Book Review: I Think I’m Alone Now by Ali Seay
Title: I Think I’m Alone Now
Author: Ali Seay
Release date: May 10th, 2024
*Huge thank you to Ali for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*
Man, I’m ashamed to say this is my first real read of Ali’s. I say first ‘real’ read, because up until now, the only thing it turns out that I’ve read of hers was her short story that appeared in the ‘Found’ anthology, and I vividly remember that one. Andrew Cull had asked if I could help read submissions for that one and recommend my top twenty of the eighty stories he sent my way, and Ali’s was easily in the top five.
But it wasn’t until she sent this one to me and I looked through her bibliography on Goodreads that I discovered that I’d not read a stand alone release of hers – but having now read this one, I’ll absolutely be making up for that.
I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting into with this one. Going in, I knew very little. Set in the 80’s – check. Teen girl – check. Creepy/odd neighbor – check. The story involving a possession element – check. And that was it. So, jumping in, I was pretty wide open for what I’d experience and boy, did this one deliver a wallop.
What I liked: The story follows teen girl, Doris – DORIE! Sheesh! – who lives with her mom. About a year ago, while home alone, some men broke into their home and she hid in the closet, only to be found. Fortunately, things didn’t progress beyond being tormented, but that hasn’t prevented trauma from taking hold. On top of that, her mom’s most recent guy friend has taken off and her older brother – whom she loves to the moon and back – has decided to move out, leaving her feeling alone and forgotten about.
She’s got a solid friend group and life is going tentatively ok. Like, lukewarm ok. Then one day, she notices her neighbor – Mr. Frank – watching her. They’ve always been afraid of him, no kid willing to even go and retrieve their errantly kicked ball in his yard.
From here, Seay unravels a phenomenally paced possession story. We get Mr. Frank’s back story, subtle (at first) changes in Dorie, before the thing that’s taken hold fully controls her and horrible things happen. Trigger warning for sure about animal harm and death for those who need it. We get some well played moments of revenge, some truly uncomfortable moments between friends and finally, Mr. Frank reveals who he really is and Seay ramps up the demonic presence within Dorie.
I think, now that I’ve let this sit for a day since finishing, that the true strength within this book is Seay’s slow-rustling of the demonic within Doris. It was intrinsic subtle at first. Barely perceptible that the reader could even contribute to trauma response or even a hormonal attribute based on her age and situation in life. But, as things progress, and we see the inner battle take place while the outer battle rages, Seay masterfully controls the double-sided narrative and gives us an epic novel’s worth of storytelling within a novella length page count.
Now, I will add, the majority of this takes place in the 80’s, but we also get some glimpses of Doris in the future, working with kids in Church groups. This played really well, especially when she recognizes the telltale signs of possession in one of the little ones she’s crafting with.
What I didn’t like: So, I did mention we get a quick snippet of revenge within, and while the scene itself was really fun and well executed, I think on a whole, it almost felt a bit too convenient. Part of this is due to the novella length (and any of us who’ve written novellas will know this happens from time to time), but I was hoping it would’ve set up a bit more of a revenge angle or subplot, but ultimately it didn’t, leaving that moment to linger and not be utilized emotionally like it could’ve been.
Why you should buy this: This novella was fantastic. From start to finish, I was gripped and racing through to see who Mr. Frank was, what Doris was dealing with and how the two of them were going to interact. Seay sets this up with a heavy air of ‘inappropriate’ and deftly sneaks away from that to deliver one of the most engaging possession stories I’ve ever read. From the time period this was set in, to the main character, to the antagonist and the climatic ending, this was perfectly played and just a truly phenomenal experience.
5/5
