I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Sully is ready to get out of Hearst, Pennsylvania. With a fashion internship secured, the gender-nonconforming eighteen-year-old is trading in their stifling small town for the big city. Sully even sells their beloved car, to Bread—er, Brad—the most boring (and maybe only other) gay kid in town.

When Sully’s internship goes up in smoke, they’re trapped in Hearst with no cash—and no car. Desperate, they go to the thrift store, their personal sanctuary. There, they discover a vintage bag—like "put this baby in an airtight case at the MET" vintage. If Sully can authenticate it, the resale value would be enough for a new life in the city.

But when they begin to investigate, Sully finds themself haunted. Literally. With the ghost of Rufus, a drag performer from the fifties with no memory of how he died standing—no, floating—in their bedroom, Sully’s summer has a new purpose: 1) help this ghostly honey unlock his past and move on and 2) make bank—after all, the Real Real doesn’t take poltergeist purses.

With Rufus in tow, and Brad—who’s looking pretty scrumptious these days—playing chauffeur, Sully delves into the history of the town they’re so desperate to escape. Only to discover that there might be more to Hearst than they ever knew.

Short and Sweet Review

Let Them Stare takes place in the small town of Hearst Pennsylvania, where our main character Sully is gender non-conforming 18 year old ready to leave this town in the dust. Sully has an internship lined up but on the day they’re supposed to leave the internship goes up and smoke and Sully is left to figure out where to go from there. When Sully finds a Butler bag they’re super excited until they find a ghost is inhabiting the bag. Over the course of the book we see Sully help Russ figure out why he’s stuck in this town and we learn that maybe there’s more to Hearst than just being a small town.

I found this to be a really cute book and one that I was able to finish quickly. Sully is our main character and they’re ready to get out of their small town but when the internship that was supposed to give them a way out is canceled they don’t know what to do. Sully is gender non-conforming and a lot of people in their small town don’t know what to make of that. I do like that Sully had a support system and mainly their mother who always had their back. We also see a bit of a romance between Sully and Brad. Brad is working for Sully’s mom and is also the only other gay person in town. Their relationship started off as a fling because Sully thought they were leaving town but they did end up spending more time together when Sully ended up staying and Brad even helps with the mystery. Now more about the mystery. Sully finds a Butler bag at the thrift store and he knows how valuable it is he just didn’t realize it came with a ghost named Russ. Russ is a ghost from the early 1900s and he grew up in Hearst. Russ was a special character because he was able to relate to Sully and even though he was from a different time period the problems he faced then are still relevant to what Sully is currently going through. Sully begins to Russ understand why he’s still around and they end up discovering there’s a lot more to the history in Hearst than they originally thought.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and seeing how it was a book about acceptance and friendship. I liked the plot and seeing how things unfolded and I think Sully and Russ needed each other and they came into each other’s lives at the perfect time. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone in need of a book with entertainment and a message about self love and paving the way for those after you.