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janeneal 's review for:

And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

I listened to this on audio, thinking it would be a quick, listen and forget it sort of YA book (I spotted it while working at B&N ages ago). I'm now very surprised and annoyed that I never see it on shelves anywhere (along with Daughters Unto Devils), because this is a really well-crafted horror novel.

I'm still a horror newb and it's really not my thing, unless it's an A24 arthouse flick or anything Jordan Peele does, so my perspective should be taken with heaps of salt. But, I thought the author did a fantastic job blending various horror tropes, like a haunted house, abusive parent, creepy woods, etc very well. The audio production did a fantastic job with sound effects too, which I would normally think was pretty cheesy, but it was more like Stranger Things quality of squelchy sounds.

There's also, for dummies like me, a big explanation at the end. That includes the romantic aspect of it, if anyone is put off by what appears to be insta-love. It's pretty long for what seems straightforward, but I definitely think there is a huge pay off by the end.