This book merged multiple interests of mine into one gloriously intriguing tale.

Gothic horror, fungi, and strong bonds of friendship weave together to make a tale that is both fascinating and terrifying.

There's not much I can say about the story itself without hinting at spoilers, but I loved how well-written the story was. Usually when tales are broken up between two perspectives and two different timeframes, I find it either hard to follow along or the overall story feels disjointed and incoherent but Cooke was able to handle them well and merged them seemlessly into a single timeline by the later half of the book.

I started off by listening to the audiobook before switching to the ebook. I found the audiobook narration very good and only made the switch as I wanted to read the story faster.

This would be a great title to add to LGBTQIA+ lists due to the inclusion of lesbian relationships.

Some TW to be mindful of: Infant death, sexual assault.