Blog Tour & Book Look: I, in the Shadows by Tori Bovalino

Item: I, in the Shadows
Author: Christy Jane

Crushed on by Christy Jane, on January 14, 2026, in Blog Tour / 0 Comments

Blog Tour & Book Look: I, in the Shadows by Tori Bovalino

Some stories are easier to feel than explain, and I, in the Shadows is one of them. It is quiet and unsettling, romantic and frightening, and deeply focused on what it means to exist in a space that no longer fully belongs to you. When I sat down to create this book look, I kept coming back to the idea of contrast. Presence versus absence. Living versus lingering. That tension is at the heart of I, in the Shadows, and it shaped everything about how I approached this post. Check it out below and pick up I, in the Shadows, out now!

I, in the Shadows

by Tori Bovalino
Published by: Page Street YA
on January 13, 2026
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Paranormal, Young Adult
Bookshop
Goodreads

Maybe this is possession; maybe this is truly what it is to be haunted.

There’s a ghost haunting Drew Tarpin’s new room. Liam Orville has been dead for ten months and has no idea how to move on. But the longer he stays, the more likely it is he’ll degrade into an energy consuming husk—which Drew is more concerned about than her grades or her inability to make meaningful connections with other students.

Drew is everything Liam never was when he was alive, but they do share some common ground: Drew finds herself hopelessly attracted to—and completely tongue-tied around—Hannah Sullivan, who happens to be Liam’s former best friend.

After a run-in with a ghost-eating monster leaves Drew and Liam desperate for answers, they strike up a deal: In return for Drew investigating why Liam is still around, he’ll help her talk to Hannah. But Liam’s time is running out, and if Drew doesn’t help him move on, he risks becoming a monster himself.

Book Look: I, in the Shadows

For this book look, I knew right away that one outfit was not going to be enough.

I, in the Shadows by Tori Bovalino is a story about occupying space you no longer fully belong to, about grief that lingers, about identity shifting depending on who is looking at you. It felt right to split the look in two. One for Liam, who is already gone. One for Drew, who is very much still here.

The first look is Drew. T-shirt and jeans. Grounded, physical, unmistakably alive. Drew is still figuring herself out, but she moves through the world with a confidence and presence that Liam never really had when he was alive. I wanted the outfit to feel familiar and lived-in, something that reflects how Drew exists firmly in her body and in the moment. This look is simple because Drew is tangible in a way Liam is not. She is not distant or untouchable. She is right there, stepping in, protecting, choosing to stay even when things get dangerous.

The second outfit is inspired by Liam, the ghost on the cover. I leaned into soft blues and movement, something that feels present but not solid. The blue dress mirrors the spectral quality of the cover art and the way Liam exists in the house, half memory and half shadow. There is a quietness to him, even when the danger around him escalates, and I wanted the look to feel calm on the surface while still carrying that sense of unease underneath. It is gentle, almost still, which felt right for a character who has already lost so much.

What I love about the premise for I, in the Shadows is how those two energies collide. Liam’s lingering fear and longing. Drew’s willingness to fight back. The story balances tenderness, horror, and longing without letting any one element overpower the others. The eldritch threat is terrifying, but the emotional stakes are just as sharp, especially when Hannah enters the picture and the lines between past and present start to blur.

This book is eerie, emotional, and deeply human. It is about love that does not get resolved neatly, about wanting to be seen even when you are not sure you should be. Splitting this book look into two felt like the only way to do justice to that tension.