Horseman: A Tale of Sleepy Hollow, By Christina Henry ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Assault, Attempted Rape, Child Murders, Historical Fiction, Horror, LGBTQ, Mystery, Suspense, YA/Adult Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 28th, 2021

320 Pages

Synopsis: In this atmospheric, terrifying novel that draws strongly from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the author of Alice and The Girl in Red works her trademark magic, spinning an engaging and frightening new story from a classic tale.

Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking.

Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play Sleepy Hollow boys, reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adults in Sleepy Hollow have ever said. Could the Horseman be real after all? Or does something even more sinister stalk the woods. (Goodreads)

Before I even begin my review of Horseman, we need to address the cover. How gorgeous is that? Aren’t your fingers just reaching for it under their own volition? Well, I’m happy to say that the actual story just about lives up to that perfect cover.

I took me a few chapters to warm up to fourteen-year-old Ben, who is born female, but knows in his heart he’s a boy, and insists on dressing and acting like one. This puts him in direct conflict with his prim and proper grandmother, Katrina who has raised Ben along with Brom Bones after the death of his parents when he was young. I kept trying to remind myself of his age and the fact of his fighting against the societal norms of the time period, but at first his combativeness got on my nerves. As the story progresses I warmed up to him and I love the close relationship he shares with Brom. The relationship between Ben and Katrina eventually develops into one of open communication and mutual understanding, which is a welcome change to the hurtful arguing they both engaged in at the beginning. In addition to Ben, I think all the characters here are ingeniously written, especially the ones that readers of the original tale of Sleepy Hollow are familiar with. Katrina and Brom are particularly well written and while flawed, they’re also likable and relatable.

The story itself is quite dark and at times graphically bloody, but it’s an imaginative continuation of the original story that pays homage to Washington Irving’s classic, yet takes its own unique and unexpected path, especially in regards to the Headless Horseman mythology and the mystery of what happened to schoolmaster Ichabod Crane. I absolutely loved the ending and thought it the perfect way to wrap everything up.

Mixed in with the mythology are some real life issues including three child murders, Ben’s aforementioned transgenderism, a violent physical attack on him, and an attempted rape. Because of these scenes and a few other gory ones, I would recommend this for ages 16 and up. I’ve read a couple of Christina Henry’s previous books which I’ve enjoyed, but I believe Horseman is her best yet. As it’s coming out on September 28th, this really is the perfect horror tale for the Halloween season.

What’s Done In Darkness, By Laura McHugh ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Assault, Implied Rape, Kidnapping, Mystery, Ozarks, Religious Fanaticism, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 22nd, 2021

256 Pages

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Sarabeth has become increasingly rebellious since her parents found God and moved their family to a remote Arkansas farmstead where she’s forced to wear long dresses, follow strict rules, and grow her hair down to her waist. She’s all but given up on escaping the farm when a masked man appears one stifling summer morning and snatches her out of the cornfield.

A week after her abduction, she’s found alongside a highway in a bloodstained dress—alive—but her family treats her like she’s tainted, and there’s little hope of finding her captor who kept Sarabeth blindfolded in the dark the entire time, never uttering a word. One good thing arises from the horrific ordeal: a chance to leave the Ozarks and start a new life.

Five years later, Sarabeth is struggling to keep her past buried, when investigator Nick Farrow calls. Convinced that her case is connected to the strikingly similar disappearance of another young girl, Farrow wants Sarabeth’s help and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means dragging her back to the last place she wants to go—the hills and hollers of home, to face her estranged family, and all her deepest fears.

In this riveting new novel from Laura McHugh, blood ties and buried secrets draw a young woman back into the nightmare of her past to save a missing girl, unaware of what awaits her in the darkness. (Goodreads)

What’s Done In Darkness is an unsettling thriller that illustrates how much can be packed into a relatively short book in the hands of a talented author. The book alternates between the years leading up to Sarabeth’s abduction and the ordeal itself, to five years later in the present day, when Sara is now trying to make a normal life for herself, away from her family and strict religious community that she was trapped in for a good portion of her childhood. McHugh created a wonderful character in Sara, with both her past and present selves. She comes across as not only relatable, but as a real flesh and blood person. The other characters are equally well written, and so realistic that this could have been a documentary. The setting of the story in the Ozarks was a brilliant decision and added to the claustrophobic atmosphere of this religious cultish community. The mystery as to who abducted Sara was in part predictable, but there were some nuances that still surprised me. In summation, What’s Done In Darkness is an emotional, evocative, and mesmerizing read that I guarantee you won’t be able to put down. This is the first book I’ve read by Laura McHugh, but I liked it so much I’m determined to go back and read her three previous books.