i wanted to read this book because the format sounded a lot like house of leaves and that is one of my favorite books, i'm always trying to find anything remotely like it. this definitely did have a bit of that feel - being told through diaries, letters, emails, interviews, and video footage transcriptions - but it was also a hugely watered down YA version so not NEARLY the same level of mind fuckery, but still very good. 
 also, and this really is a good thing although it made parts of it kind of annoying, these teenagers actually read like teenagers. like they say really stupid stuff they obviously think is witty and/or charming and as a reader you're sitting here like 'are you fucking kidding me' because you're so used to reading teenagers that are written as acting like adults, but i found it to be incredibly realistic, at least remembering how annoying i was when i was a teenager. 
 my main problem with the book was about the fake scottish voodoo type thing the author made up. i was wondering the whole time if it was actually a real thing then at the end of the book in the author's note it says: 
 The Scottish Mala and Grundi aspects of this book are fictional, inspired by a childhood of travel and exposure to various cultural, tribal, and religious beliefs. 
 so ...basically you took a bunch of ethnic religous and magical practices and blended them together and gave them to some white people from scotland. i mean i know it takes place in england so it's easier to do that based on proximity but ...come on. also one of the [white] people practicing this magic is named haji, which is a word with a lot of different meanings but the most prevalent one is as a racial slur so like ...why??? did she do that??? the entire thing rubbed me the wrong way so i just want to mention that as a note to people who may read this.