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tnemelce's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Torture
Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
nikki_saulnier's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Blood, Child death, Murder, and Violence
sol_journal's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
**Thank you so much Scholastic Press and Kelly Andrew for the arc! All words and thoughts in this review are my own honest opinion!**
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The Storygraph
Posted on: 27 April 2024
3.7 (rounded up to4) out of 5 stars.
Phew, okay this took me much too long to get to and even longer still to finish. I feel like if this book had been with me more consistently, I may have been less critical of it? And I say this lightly because it still got 4 stars based off my rating scale, but I have a lot of thoughts floating around about it.
To start, this isn’t my first Kelly Andrew book. I got a copy of ‘The Whispering Dark’ when it first released (I received it through Illumicrate and my sister through OwlCrate so we buddy read it). It was never finished though, and this was before I knew about DNF’ing, book slumps, reading slumps- all that jazz. So when I saw this title and read the bio, I was a little worried about trying another Kelly Andrew book since I hadn’t finished the first one. I’m really glad I read this though, because while I have my qualms about it, it was a really lovely read!
On a more critical note, the characters sometimes had annoying habits. There were also times where they fell a little flat to me or just lacked a little something that would’ve made their role in the story hit *more*.
Another thing was that I think I got lost a bit in the plot? Some things happened that kind of felt awkwardly placed or solutions just given for the sake of finding an out??
Again, it took me longer to read this book than usual, so I feel like I’ll have different opinions on this when I go back to read it and actually finish it in my usual reading time (a week, give or take. Not a whole month..)
What I *loved* about this book was the writing in some places. It was pretty, it was meaningful, it added a little depth to the flatness I found. I saved a lot of quotes from this because there was just *something* about the rotting, about the decay, and how Andrew describes it. The writing style wasn’t one of my favorites, but the things being written were- does that make sense?
Overall, it was a nice read! I did enjoy it, and I did decide to keep my OwlCrate copy of it. I think the magic used was also interesting to me, but at the heart of it, the struggles and the growth of the main cast had me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Torture, and Death
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Confinement
There’s also mention of spiders but mildly so for anybody with arachnophobia. It’s nothing terribly explicit, I’d say?? But there is a big spider mentioned in one or two chapters towards the end of the middle half.dani_reis's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Slavery, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Torture, Confinement, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death
Animal death is non pet and super minor.lizgriffinwords's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Beautifully written, with prose I want to lay down and soak in. Characters that clutched my heart in their fists. Terror and love in a perfectly orchestrated collision of romance-horror.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Death, and Child death
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
House of Hollow meets Starling House in this dark and enchantingly lush, Gothic Fantasy standalone that’s set within the same world as The Whispering Dark. A tale of curses, eldritch creatures and the fallibility of humankind, but also of friendships, loyalty and the difficult choices we all must to make. Kelly Andrew has crafted a gorgeously imaginative and immersive tale that needs to be sent to Guillermo del Toro, cause I need an adaptation of this ASAP!
When her father dies and leaves her everything, Wyatt Westlock finally returns to Willow Heath, the farmhouse she spent her childhood summers in… with a plan to burn it all to the ground.
Until she stumbles upon her childhood best friend, Peter, strung up in the basement and left for dead. For unbeknownst to her, Peter is immortal; and only his ritualistic murder (at the hands of generations of Wyatt’s family) can hold back the eldritch creatures, who’ve spent centuries trying to invade her world.
But Peter doesn’t want to be the sacrificial lamb anymore, he plans to break his curse by killing the last ever Westlock… which unfortunately happens to be Wyatt.
With the property’s wards unravelling, Wyatt must turn to the only person who can help her repair them before it’s too late. Yet, despite Peter being the only one who knows how to harness her volatile magic, can Wyatt truly put her trust in a boy who’s sworn to destroy her?
I loved how intricately detailed and otherworldly in scope this was! Kelly Andrew’s hauntingly poetic yet slightly macabre prose reads like a dark, twisted fairytale — in the best, creepiest and most sinister way possible.
The terrifying sense of foreboding that we encounter from the very start, and which stalks our protagonists throughout the entire novel (from high stakes action scenes to the more emotional and introspective ones) really amplified the gothic horror elements that I thought made this such an intriguing story.
But, I do think it was the nuance and depth of our POV characters, Wyatt and Peter; their flaws, emotional ties and uncertain loyalties to each other in the face of such horrifying adversity that really made this a standout read for me.
I loved Wyatt whose emotional complexity and journey after discovering her family’s darkest secrets (and trying to make amends) had me utterly invested in her every decision. I enjoyed the depth and emotion we explore in morally grey Peter too. His traumatic experiences and conflicted emotions surrounding Wyatt were breathtakingly wrought, highlighting just how important (and life changing) the bonds of friendship can truly be.
And the romance was phenomenal as well! Slowburn, swoon-worthy and deliciously intense, I was awed by just how much chemistry Wyatt and Peter had. Even in the flashback scenes of their childhood we get glimpses of their growing feelings and I loved every second. Though I do warn it’s quite an emotional and bittersweet journey so do prepare to shed some tears along the way.
If you’ve read The Whispering Dark you’ll be pleased to know that Delaney and Colton make a cameo, as does Delaney’s friend Mackenzie (who happens to be Wyatt’s cousin.) It was a lovely surprise and I hope we get more stories within this world, if only so that we can catch more glimpses of them.
Overall, an impeccably written and atmospheric read that horror loving, dark fairytale and Gothic fantasy lovers should definitely consider adding to their TBRs. Though do check the TWs first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Confinement, Body horror, and Animal death
Minor: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
bsquiggle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child death and Child abuse
Minor: Confinement, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Gore, and Grief
takarakei's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“There’s a Welsh word I learned in school,” said James. “Hiraeth. There’s no direct translation for it in the English language, but it means a deep longing for a home you can never return to.”
- Gothic
- Scary forests
- nature emotion magic
- Childhood friendships
- Angst
- the price of immortality
- Adult men on power trips 🙄
Kelly Andrew is the queen of writing YA fantasy that will leave you in a puddle on the floor. Her writing is descriptive and beautiful (even when describing gross things). Endlessly quotable and I highlighted so many parts!! The reveals keep you reading and engaged. Even though the ending is foreshadowed you still have to see how it plays out. The one downside is the magic isn’t explained super well so you just gotta go on vibes. I found myself a bit confused at some parts but also reading an eARC formatted weirdly might have been a contributing factor. I will definitely be rereading this once I can get my hands on a physical final copy 🙌
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic for the eARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Child death
Moderate: Confinement, Animal death, Body horror, and Torture
Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
Animal death: mentions of hunting and cleaning animals.roseleebooks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I'm very glad I picked this up as it surprised me in a good way. I knew it was going to be at least partly a horror and the writing and integration of that part of the story is outstanding. The tension really builds for the first portion of the book when Wyatt is trying to fix the farm that is falling apart around her. I won't give away the plot by talking too much about the other characters, but will say that the interpersonal dynamics and flashbacks are handled very well in building the story.
I did think that some of the plot elements felt a little rushed at the end, however thinking more about it after finishing the book I appreciated the direction it went in.
Overall this was the horror with heart at it's center that I didn't know I wanted to read. It is a story of loss, love, and hope with all the supernatural horror that I could ask for. There are no easy solutions in the world Kelly Andrew has created and I am glad that the story embraces that element.
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.
I did think that some of the plot elements felt a little rushed at the end, however thinking more about it after finishing the book I appreciated the direction it went in.
Overall this was the horror with heart at it's center that I didn't know I wanted to read. It is a story of loss, love, and hope with all the supernatural horror that I could ask for. There are no easy solutions in the world Kelly Andrew has created and I am glad that the story embraces that element.
Thank you to Netgalley and Scholastic books for the opportunity to read and review this book prior to publication.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Abandonment, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, and Violence
This is a horror novel with some romantic elements, I would not characterize this as a romance centric book.ellejo3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
5.0
Wyatt Westlock is returning to her childhood farm after her father's death set on burning it down. As she's dousing the house in gasoline, she discovers her childhood best friend turned nemesis, Peter, chained in the basement and left for dead. Peter is exceptionally good at dying. He's done it countless times. He can't quite nail the sticking part and resurrects each time. Upon discovering him, Wyatt learns that she comes from a long line of wardens, trying to keep the dark, ancient forces that lurk in the nearby woods at bay, wards that are crumbling since her father's death. The only way Wyatt can reinforce the wards is by working with Peter. The only way Peter can end his curse is by killing Wyatt, the last living Westlock. When their other childhood friend, James, arrives, matters get even more complicated, reinvoking an old dynamic between the three of them.
Your Blood, My Bones is set in the same world as The Whispering Dark and has the same lush, atmospheric writing, but instead of dark academia, it's cottage-core horror. Kelly Andrew nailed the setting and vibes, and I loved the dynamic between Wyatt, Peter, and James. The tension between the three of them! And that ending!! Ahh - I'm still thinking about it! I was also pleasantly surprised to see Lane and Colton from TWD make an appearance. Though don't worry if you haven't read TWD. While it helps to understand the concept of lay lines and walking between worlds, Andrew does a good job of explaining it in YBMB.
If you liked The Whispering Dark, read Your Blood, My Bones! If you never read The Whispering Dark, but you like cottage-core horror, read Your Blood, My Bones!
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for giving me an ARC. All thoughts are my own.
Your Blood, My Bones is set in the same world as The Whispering Dark and has the same lush, atmospheric writing, but instead of dark academia, it's cottage-core horror. Kelly Andrew nailed the setting and vibes, and I loved the dynamic between Wyatt, Peter, and James. The tension between the three of them! And that ending!! Ahh - I'm still thinking about it! I was also pleasantly surprised to see Lane and Colton from TWD make an appearance. Though don't worry if you haven't read TWD. While it helps to understand the concept of lay lines and walking between worlds, Andrew does a good job of explaining it in YBMB.
If you liked The Whispering Dark, read Your Blood, My Bones! If you never read The Whispering Dark, but you like cottage-core horror, read Your Blood, My Bones!
Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic Press for giving me an ARC. All thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Torture
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death of parent, Blood, Animal death, Murder, and Medical content
Minor: Fire/Fire injury