Grief is a common theme to explore in media, and I feel like it's even more present in the horror genre. At face value one might think, "do we really need another story about dealing with the loss of a loved one?" And at face value I might agree that the concept has been tackled just about every way already, but This Thing Between Us proved to me that there are still interesting ways to keep the topic fresh in a way I've never seen before.

The sales blurb for this book pitches it as a ~what if your Alexa was haunted~ kind of story, but there is so much more going on here. There is some truly sinister and malevolent shit happening to poor Thiago (who is one of the most interesting and likeable protagonists I've come across in a while) and there were at least two scenes that had me sitting upright and thinking "whatthefuckwhatthefuckwhatthefuck." There was also a Mexican folk twist on the story's events involving brujas and mentions of El Cucuy that made it feel distinct from generic cosmic horror.

I liked all the characters, specifically the relationship between Thiago and his mother-in-law and how that changes after his wife's death (this occurs before the story even begins, so it's not really a spoiler). Everyone's decisions and dialogue felt natural and logical, subthemes of gentrification and immigration were treated fairly and didn't come across as heavy-handed, and I got legitimately spooked at parts. This book is a quintessential example of what I think horror literature looks like at its best. This is an easy auto-recommendation.