How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (2025)

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

Glasgow uses Tiger's gaze to look not only inward at her own grief, but through a wider lens to account for other kinds of grief, loss and pain too. The result is powerful, and a must-read for anyone who needs language with which to discuss loss...continued

Full Review (562 words)

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access, become a member today.

(Reviewed by Michelle Anya Anjirbag).

Media Reviews

BookPage (starred review)

An honest and extremely harrowing read.

Booklist

[A] standout....Tiger's distinctive, haunting voice will be hard to forget.

Kirkus Reviews

A gritty, raw account of surviving tragedy one minute at a time.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (1)Alyssa Sheinmel, New York Times bestselling author of A Danger to Herself and Others

Beautifully written and profoundly moving. From page one, Tiger Tolliver grabs your heart with her pain, her courage, her humor—and she doesn't let go. Tiger, Cake, and Thaddeus (and Mae-Lynn, and Shayna, and Lupe, and LaLa, and Sarah, and Leonard, and June ... all of Glasgow's deeply wrought characters) will stay with me for a long time to come.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (2)Alyssa Sheinmel, New York Times bestselling author of A Danger to Herself and Others

Beautifully written and profoundly moving. From page one, Tiger Tolliver grabs your heart with her pain, her courage, her humor—and she doesn't let go. Tiger, Cake, and Thaddeus (and Mae-Lynn, and Shayna, and Lupe, and LaLa, and Sarah, and Leonard, and June ... all of Glasgow's deeply wrought characters) will stay with me for a long time to come.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (3)Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock, author of The Smell of Other People's Houses

Lyrical, devastating, witty and raw—this is Kathleen Glasgow at her best. Her fans will not be disappointed to fall in love with Tiger Tolliver, no matter how much she breaks their hearts.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (4)Brendan Kiely, New York Times bestselling author of All American Boys and Tradition

Magnificent. A beautiful, heartbreaking alleluia to survival.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (5)Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie

A bold, fearlessly crafted story of loss and love. Kathleen Glasgow's prose commands the page with its trademark beauty and grace, and Tiger Tolliver is a character readers will root for every step of the way—and won't soon forget.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (6)Estelle Laure, author of But Then I Came Back and This Raging Light

This story hauls you into its heart to live the pain in all its careening, messy, and miraculous glory. A brilliant, honest, raw look at what it really means to lose someone essential and make grudging peace with what is gained in the exchange. You will never forget Tiger Tolliver. Not ever.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (7)Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

How to Make Friends with the Dark is breathtaking and heartbreaking, and I loved it with all my heart. It's for all of us who have loved and lost and need to find our power again.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (8)Julie Buxbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things

In this raw, powerful, and heartbreaking meditation on loss and grief, Glasgow writes with unflinching beauty. We meet Tiger Tolliver at her most broken—at her darkest moment—and yet, somehow, How to Make Friends with the Dark teaches us how to let the light in.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (9)Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Broken Beautiful Hearts

Gripping, powerful, and full of truth—an emotional level many novelists strive to reach, but few achieve.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (10)Kara Thomas, author of The Cheerleaders

Kathleen Glasgow is the rare type of skilled storyteller that knows you have to hurt your characters before putting them back together. I loved every word of this lyrical and devastating novel.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (11)Karen M. McManus, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying and Two Can Keep a Secret

A rare and powerful novel, How to Make Friends with the Dark dives deep into the heart of grief and healing with honesty, empathy, and grace.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (12)Lygia Day Peñaflor, author of All of This Is True and Unscripted Joss Byrd

Tiger Tolliver is so vulnerable and real, you'll want to turn your porch light on and have the spare room ready for her. In How to Make Friends with the Dark, Kathleen Glasgow's prose begs and pleads and grasps at the light, like a prayer.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (13)Meg Leder, author of Letting Go of Gravity

A book as fierce, tender, and rare as its aptly named heroine, Tiger. How to Make Friends with the Dark is a gorgeously nuanced meditation on grief and family, and the incredible love that can pull you through the darkest of times.

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (14)Tiffany Jackson, author of Allegedly and Monday's Not Coming

A visceral, gut-wrenching, and heartbreaking take on the grieving process. I cried within the first fifty pages. You'll want to hug Tiger and never let her go. Kathleen has done it again!

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow: Summary and Reviews (2025)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Fr. Dewey Fisher

Last Updated:

Views: 6373

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (62 voted)

Reviews: 93% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Fr. Dewey Fisher

Birthday: 1993-03-26

Address: 917 Hyun Views, Rogahnmouth, KY 91013-8827

Phone: +5938540192553

Job: Administration Developer

Hobby: Embroidery, Horseback riding, Juggling, Urban exploration, Skiing, Cycling, Handball

Introduction: My name is Fr. Dewey Fisher, I am a powerful, open, faithful, combative, spotless, faithful, fair person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.