Scan barcode
A review by popthebutterfly
Direwood by Catherine Yu
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
3.0
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Direwood
Author: Catherine Yu
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: young adult readers, horror, vampires, fantasy, gothic
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Genre: YA Horror
Age Relevance: 13+ (grief, gore, violence, cursing, kidnapping, death)
Explanation of Above: There is some death, blood gore, vomit gore, and violence in this book, along with grief. There is some slight cursing in the book. Kidnapping is shown in the book.
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Pages: 288
Synopsis: In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.
No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.
Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.
In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.
Review: I thought this was an ok vampire novel. The book revolves around our MC whose sister goes missing and her trying to find the sister when she encounters and make a deal with a vampire who has other motives for our MC. The book had some great moments including the mystery and the horror aspect of the book. It was very gothic feeling and I loved the world building of the book.
However, the book is super short and I feel like that works against the book. The book didn’t have room to fully develop the characters and they just kinda felt empty, including our MC. They remain strangers to the reader by the end of the novel and that’s not something that should be happening in the book. The book also has very fast pacing and I think more pages would have allowed the author to slow it down and work out a lot of those kinks.
Verdict: It was ok!
Book: Direwood
Author: Catherine Yu
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommended For...: young adult readers, horror, vampires, fantasy, gothic
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Genre: YA Horror
Age Relevance: 13+ (grief, gore, violence, cursing, kidnapping, death)
Explanation of Above: There is some death, blood gore, vomit gore, and violence in this book, along with grief. There is some slight cursing in the book. Kidnapping is shown in the book.
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Pages: 288
Synopsis: In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.
No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.
Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.
In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.
Review: I thought this was an ok vampire novel. The book revolves around our MC whose sister goes missing and her trying to find the sister when she encounters and make a deal with a vampire who has other motives for our MC. The book had some great moments including the mystery and the horror aspect of the book. It was very gothic feeling and I loved the world building of the book.
However, the book is super short and I feel like that works against the book. The book didn’t have room to fully develop the characters and they just kinda felt empty, including our MC. They remain strangers to the reader by the end of the novel and that’s not something that should be happening in the book. The book also has very fast pacing and I think more pages would have allowed the author to slow it down and work out a lot of those kinks.
Verdict: It was ok!