Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein.

Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein. Pub. Walker Books, April 2018.

This first novel is a psychological thriller for high school students and young adults that will have you spellbound from start to finish. The finish will have you panting for breath and screaming at the characters to get a bloody grip. It is frightening.

The main character is Tash who is sixteen going on seventeen. She narrates the story in two time spells, the present and when she was eight. For Tash there is no such thing as a fresh start because her past keeps haunting her in a continuous loop.

When Tash was eight she started seeing an invisible friend called Sparrow. Invisible to everybody else but visible to her and totally frightening. “I am here to play with you. Who invited you? You did”. Sparrows appearance coincided with two events. The birth of Tash’s brother Tim and the disappearance and later discovery of 8 year old Mallory who was her friend and who she says was taken by Sparrow.

Everybody is upset especially Tash’s parents and the appearance of Sparrow is put down to “Attention seeking”. Mallory stops speaking and her family move out of the district.

In the present Mallory and her parents move back into the district and for Tash all the psychological damage comes back. She starts a relationship with Mallory’s brother Morgan and subsequent events blow the whole disappearance of Mallory and the appearance of Sparrow into the open.

The writing is rich in metaphor for example Morgan is described as having boy band hair and you can see it as you read. Dialogue between the teenage characters is sharp and believable.

If you miss this one you will kick yourself.