A solid slasher with some supernatural elements.

Several decades after the tragedy at Forest Grove that took the life of her friends, Melanie returns to finally overcome her fears. Cyrus Holt—the killer who murdered her friends in cold blood—is dead. She killed him… or so the police told her. But she’s not convinced he’s dead. So she’s returning to the town to not only write about her trauma at the camp, but also find out more about Cyrus.

But her return wakes something deadly in the town. Could Cyrus Holt still be haunting the town of Forest Grove?

First off can we take a second to appreciate how beautiful the cover is to this book? Minimalist perfection.

I loved how this book is a slasher, but that’s not its main focus. I love how it dives into the aspect of surviving a trauma and how that affects day to day life—even several decades later. I also love that this book is about overcoming trauma.

Read if you like

Strong female character
Friday the 13th vibes
Cults
Good for her vibes

This is a beautifully written book.

It’s told through the perspective of Neffy who volunteers for a vaccine trial. A deadly pandemic is sweeping the nation.

But during the first stages of the vaccine trial, the mutated strain of the virus spreads quickly across the world. Neffy, given both the vaccine and the virus, quickly becomes sick. The next few days become a blur. But then she wakes up several days later and finds she’s not alone in the building. While the workers may have abandoned the vaccine trial, the five survivors take refuge in the building.

Leon, one of the survivors, has an invention that allows the wearer to revisit/relieve their memories. Neffy takes advantage of this invention, using it to see her family whom she may never see again.

What I liked:

Beautiful story telling
Super strong start
Scary real events

What didn’t work for me

Step brother romantic relationship
Constant use of revisitor to relive the past