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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
thank you to netgalley for the arc!
Not the worst slasher I've read, but pretty bland nonetheless. The characters are very stereotypical and bordering on caricatures with barely anything to make them interesting; Hannah is not a very engaging main character, and she has major personality shifts throughout the story without anything in the writing justifying/explaining her perspectives; the desert setting feels underutilized; the singular Native character feels pretty tokenized and lacking the depth the story IS aiming for with her inclusion; the plot feels like it's just meandering along most of the time. The kills are vivid and really the saving grace of the story but everything around it is just... boring. There's three distinct plotlines and I don't think there's a point where any of them really merge naturally and feel cohesive; the ending wasn't that predictable, which could've been a good thing, but it's moreso because I don't feel like there was enough subtext in the story to make it make sense. Maybe this is a story that'd play out better on screen, but as a book, it's just not for me.
Not the worst slasher I've read, but pretty bland nonetheless. The characters are very stereotypical and bordering on caricatures with barely anything to make them interesting; Hannah is not a very engaging main character, and she has major personality shifts throughout the story without anything in the writing justifying/explaining her perspectives; the desert setting feels underutilized; the singular Native character feels pretty tokenized and lacking the depth the story IS aiming for with her inclusion; the plot feels like it's just meandering along most of the time. The kills are vivid and really the saving grace of the story but everything around it is just... boring. There's three distinct plotlines and I don't think there's a point where any of them really merge naturally and feel cohesive; the ending wasn't that predictable, which could've been a good thing, but it's moreso because I don't feel like there was enough subtext in the story to make it make sense. Maybe this is a story that'd play out better on screen, but as a book, it's just not for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Racism, Murder, Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Stalking
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a solid summer slasher. The horror elements were well done. I didn’t find it very original and found the characters annoying but it kept me turning the page and had some interesting twists at the end.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Talk about a great time!If you're a lover of all things found in the best slasher & horror films, this book is absolutely for you. 👏🏼🎬
I loved the characters and their absolute messy friendships with each other 🙃
The isolated desert setting was so so perfect. 🏜️
The little bits of snarky humor throughout had me cackling 😂
The storyline kept me guessing until the very end. 🧐
I absolutely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a bloody, funny, perfectly summerween time! You can grab your copy September 2nd, 2025!🩸🔪🤣
Thank you to @netgalley and @brianmcwriter for letting me review this digital ARC
I loved the characters and their absolute messy friendships with each other 🙃
The isolated desert setting was so so perfect. 🏜️
The little bits of snarky humor throughout had me cackling 😂
The storyline kept me guessing until the very end. 🧐
I absolutely recommend this to anyone who's looking for a bloody, funny, perfectly summerween time! You can grab your copy September 2nd, 2025!🩸🔪🤣
Thank you to @netgalley and @brianmcwriter for letting me review this digital ARC
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a fun, wild ride. There was tension, there was mystery, and there was gore! Breathe In, Bleed Out is a slasher horror book following Hannah after the death of her fiancé. Hannah is suspended from work and has been isolating herself since his passing. For her birthday, her best friend convinces her to go on a retreat with their friend group to try and get over the grief that is crippling her.
This book was fast paced and had lots of twists to keep you guessing. The writing was well done and I highly recommend this book if you don’t mind some graphic gore.
4.5⭐️
Thank you to Camp NetGalley, the author, and Poisoned Pen Press for the ebook in exchange for an honest review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A wellness retreat is the perfect place to find yourself…but also to lose your life.
Ever since she lost her fiancé that day one year ago, Hannah’s been trying to keep her life together and not spiral apart. When her best friends bring up an opportunity to spend a week at a wellness retreat in the remote California desert to unplug and reconnect, Hannah thinks it’ll be the perfect opportunity to get back to herself and destress from normal life.
As the week goes on, she starts to realise that’s not the case, and something more sinister is waiting in the shadows.
—
YES. I love horrors, and have really high expectations for them, meaning I get disappointed easily. But this was fantastic in every sense.
I loved the rawness of Hannah’s experiences, and the goriness of the kills. The detail was excellent, and so cleverly described?! The fact everyone was a suspect in my eyes, and when I thought I’d worked everything out? That twist got me. I did NOT see that coming.
And I loved that.
Brian has crafted an absolutely exceptional mystery slasher thriller, with full-bodied characters, complex moral decisions, and beautiful homages to the jewels in the horror crown. I especially loved his mini love letter/author’s note at the end of the book, and his love and devotion to the horror genre was sweet and something I thoroughly related to.
This was an absolute pleasure to review, and I cannot thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and the author enough for this ARC.
Ever since she lost her fiancé that day one year ago, Hannah’s been trying to keep her life together and not spiral apart. When her best friends bring up an opportunity to spend a week at a wellness retreat in the remote California desert to unplug and reconnect, Hannah thinks it’ll be the perfect opportunity to get back to herself and destress from normal life.
As the week goes on, she starts to realise that’s not the case, and something more sinister is waiting in the shadows.
—
YES. I love horrors, and have really high expectations for them, meaning I get disappointed easily. But this was fantastic in every sense.
I loved the rawness of Hannah’s experiences, and the goriness of the kills. The detail was excellent, and so cleverly described?! The fact everyone was a suspect in my eyes, and when I thought I’d worked everything out? That twist got me. I did NOT see that coming.
And I loved that.
Brian has crafted an absolutely exceptional mystery slasher thriller, with full-bodied characters, complex moral decisions, and beautiful homages to the jewels in the horror crown. I especially loved his mini love letter/author’s note at the end of the book, and his love and devotion to the horror genre was sweet and something I thoroughly related to.
This was an absolute pleasure to review, and I cannot thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and the author enough for this ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!
Breathe In, Bleed Out follows Hannah, who has been traumatised after going on a trip with her fiancé Ben, only to return alone. No one knows what happened on that trip, including Hannah's closest friends, but in need of a fresh start she reluctantly agrees to a trip with them to a spiritual retreat.
I love slasher films and this book is a slasher brought vividly to life - a remote location, stereotypical characters being picked off one by one, a masked killer. The storytelling is done so well I could picture everything so clearly. The book is action packed and tense throughout, this has been such an enjoyable read.
Breathe In, Bleed Out follows Hannah, who has been traumatised after going on a trip with her fiancé Ben, only to return alone. No one knows what happened on that trip, including Hannah's closest friends, but in need of a fresh start she reluctantly agrees to a trip with them to a spiritual retreat.
I love slasher films and this book is a slasher brought vividly to life - a remote location, stereotypical characters being picked off one by one, a masked killer. The storytelling is done so well I could picture everything so clearly. The book is action packed and tense throughout, this has been such an enjoyable read.
"I think that when we suffer from serious trauma, we're haunted by it. And a haunting can take different shapes at different times. But you can trace it all back to the same cause. The truth you're refusing to look at in the eye."
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Breathe In, Bleed Out was such a wild and fun ride! I loved all the twists and turns this book threw at me, and just when I thought I had it figured out, that final twist totally caught me off guard. It had me flipping pages and second-guessing everything.
If you're a fan of slasher films like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, then this is 100% a book you need to add to your TBR. It has that same creepy, fast-paced energy with a mix of teen drama, secrets, and suspense.
With its official release set for September 2nd, 2025, horror lovers better get ready, this one’s a bloody good time!
If you're a fan of slasher films like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, then this is 100% a book you need to add to your TBR. It has that same creepy, fast-paced energy with a mix of teen drama, secrets, and suspense.
With its official release set for September 2nd, 2025, horror lovers better get ready, this one’s a bloody good time!
dark
mysterious
tense
This book was absolutely cinematic, I had the sense the whole time I needed to pop some jiffy pop and hide behind my fingers. The kills were creative and visceral, and the setting was vivid.
This book is a love letter to horror cinema, as made evident by the author’s note in the back. It feels like all the best horror movies that made me who I am today. I loved it from the very first page. The last few chapters had me looking like that SpongeBob caveman meme. I had NO idea what was happening and it was so much fun.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this book. I had a blast.
This book is a love letter to horror cinema, as made evident by the author’s note in the back. It feels like all the best horror movies that made me who I am today. I loved it from the very first page. The last few chapters had me looking like that SpongeBob caveman meme. I had NO idea what was happening and it was so much fun.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this book. I had a blast.