A review by minimicropup
This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.5

The Energy: Resentful. Hostile. Carnivorous.  
The Scene: 🇺🇸 Camping near Daniel Boone National Park, Kentucky, USA
The POVs: We follow a group of four who know each other from climbing recreationally or as grad students: a climber looking to become a paid influencer and their boyfriend and his dog, a PhD student and former recreational climber, and their PhD student colleague.
 
🎬 Tale-Telling: Third person narrative in an overseeing/observing way. The writing is descriptive and vivid with a lot of metaphors and similes to help you relate to the horrors but got lost in the comparisons in the second half (tar blood and synapses everywhere). I’d rather too many than too little, but I was mentally giggling at every mention. The first half felt peppered with realism I was jumpy and couldn't put it down. 
 
👥 Characters: If you thrive on character connection, this will suck. At first, the distant portrayal of the characters worked for me since we know this won’t end well and are not meant to get too close to the characters knowing their fates. The second half the story suddenly wanted us to care for them as the high stakes action dragged on. There were scenes where there is shock over strange behaviour, but to us, it was meaningless because from our perspective most of these characters were selfishly motivated and distant from each other to start. 
 
🤓 Reader Role: Silent observer, camouflaged among the trees with the narrator. 
 
🗺️ Ambiance: The setting built up atmospheric horror, was vivid and immersive, and conveyed the unease and the unknown lurking beyond the campfire light. My only gripe was the spatial inconsistencies – sometimes characters wandered off then turned around and they were steps from their friends at a rock base or eavesdropping in plain sight. Either way, I want to stream this and have it capture all the vibes on screen. 
 
🔥 Fuel: Mainly psychological. Knowing who makes it out alive (or doesn't) shifts the typical survival narrative to inevitable doom. We aren’t wondering if they'll survive, but how they'll meet their end in such strange conditions and places. Lots of dread and anticipation, with a small mystery around one character’s unknown fate. 
 
🚙 Journey: The pacing was steady and on the slower side, with moments of sheer panic as night falls. The horror was more psychological, with the characters' fears and visions playing a significant role. The switch near the 60% mark to a deep dive into their thoughts and relationships didn’t work because we didn’t know these characters beforehand, so the suspense dropped at that point. It made the gore and body horror feel boring and…long winded?
 
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🐺 Growls: Gratuitous attempt at heart wrenching horror aka Why with the dog? 😅 
the dog survives
, but seriously, outside of cathartic literary fiction has anyone ever enjoyed a dead (or potentially dead) pet trope? I hated reading all the ways a dog may be tortured while scared and alone 😭
🐕 Howls: Being asked to care and root for characters we barely know. The drawn-out ending of escape + gore + injuries. 
🐩 Tail Wags: The plot and premise around history and earth. Revealing the ending at the beginning.  The third person observational distancing from the characters (in theory). 
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Mood Reading Match-Up:
  • Natural or supernatural Missing 411 style nature’s revenge
  • “Stay out of the woods” body, psychological, paranormal horror
  • Elements of survival thriller slasher with a whisper of cosmic dread
  • Light themes and concepts exploring hunger, historical trauma, nature, conservation, sacrifice, isolation, balance, ecosystems, and necessity. 
 
Content Heads-Up: Medical (injuries, blood, head injury). Body horror (decomposition, gore, blood, vomit, body fluids; graphic, prolonged, descriptive, on page). Food horror (cannibalism). Loss of a child, loss of family, loss of friends, murder (recall; on page, graphic). Escaped pet (dog). Hallucinations, delusions. Confinement (lost/trapped in wilderness). Violence. Alcohol use/intoxication. 

Rep: Heterosexual. Cisgender. White or ambiguous Americans. 
 
👀 Format: Library Digital
 
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