NetGalley ARC | This Wretched Valley

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

First, let's admire that cover. Absolutely perfect and I love when a cover truly matches the contents inside. I admit, I am a cover snob and have been sorely disappointed in the past. Not so here. AT ALL.

I love nature survival horror because it's something that would never happen to me. I don't like being in nature, I don't like nature to touch me, I am firmly an 'indoor girl', unless we are at the pool. It also helps that I am forever obsessed with the Dyatlov Pass deaths and this was billed as being inspired by that very incident.

So, this book was creepy as fuuuuuuck and I loved it.

Dylan is determined to cement her place as a skilled rock-climber among professionals and has found the perfect way to do so. Her friend Clay is a geology student and in his research stumbled upon a seemingly untouched cliff somewhere in the depths of the Kentucky wilderness. Dylan will be the first to do so, and see her career really take off. So the two of them, plus Dylan's boyfriend Luke and Clay's research assistant Sylvia, prepare to trek into the forest surrounding the cliff to document Dylan's journey.

But things do not go as planned. OF COURSE.

Seven months pass before three bodies are discovered not far from the highway that took the group to their destination. And the bodies are not what anyone would expect, each in its own state of decomposition - all that's left of one is a perfectly white skeleton, another has had all its organs removed, and the last has had its eyes, ears, and tongue removed and fingers cut off.

None of these remains belong to Dylan. She is missing.

The plan had been to document her climb on Instagram, and some of Dylan's followers report having seen disturbing livestreams in the months since the team vanished. Others in the area swear they've seen her moving through the woods before disappearing into the trees. Despite searches, no trace of Dylan has ever been found.

The fact that this is a debut novel amazes me. The author was able to not only bring the four human characters to life and give each of them depth and really individualize them, but the setting as well. The valley and cliff became their own characters early on and it is such a testament to an author's talent when they can pull this off. It felt almost suffocating, because there is no escaping the setting, whereas the characters could take time apart from one another if needed. But the valley, the wilderness, the cliff? They were always there, always watching. That only adds to the foreboding, because all those little red flags that the group ignored on their hike-in stick in your mind as the story unfolds. Superbly done.

Despite my love of horror, I don't like gore. Yet I did not find this to be over-the-top or too much. While descriptions were graphic, it all made sense in the context of what was happening, so I didn't feel the need to vomit every five seconds, which is also a win. I guess I would say it is not gore for the sake of gore. It was necessary to show what was happening to move the story along.

Even knowing the fate of Clay, Sylvia, and Luke, I was compelled to keep reading because I had to know what was really going on in this place where nothing really made sense, though at times it was hard to know what was real and what was not. It kept me off-balance in the best way because there were times I had no idea what was coming next. The author leaves some of those questions unanswered, something I say I hate but secretly like, because sometimes not knowing is worse - your mind comes up with all kinds of horrifying options all on its own.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Portrait of Haunting

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchnage for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I. Am. Ob. Sessed.

I did not want this book to end and may reread it. That's how much I loved it - I NEVER reread.

Tatum and her mother have the Sight - the ability to see and communicate with spirits. While Tatum's mom has always embraced it - and attempted to get her daughter to do the same - Tatum resists. She hides from the spirits as best she can and wants to pretend they don't exist.

When Tatum was young, her mother Amarina murdered her boyfriend, used his blood to create her final painting, promptly admitted guilt but not motive, and has been in prison ever since. Tatum has lived her entire life since then wondering why. With the help of her best friend Mischa and their circle of friends (two of whom belong to the largest covern in Manhattan), Tatum gets through her daily life trying to ignore the spirits all around her.

Then Mischa is murdered and they can't ignore how similar it is to the murder Tatum's mother committed twenty years ago. And they definitely can't ignore the fact that the same symbol found on Amarina's victim all those years ago was found on Mischa as well.

Tatum has to accept who she is and what she can do. She has to figure out who killed Mischa, figure out the cryptic messages her mother has been giving her over the years, and figure out how to keep her loved ones safe - especially Jonas, the one she's loved since they were teenagers, who loves her back just as fiercely.

After Mischa's death, the spirit activity around Tatum changes drastically, kicking into over drive. Something is coming for her and won't stop until she's dead. The price has to be paid, whatever her mother did all those years ago. Tatum has to to save her friends and herself, and more will die before that happens.

See? OB. SESSED.

I could not put this book down and I can't stop thinking about it. There's so much more I want to know about everyone and part of me wants this to become a series. But the other part of me wants it to stay a stand alone, because it is so, so powerful just as it is. 

There were definitely times I wanted to shake Tatum and slap her around a little, to get her to see what was right in front of her. But she had so much she was dealing with, that you can excuse her for the most part, on account of all the trauma.

I loved the group of friends. Each character had their unique voice and stood out when it was their turn - even the twins, Ziggy and Leo. Sometimes twins can blend together, especially in a case like this where both are part of the coven, headed by their grandmother. But I found each compelling on their own, just as I did each character introduced.

And Jonas. Oi. I would love him too. Tatum needed to seriously get her shit together about him.

The story blends so many emotions together at once, but nothing feels forced or out of place. Ultimately it is a story about forgiveness (of self and others), grief, acceptance, loss, hope, and the bonds of family and friends.

I can't really say a whole lot more without getting into spoilers. I loved the eerie atmosphere created by the author and the world we are immersed in. It's a modern day gothic novel that lands every punch and doesn't shy away from the hard things in life. Plus, ghosts. But everything fits. Nothing was campy or too much or silly. I can't stop thinking about this book.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | You Did Nothing Wrong

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher viw NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sweet baby Jesus.

I don't even know how to properly explain why being gaslit for a few hundred pages was totally okay because this book is phenomenal.

Elodie's life is perfect. After having a baby at sixteen, she later meets Bren. There's a whirlwind relationship that culminates in their marriage and relocation to Bren's old family home that is in dire need of serious help. Bren insists on doing all the work himself as Elodie cares for her autistic son Jude and is pregnant with her second child.

But ever so slowly, things start to go wrong. Jude's behaviors explode and Elodie does her best to control him, to keep him from destroying their new life. She won't accept help, all but denies he has autism, and tries to hold everything together. But he continues to escalate, claiming the house doesn't want the renovations, that all the fixing up is hurting the house, the voices in the walls are telling him this.

Drews weaves the story slowly at first, taking care to show how this new little family functions together in this new setting. This is supposed to be the beginning of their perfect life and Elodie wants to hold it together. It's easy to have loads of sympathy for Elodie, a very young mother to a a six-year-old who she so desperately just wants to love. Bren seems oblivious at first to Jude's behavior, so focused on making the house livable for them and the new baby on its way. But there's something more to Bren and the all-consuming love he and Elodie have for one another.

This book is genuinely suffocating, but I could not put it down. The whole time I was reading, it felt like the walls were closing in. I'm not normally claustrophobic, but this made me so uncomfortable I had to walk around while reading for a while, no joke. Yet I read it in nearly on sitting because I had to know what was happening. Is the house really talking to Jude? Is Bren the true cause of all the strange happenings? Is Elodie my favorite kind of narrator: unreliable?

Outwardly Elodie constantly strives to be the very best she can be within her new life. She will be a good wife to Bren and a good mother to Jude. Everyone will see her be the best version of herself, despite the fact that on the inside she is completely falling apart. She's so determined to deny that anything is "wrong" with Jude and tries everything she can think of to calm her often inconsolable child, that it's easy to scream at her to open her fucking eyes and stop with the charade.

I admit it took a while for me to figure out what was really going on. And not because this is one of those books that just throws a random curveball to throw readers off. No, everything I needed to know was right in front of me. But I would get so caught up in Elodie and Jude's immediate episode that I would forget everything I already learned. Once I realized what was coming though, it was like a light came on and the answer was barrelling toward me at 100 mph.

Obviously I did not get out of the way. I couldn't. I was far too invested.

I spent a lot of the novel incredibly angry after my epiphany, but also helpless because there was nothing I could do to stop what I felt sure was coming.

The title is ironic then, because in the end Elodie did literally every possible thing wrong.

Highly, highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Dead of Winter

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was my first Darcy Coates book and I LOVED it. I loved it so much that I immediately checked out every other book available at our library. Some I also loved, some I hated, and some were meh. Like with Ruth Ware's books, I have kind of a love/hate relationship with Coates' books. But, when she writes a five-star read, she really knocks it out of the park.

I went into this one with caution. Anything compared to And Then There Were None automatically gets a one-star deduction from me, because NOTHING can compare to one of the greatest mystery novels of all time. Fight me if you disagree.

And while Coates did earn that star back, please do not mistake that as me saying this is on par with None. It isn't. But it is an incredibly well-written, tense, horror-filled book that I enjoyed immensely. I figured out what was really going on after the main character, Christa, revealed the accident that changed her life, before the big reveal, but that did not change my enjoyment at all. Sometimes it's great to be right - when the book is good.

Christa and her boyfriend Kiernan join a small tour group comprised of individual travellers, a married couple, and father/son duo. Their tour guide, Brian, is leading the group but on the way to their destination, a massive snowstorm comes through, making the road impassable when a tree falls across the road. Knowing they can't stay on the bus and freeze, they seek shelter and find an abandoned hunting cabin to hole up in, hoping to wait out the storm. There are 11 to start with, and many will die.

As their first night in the cabin comes, Christa is injured and Kiernan has disappeared after he and Christa were having a look around, and the slope they were on gave way into nothing. By morning their tour guide is missing and at first the group wonders if he's tried to go for help. Within a short time the group discovers the truth when they find his severed head impaled on a tree not far from the cabin.

The tension is palpable upon the discovery as they realize one of them is a murderer. They're trapped on a mountain with no way to escape, the bus is useless, no cell phone reception, and very limited supplies. There's no way of knowing who to trust when it becomes clear that it must be one of them. They're terrified, exhausted, and hungry. Not exactly prime condition for thinking clearly - which none of them can do, except the killer, who has planned it all perfectly. They're constantly questioning each other, which leads to more anger and resentment. The stress of having to sit next to someone, in a freezing cabin with no food, who might be a murderer, was well-written and I could feel it myself as though I were there.

Despite being a large cast, I did not have trouble keeping them straight, something that's not always easy with a large number. They were each district enough that I wasn't constantly scrolling back to see which backstory went with which character. As they share information about themselves, their careers in particular, you can start cnnecting the dots to see WHY they are all on the mountain together, even if you don't yet know WHO had engineered it.

Given the violent and bloody ways that each was killed, I would definitely classify this as horror, with psychological/thriller elements present. Truly gruesome, especially the thing with the teeth, which I will leave you to discover for yourself.

Highly recommended.

NetGalley ARC | Let Him In

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐

That cover though!

Alfie's wife has recently died, leaving him to raise their twin daughters on his own. When their imaginary friend makes his first appearance, Alfie writes it off as a combination of their grief, a nightmare and their imaginations. A search of their room turns up no shadowy figure, and that's that.

Things quickly take a turn for the unexpected though, when the girls begin whispering to their new friend all the time; they can see and hear him when no one else can. They set a place for him at the dinner table and announce that he's going to take them away.

Alfie turns to Julia, his wife's sister, for help. She is a psychiatrist and begins working with the girls, to better understand what is going on. Even then, Alfie begins experiencing things as well - startling visions and the feeling of being watched.

All of this combined with the dark history of their home sets the stage for a fantastic story, but it just does not quite meet my expectations.

There are a couple reasons for this, the main one being the ending. I can't tell if I missed something, or that was the author's intention. I felt like this was a solid four up until that. I even looked at others' reviews (something I do not normally do until I am done with my own) and found I was not the only one who still had questions. Yet others said it wrapped up enough for them. So, this may just be individual to each reader.

The author created a delicisouly creepy atmosphere, revolving around the not-so-imaginary friend and the house itself. I would've loved to know more about the history of the house and see how that played into what was happeing.

Overall, it's not the creepiest story I've ever read. However, if an ambiguous ending doesn't bother you, then I would still recommend it.

NetGalley ARC | The Night House

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley

Rating | ⭐⭐1/2

With a cover like this I expected some scares. Instead I got a completely bizarre sometimes nonsensical book that started out so strong and had me hooked, then grew gradually weaker until the end when I just kind of went, "...meh?"

When Richard is fourteen, his parents die in a house fire. He is sent to live with his aunt and uncle in a small town called Ballantyne. He is an outcast from the start, but manages to convince one kid to hang out with him. But when Tom disappears, everyone thinks Richard has tossed him in the river. No one believes him that they made a prank phone call from a telephone booth and then the receiver ate Tom right up. Richard begins seeing things and hearing voices, then a second classmate vanishes. Richard is unable to convince everyone that Fatso, as he was rudely nicknamed, morphed into a giant bug and flew away after having dinner at Richard's house one evening. Richard is sent away to a correctional facility, where strange events continue to happen.

I love love love unreliable narrators, but Richard was on a whole other level, to the point this just bordered on absurd. Richard was awful and unreliable, which is also not typically a deal-breaker because some of my favorite characters have been not-so-great people. They're just that well written. And it's not that Richard isn't well-written, he's just such a little jerk. He's mean and always looking for trouble, nevermind the homophobia and misogyny. He was just so mean that when everything started happening, it was hard to feel bad for him. I kept reminding myself his parents had died, but eventually I just did not care because he's unlikable and not in a fun way.

The first part of the book was the best and I was so into the story, had no idea where it could go. Part two is told with Richard as an adult. Not the worst, but the feel of the story shifted and I wasn't as into it. Part three...I don't even know. It felt like a big letdown but I can't even explain why because, spoilers.

Overall I can't say I really recommend it, unless you want a bizarre read that leaves you thinking, "...WHAT? OH. Oh. Well...eh."

Book Review | Tidepool

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Greg insisted that I read this one and boy, am I glad I did.

First though, let's admire that cover, shall we? It's a beauty.

I was not entirely sure what to expect going in, but I trust Greg's judgment because he and I have pretty similar tastes in our fave kinds of fiction. I've never read Lovecraft and probably won't, so that did not help me in the slightest when others have described the book this way. After I finished, I took a gander at a few reviews and they all loved it and said it was very Lovecraftian, so if that is a hook for you, you will probably like this one.

On the other hand, if you are not into Lovecraft but love an atmospheric and creepy read that might make you lose your lunch over some of the descriptions, then do I have the book for you!

True story though, it's not actually that gross. I just have a really easily activated ability to gag over just about anything slightly yucky.

Anyway.

The story is set in 1913, in this crappy little seaside town called Tidepool. The citizens are quite content with their shabby little town that has caught the interest of Henry Hamilton and his associates, who want to turn it into a kind of resort town by the sea. When Henry does not return from his trip to scope things out, his sister Sorrow is determined to find him. Despite explicit orders from her father, she ventures off in search of her brother and finds way more than she bargained for.

Sorrow knows the residents are hiding something, that they know what happened to Henry. Yet she can't get a single one of them to talk. When remnants of bodies begin washing up on the beach, Sorrow decides to let her father handle it after all. But by then she knows too much. She's seen too much. Tidepool can't let her leave.

Super creepy, right?!?!

I won't go into further details than that because this book was SO GOOD. I could not put it down. I had no idea this was the author's debut until afterward. Absolutely enthralling.

I really liked Sorrow. She was incredibly well-developed and her words and actions believable as she tries to piece together what is going on. Her grief and frustration is genuine as she begs people to tell her what has happened to Henry. Her whole arc is so well-done, nothing seemed out of character as she evolved within the story.

Our other female lead, Ada Oliver, is just as well done. I was both intrigued and disgusted by her, sometimes at the same time. Her backstory was so crucial, without it there is no book. I did not see it coming, but it was masterfully done. I have a decent amount of sympathy for her, all things considered. That might make me sound a bit crazy, but oh well. She does what she needs to and takes care of business. That's that.

Tidepool itself becomes its own living, breathing character at times. The chilling atmosphere kept me coming back for more because though we find out in the prologue what happens to Henry, we are there when Sorrow finds out as well and the sinister feel of it all grabs you and won't let go. Before you know what the whole story is, there is no doubt in the reader's mind that it is nothing good and I wanted Sorrow to get out of town just as desperately as she did by the time things start coming to a head. So close, so many times.

Beautifully suspenseful and harrowing. Highly recommended!

Book Review | Come Closer

Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I saw this one over on Ethan's blog last week and you can read his review here if you would like. Ethan and I have pretty similar tastes when it comes to books of this nature - thrillers, some horror, and the like. If you love these kinds of books too then you should go see what other goodies he has on his blog - he has not steered me wrong yet!

Before we get to the review, please indulge me a bit and see how you fare with this little quiz that our protagonist returns to multiple times over the course of the novella. Amanda, an architect, orders a book entitled Design Issues Past and Present but somehow receives Demon Possession Past and Present instead. She intends to send it back, but never quite gets around to doing so.

1. I hear strange noises in my home, especially at night, which family members tell me only occur when I am present.

2. I have new activities and pastimes that seem "out of character", and I do things that I did not intend and do not understand.

3. I'm short and ill-tempered with my friends and loved ones.

4. I can understand languages I've never studied, and have the ability to know things I couldn't know through ordinary means.

5. I have blackouts not caused by drugs, alcohol, or a pre-existing health condition.

6. I have unusual new thoughts, or hear voices in my head.

7. I've had visions or dreams of personalities who may be demons.

8. A psychic, minister, or other spiritualist has told me I'm possessed

9. I have urges to hurt or kill animals and other people.

10. I have hurt or killed animals or people.

0-3: You are probably not possessed. See a doctor or a mental health professional for an evaluation.

3-6: You may be haunted, or in the early stages of possession. Seek a spiritual counselor for assistance.

6-10: You are possessed. Consult with your spiritual counselor immediately. You may be a threat to the safety of yourself and your family.

So friends, how did you do - possessed, on the way, or not at all?

It all begins in a mundane sort of way, a sudden and recurring noise that foreshadows all to come - either a demonic possession, or one woman's slow descent into madness. Amanda and her husband Edward begin hearing soft taps around the apartment, barely noticeable at first. Edward reports that when Amanda is out of town for a few nights, the taps stop completely. But when she is home alone, they grow to a terribly loud and incessant noise. All sorts of explanations are put forward, but none fit, and none prove to be the cause. Even as they follow the sound around the apartment as it seems to move from room to room, they never figure out the source. Just as suddenly, it fades to nothing, no longer invading the safe space of their home.

Though the sound has gone, Amanda soon finds her mind invaded in a different way as she begins dreaming of the imaginary friend whom she spent much of her childhood with. Yet, she is no longer the little girl Amanda imagined her to be, but a grown woman - one who still wants to play. The stray dog who used to follow Amanda home from the bus stop each day no longer wants anything to do with her, and at first she doesn't understand why. When the dog bites her hand, the reader knows that the dog senses something that no one else has picked up - save for a young child who spends time with Amanda and also sees what is really going on.

Slowly the perfect-for-her life that Amanda has built begins crumbling. She and Ed begin fighting often, she takes up smoking again much to his disgust, and then she begins losing chunks of time. When a murder is reported on the news, Amanda has the  self-awareness to think that she is possibly responsible for the crime. Even as the darkness settles comfortably into her life, Amanda watches from the inside, recognizing what is happening. She seeks help on three different occasions, but by the last go-round it is too late.

We have a front row seat to the entire show, as the story is told from Amanda's perspective. We are taken along for the ride as she moves between confusion and fear as things get worse. Amanda begins neglecting her marriage, her job, her life. She opens credit cards and buys new items she doesn't want or need, something to recognizes. She can't stop. Or won't stop. Amanda goes to bars, cheats on her husband, continues the shopping sprees as her dream of someday opening her own architecture firm disappears in the dumpster fire that her life has become.

Amanda does not seem bothered by any of that as the novel propels itself toward its twisted conclusion. Is she resigned to the fact that she no longer has control because Naamah has taken over? Or has she slid irrevocably into absolute madness? What Gran does so masterfully here is entwine the two so tightly, the truth is hard to know.

That is truly the most terrifying part of it all, and what makes this book the best kind of horror/psychological thriller. The suspense, the slow burn and minimal action make this book so deliciously terrifying. I have always found myself more afraid of what is not spoken than what is. My imagination can conjure up some pretty scary shit, so most of the time for an author to give me a good scare, they have to leave it up to me to imagine the worst parts.

I could not put this one down. There is a whole lot of punch packed into this book, coming in at just under 200 pages. But not a word is wasted, so pay attention to the details and make up your mind about what you think has happened.

Highly highly recommended.