Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

Wow. So good. I went into this expecting more of a thriller, but I would definitely classify this as a horror novel with a touch of thriller. Mixing themes of folklore, family, fundamentalism, and loss, Gunn weaves an ultimately heart-wrenching tale. The multiples POVs throughout reflect on each town's person's differing realities and how perception and your place in a small town can change everything.

The final few chapters took me back to the tv show The Haunting of Hill House, surprising me with how tenderly it was written - I absolutely cried a little. I was also reminded of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and The Lottery. When the publisher's compare this to a Mare of Easttown meets Stephen King's The Outsider, they're pretty spot on in terms of vibes though.