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1.68k reviews for:

This Wretched Valley

Jenny Kiefer

3.34 AVERAGE

dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Reading this book was like climbing the same rock wall at the center of it all - trying to see how it would route itself, crawling half inch by half inch with sweaty hands, hanging on for dear life. The tension in my (actual) muscles and the imagery carved out of the spaces between trees made me want to just keep climbing. To see who would be next. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
challenging dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Really fascinating and harrowing read!  It's such a great starting concept and as its hellish secrets get revealed, I felt just as trapped as characters, but that was such a gripping and exciting feeling!

The start of the book was absolutely brilliant, it hooked me immediately and made each character stand out in a grim sense of nihilism as the inevitability of the end results slowly marched closer, page after page.  The ending was a perfect final note for horror, and I loved the personal flair the narration had.

I just had such a good time reading this, it was a perfect blend of eldritch unknown wrapped in extremely human and complex desires.  Talk about a kickass debut novel!