A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Wicked House Publishing for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book incorporates all my favorite things from a Southern Gothic tale, and you can almost feel the heat and humidity as the story presses in on you from all sides. Once the story kicks off, there is almost no time to take a moment for a breath, and every new chapter leaves you wanting more. Just when you think you finally understand what is going on, something will happen that will change your entire perspective and understanding of the story.

We follow Rhiannon and her younger brother Rhett as they return to their old house next to the bayou after their mother’s death. Both siblings were forced from their home by their mother after their father’s suicide, and given no explanation on why she could not go with them. Due to this, Rhiannon holds hostility to her late mother and wants nothing more than to sell the house and be done with it completely. However, as they live in the house to get it ready to be sold, it slowly starts coming to life as something begins lurking in the shadows.

This story is told through both dual perspectives and timelines, flashing back to when Rhiannon and Rhett were children and the events that lead to them leaving the house and their mother behind. Confronted with their memories of their father’s suicide, and the hostility of the town they return to, both are left on their one to try to survive whatever is lurking in the bayou. They must rely on their own faulty memories, as well as the clues their mother left behind, to try to piece together how to stop the horror that haunts their old ancestral home.

This book never goes where you expect it to, and just when you think you understand what exactly is going on, it will surprise you with new information. If you were looking for a nice heavy and oppressive Southern Gothic tale where you can feel just as trapped as the characters, I would look no further than this book.