Many thanks to my friends at @tornightfire and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.  

 

Complex.  Weird.  The perfect mix of confusion and satisfaction.  

 

“It was me that was haunted, not the place.” -Ward in conversation at @politicsprose.

 

There’s a certain genius with which Ward writes horror.  It’s never simplistic: mere violence and fear.  Instead, it brims with a passionate intensity and steeps in perplexity, leaving the reader haunted by the writing itself.  

 

And Ward’s newest may be her most haunting yet.    

 

On the first summer holiday in the idyllic coastal town, Wilder is determined to find love.  And he does.  Those friendships of youth burgeon with a special intensity.  But things change when the friends make a terrible discovery. And it will haunt them for the rest of their lives.  

 

What opens as a coming-of-age tale swiftly shifts to a disturbing circular narrative.  A story within a story within a story, blurring the lines between fact and fiction to create a horrifying sense of uncertainty.  

 

This is a wildly ambitious plot, unpacking the traumatic effects of violence while pondering the authenticity of memory and storytelling.  And on both accounts, Ward excelled.    

 

While many felt the plot confusing and convoluted, that’s where I thought Ward’s narrative stood out.  The meticulous layering (though necessarily befuddling at times) created an intimate and resounding portrait of trauma.  It was a look within the mind of survivors, narrating the distortion and horror, unlike any I’ve read before.  

 

The more I sit with this story, the more I appreciate it’s brilliance.  I can’t wait to see what Ward does next!

 

🎧 You’re going to want a physical copy of this one, if for no other reason than to reread sections for clarity.  But the audiobook is a great accompaniment.  Full of emotion and nuance, I found myself lost in the voices created by narrators Christopher Ragland and Katherine Fenton.