Slice of Cherry got a reprint(?) and a new cover in 2026 and this is blowing my mind.
Allow me to explain what I'm talking about
Slice of Cherry is a 2011 YA supernatural horror book written by Dia Reeves.
I first heard about it at some point in 2020, when I was a curious 14 year old surfing Goodreads. It was listed as similar to books that I was looking at. But as soon as I read the synopsis, I could tell that Goodreads' assessment was wrong. Not only was it unlike the books I had been looking at, it was unlike anything that I had read before. I read a free sample of the first few chapters via Amazon and found myself entirely fascinated. I searched for it at my local library, but they didn't have it.
Since I was stuck on my computer all day because of the COVID lockdowns, I soon found myself stalking Dia Reeves's online presence, trying to read and learn about not just Slice of Cherry, but her other books set in the same universe. Not many people-especially people my age-seemed to have heard of them, especially the other, less popular books. This added to the incredibly mysterious reputation they were gaining in my head. They seemed so mystical, so foreign and fascinating and strangely unreachable.
Could I have just bought Slice of Cherry? Yeah, probably. Maybe I could have asked for it as a Christmas or birthday present. But at the time, society was still in the grip of lockdown, so I think the idea of asking my parents for a seemingly frivolous present didn't really occur to me.
My quest to learn about Slice of Cherry and actually locate a copy slammed to a startling halt when I learned of the author's passing. Dia Reeves tragically passed away in 2019. I didn't know her at all, and hadn't even gotten the chance to read her work in full when I found out the news, and yet I remember feeling strangely stunned. I remember thinking: What do you mean she's dead?
(Note: Dia Reeves passed in 2019, but I don't remember finding out about her passing until at some point in 2020. I don't know why it took me an extended period of time to learn the news, despite the fact that I was googling her and her work frequently. I even remember feeling confused by this fact at the time. But it's been years, so I doubt we'll ever really know why I apparently had my head under a rock.)
I continued trying to get my hands on a copy of something of Dia Reeves's, but slowly and gradually lost interest, distracted by other things. It's actually kind of painful to admit that, especially since I just talked about her passing, but it's true. I don't know. My 14-15 year old self was weird and flitted from obsession to obsession like a little butterfly. Nothing ever held my attention for long, not even books with mysterious and tantalizing auras.
--
Fast forward to 2026. I was perusing a local bookstore. My eyes were scanning over a shelf, when I caught a single word embossed on the top of a spine.
Reeves.
I grabbed the book.
And I found myself holding Slice of Cherry.
It was thicker than I expected. I'd never even seen a copy in real life, let alone held it.
The cover was new. Different.
It was different, and so am I.
--
Anyway, guess what I plan on reading in the near future, finally accessible to me after six freaking years!
