A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Holiday House/Peachtree/Pixel+Ink/Peachtree Teen for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.


“Maybe poetry wasn’t there to let you escape. Maybe it was there when you couldn’t escape.”

Not only is the main character a poet, but so is this entire novel. Reading this book felt like reading poetry, so lyrical and haunting that it almost didn’t feel like reading at all, but instead simply an experience. I had to finish this book in one sitting, as once I started I couldn’t stop.

This novel does an incredible job of incorporating American folklore into this story, while still maintaining its unique narrative. It takes considerable skill to take the stories of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan and use them to create a heartfelt gothic horror narrative with a captivating romance. I also really loved how the spread of the knowledge of the Sap Man spread organically throughout the novel, giving an in-novel explanation for other characters’ knowledge of the Sap Man.

This book is told by dual timelines through the two main characters - Catalina and John. I really enjoyed this way of telling the story, as you could watch both the past and present unfold as both characters wound up at the same place in the end. It allows the reader to see the entire story without spoiling it for either the characters, or the reader themselves.

I thought it really set up for the Faustian dealings that both characters are tricked and forced into making, and the symmetry inherent in it. As Catalina tracks the Sap Man to rescue her brother - a literal journey into Hell - we watch John slowly descend into making the deal that creates the monster. They’ve both made choices that may have led to the final decisions they were forced to make, but they were also forced into those original positions by circumstances out of their control. Neither character is a villain for the decisions they’re forced to make, and I thought that was profound.

I loved the dynamic between Paul and Catalina, and how she grew to care for him despite her intentions of maintaining her distance. This really reminded me of the romance in Ava Reid’s “The Wolf and the Woodsman,” if only in vibes and circumstances (and how much I loved it.)

The interpretation of the Devil as the Banker was very clever - especially in regards to the theme of Faustian deals within this book. A person most likely desperate enough to make a literal deal with the Devil (and not read the fine print on any deals they do sign) would be those in dire financial straits. And so who else would they make these deals with, than the Bank in hopes of changing their fates?

I love the theme of wordplay and artifice within this novel, as it’s not until the deals are signed that the characters learn the truth of them, or what they actually agreed to. And the theme of wordplay and trickery makes the ending all the better, when Catalina uses her power of words through her poetry to her advantage.

“Little did she know the monster was her.”

I love how this is a novel that embraces the monstrous parts of yourself and still considers them worthy of love. Catalina is forced to become a monster to be able to survive her end of the bargain and protect the ones she loves, and she’s not condemned for it by the narrative.

The ending was so heartfelt and perfect that I almost cried. Part of me was worried that it was simply Too Perfect and was worried about a rugpull at the end. (Luckily for my heart that didn’t happen.)

I honestly think I’ll be thinking about this book for a while to come, and I will never see apples - or apple orchards - the same way again.