A review by laufox
The Coffin Path by Katherine Clements

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was so good! The perfect haunting, chilly, eerie read for Fall if you love English countryside decrepit estates, family secrets, superstition amongst a religious community, and shepherding. I still have so many unanswered questions, but I think the novel is actually all the stronger for that aspect. I loved the pacing...it slowly kept building and building and pulling in tendrils of doubt as events would happen or characters would come into question...and then that ending! Intense, albeit beware because there is quite a bit of physical grotesqueness, abuse and sexual abuse, and some complicated familial relationships. I saw each reveal come just before they were written on page, but the way the author executed those reveals was intentional in that way, I think - it makes your stomach writhe in disgusted and apprehensive anticipation as you wait for it to play out on page and be revealed to the characters, while leaving you biting your nails hoping you're wrong and you've misinterpreted something...but then it goes horribly wrong and then some as you anticipated. Very brilliant  subtle work and doubt planting, foreshadowing and clues by the author.