Author: Tirzah Price

Ailsa has just inherited half a house from her mother. The house in question is her childhood home in the Scottish Highlands, which she hasn’t returned to in over two decades when her father disappeared with a small fortune in jewels. She can’t sell the place because technically, the other half belongs to her father, who has never been declared dead despite the fact that no one has heard from him since.

At a personal and professional crossroads, Ailsa leaves her home in London and moves into the house, along with her younger half-sister, who is an actor in a play in Edinburgh. Almost immediately, Ailsa feels as though something is off. Break-ins, weird sounds, unexplainable events, and hostile locals make for an unsettling experience as Ailsa tries to piece it all together. Does this have to do with her missing dad, or is something more suspicious going on?

I loved this book because it’s a great novel with an unsettling, uncertain atmosphere, and there’s a light question of whether or not anything supernatural is going on. The setting is very atmospheric and vivid, striking a great balance between a claustrophobic small town vibe and the wide open beauty of the countryside. I enjoyed the cast of characters, from Ailsa and her sister to the locals they meet and make friends with. The relationships also contribute to this unease. Ailsa has never felt close to her half-sister, and she’s haunted by her father’s disappearance, so suddenly living in close proximity with her sister and facing the consequences of her father’s supposed crimes are both very uncomfortable for her. Getting to the bottom of what’s going on in her house forces her to open herself up emotionally, which can sometimes be a bit uncomfortable. The hint of supernatural was definitely enough to keep me guessing, and I think that this book has similar appeal to Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark, but with a more nuanced touch that stayed more on the thriller end of the spectrum, without verging into horror. It really was a great escape that, at its heart, is about reconciling where you stand with family!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

Olive is a kid who has lost her mom, and she’s not in the best of places. She spends her days reading, daydreaming, and holding herself back from making friends. When she picks up a mysterious book about a girl, two brothers who love her, and a dangerous deal with a mysterious Smiling Man, it’s just a distraction…or so she thinks.

One day, Olive and her classmates head to a nearby farm for a field trip, and when it’s over, their bus breaks down on the way back to town. While their teacher heads off to go get help, the kids are supposed to stay on the bus with the driver. But Olive very quickly gets a bad feeling, and she and two other kids leap out of the back door just in time to avoid being taken captive by a mysterious force in the woods. Now they’re caught in a weird liminal space where they have to outsmart the Smiling Man, who is very real indeed, or they’ll be stuck there forever. Olive has to learn how to accept help, and she discovers assistance from a very unlikely source.

This is a middle grade novel that I read in one massive gulp–I seriously couldn’t put it down! I read it when I was still not sure what I thought of horror novels, and it turns out that this was the perfect way for me to explore the genre because this book was unsettling but not disturbing–it’s written for kids, after all! Arden builds tension and suspense through Olive’s journey through grief, so that in order to save herself and her classmates Olive must open herself up to the pain she’s been avoiding and learn to trust others. The emotional heart of this story is as compelling as the high stakes thrills and action, but the beautiful fall setting that quickly turns into a nightmare of scarecrows and abandoned fields definitely had me shivering as well! If you’re curious about horror novels, or you want something creepy but not too chilling for this weekend, then I highly recommend picking up this book or any other middle grade horror novel for that matter!

Bonus: There’s a sequel called Dead Voices, in which Ollie and her new friends head to a haunted ski lodge, and it’s just as chilling and good!

Happy reading!
Tirzah

Content warning: racism, death, imprisonment, terminal illness

Sydney Green’s beloved Brooklyn neighborhood is changing, and not for the better. Fresh off of a divorce, she’s back home in her mother’s brownstone, trying to rebuild her life and struggling to accept that home just isn’t the same anymore. Her neighbors on all sides are selling their homes and moving to the suburbs, and they’re being replaced with white families who aren’t as kind and welcoming, and contribute to a hostile and even dangerous community. Sydney is fed up, and decides that she wants to start a walking tour of her own neighborhood, with a focus on the history and contributions of Black residents. She takes on an unexpected research assistant: Theo, a white man who bought the brownstone across the street from Sydney and whose relationship with his racist girlfriend has disintegrated to the point where they’re living on separate floors. As Sydney and Theo tentatively begin working together, they stumble upon a lot more than just unpleasant and racist history—they find evidence that suggests that someone is forcibly removing Black residents to make way for white buyers.

I love a suspense novel with fascinating and sharp social commentary, and Alyssa Cole delivers! I would say that this is definitely more on the suspense spectrum than mystery, although there is obviously a mystery here. It just takes Sydney and Theo a little while to realize that something sinister is going on, and that tension had me cringing but unable to look away. Once they’re on to the conspiracy, it’s a nonstop thrill ride as Sydney has to figure out what’s going on, but also whether or not she can trust Theo. Cole uses a dual narrative so you can get inside both characters’ heads, which not only ups the suspense but also allows the reader to see how Theo, as a white person, shrugs off racist incidents that affect Sydney much differently. They both have some growing to do in the book: Theo has to learn how to listen, to speak up, but not be performative. Sydney is still reeling from a traumatic break up and needs to learn how to let people in and trust again, and that goes beyond Theo. You can also see Cole’s background as a romance writer coming through as Sydney and Theo gradually begin developing feelings for one another, although any potential romance takes a backseat to the action. This book had some really excellent and unexpected twists and turns, and I definitely hope to read more thrillers from Cole in the future!