Description: Seventeen-year-old Egyptian-American Mina avoids dwelling on her heritage or her mothers mysterious death, but when an invitation brings her to El Agamy, Egypt, she returns home with a malevolent entity and must work with Jesse, the morticians son, who has family secrets of his own, to get rid of it.
Review Quotes: In her YA debut, Hashem delivers an engaging, cohesive, genre-blending novel, executing the concept of a monster that weaponizes isolation with clarity and mounting suspense and seamlessly incorporating Egyptian Arabic and other culturally rooted details. Mina and Jesse's developing relationship is grounded in mutual vulnerability, bringing a warmth and romantic intimacy that effectively strikes an equilibrium with the horror elements. Mina's struggle to belong, to understand her family's past, and to reconcile the parts of herself shaped by two worlds gives the novel a lingering emotional depth. A gripping, atmospheric blend of supernatural terror and the aching work of reclaiming agency.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
--School Library Journal (starred review) Hashem mixes this chilling supernatural mystery with a satisfying, slow-burn romance that adds additional stakes to Mina's fight to survive, while developing Mina into an emotionally complex protagonist readers will genuinely fear for. The structure of the story moves through different time periods, settings, and viewpoints to slowly reveal the terrifying entity behind this generational curse. A well-earned but heartbreaking conclusion sets this tale apart from its peers.
--Booklist (starred review) Hashem (The Jasad Heir) gifts readers a high-stakes, genuinely scary YA thriller and a delightful love story in one.
--Shelf Awareness (starred review) Mina's strong narrative voice is imbued with witty sarcasm and introspection, and Jesse is more than her match in clever banter. They've got a sparking chemistry that is sure to make romance fans swoon. . . .
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Part teen drama, part paranormal thriller and wholly entertaining, Where No Shadow Stays is a book that readers won't be able to put down--and it might continue to creep them out after the last page has been turned.
--BookPage