Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Overall: 4 stars
Characters: 3.5/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4/5

A special thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

I think I need to stop reading horror. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the book, but it’s been like two weeks and I still feel unsettled whenever I think about it. I read and loved Erin A. Craig’s debut, House of Salt and Sorrow, when it first came out, and I remember it being a bit creepy, but I think this book creeped me out a bit more. I’m not sure if it’s objectively creepier or if I’m misremembering the first book, or what.
One thing I will say, is that the synopsis for this book? Not at all what the book is about. Technically it’s not wrong, but it gives a very incorrect idea of what is going to happen. The first paragraph is correct, but everything about strangers and favors? You don’t hear anything about that until the last 15% of the book. So that was weird.
The book itself was really good. I loved the writing, the plot, the characters. I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t put it down. I loved Ellerie and her sisters. All of their characters wormed their way into my heart immediately. Sam infuriated the hell out of me, and just about nothing that he did made any sense to me when contrasted with Ellerie’s perception of him prior to that year. Ellerie is constantly saying he’s acting out of character, but we never actually get much of an explanation as to why he’s such a jerk when he didn’t used to be.
I loved Whittaker and his and Ellerie’ relationship. I guessed his secret from the start though, which did make some—a lot?—of their interactions a little infuriating at times. But they had really good chemistry and despite that, I enjoyed their scenes together.
Was the book perfect? No. But it was a fun, creepy, atmospheric read, and if it seems like something you’re interested in, you should pick it up.