Paper Ghosts

By Sarah Addison Allen
** Publication Date 1 September 2026 **
4 stars




This book threw me back to my junior high years when feathered hair, bell bottoms, and Charlie’s Angels (the TV show) were all the rage. While Wills, one of the main characters, was actually in high school at this time, I could still identify with the era, something that is always fun.


There’s a little bit of ghost story in this one. As the Wester women possess abilities that deem them witches by their town. Wills, or Willamena, is raised in her family home by her grandmother Alice Wester. The Wester women seem to always know things about everyone - and aren’t afraid to use it against them. Wills is expected to marry whom Alice wants her to, and she will inherit it all. However, she can never leave their small North Carolina town. If she does, she forfeits everything.


In her senior year Wills falls for the wrong man, and a terrible thing happens in the Wester house. Something that will forever change Willamena. Yet she vows to not become what her grandmother was.


The story shifts to Willamena’s granddaughter later in the book, and as expected. Wills is distant, but again, vows not to repeat her grandmother’s mistakes. In doing so, Wills seems distant and in some ways admirable to her granddaughter Bailey. But as Bailey grows older, will she become victim to the same mistakes Willamena and Alice made before her?


I was not expecting this book to be what it was. It was mesmerizing. Willamena is a typical teenager in so many ways, but also not because of the restraints put on her by her grandmother. Terrible things happen in the Wester house. Really, Alice and her mother before her are awful people. Allen writes them so realistically. Willamena turns out to be not much better than the women before her, but in different ways. The character development is deep and at times, difficult to fathom. 


A well written book is one that stays with you even after you finish reading. There are elements of this story that will stick with me for a long time.


Definitely not a romantasy, yet I still enjoyed it very much! It was actually a really great deviation from my recent romantasy binge.
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