The pacing for 70 percent of the book is quite slow, and the plot feels very repetitious. Most of my rating is influenced by the faster paced ending that sees some of our plot pay off, as well as dive into the really interesting and haunting lore. At some points, it felt pretty tedious to read because of the slow pacing, repetition, as well as the fact that there’s just a lot going on in the story.

I can’t say that I loved all of the relationships in this. At times they felt really disconnected from Kari’s journey/her mother’s mystery. It felt a little jarring to read. I can say that they resolved in a way that I felt was pretty satisfactory to me—or at least felt aligned with their characterization.

I can’t lie, most of the music and horror references went straight over my head, but I can see how this could be really appealing to people who are into grunge and metal music or Stephen King. Kari, our main character, loves those things and is constantly relating to the world through them.

The setting is also really rich in this novel as well—I (selfishly) wish that we had gotten more of it. I liked that Kari gave context to the area she lived and her own identity as Native. The setting felt very real, even when supernatural things happened and I loved that.