read it i really just fell in love with chessie's voice. one of my favorite things about rachel's writing is that i think she has a very authentic young adult voice. chessie reads as a teenage girl in a way that really works, especially considering everything happening in this story. because it's a paranormal, and there are ghosts and other crazy things i won't tell you, and the fact that chessie is not so cynical to discount it immediately, even as she acknowledges that everything that is happening is super crazy and weird just fits perfectly.

so i read the full and i fell in love with this story. the way everything plays out. the paranormal aspects and the romance, it's just everything i love. there were moments where i found myself beyond creeped out by the thought of that true crime in villisca. even as rachel fictionalizes the story, she puts forth a theory that seems so plausible and real that it's enough to still give me the shivers and i've read this story more than five times.

i was so pleased when rachel agreed to sign with me. and even more so when entangled teen said they'd publish it. and they've done a beautiful job with the cover and have supported rachel throughout this whole process. it's all really nice to see. so that's my story about 8 souls and why i love it and how it came about and really you all should just buy it and read it and love it too.

**8 souls will publish on may 6, 2019. i'm the literary agent for this novel, and have also received an advance reader copy courtesy of the publisher.