A really odd surprise comes part-way through the book where the author decided to weave in a darker part of Charleston’s culture, namely ghost walks/tours. The kids first hear a phone call where a character is discussing someone being hanged and another being killed by a tree (later found to be a part of those ghost tours). Later at a cemetery on a tour, we hear “You can feel the spirits in this cemetery, unsettled, moaning”. During this there is discussion of the first female serial killer with a creepy story of how she would kill victims. There is talk of the Grey Man ghost killed by a falling tree and believed to now haunt the coast. An author’s note calls the actual Charleston ghost tours “creepy and beautiful”.

On a related note, the plot of the book leads to a lot of talk about murder, killers, etc. None of this is very dark or scary, but it is good to know it is there.

There is a character that is a “medium” (something Christians are told to stay far away from). When Chloe contacts her she says she dreamed that Uncle Will had died. Tarot cards are referenced. To make this worse, Chloe turns to her mom about this topic for wisdom and when asking if she thinks psychics are real mom unfortunately shrugs and responds, “Whatever gives people comfort is a good thing, right? Doesn’t really matter if I believe it or not. Sometimes people just need relief for all the stuff rattling around in their brain. That might look like a therapist or a preacher or a psychic – whatever helps” (note that we think comments like this are much more potentially damaging than we think at first glance!).

We usually only make a side-note of random cultural references, but in this book a) there are a TON of them and b) several are bands/artists that Christians would never want their kids listening to. Here is the list: The Beatles, Taylor Swift, true crime podcasts, Kiss, Beastie Boys, Scooby Doo, anime, Facebook, Stevie Wonder, Pokémon, How’s Moving Castle, Mardi Gras, Powerpuff Girls, Def Leppard, craps (game), Eagles, Prince, Spiderman, Dolly Parton, Van Halen, Twisted Sister, Clue (movie), Jaws, Lynyrd Skynyrd, blackjack, Fast and the Furious, Dirty Martini, zombies, White Stripes, Saturday Night Live, vape pen, Pink Floyd, Motley Crew (some songs listed).

The following point is made, but obviously with no theological backing to help young readers (i.e., no explanation of the sin that has infected every aspect of this world, the coming diving judgement, no one being a ‘good person’, etc.): “Why him? I don’t understand a universe where a guy like Will has to die, and people like that awful Jaws woman get to keep running around, being terrible and lying and cheating and taking advantage of people. It’s not FAIR!”. Similarly, your readers are left hanging here as well, “Where is uncle Will now? Like not his body. We leave that behind. Our church says a lot about life after death, and I’ve been thinking about that lately. I do believe in Heaven, but I still have so many questions” (again, left hanging… plus this reference to church doesn’t appear in any way in the families lives that we are shown in the book).

Chloe tells us that the art teacher shares with students that “Pablo Picasso was a bit of a creep, and that we should not google him, which of course makes us all google him” (which will of course tempt young readers to do the same).

These are certainly very modern, secular, not-the-best characters:

Chloe is not the best character at times. For example, she remarks that her family is “always so serious about everything. Grades! Soccer! Vegetables! Ugh. I’m so sick of it.”

Grandma sneaks cigarettes. Mom and grandma are said to be drinking an “adult beverage”.

Grandma instructs Chloe, “Don’t tell your mom. She’d freak.” (even worse, Uncle Frank echoes this advice later and Chloe decides that they are right). This leads to dishonesty throughout the story towards mom.

There are some non-ideal sibling interactions. Chloe refrains from making fun of her brother because she needs his help. Jacob calls her a name that is short for pipsqueak, which he knows she hates.

Even the beloved Uncle Will has a few not-great moments: “Uncle Will believed in manifesting things – believing in them so wholeheartedly, you make them happen. Kinda like an answered prayer”.

A few other things to be aware of:

The following specific mystery books are referenced: The Strangers, We Were Liars, On of Us is Lying, The Inheritance Game, Agathe Christie novels (some by name).

The following things appear in the text: vampire red, eye rolling, devilish grin, yogic breathing, being lucky, carpe diem (referenced quite a bit), neon beer sign, Netflix binge, rom com.

The following terms are used: Oh crap, fart-soaked, idiots, pissed, god-awful.

The following terms are used irreverently: the Bible, prayer, hallelujah.

A character remarks, “The universe is telling me I need Cheetos”.

The kids at school are said to all refer to After School Service by the initials (which spell a curse word).

There is a point about a human behavior potentially coming from evolution.