atmospheric

Review: A Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux

~ megs14malloy

A Girl Walks into the ForestA Girl Walks into the Forest by Madeleine Roux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Girl Walks into the Forest follows Valla, a teenage girl selected for her beauty to marry a member of the aristocracy of a neighboring kingdom.

Valla sees her betrothal to mysterious Count Leonid as a blessing. It’s not just a way for her to escape the confines of her small desolate village, but it’ll also win favor for the village. Life should be easier for everyone after this.

Unfortunately, in order to get to her new husband, and new kingdom, Valla must traverse the infamous Gottyar Wood, where many dangerous creatures lurk.

Valla is escorted by her brother and sister-in-law, and it seems their journey is cursed from the start. After a vicious attack leaves Valla in a feverish stupor and her face maimed, they’re lucky to make it through alive.

The Count isn’t pleased when presented with Valla’s new, altered appearance. Where is the beautiful bride he was expecting? Ugh, how frustrating for him…

Valla feels the same. Where is her beautiful prize? The luxurious lifestyle and extravagant castle, not to mention the sweet Prince, she was expecting? Because she’s not finding any of those things here.

But Valla’s shock and surprise at the state of the castle, her soon-to-be husband and his family is just scratching the surface of the unpleasantness she is in store for.

This is such an engrossing, beautifully-told YA Dark Fantasy. The blending of Horror elements with the Fairy Tale-feel captured my attention from the start.

I loved the incorporation of the Baba Yaga lore, and the atmosphere was very well done. I was also impressed by the level of body horror included, and how far Roux took some of the darker elements.

I will say the 1st-half was stronger for me than the later half, but overall, I was happy with the conclusion, and the story as a whole. We like it dark!

I’ve never read from this author before, but I’m definitely interested in checking out more of their work. If you have a favorite, drop it below.

The writing was so readable. I liked that Roux didn’t get too flowery with it. I hate when a plot gets lost with overly-purple prose. The way this was told was easy to follow, yet still complex and exciting as far as the themes and action.

I liked the feminist elements as well, and feel like this would be such a great story for younger Readers looking to expand further into the Horror genre. I think this is a great transition novel from YA to Adult, though it can clearly be enjoyed and appreciated by Readers of all ages.

Additionally, if you are a Reader like me, who craves lush, creepy atmosphere, you have to check this out. Starting with the forest, and then into the castle, Roux riddled this story with an atmosphere to get under your skin.

I also appreciated how Roux paced the story. Once the main action in the castle kicks off, things escalate fairly quickly, until everything starts to unravel at once. I was so attached to Valla; I was at the edge of my seat wishing for her safety.

At the end of the day, I think this is a must for Readers of Dark Fantastical Fiction. Particularly, if you still enjoy novels in the YA-space. Bonus for the Feminist Feels.

Thank you to the publisher, Quill Tree Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m definitely excited to pick up more from this author!

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Review: Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna van Veen

~ megs14malloy

Blood on Her Tongue: A NovelBlood on Her Tongue: A Novel by Johanna van Veen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Blood on Her Tongue is set in the late-1800s in the Netherlands. We follow Lucy after she receives word that her twin sister, Sarah, is unwell.

Lucy travels to where Sarah resides, at her husband’s large estate. A doctor, a friend of the family, has diagnosed Sarah with a temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. Lucy is desperate to see Sarah’s condition for herself.

Once she is on the estate, Lucy feels that something more is going on than the simple explanations the doctor, and Sarah’s husband, are putting forth. Therefore, she’s determined to solve the mystery, and figure out the cause of her sister’s rapid decline.

As Sarah’s condition worsens, she becomes violent, and hungry. Lucy considers possession, or maybe it is insanity. Either way, Lucy is willing to risk anything to keep her sister out of some miserable lunatic asylum.

I loved the set-up of this story. You could feel the Dracula inspiration in such a clever and substantial way.

There’s a piece of the story that involves the finding of a body in the bog on the estate, who they dub the bog woman. I thought that was super intriguing and provided a nice eerie backdrop right from the start.

It was also so fun when the author incorporated little pieces of mixed media into the story, as it made it feel more real, or believable. I have to think van Veen had Dracula in mind with that sort of inclusion as well.

The author did an incredible job of creating a lush gothic vibe as well. It felt like a classic story, yet more accessible to all in regards to language and pacing.

Overall, I felt this was really well done. I loved the atmosphere, paired with some phenomenal death scenes. Johanna van Veen didn’t shy away from getting dirty.

Everything that went on, it got crazy, thinking about being in Lucy’s shoes, the things she witnessed, the changes she saw in her sister, are terrifying to think about.

The Body Horror, in general, was fantastic; toe-curling and uncomfortable. My jaw was on the floor and I was squealing in delight through multiple scenes.

Please keep in mind this is coming from an experienced Horror Reader, so tread cautiously if you aren’t a fan of gory content, or are maybe trying out the genre for the first time.

I do love sister stories, and this is a memorable one. I’m really looking forward to picking up more from this author. I suspect we’re going to have a long and beautiful friendship.

Thank you to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. The audio production brought this story to life; very well done!

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Review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

~ megs14malloy

GallantGallant by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Olivia Prior has never been a quiet girl. She has always made a point of making noise, everywhere she goes, in part to remind people that just because she cannot speak, does not mean that she is silent, and in part because she simply likes the weight of sound, likes the way it takes up space.

Gallant has been sitting on my bookshelves since 2022. Recently, for Disability Pride month, I was scouring my shelves to see what sorts of representations could be found.

I discovered via some research that this MC, Olivia, is mute, which I didn’t know previously. I’m so happy that I learned that and it that it finally provided me with the kick in the butt I needed to pick it up.

I know a lot of Readers weren’t crazy about this one, but it was exactly what I was hoping for. Darkly magical and the perfect escape for my recently overwhelmed brain.

In this story we are following, Olivia, who at the start of the story is living in a orphan group home. She was abandoned there by her mother, with a journal as the only clue to her mother’s identity.

One day she receives a letter from her Uncle, saying he has been desperately searching for her and wants her to return to their family estate, Gallant.

She’s quickly ushered there and introduced to a cousin, Matthew, she never knew she had, as well as the two caretakers of the property, Hannah and Edgar. It’s also there that she learns of the truly tragic nature of their family.

It’s not an easy time trying to settle in. Matthew is hostile, and she’s seeing ghouls around every corner. It’s clear Gallant is hiding many secrets, among them the truth of what happened to her mother, so Olivia is bound and determined to figure it all out.

When she discovers the door in the crumbling garden wall, she feels like she’s that much closer to learning the truth of her parents, originally laid out in her Mom’s journal.

I really enjoyed myself reading this one. I became completely immersed in Olivia’s journey. I loved her as a character. She’s smart and determined. Even in the face of the unknown and at times, great danger, she stood strong, gallantly, as a matter of fact.

I also loved the journal entries included, as well as the illustrations, which were just gorgeous and did bring that dark magic feeling to the page.

It’s actually a pretty tragic little story, but I like that Schwab didn’t shy away from making it so. Life doesn’t always deal you sunshine and rainbows, but that doesn’t mean there’s no hope for future growth and life.

I’d love to see this adapted to film. I feel like the gothic atmosphere and darker imagery could be translated really well into that medium. I’d definitely watch it. Paired with the right soundtrack? Yes, please.

Overall, I am so happy that I finally picked up this story. I found it to be beautiful and engaging, with a sympathetic protagonist I wanted to see succeed.

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Review: Death on the Island by Eliza Reid

~ megs14malloy

Death on the IslandDeath on the Island by Eliza Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Death on the Island, we follow an eclectic group of characters who come together in a tiny island community off the coast of Iceland for a diplomatic event.

We have the mayor of the town, an Ambassador from Canada and his wife, a local high-profile chef, an artist with ties to the island, and others. They all come together for a special dinner to open up their talks and hopefully create good spirits amongst the group.

It’s supposed to be a joyous occasion, and it does seem to start out that way. That is until one of the guests ends up dead of unknown causes, but what everyone quickly assumes to be poison consumption.

Making matters worse, a brutal storm is bearing down on them. It’s clear no one is going to be leaving the island. All the better to catch a killer, but in the meantime, doesn’t that mean they’re trapped with one?

I had a blast reading Death on the Island. I went into it with zero expectations. I hadn’t heard of this author, or any buzz for the book, but the title screamed, READ ME!!!

I’m so glad I made the time for it. I was completely engaged from the start. It actually turns out this is the author’s debut novel, and I’m so excited for more.

I appreciated how quickly Reid gets us into the action. I was drawn into the story so fast. I liked that we were following political figures, such as ambassadors and mayors. I haven’t read one like that in a while, so it was a nice change of pace.

I enjoyed how the author formatted the story as well. You get the reveal of the death, and then you go back in time and track through the events leading up to that death. It was done in a countdown-style that I feel added a level of tension to it that might not have been there otherwise.

Learning about this cast of characters, as well as their relationships to one another and potential motivations for why someone would take out anyone at this dinner party, was very entertaining. There was certainly plenty of drama to oh-and-ah over.

With this being said, I’ll admit there’s a lot of moving parts and it was a little hard to track in the beginning. For a minute, I started to feel overwhelmed, but I tried to just relax into it, not worry too much about the details, and to just let Reid do her thing.

Ultimately, Reid pulled it off. This had me so invested, I had no longstanding issues tracking the various characters, or their interpersonal dramas.

Overall, I loved the atmospheric-island setting, which was done so well in my humble island-dweller opinion. I also really enjoyed the use of an inclement weather element to help build out that tense atmosphere, as well as the interesting cast of characters.

It was so gripping trying to solve this murder mystery, my head was all over the place. I did Buddy Read it with a friend, and definitely recommend that. It was so fun trying to guess the killer together, and their reasons behind it.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me a copy to read and review.

I loved how this kept me guessing, and I’m looking forward to more from Eliza Reid!!!

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Review: Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

~ megs14malloy

NestlingsNestlings by Nat Cassidy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recently, life hasn’t been easy on Ana and Reid. A complicated birth with their first child, a daughter, Charlie, left Ana paralyzed, bitter and struggling to adjust.

When their number gets pulled in a housing lottery, and they have the opportunity to move into the Deptford, a prestigious, historic NYC-apartment building, they can hardly believe their luck. This could be their fresh start.

A chance to start anew, and with a fabulous address to boot.

Despite some reservations, they decide to accept the apartment and put their best efforts into their new beginning. Soon after they move in though, we all know where this is going, strange things start happening.

They notice peculiar behavior with some residents and staff, as well as some mysterious little bite marks on Charlie. Well, I say they, but it truth, it’s mostly Ana picking up on all the oddities. She’s housebound after all, while Reid still gets to go to work and leave the building regularly.

Ana’s unease grows as the days go by, and the tension in their marriage increases. Is Ana just being paranoid, or is something really go on there?

Reid has his own relationship with the building and its residents, and he’s not sure he’s buying what Ana is selling. Will the building be the downfall of their relationship? And who is paying attention to Charlie?

Though I didn’t connect with this one quite in the same way that I did When the Wolf Comes Home, I was still invested and curious to see how far Cassidy was going to take the unsettling apartment building trope.

Spoiler Alert: All the way!

I loved that part of the story. The creepy atmosphere was on point. I also like the claustrophobic feel of being in Ana’s perspective, though that was the only thing I enjoyed about her perspective. Sorry.

Personally, for almost the entire story, I wished we were just getting Reid’s perspective, along with the various Interludes, because I found Ana to be so incredibly grating. Every time I was in her perspective, I just wanted to be out of it.

With this being said, in the Author’s Note at the end, Cassidy did provide an explanation for the purpose behind some personality choices. I’m glad he covered that, and I respect his decision to write it that way, though not gonna lie, it did sort of deplete my enjoyment level a bit.

Overall, small nit-picks aside, this is another GREAT story from Cassidy. The Publisher’s comp to Rosemary’s Baby meets Salem’s Lot is apt, though the Rosemary’s Baby inspiration felt the heavier of the two for me. Highly recommend for fans of that story, or stories like that.

Also, I definitely recommend the audiobook, which was fabulously narrated and succeeded in pulling me in and engaging me with the story from the start.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

Even though it’s taken me years to get to it, it was worth the wait. I’m excited to continue reading Cassidy’s work. He’s incredibly-talented, never failing to create well-developed characters, unsettling atmosphere and a compelling, fast-moving plot.

This novel is a great example of all of those things!

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Review: We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough

~ megs14malloy

We Live Here Now: A NovelWe Live Here Now: A Novel by Sarah Pinborough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

After a cliffwalk accident puts her in a coma and almost kills her, Emily, is ready for the new start her husband, Freddie, suggests. The couple move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house called Larkin Lodge.

Set in a remote area, by the stark natural presence of the Moors, this property is steeped in gothic vibes. Emily, still recovering both mentally and physically from her accident, is intrigued, and a little frightened by the imposing home.

As they settle in, Freddie is away from home for the majority of the week, still working in London. He’s put in for a transfer, but it hasn’t happened yet, so it’s back-and-forth for him until that becomes official.

This leaves Emily alone, with a lot of time on her hands, and she begins to notice things: creaking floorboards, books falling from the shelves, and what she can only determine is a mysterious presence in the 3rd-floor bedroom.

Unfortunately, these disturbing occurrences only seem to happen when Emily is alone. When she tells her husband about her fears, he blames them all on her accident. Claiming she is just experiencing post-sepsis hallucinations.

Emily doesn’t know what to think. She knows that’s a potential symptom for people recovering from sepsis, but the feelings never leave her. It feels so real and scary in the moment. She begins to resent Freddie for not listening to her and brushing off her concerns.

Meanwhile, Emily is more determined than ever to get to the truth behind Larkin Lodge. She can feel that something terrible has happened there, that something is off, but what?

I had so much fun with this book. I know it won’t necessarily be for everyone, but for me, it was excellent entertainment. I was in this with Emily and everything that was happening to her at Larkin Lodge. I also liked to get ticked at Freddie right along with her. It was like we were friends.

This story is mainly told through Emily and Freddie’s perspectives, but there are also a few other narrative inclusions which I really enjoyed.

Incidentally, the audiobook does feature dual narration and I highly recommend that format. The narrators absolutely hooked me into the story. They were so believable as Emily and Freddie. It was almost like I could feel the tension growing between them.

I loved the atmosphere and that we were really dealing with a pretty morally grey cast of characters; my fave. I also loved the dynamics explored within Emily and Freddie’s marriage, as well as within their friend group.

There were scenes, as Emily is first experiencing odd things at the house, that gave me chills. I loved the clues she ended up following in order to figure out what was going on.

I also feel like it was a really cool concept going on and I loved the conclusion. It left me with that evil grin on my face that I love to have at the end of a story like this. I feel this was well-executed by Pinborough.

Was it perfect? No, but it didn’t need to be. It was so fun and engaging. I was sucked completely in and finished it in a 24-hour period; during the work week! That’s no small feat.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m so glad I picked this up and look forward to more from Pinborough!

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Review: The Night Birds by Christopher Golden

~ megs14malloy

The Night BirdsThe Night Birds by Christopher Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dark, creepy and hella atmospheric, The Night Birds is a wildly-entertaining ride of nail-biting intensity. Christopher Golden does this type of Folk Horror so well, IMO.

Maybe you’re like me, and though you appreciate the majesty and beauty of birds, they also creep you the heck out? If so, you should read this. Picturing myself in the shoes of some of these characters gave me absolute chills.

This story is set in Galvaston, Texas, and mainly revolves around a group of characters researching the Christabel, a 19th century freighter that lies half-sunken in waters shadowed by eerie mangroves and other wildlife.

With a vicious storm bearing down, most of the small crew abandon the Christabel, choosing to stay on dry land while they wait it out. Charlie Book, their leader, however, chooses to stay on board as usual. The ship has weathered many storms. It’s not going anywhere.

When he arrives on the docks after dinner, preparing to head back out to the Christabel, he’s shocked by the sudden appearance of his ex-girlfriend, Ruby. She’s begging him for help and protection, and she’s not alone.

With her is a mysterious woman, Mae, as well as an infant. They’re bedraggled and clearly on the run, but from what?

Even though he has big reservations about the situation, Book can’t refuse Ruby. If she’s in danger, he wants to help. Thus, he shuttles them all out to the Christabel.

Meanwhile, with the coming storm, something else seems to be coming, lurking in the dark and stormy night. Using shadows as cover and hiding a ravenous evil.

As forces close in on the Christabel, Book’s team senses that something is amiss and they try desperately to get back to the ship to help their friend. Little do they know, the storm is the least of their problems now.

I became invested in this story so quickly. I love Christopher Golden in general, and feel really comfortable with his writing style. It has such a classic Horror feel for me, and I love how he takes care to set a scene and pulls the Reader into his character’s lives.

He creates characters you want to succeed; to be okay, to live. I was rooting for Book and Ruby, as well as the side characters, Luisa, Gerald and Alan, the entire way through.

This would honestly make a great movie; good versus evil battling it out amongst the mangroves. I was on the edge of my seat and horrified as it unfolded. It was non-stop punches the entire second-half.

Some of it did get a little difficult to track as the action and intensity built up, but that could just be because of the speed at which I was reading it. I was so desperate to find out how this was going to conclude, I was flying through.

This is a witchy story, which is alluded to in the synopsis, as well as mentioned in the genre tags, but I just want to be clear, this is dark stuff; ancient stuff. The imagery involved, it’s heavy and excellent to read if you love Horror.

Overall, I had a great time with this. It’s so fun and addictive. I couldn’t put it down. I loved the atmosphere and characters, as well as the horror imagery throughout.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I cannot wait to see what Golden releases next!!!

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Review: Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey

~ megs14malloy

Our Last Wild DaysOur Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loyal left her small hometown of Jacknife, Louisiana, when she was just 18-years old, after a falling out with her best friend, Cutter. When she left, she took a lot of guilt with her over what she’d done to Cutter.

Now a decade later, Loyal returns to Jacknife to help care for her Mom, who seems to be teetering on the edge of dementia. Loyal is nervous about being back. It feels like she’s been on the run from her past this whole time.

Luckily, Loyal, a journalist, is able to get a job working at the tiny local paper, which she’d contributed to when she had been in high school. She hasn’t burned every bridge.

Her first day on the job, she and her coworker, Sasha, get word that a body has been discovered in the swamps. They rush to the scene to see what info that can glean from the responding officers.

It’s quickly revealed that the body belongs to Loyal’s estranged best friend, Cutter. Loyal is devastated on so many levels. She was hoping for a chance to reconcile with her friend, to apologize for what she had done, but now she’s been robbed of that chance.

Cutter’s early ife had been filled with hardship and tragedy, and from what Loyal’s heard, it’s only gotten worse recently. Now she’s been taken out just as tragically.

Many believe Cutter most likely took her own life, but Loyal isn’t buying that. There’s no way the girl she knew would do that, but how well did she actually know Cutter anymore?

Loyal and Sasha begin digging for answers, discovering small town corruption and dangerous dealings along the way. Will they be able to expose the truth, or will Cutter end up just being another person lost to the swamp?

Our Last Wild Days is Anna Bailey’s 2nd-novel, and IMO, it’s an improvement over their debut, Where the Truth Lies, which was good, but nothing about it really stood out for me.

I feel like this novel is going to stick in my mind. The characters were fantastically-developed and I thought the South Louisiana setting, the atmosphere created around that, was excellent as well.

If you enjoy gritty Crime Fiction, with a touch of a Hillbilly Noir-type feel to it, you should definitely give this one a shot. It has a nice slow burn, that definitely pays off if you stick around until the end.

And when I say slow burn, I don’t mean that it feels slow. The story itself builds at a nice clip, I just feel like Bailey really invested the time in building out the story in a way that would pull the Reader in and make them care.

By the end, I needed answers as badly as Loyal did. I needed for Cutter’s true story to be told. The characters felt completely realistic. I think for anyone who grew up in a small town in the U.S., you may even start to see bits and pieces of your own hometown on display here.

I’m impressed with this. I think Bailey has found their stride, and it’s only going to keep getting stronger. I hope they stick in this lane. This sort of atmospheric Crime Thriller really suits their writing.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to Bailey’s next novel already!!!

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Review: Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

~ megs14malloy

Cold EternityCold Eternity by S.A. Barnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cold Eternity is the latest release from S.A. Barnes, author of Dead Silence and Ghost Station. I always look forward to Barnes new books and this one did not disappoint.

This is another Space Horror novel and features a compelling protagonist, Halley, who after taking a remote assignment on an abandoned space barge, discovers there’s more danger in the job than she could’ve ever anticipated.

In the very beginning, this was giving me light-Artemis vibes. I think mostly because Halley, the way we meet her and the things she was thinking about at that time, were reminiscent of Jazz, the MC in Artemis.

You can tell that Halley is girl with a complicated past, who is trying her best to stay clear of it. I liked how the author filled that in for us over time, and I truly became attached to Halley and her well-being over the course of the story.

She takes the job on Elysian Fields, a giant space barge housing a now defunct cryo program, thinking the remoteness and isolation will help her to avoid the things she’s trying to avoid. Unfortunately, life on the floating crypt isn’t as harmless as she thought it would be.

Constant disturbing noises, and mysterious moving figures, haunt Halley’s days and nights. She finds it impossible to sleep, impossible to rest her nerve-rattled brain.

Karl, the only other human worker aboard, is just as puzzling as everything else about the Elysian Fields. Halley’s thoughts race and ramble as she tries to make sense of her new surroundings. It’s during this time that the Reader may begin to question how well they can rely on their narrator.

Learning about the Elysium Fields, its past, Halley’s connection to it and its present iteration was so compelling. Barnes does the horrors of future tech so well, and this story is absolutely terrifying if you think about it for too long…

S.A. Barnes has really made a name for herself in the SF-Horror space. She does such an incredible job creating an ominous atmosphere in each one of her stories, as well as well-developed main characters.

I feel like some Readers may avoid, or be intimidated by SciFi stories, as they feel like they may be too science-heavy, or too high-concept, for them to understand, or be pulled in by. And while I can understand that inclination with many SF-books, I would urge you, if this is you, to give S.A. Barnes’s work a try.

She makes her stories accessible to all types of Readers, whether you are a big-SF fan or not, I think you’ll easily be pulled in by her work and find it enjoyable.

This story, in particular, is well within our range of current understanding as tech rapidly progresses around us every day. I could absolutely picture a world where a situation like this becomes a reality.

Stories of futuristic tech always get under my skin. I just find it genuinely frightening to think about. All the ways such developments could go wildly wrong. Reading about it, in fun works of fiction like this, provide me with a safe place to explore such concepts, and honestly, it does help lessen some anxiety around these topics for me.

That may sound silly, but it is one of the reasons I so enjoy this type of story, and S.A. Barnes is my absolute go-to author for gripping, realistic, futuristic SF-Horror.

This had a lot of unsettling moments, with a great creepy atmosphere throughout. Towards the end it did have some moments where it started to feel a little muddled for me, but overall, it was a great reading experience.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I’ll be anticipating whatever Barnes releases next!!!

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Review: What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

~ megs14malloy

What the Woods TookWhat the Woods Took by Courtney Gould
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What the Woods Took follows a group of troubled teens during their time in a wilderness therapy program.

This set-up has been popping-up quite a bit in various iterations over the past few years, but for me, this is the best I’ve seen it executed. I was fully-engrossed in this story.

Devin is our MC. We meet her when she is awakened one night by two strange men in her room; essentially kidnapping her into a program known as Revive.

She finds herself shoved into a van and driven deep into the woods of Idaho. She meets a group of equally confused teens and it’s at that point, she discovers the true depth of the unsettling situation she finds herself in.

There are two counselors/guides for the program, and the other teens include Ollie, Aidan, Hannah and Sheridan. They’re told they will be hiking for 50-days.

Each teen is coming from vastly different circumstances, of which we learn over the course of the story. They’re each battling their own inner demons, but what they’ll face in the woods will be unlike anything they’ve ever battled before.

I went into this one not knowing a lot about it. I’ve read two previous novels from Gould, and enjoyed them, but this one is definitely my favorite of her work.

I was captivated from the start. It kicks off immediately and drops us into the heart of the action. I really appreciated the character work that Gould displayed here.

It wasn’t just Devin that you got to know well, all of the characters were fully fleshed out. IMO, for Younger Readers, or Teens, picking this up, everyone should be able to find an aspect to this story that will resonate with them.

There was a real cathartic feel about these teens experiences in the program initially. As mentioned above, they were all struggling with some serious issues, and had been acting out in their home life as a way to deal to it.

The more time they spent together, under the uncomfortable conditions, the more they began to open up to one another. There was some serious growth.

Then the crazy stuff starts to happen. There’s something strange in the woods and the pace really picks up after all of that starts to be exposed.

I thought Gould paced this perfectly. I enjoyed how the strangeness unfolded. It felt hypnotic and darkly-enticing. I needed to know what the heck was going to happen here. How were these teens actually going to survive this?

It was eerie and intense. I was rooting for these characters, even the ones that drove me batty at first. The growth they displayed and the horrifying situation they were in, made me root for them all by the end.

I would recommend this to YA Horror, or YA Survival Thriller, Readers. I feel like the character work and atmosphere are reason enough to pick it up, but if you need more, add in a convincing sapphic romance. Additionally, I would recommend the audiobook for the engaging narration.

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to whatever Gould releases next!

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