I WAS A TEENAGE DEATH GOD

A haunted teen whose touch siphons moments of life from people hunts for answers to save their twin sister and the boy they love from the consequences of a bargain with a ghost.

All of Charlie Ford’s problems involve Lou, the ghost of a teenage girl who emerged when Charlie was 4 from the chorus of disembodied murmurs that have always haunted them. Unlike the others, Lou has a clear demand—she wants the life force that nonbinary Charlie involuntarily steals whenever they touch another person, and if Charlie doesn’t give it to her, she’ll kill Charlie’s twin, Sam. Charlie has steadfastly refused to take any life force from Ravi Jaiswal, their trans best friend and secret crush—which means never touching him. After Ravi confesses his feelings to Charlie and Charlie rejects him, Lou follows through on her threat: If Charlie won’t steal moments from Ravi’s life, Lou will have to take them from Sam. Torn between protecting the lives of their love and their sister, Charlie can no longer hide the truth about their powers from the people they’re closest to. Beasi delivers absorbing drama, romantic tension, and a first-person narrator who balances snarky humor with vulnerable self-awareness. At times the worldbuilding connected to Charlie’s powers feels awkwardly wrested from reticent characters rather than seamlessly unfolding within the mystery. Charlie is white, Sam is cisgender and queer, and Ravi, who has two moms, is cued South Asian.

A gripping debut with a promising narrative voice.