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Curses and Other Buried Things: A Novel
Blood holds all kinds of curses. Seven generations of women in Susana Prather’s family have been lost to the Georgia swamp behind her house. The morning after her eighteenth birthday, she awakens soaked with water, with no memory of sleepwalking. No matter how she tries to stop it, she’s pulled from her safe bed night after night, haunted by her own family history and legacy. Now, the truth feels it’s only a matter of time before she loses her mind and the swamp becomes her grave. Unless she can figure out how to break the curse. When she isn’t sleepwalking, she’s dreaming of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn, who set the curse in motion in 1855. Her ancestor’s life bears such similarity to her own that it might hold the key she seeks. Or it might only foretell tragedy. As Susana seeks solutions in the past and the present, family members hold secrets tighter to their chests, friends grow distant, and old flames threaten to sputter and die. But Susana has something no one else has been able to the unflagging belief that all curses can be broken and that love can help a new future begin. Based on her own family history, award-winning novelist Caroline George’s latest novel is a staggeringly beautiful work of hope.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2023
30 people are currently reading
5811 people want to read
About the author
Caroline George
10 books399 followersCaroline George is the multi-award-winning author of Dearest Josephine (HarperCollins) and other YA fiction titles. She graduated from Belmont University with a degree in publishing and public relations, and now travels the country, speaking at conferences and writing full-time. A Georgia native, Caroline aspires to one day host The Great British Baking Show and delights in being best known for writing the phrase, “Coffee first. Save the world later.” Find her on Instagram @authorcarolinegeorge and Twitter @CarolineGeorge_.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 227 reviews
October 17, 2023
In a Nutshell: Expected something dark and mysterious from the blurb; found it only partially. Didn’t expect to find romance in the plot; found it in abundance. Assumed this to be Adult fiction; turned out to be YA. In short, not my type of book, but might work better for a YA mystery fan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story Synopsis:
Bookish Yays:
🌹 The book begins with a striking note penned by the author. She speaks about how the story was inspired by her family’s history and folklore, and how much it derives from the life of her own great-great-great-grandmother Susana Godwin.
🌹 I did, and still do, like the premise. The idea of a generational curse and its impact on the mind is depicted well. It’s an innovative take on intergenerational trauma.
🌹 I loved the use of the swamp in the story. It is incorporated into the plot much better than in Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing”. The alligators added to the atmospheric fun.
🌹 A couple of the secondary characters, such as Aunt Missouri, are interesting.
🌹 As a Southern Christian fiction, the book hits the right note in terms of the depiction of the southern lifestyle. Right from the food to the culture to the beliefs and superstitions, the writing represents that part of the country wonderfully. (Except for the hooey about the curse.)
🌹 I hadn’t expected the writing to be YA in style. Thankfully, inner monologues, so common in YA writing, are mostly avoided in this book.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 I had expected a much darker story, almost on the lines of psych horror, considering the mention of curses and witches in the blurb. But somehow, the darkness is sporadic. This is partly because romance plays a strong role in the narrative, thereby diluting the impact of the core plot. (All the more as the romance was typical YA in style, filled with tropes that I never enjoy.)
🌵 The book has two timelines, and each contains a love triangle. With the two Susana’s of each timeline battling two distinct Romeos, this triangle-hating reader lost her patience.
🌵 I didn’t like the main character from the contemporary timeline. She acts her age, which is good for YA readers but not for me. I was tired of her secret-keeping, which was quite ironic as she kept blaming others around her for having secrets. Her decisions and actions were almost always illogical.
🌵 I hate the miscommunication trope with all my heart. When Susana Prather already knows how much danger she is in after her eighteenth birthday, why does she not seek help from anyone? Why tackle such a serious curse alone, despite there being no shortage of love and support?
🌵 There are some silly things in the plotting. For instance, the family already knows that every firstborn girl child will go through the curse. And yet, they name every such girl ‘Susana’. It’s almost as if they are marking the baby for death with such a trend. This tendency of maintaining the same first names also makes the plot slightly confusing to follow, despite the change of narrative voice between the two Susanas.
🌵 Except for minor historical elements, there is nothing much to distinguish between the two timelines and they feel quite repetitive. The middle of the book drags a lot because of the feeling of déjà vu between the timelines.
🌵 The ending was absurd. It didn’t spring up logically from the rest of the plot, and felt bizarrely out of place. I hate pull-the-rug endings of this kind.
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 13 hrs 37 min, is narrated by Hallie Ricardo. She handled her job really well, and I loved her voice. But I wish she had used two distinct pitches for the two Susanas.
If you are interested in this book, the audiobook would be a great option, as long as you are attuned to hearing books in this format. With its dual timelines and multiple characters – some with the same name, it doesn’t make for easy listening. Won’t recommend this format to audio newbies.
All in all, this would have been more interesting to me had I been the right reader for this content. I picked this up expecting a psychological horror, not a cheesy YA romance with just a few dark scenes.
If you are a YA fan, you will certainly experience this book much differently. So please try the book depending on your reading preferences rather than on my review.
2.5 stars.
My thanks to HarperCollins Christian Publishing and NetGalley for the ALC of “Curses and Other Buried Things”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Story Synopsis:
Susana Prather’s family legacy involves a generational curse that ensures that every first-born daughter loses her mind and kills herself within a few months of her eighteenth birthday. Now that Susana has turned eighteen, she feels like the countdown to the end has begun. Can she do anything to stop this horrid familial endowment?
The story comes to us in two timelines, with the contemporary time containing Susana’s arc in first person, and a historical timeline detailing in third person the life story of the person with whom the curse began.
Bookish Yays:
🌹 The book begins with a striking note penned by the author. She speaks about how the story was inspired by her family’s history and folklore, and how much it derives from the life of her own great-great-great-grandmother Susana Godwin.
🌹 I did, and still do, like the premise. The idea of a generational curse and its impact on the mind is depicted well. It’s an innovative take on intergenerational trauma.
🌹 I loved the use of the swamp in the story. It is incorporated into the plot much better than in Delia Owens’ “Where the Crawdads Sing”. The alligators added to the atmospheric fun.
🌹 A couple of the secondary characters, such as Aunt Missouri, are interesting.
🌹 As a Southern Christian fiction, the book hits the right note in terms of the depiction of the southern lifestyle. Right from the food to the culture to the beliefs and superstitions, the writing represents that part of the country wonderfully. (Except for the hooey about the curse.)
🌹 I hadn’t expected the writing to be YA in style. Thankfully, inner monologues, so common in YA writing, are mostly avoided in this book.
Bookish Nays:
🌵 I had expected a much darker story, almost on the lines of psych horror, considering the mention of curses and witches in the blurb. But somehow, the darkness is sporadic. This is partly because romance plays a strong role in the narrative, thereby diluting the impact of the core plot. (All the more as the romance was typical YA in style, filled with tropes that I never enjoy.)
🌵 The book has two timelines, and each contains a love triangle. With the two Susana’s of each timeline battling two distinct Romeos, this triangle-hating reader lost her patience.
🌵 I didn’t like the main character from the contemporary timeline. She acts her age, which is good for YA readers but not for me. I was tired of her secret-keeping, which was quite ironic as she kept blaming others around her for having secrets. Her decisions and actions were almost always illogical.
🌵 I hate the miscommunication trope with all my heart. When Susana Prather already knows how much danger she is in after her eighteenth birthday, why does she not seek help from anyone? Why tackle such a serious curse alone, despite there being no shortage of love and support?
🌵 There are some silly things in the plotting. For instance, the family already knows that every firstborn girl child will go through the curse. And yet, they name every such girl ‘Susana’. It’s almost as if they are marking the baby for death with such a trend. This tendency of maintaining the same first names also makes the plot slightly confusing to follow, despite the change of narrative voice between the two Susanas.
🌵 Except for minor historical elements, there is nothing much to distinguish between the two timelines and they feel quite repetitive. The middle of the book drags a lot because of the feeling of déjà vu between the timelines.
🌵 The ending was absurd. It didn’t spring up logically from the rest of the plot, and felt bizarrely out of place. I hate pull-the-rug endings of this kind.
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 13 hrs 37 min, is narrated by Hallie Ricardo. She handled her job really well, and I loved her voice. But I wish she had used two distinct pitches for the two Susanas.
If you are interested in this book, the audiobook would be a great option, as long as you are attuned to hearing books in this format. With its dual timelines and multiple characters – some with the same name, it doesn’t make for easy listening. Won’t recommend this format to audio newbies.
All in all, this would have been more interesting to me had I been the right reader for this content. I picked this up expecting a psychological horror, not a cheesy YA romance with just a few dark scenes.
If you are a YA fan, you will certainly experience this book much differently. So please try the book depending on your reading preferences rather than on my review.
2.5 stars.
My thanks to HarperCollins Christian Publishing and NetGalley for the ALC of “Curses and Other Buried Things”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog | The StoryGraph | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
May 20, 2023
Of the many books I’ve written, this is by far the most personal. I wanted to celebrate my Southern heritage by returning to my roots and decided to use familiar names, events, and settings to give the story a richer authenticity.
The journey to bringing this story from conception to the page required a year of honest reflection and forced me to confront my generational trauma. I realized, like protagonist Susana Prather, I had curses of my own and needed to reckon with things passed down.
My sincere hope is that you’ll leave this book freer than you came.
The journey to bringing this story from conception to the page required a year of honest reflection and forced me to confront my generational trauma. I realized, like protagonist Susana Prather, I had curses of my own and needed to reckon with things passed down.
My sincere hope is that you’ll leave this book freer than you came.
May 20, 2023
CAROLINE GEORGE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!
Now that I've got that off my chest, let me start off my review with some words that encompass Curses and Other Buried Things: unexpected and unpredictable, deeply profound and moving, beautiful and tragic, storytelling at its finest.
Curses and Other Buried Things was so different from what I was expecting, and I think that's what made me love it even more. I've never read a book like this. It stands out from others. It's unique, it doesn't recycle over-used plot lines. And it's so dang cool.
The characters of this book had my heart. The storyline had my attention. The page-turner plot twists had me reading late into the night. There's such a rare depth and beauty in this story that I don't often find in YA fiction, and that's why Caroline is always an auto-buy author of mine.
I have *so* much to say about this story, but I feel like I don't have the right words because Caroline's book was full of the perfect words to summarize this beautiful and tragic novel. The themes were so impactful and timely and important, and they were conveyed so beautifully throughout the storyline and Caroline's poetic way with words. And don't even get me started on the plot itself, because it was just an insanely wild ride in the best possible way. Also, the faith aspect of this story was one of my favorites and the most prevalent in any of Caroline's books, which I so appreciated.
Cautionary: This book deals with characters who have hallucinations and deal with mental health struggles, so for readers who are more sensitive to this I just wanted to make you aware of this. Mentions of teen pregnancy and rape, but it's not explicit and only mentioned in a conversation between characters (readers don't see this happening in real time on the pages). Two MCs take their relationship too far (nothing on the page but it is mentioned that the girl would sneak off the boy's house and stay the night) and make wrong choices, but they recognize that they can grow from their mistakes and not repeat them, and we witness how they learn how to truly love each other in a healthy and pure way (SO appreciated that we get to see this!).
I think this may be my favorite Caroline George novel yet?! All this to say, I highly recommend this book for so many reasons--it's *so* worth the read, and I know I'll be rereading it again!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of Curses and Other Buried Things. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.
Now that I've got that off my chest, let me start off my review with some words that encompass Curses and Other Buried Things: unexpected and unpredictable, deeply profound and moving, beautiful and tragic, storytelling at its finest.
Curses and Other Buried Things was so different from what I was expecting, and I think that's what made me love it even more. I've never read a book like this. It stands out from others. It's unique, it doesn't recycle over-used plot lines. And it's so dang cool.
The characters of this book had my heart. The storyline had my attention. The page-turner plot twists had me reading late into the night. There's such a rare depth and beauty in this story that I don't often find in YA fiction, and that's why Caroline is always an auto-buy author of mine.
I have *so* much to say about this story, but I feel like I don't have the right words because Caroline's book was full of the perfect words to summarize this beautiful and tragic novel. The themes were so impactful and timely and important, and they were conveyed so beautifully throughout the storyline and Caroline's poetic way with words. And don't even get me started on the plot itself, because it was just an insanely wild ride in the best possible way. Also, the faith aspect of this story was one of my favorites and the most prevalent in any of Caroline's books, which I so appreciated.
Cautionary: This book deals with characters who have hallucinations and deal with mental health struggles, so for readers who are more sensitive to this I just wanted to make you aware of this. Mentions of teen pregnancy and rape, but it's not explicit and only mentioned in a conversation between characters (readers don't see this happening in real time on the pages). Two MCs take their relationship too far (nothing on the page but it is mentioned that the girl would sneak off the boy's house and stay the night) and make wrong choices, but they recognize that they can grow from their mistakes and not repeat them, and we witness how they learn how to truly love each other in a healthy and pure way (SO appreciated that we get to see this!).
I think this may be my favorite Caroline George novel yet?! All this to say, I highly recommend this book for so many reasons--it's *so* worth the read, and I know I'll be rereading it again!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of Curses and Other Buried Things. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.
July 3, 2023
Some books are more than beautiful or masterful. Some stories have the power to break curses.
I don’t even know how to write a review for a book this powerful, this needed for every person. There are so many books that have masterful storytelling or beautiful prose or relatable characters, but there are few books that have true power in their words.
You will just have to take my word when I tell you this book IS a literary masterpiece. I highlighted 50 quotes. That should tell you enough. But if it doesn’t… The prose is absolute perfection. Every word intentional. And the pacing is spot on; this book demanded that I soak in the story, that I read slow and let it seep into my soul.
CURSES & OTHER BURIED THINGS isn’t simply a story of a girl trying to break a curse. It’s a story that many people carry in their hearts and hide in their closets. It’s the dark parts of our pasts—both personal and generational—that we are too scared to even acknowledge. Lies we’ve been told that we think predict our futures.
“A curse is a lie you believe about yourself” and this book is about to break some curses. Because every curse can be broken. Every hurt, hangup, and habit can find recovery. And this book will likely be a stepping stone to healing for those willing to open themselves up and look the past dead in the face.
I especially appreciated how the toxicity of purity culture was woven subtly into the story—a topic that so many fear to approach out of fear. Susana’s struggle against her feelings for Godwin were a very authentic picture of how purity culture can fuel a fear of romance—the lie that if you kiss someone, you might as well be having sex, and to be attracted to someone is no better.
“Free people free other people.”
And after reading this book, I feel a little bit more free.
I feel a little bit more brave.
I feel a little bit more ready to dig up some buried things.
I don’t even know how to write a review for a book this powerful, this needed for every person. There are so many books that have masterful storytelling or beautiful prose or relatable characters, but there are few books that have true power in their words.
You will just have to take my word when I tell you this book IS a literary masterpiece. I highlighted 50 quotes. That should tell you enough. But if it doesn’t… The prose is absolute perfection. Every word intentional. And the pacing is spot on; this book demanded that I soak in the story, that I read slow and let it seep into my soul.
CURSES & OTHER BURIED THINGS isn’t simply a story of a girl trying to break a curse. It’s a story that many people carry in their hearts and hide in their closets. It’s the dark parts of our pasts—both personal and generational—that we are too scared to even acknowledge. Lies we’ve been told that we think predict our futures.
“A curse is a lie you believe about yourself” and this book is about to break some curses. Because every curse can be broken. Every hurt, hangup, and habit can find recovery. And this book will likely be a stepping stone to healing for those willing to open themselves up and look the past dead in the face.
I especially appreciated how the toxicity of purity culture was woven subtly into the story—a topic that so many fear to approach out of fear. Susana’s struggle against her feelings for Godwin were a very authentic picture of how purity culture can fuel a fear of romance—the lie that if you kiss someone, you might as well be having sex, and to be attracted to someone is no better.
“Free people free other people.”
And after reading this book, I feel a little bit more free.
I feel a little bit more brave.
I feel a little bit more ready to dig up some buried things.
September 5, 2023
Okay, at this point, Caroline George just cannot do wrong in my eyes. I adored—ADORED—Dearest Josephine. I binge-read the mysterious romp that is The Summer We Forgot. And now Curses and Other Buried Things—it was unexpected and intriguing and captivating. The loveliness of the writing, the depth of the story, the themes that both surprised me and burrowed into my heart, the plot that took me places I didn't see coming . . . I loved all of it. Every minute. Every page. I've seen the author note on social media that this is the most personal of all her books, and I could feel that. Loved it. LOVED IT. And I'm already looking forward to reading it again when my pre-ordered hardcover arrives in the mail.
June 9, 2023
4.5 ⭐️
Well, it’s been nearly two weeks & I’m still not over this story. 🥺 It left me speechless & struggling to articulate my thoughts… I’m still not sure I can put all those feelings into words.
Caroline George never fails to leave me spellbound with her lyrical prose, heartfelt themes, and relatable characters. Once again, she absolutely delivered! And the atmosphere… ahh, I had a chilly, crinkly feeling up my spine—so well done!
My poor heart was on the line the entire way through, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been so tempted to flip to the end to see what would happen. 🙈 (Don’t worry, I didn’t but this story had a serious grip on me!)
Yet beyond the gorgeous southern vibes, intriguing characters, & twisty mystery were deep truths—hard truths—and so much heart & hope. It’s a story of learning to live outside the shadows of our pasts. Of guilt & secrets. True belonging & kinship. And finding grace to grow from our mistakes.
In a way, we all have our own Okefenokee Swamps—the past that haunts us no matter how far we run. But alongside Susana, we find that’s where the Hope comes in.
An absolutely stunning tale that did my heart good! 💛
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.
Well, it’s been nearly two weeks & I’m still not over this story. 🥺 It left me speechless & struggling to articulate my thoughts… I’m still not sure I can put all those feelings into words.
Caroline George never fails to leave me spellbound with her lyrical prose, heartfelt themes, and relatable characters. Once again, she absolutely delivered! And the atmosphere… ahh, I had a chilly, crinkly feeling up my spine—so well done!
My poor heart was on the line the entire way through, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been so tempted to flip to the end to see what would happen. 🙈 (Don’t worry, I didn’t but this story had a serious grip on me!)
Yet beyond the gorgeous southern vibes, intriguing characters, & twisty mystery were deep truths—hard truths—and so much heart & hope. It’s a story of learning to live outside the shadows of our pasts. Of guilt & secrets. True belonging & kinship. And finding grace to grow from our mistakes.
In a way, we all have our own Okefenokee Swamps—the past that haunts us no matter how far we run. But alongside Susana, we find that’s where the Hope comes in.
An absolutely stunning tale that did my heart good! 💛
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.
March 26, 2024
I'm finally catching up on my reviews so ignore that I read this...a really long time ago.
This book was a breath of fresh air. Don't take it to seriously but take it serious enough. It tells of the generational curses that gets passed down, generation by generation. Caroline writes from her Southern heritage (I'm also from the South as well) so each moment felt like a clear picture of what it was and where I was.
“𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”
life isn't perfect.
nothing is perfect.
and this book shows that so well.
: ̗̀➛ story
each time i turned the page, i felt like i wanted to highlight and savor each moment. the writing style of Caroline's is so so good. so i have no complaints of the story.
: ̗̀➛ characters
amazing. i felt like i was susana throughout this book. trying to break my family's curse. because every family has a "curse" don't they?
"𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞."
This book was a breath of fresh air. Don't take it to seriously but take it serious enough. It tells of the generational curses that gets passed down, generation by generation. Caroline writes from her Southern heritage (I'm also from the South as well) so each moment felt like a clear picture of what it was and where I was.
“𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”
life isn't perfect.
nothing is perfect.
and this book shows that so well.
: ̗̀➛ story
each time i turned the page, i felt like i wanted to highlight and savor each moment. the writing style of Caroline's is so so good. so i have no complaints of the story.
: ̗̀➛ characters
amazing. i felt like i was susana throughout this book. trying to break my family's curse. because every family has a "curse" don't they?
"𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞."
dnf
December 4, 2025I'm putting this book aside for now. The concept is really confusing, and the plot is dragging for me personally. I made it a little over a hundred pages in, and I'm beyond ready for the protagonist to start doing something and figure out how to break the curse rather than repetitive scenes showing the curse taking effect in the same way. In addition, I think the author is trying to symbolize the theme of generational trauma in this book, but I largely feel like I'm being beaten over the head with it, since like every. single. character. has some type of terrible family problem to the point that subtlety is lost, and it's hard to say the author is utilizing symbolism when it's relatively easy to figure the message out, rather than give the reader something to search for and ponder over. I know a lot of people like those types of books where the message is obvious and explicitly stated, but it's not really the type of book for me. I really loved another book from this author, Dearest Josephine, so I had higher expectations, but as of right now, I'm struggling to get through it. Maybe one day I'll try it again, though; it could just be the wrong time.
November 4, 2023
Blood holds all kinds of curses. Mine holds more than most.
Caroline George really said "I'm going to come for Abby personally with this book" and I love her for it haha! Every book of hers has punched me in the gut in different ways, and this was no exception.
"Dearest Josephine" was about relationships that end suddenly and too soon, "The Summer We Forgot" was about relationships that slowly fade over time, and "Curses and Other Buried Things" is about the people who choose to stay in spite of all the reasons not to. It's about generational trauma and the things we inherit from those who go before us. It's heavier than George's other books, with themes of racism and mental health struggles, but it feels so real and raw and beautiful.
It's truly the kind of story to savor, and I'm glad I took my time. You truly get to know both Susana and Suzanna, and I cared about both of them so deeply by the time we reached the end. Like every one of George's books so far, I didn't know how it would end, but I loved it. I teared up multiple times, and I already can't wait to re-read it.
5 stars, for sure. Definitely some things to be aware of going in (stay safe, friends) but the author's note at the beginning does a good job of that (and the author's note at the end made me cry so... do with that what you will)
Caroline George really said "I'm going to come for Abby personally with this book" and I love her for it haha! Every book of hers has punched me in the gut in different ways, and this was no exception.
"Dearest Josephine" was about relationships that end suddenly and too soon, "The Summer We Forgot" was about relationships that slowly fade over time, and "Curses and Other Buried Things" is about the people who choose to stay in spite of all the reasons not to. It's about generational trauma and the things we inherit from those who go before us. It's heavier than George's other books, with themes of racism and mental health struggles, but it feels so real and raw and beautiful.
It's truly the kind of story to savor, and I'm glad I took my time. You truly get to know both Susana and Suzanna, and I cared about both of them so deeply by the time we reached the end. Like every one of George's books so far, I didn't know how it would end, but I loved it. I teared up multiple times, and I already can't wait to re-read it.
5 stars, for sure. Definitely some things to be aware of going in (stay safe, friends) but the author's note at the beginning does a good job of that (and the author's note at the end made me cry so... do with that what you will)
May 24, 2025
3.25 rounded down to 3. While this book had many great things, pacing and more questions than answers throughout brought this book down.
Suzana Prather is cursed, just like a first born women in her lineage before her. Knowing she has a countdown keeps her from getting close to anyone. When a presence from the past strolls confidently back into her life, can she resist temptation? And what will she discover about the curse via prophetic dreams of the past?
Let's get real, Suzana Prather was a hard character to like. The curse was to blame for everything and basically gave her a free pass to treat those around her like trash. She only saw interactions for what they could give her, foregoing any meaningful connections that didn't offer her something in return. She strung along one of her best friends and a former flame from the past throughout the entire book which made it impossible to root for her to find happiness. Add in that just when you believe this book is truly about mental illness or even manifesting your destiny....BAM! Out of nowhere there came a supernatural element in the last like 20 pages.
However, said strung along mates made this book the more than 2 stars it deserved. Godwin is an absolute saint and also protected himself and told Suzana that he was over her BS. You gotta hand it to him, even if in the end he falls back into it, that he deserved every happiness and someone who was willing to love him wildly. JC was a bit cringy at times, especially with the fact he has a girlfriend yet still openly pines for Suzana. But his unwillingness to take "go away" is charming, especially since Suzana never actually comes out and says for him to go away or she doesn't want to be with him until far too much has happened. Still, JC is likeable and funny; the necessary element to Suzana and her BS that makes it palatable.
The narrator also makes this hard to follow as she has a deep southern drawl in the present moments, with absolutely no accent at all during the flashbacks....you would have thought that it would have been quite the opposite. A heavy drawl in the older moments, and a lighter, more present accent for the present. I would recommend just reading a hard copy of this book rather than this audiobook recording.
In short, the pages you spend alone with Suzana are filled with self pity and drag on, while the ones spent with others make you truly hate Suzana for how she treats others. 3.25 rounded down to 3 is all I can give Curses and Other Buried Things. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.
Suzana Prather is cursed, just like a first born women in her lineage before her. Knowing she has a countdown keeps her from getting close to anyone. When a presence from the past strolls confidently back into her life, can she resist temptation? And what will she discover about the curse via prophetic dreams of the past?
Let's get real, Suzana Prather was a hard character to like. The curse was to blame for everything and basically gave her a free pass to treat those around her like trash. She only saw interactions for what they could give her, foregoing any meaningful connections that didn't offer her something in return. She strung along one of her best friends and a former flame from the past throughout the entire book which made it impossible to root for her to find happiness. Add in that just when you believe this book is truly about mental illness or even manifesting your destiny....BAM! Out of nowhere there came a supernatural element in the last like 20 pages.
However, said strung along mates made this book the more than 2 stars it deserved. Godwin is an absolute saint and also protected himself and told Suzana that he was over her BS. You gotta hand it to him, even if in the end he falls back into it, that he deserved every happiness and someone who was willing to love him wildly. JC was a bit cringy at times, especially with the fact he has a girlfriend yet still openly pines for Suzana. But his unwillingness to take "go away" is charming, especially since Suzana never actually comes out and says for him to go away or she doesn't want to be with him until far too much has happened. Still, JC is likeable and funny; the necessary element to Suzana and her BS that makes it palatable.
The narrator also makes this hard to follow as she has a deep southern drawl in the present moments, with absolutely no accent at all during the flashbacks....you would have thought that it would have been quite the opposite. A heavy drawl in the older moments, and a lighter, more present accent for the present. I would recommend just reading a hard copy of this book rather than this audiobook recording.
In short, the pages you spend alone with Suzana are filled with self pity and drag on, while the ones spent with others make you truly hate Suzana for how she treats others. 3.25 rounded down to 3 is all I can give Curses and Other Buried Things. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 16, 2025
this was definitely outside my usual genres & probably not something I'll reread, but the beautiful prose & unusual premise quickly pulled me in. I'm normally not really a romance reader, but somehow I didn't hate it here most of the time, even with all the angst (which there was plenty of, lol). the sense of place & descriptions of small-town Southern culture were incredibly well-executed imo.
all in all a very binge-able read, with good themes & (what felt to me like) a somewhat unusual & unexpected approach to them.
all in all a very binge-able read, with good themes & (what felt to me like) a somewhat unusual & unexpected approach to them.
July 2, 2023
“Blood holds all kinds of curses. I’ve heard those words since I was in diapers.”
Susana Prather has grown up believing she’s cursed. Like all the other Susanas in her family tree she doesn’t believe she’ll make it past her eighteenth birthday. Because of this underlying belief she doesn’t allow herself to love or dream.
A few of my favorite things…
-A dual timeline. This one kept me so intrigued! It bounces between Suzanna in modern times and the original Suzanah near the time of the Civil War.
-A cat named Barney Fife and a mention of the Bonanza show.
-Caroline’s style of writing. It’s so beautiful and really pulls you in. She used a lot of words I didn’t know. I enjoyed looking them up and expanding my vocabulary. Some of it was just Southern culture I wasn’t familiar with.
-The theme of your parent’s sins and what people say about you not determining who you are.
-The theme of learning that love isn't something that has to be earned.
Know that…
-There are several mentions of teens making out, being on drugs, and getting drunk.
-There’s a lot of sadness and some descriptive deaths.
-Some minor crude language.
-Scandals with married men are mentioned.
-Karma is mentioned.
-Suicide, suicidal thoughts, and sexual abuse are mentioned.
-There is some supernatural stuff.
Concluding thoughts...
At times the teen partying, drinking and making out felt like a bit much. But in the end I think it helped tell a really important story. In the town of Berryville it seems everyone is trapped by their parent’s past and what people say of them. If someone says they’re gonna be a drug addict just like their parents they just accept it for the most part. This story overall is about rebelling against that. Rebelling against your “family curses”.
Perfect for…
Older teens and young adults in need of an intriguing story that will make them think.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Susana Prather has grown up believing she’s cursed. Like all the other Susanas in her family tree she doesn’t believe she’ll make it past her eighteenth birthday. Because of this underlying belief she doesn’t allow herself to love or dream.
A few of my favorite things…
-A dual timeline. This one kept me so intrigued! It bounces between Suzanna in modern times and the original Suzanah near the time of the Civil War.
-A cat named Barney Fife and a mention of the Bonanza show.
-Caroline’s style of writing. It’s so beautiful and really pulls you in. She used a lot of words I didn’t know. I enjoyed looking them up and expanding my vocabulary. Some of it was just Southern culture I wasn’t familiar with.
-The theme of your parent’s sins and what people say about you not determining who you are.
-The theme of learning that love isn't something that has to be earned.
Know that…
-There are several mentions of teens making out, being on drugs, and getting drunk.
-There’s a lot of sadness and some descriptive deaths.
-Some minor crude language.
-Scandals with married men are mentioned.
-Karma is mentioned.
-Suicide, suicidal thoughts, and sexual abuse are mentioned.
-There is some supernatural stuff.
Concluding thoughts...
At times the teen partying, drinking and making out felt like a bit much. But in the end I think it helped tell a really important story. In the town of Berryville it seems everyone is trapped by their parent’s past and what people say of them. If someone says they’re gonna be a drug addict just like their parents they just accept it for the most part. This story overall is about rebelling against that. Rebelling against your “family curses”.
Perfect for…
Older teens and young adults in need of an intriguing story that will make them think.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
September 28, 2023
First and foremost, let me say this is more of a direct note to the publisher/author than a true review. I don't normally write my Netgalley reviews like that, but in this case, I think it's the best and easiest way to do things.
Secondly, I can't guarantee there won't be spoilers. In fact, I'm almost positive there will be, so consider this your warning before you decide to keep reading.
Now, with that in mind, here are my general thoughts:
This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I expected more horror and psychological fear. This was not horror AT ALL. It's more of a Southern gothic romance mystery with undertones of mysticism. At its core, it's a love triangle. In fact, it's two love triangles that span different generations in the parallel lives of the main character and her ancestor who was the recipient of the original curse that has been passed down from one generation to the next.
Now, all that sounds fine ----- IF you like Southern gothic romance stories. I'm not super thrilled by them. Ha. So, in essence, this book wasn't my cup of tea. Still. My lack of a glowing review and multiple stars has nothing to do with that. Typically, if I read a book that's not my usual style, I rate it purely on the merits of the book, not whether or not I enjoyed it because I don't think it's fair to rate a book badly simply because I didn't like that particular type of book.
And that brings us to WHY I gave this book a less-than-stellar two-star rating. Let me break down the reasons one by one:
1. The book had some INCREDIBLY CHEESY plots, "twists," lines, and situations. There was a lot of groan-worthy overdone romance novel tropes and straight-from-a-made-from-TV-movie dialogue. It was definitely enough to make me cringe.
For example, at one point, the MC breaks down and tells her love interest that she can no longer be with him because she knows he's going to leave their small town, and she just can't bear to lose him, so she's preemptively breaking up with him. (A head-scratcher, I know.) But that's not the worst part. Several pages after that speech, her love interest is about to leave her house -- where he had, of course, shown up drunk begging her to take him back because she is THE ONE for him (keep in mind, the MC is still in high school and the love interest is in his first year of college, which makes all this drama even worse). Anyway, I digress.
So, he shows up drunk; the MC's grandfather insists that he leave and "come back and talk again when you've both cooled off." (No problem with the underage drinking, eh, Pops?) And the love interest actually says, "If you can't bear to watch me leave, then now's the time you should turn around."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cheese! The cheese! I'm literally drowning in the cheese!
And that is only ONE example of the terrible cheesiness of the book.
2. The MC makes absolutely ignorant freaking decisions. Without too many spoilers, the premise is this: The MC is cursed -- the most recent in a long line of females in her family to be so. The biggest part of the curse involves her sleepwalking out to the swap at night, where she will eventually end up like her mother. (People believe her mother sleepwalked? sleptwalked? into the swamp and drowned.)
So, she knows that the sleepwalking will result in her death. Luckily, though, her main love interest finds a way to help her. He installs time-release mechanisms that make it impossible for her to leave her room at night. Win win! Only.... not. Because she stops setting the safeguards because, and I quote, "Sleepwalking feels good!" (Her exact response, given in a whiny, 16-year-old-not-getting-her-way screech, to the love interest who, mortified and flabbergasted (rightly so), demands to know why she stopped setting the safeguards.)
Yes, folks, that's right. She knows that her sleepwalking condition will result in her death, but she purposefully does it anyway because "Sleepwalking feels good!"
SMDH!
3. The editing on the audio format of this book is really bad. It's choppy and obviously edited together in some spots. However, the biggest issue came in chapter 9 with the line, "He took pride in her affection for him." Something happens in that chapter, and that line is literally repeated - just randomly between other sentences -- about a dozen or maybe even two dozen times. I don't have the exact dialogue from the book, so I'll just use another book as an example of what I mean. (Remember, I'm using another book -- one that I have sitting beside me -- for the words. But this is how the audio book spliced in that sentence.)
"On the day it began, Detective Amanda Beck was technically off work. He took pride in her affection for him. She slept late. Having been woken in the early hours by the familiar nightmare He took pride in her affection for him. she clung to thin threads of sleep He took pride in her affection for him. for as long as possible, and it was approaching noon by the time she was up and showered and making coffee. He took pride in her affection for him. He took pride in her affection for him. A boy was being killed, but nobody knew that. He took pride in her affection for him. In the middle of the afternoon, Amanda started out on the short drive to visit her father. When she arrived at Rosewood Gardens, He took pride in her affection for him."
You get the idea. I thought my app was glitching. So I shut it down and restarted it THREE TIMES, and the same thing happened every time. I even went back after finishing the book and listened to chapter nine again, and it did the exact same thing. It even stopped for awhile in the middle of the chapter. Like, there were one or two whole paragraphs that didn't have the line, and then BOOM - He took pride in her affection for him.
It was.... really bad, and I'm not sure how the editing team didn't catch that in post-production.
And if, for some reason, saying that line 12 to 24 times was intentional - I absolutely DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY. It does NOT come across as intentional AT ALL, and there is nothing else even remotely like it in the entire book, so yeah. I'm 99.9999999% sure that it was just poor editing.
4. The ending was weak. I get it. The whole point of the book (again -- look away if you don't want spoilers!!!) is about overcoming generational curses. And yes, it's supposed to be very relevant to the author's real life journey of overcoming generational trauma. But it fell totally flat. It wasn't a strong ending at all, and it made the rest of the book feel even more like a giant waste of my time.
So, with all that criticism, why did I rate it 2 stars instead of 1? Here were the good points:
1. The narrator was excellent. The book is set in the South, and being from the South myself, I typically HATE hearing narrators pretending to be Southern. They always make us sound like horrible redneck hicks who live in broken down trailers. Not this narrator. She was truly exceptional. I'm not sure if she, herself, is from the South, but if not, her accent was entirely believable. She was truly a treasure, and more people should have her narrate their books.
2. Despite the cheesiness -- and let me repeat, there was A LOT of cheesiness -- many of the characters were actually pretty relatable. They felt like real people, not caricatures of real people like some books' characters are. They were well-written, nicely rounded, and they had depth. (Not all of them -- there were a few that made me roll my eyes at how totally "bad guy" they were. But for the most part, the characters were very well done.
3. Sitting down and writing a book to completion and then sending it out in the world to be judged by people like me is HARD! Anyone who can do that has my respect, regardless of whether I liked their book. That alone is worthy of at least 2 stars.
Whew. That was a lot. Hopefully, the publishers/editors/author takes all that in the spirit in which was meant -- constructive criticism meant to improve, not insult. Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors/typos/etc. This one was a bit longer than most of the reviews I write, so I don't think I'm going to go back and do a read-through for grammatical mistakes.
Finally, thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, I'm very grateful for the opportunity.
Secondly, I can't guarantee there won't be spoilers. In fact, I'm almost positive there will be, so consider this your warning before you decide to keep reading.
Now, with that in mind, here are my general thoughts:
This book wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I expected more horror and psychological fear. This was not horror AT ALL. It's more of a Southern gothic romance mystery with undertones of mysticism. At its core, it's a love triangle. In fact, it's two love triangles that span different generations in the parallel lives of the main character and her ancestor who was the recipient of the original curse that has been passed down from one generation to the next.
Now, all that sounds fine ----- IF you like Southern gothic romance stories. I'm not super thrilled by them. Ha. So, in essence, this book wasn't my cup of tea. Still. My lack of a glowing review and multiple stars has nothing to do with that. Typically, if I read a book that's not my usual style, I rate it purely on the merits of the book, not whether or not I enjoyed it because I don't think it's fair to rate a book badly simply because I didn't like that particular type of book.
And that brings us to WHY I gave this book a less-than-stellar two-star rating. Let me break down the reasons one by one:
1. The book had some INCREDIBLY CHEESY plots, "twists," lines, and situations. There was a lot of groan-worthy overdone romance novel tropes and straight-from-a-made-from-TV-movie dialogue. It was definitely enough to make me cringe.
For example, at one point, the MC breaks down and tells her love interest that she can no longer be with him because she knows he's going to leave their small town, and she just can't bear to lose him, so she's preemptively breaking up with him. (A head-scratcher, I know.) But that's not the worst part. Several pages after that speech, her love interest is about to leave her house -- where he had, of course, shown up drunk begging her to take him back because she is THE ONE for him (keep in mind, the MC is still in high school and the love interest is in his first year of college, which makes all this drama even worse). Anyway, I digress.
So, he shows up drunk; the MC's grandfather insists that he leave and "come back and talk again when you've both cooled off." (No problem with the underage drinking, eh, Pops?) And the love interest actually says, "If you can't bear to watch me leave, then now's the time you should turn around."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cheese! The cheese! I'm literally drowning in the cheese!
And that is only ONE example of the terrible cheesiness of the book.
2. The MC makes absolutely ignorant freaking decisions. Without too many spoilers, the premise is this: The MC is cursed -- the most recent in a long line of females in her family to be so. The biggest part of the curse involves her sleepwalking out to the swap at night, where she will eventually end up like her mother. (People believe her mother sleepwalked? sleptwalked? into the swamp and drowned.)
So, she knows that the sleepwalking will result in her death. Luckily, though, her main love interest finds a way to help her. He installs time-release mechanisms that make it impossible for her to leave her room at night. Win win! Only.... not. Because she stops setting the safeguards because, and I quote, "Sleepwalking feels good!" (Her exact response, given in a whiny, 16-year-old-not-getting-her-way screech, to the love interest who, mortified and flabbergasted (rightly so), demands to know why she stopped setting the safeguards.)
Yes, folks, that's right. She knows that her sleepwalking condition will result in her death, but she purposefully does it anyway because "Sleepwalking feels good!"
SMDH!
3. The editing on the audio format of this book is really bad. It's choppy and obviously edited together in some spots. However, the biggest issue came in chapter 9 with the line, "He took pride in her affection for him." Something happens in that chapter, and that line is literally repeated - just randomly between other sentences -- about a dozen or maybe even two dozen times. I don't have the exact dialogue from the book, so I'll just use another book as an example of what I mean. (Remember, I'm using another book -- one that I have sitting beside me -- for the words. But this is how the audio book spliced in that sentence.)
"On the day it began, Detective Amanda Beck was technically off work. He took pride in her affection for him. She slept late. Having been woken in the early hours by the familiar nightmare He took pride in her affection for him. she clung to thin threads of sleep He took pride in her affection for him. for as long as possible, and it was approaching noon by the time she was up and showered and making coffee. He took pride in her affection for him. He took pride in her affection for him. A boy was being killed, but nobody knew that. He took pride in her affection for him. In the middle of the afternoon, Amanda started out on the short drive to visit her father. When she arrived at Rosewood Gardens, He took pride in her affection for him."
You get the idea. I thought my app was glitching. So I shut it down and restarted it THREE TIMES, and the same thing happened every time. I even went back after finishing the book and listened to chapter nine again, and it did the exact same thing. It even stopped for awhile in the middle of the chapter. Like, there were one or two whole paragraphs that didn't have the line, and then BOOM - He took pride in her affection for him.
It was.... really bad, and I'm not sure how the editing team didn't catch that in post-production.
And if, for some reason, saying that line 12 to 24 times was intentional - I absolutely DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY. It does NOT come across as intentional AT ALL, and there is nothing else even remotely like it in the entire book, so yeah. I'm 99.9999999% sure that it was just poor editing.
4. The ending was weak. I get it. The whole point of the book (again -- look away if you don't want spoilers!!!) is about overcoming generational curses. And yes, it's supposed to be very relevant to the author's real life journey of overcoming generational trauma. But it fell totally flat. It wasn't a strong ending at all, and it made the rest of the book feel even more like a giant waste of my time.
So, with all that criticism, why did I rate it 2 stars instead of 1? Here were the good points:
1. The narrator was excellent. The book is set in the South, and being from the South myself, I typically HATE hearing narrators pretending to be Southern. They always make us sound like horrible redneck hicks who live in broken down trailers. Not this narrator. She was truly exceptional. I'm not sure if she, herself, is from the South, but if not, her accent was entirely believable. She was truly a treasure, and more people should have her narrate their books.
2. Despite the cheesiness -- and let me repeat, there was A LOT of cheesiness -- many of the characters were actually pretty relatable. They felt like real people, not caricatures of real people like some books' characters are. They were well-written, nicely rounded, and they had depth. (Not all of them -- there were a few that made me roll my eyes at how totally "bad guy" they were. But for the most part, the characters were very well done.
3. Sitting down and writing a book to completion and then sending it out in the world to be judged by people like me is HARD! Anyone who can do that has my respect, regardless of whether I liked their book. That alone is worthy of at least 2 stars.
Whew. That was a lot. Hopefully, the publishers/editors/author takes all that in the spirit in which was meant -- constructive criticism meant to improve, not insult. Also, I apologize for any grammatical errors/typos/etc. This one was a bit longer than most of the reviews I write, so I don't think I'm going to go back and do a read-through for grammatical mistakes.
Finally, thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for giving me the opportunity to read this book for free. Even though it wasn't my cup of tea, I'm very grateful for the opportunity.
October 11, 2023
Brb crying over the author’s note 😭 Review to come!
Read
December 8, 2023I did not enjoy this one as much as Caroline’s first two books but still a lot of good stuff!
February 15, 2025
I was very impressed by the beginning of this book, but it suddenly began to drag. I was getting tripped up by the alternating timelines and characters with the same first names. I do not like the cover, and it doesn't do the story justice. The premise sounded right up my alley, though, and the idea had so much potential. A 3 star rating is fair.
October 4, 2023
This was so good. Why can we only give 5 stars? Some books deserve more.
Our main character thinks she is dealing with a generational curse. She is dealing with mental illness and sleepwalking and she can't (actually can't) leave her small town. She is alos in love with a boy who might be distantly related.
I love the historical part of this and the modern stuff. I love the small town details. I felt this.
It is just beautiful.
Our main character thinks she is dealing with a generational curse. She is dealing with mental illness and sleepwalking and she can't (actually can't) leave her small town. She is alos in love with a boy who might be distantly related.
I love the historical part of this and the modern stuff. I love the small town details. I felt this.
It is just beautiful.
February 13, 2024
Wow, this was excellent. So, so good!!! Like, it felt like a book the author was meant to write, like she had something important to say. Love, love, love it.
March 30, 2024
A meaningful story hidden beneath the usual clichés of YA: two love triangles, a perpetually confused female MC, and teenage partying to "cope." While I'm not sure all of the angst was necessary, I appreciated the thought and honesty that went into tackling the painful and often overlooked topic of generational trauma. The deeper meaning lent a sort of balance to the more lighter, fast-paced plot while also allowing room for thought.
This is one of those stories that you can tell is a personal "heart story" for the author—and not just because she basically says that in the author's note. 😆
Overall, it's definitely a worthwhile read if you're looking for something that's both gripping plot-wise and intentional theme-wise!
This is one of those stories that you can tell is a personal "heart story" for the author—and not just because she basically says that in the author's note. 😆
Overall, it's definitely a worthwhile read if you're looking for something that's both gripping plot-wise and intentional theme-wise!
October 23, 2025
Some books make big promises they fail to keep, while other deliver on them perfectly. Curses and Other Buried Things is firmly in the second camp. I went into this book hoping for moody, atmospheric Southern Gothic with a touch of magical realism, and that’s exactly what I got. I was immediately entranced, enraptured by George’s dark, lush prose. This is a story with an incredibly strong sense of place. The setting is a character in its own right, brimming with personality and mystery and is absolutely vital to the story being told. And what a story it was! Generational trauma. Family secrets. Obsession. Superstition. Curses. Histories so wild they feel like folklore. This book is brimming with all of the above.
Susana Prather is the firstborn daughter of her family, meaning that she is cursed to go mad after her eighteenth birthday. She has lived under the looming threat of the curse all her life while vainly hoping it was a tall-tale meant to incite fear. But when she wakes the morning after her birthday soaked in swamp water with no memory of sleepwalking, she knows the curse is real. Susana is determined to break the curse. Or die trying. In the midst of the curse is forbidden love, both past and present. The present seems to mimic the past in terms of relationships. Susana finds herself in the midst of a love triangle, though she feels nothing but friendship for one of the boys who loves her. Her ancestor, Suzannah Yawn, experienced the same. And it was through this earlier Suzannah that the curse came to be.
There are fantastic themes woven into the narrative. Some were more focal than others. We had smaller themes, such as how hurtful and superstitious church people can be. We had larger themes, like sexual repression and the shame and guilt that then accompany natural feelings and interest. We also see the far-reaching damage of racism and how many families chose to hide or suppress their heritage in exchange for a tense, shaky safety, though even those compromises weren’t enough for the most prejudiced in an area. (Speaking of, there was one scene that detailed the gory, horrific aftermath of a brutal lynching. Be forewarned.) And then we had the overarching themes of generational trauma, family secrets, and finding a way to break the chains of both instead of passing them on to those who come after you. There is a very light touch of a faith element, mostly expressed through the realization that who God is and what others say about Him are not the same thing. God and His love can be trusted, even when people fail you.
I was interested in the story being told, but it was the writing that entranced me. George has a gorgeous way with words. A dark tale set in the South does not a Southern Gothic novel make. The prose matters. For anything to truly feel Gothic, Southern or otherwise, there needs to be a lush, almost tactile poetic beauty to the writing itself. This novel had that in spades. George even uses small bursts of free verse poetry to lean into that poetic feel to her prose. I was also fascinated by how much real family and local folklore George was able to weave into the story.
Curses and Other Buried Things is a dark tale, but one that ends with light cutting through that darkness. The writing is lush, the story entrancing, and the sense of place one of the strongest I’ve encountered in a while. The characters weren’t perfect; all of them had their issues, their demons to battle and wars to wage. But they all breathed. There was life on every page of this book. There was also a lot of angst, but it worked with the story being told. If you’re looking for a spooky story that will transport you to the heart of the Georgia swamp, give this one a read. I will definitely be reading more from Caroline George!
“Blood holds all kinds of curses. Mine holds more than most.”
Susana Prather is the firstborn daughter of her family, meaning that she is cursed to go mad after her eighteenth birthday. She has lived under the looming threat of the curse all her life while vainly hoping it was a tall-tale meant to incite fear. But when she wakes the morning after her birthday soaked in swamp water with no memory of sleepwalking, she knows the curse is real. Susana is determined to break the curse. Or die trying. In the midst of the curse is forbidden love, both past and present. The present seems to mimic the past in terms of relationships. Susana finds herself in the midst of a love triangle, though she feels nothing but friendship for one of the boys who loves her. Her ancestor, Suzannah Yawn, experienced the same. And it was through this earlier Suzannah that the curse came to be.
”Curse or no curse, believe something long enough and it's bound to come true.”
There are fantastic themes woven into the narrative. Some were more focal than others. We had smaller themes, such as how hurtful and superstitious church people can be. We had larger themes, like sexual repression and the shame and guilt that then accompany natural feelings and interest. We also see the far-reaching damage of racism and how many families chose to hide or suppress their heritage in exchange for a tense, shaky safety, though even those compromises weren’t enough for the most prejudiced in an area. (Speaking of, there was one scene that detailed the gory, horrific aftermath of a brutal lynching. Be forewarned.) And then we had the overarching themes of generational trauma, family secrets, and finding a way to break the chains of both instead of passing them on to those who come after you. There is a very light touch of a faith element, mostly expressed through the realization that who God is and what others say about Him are not the same thing. God and His love can be trusted, even when people fail you.
"Cursed people curse other people."
“But free people free other people. No one's free until they let go of the lies they carry.”
I was interested in the story being told, but it was the writing that entranced me. George has a gorgeous way with words. A dark tale set in the South does not a Southern Gothic novel make. The prose matters. For anything to truly feel Gothic, Southern or otherwise, there needs to be a lush, almost tactile poetic beauty to the writing itself. This novel had that in spades. George even uses small bursts of free verse poetry to lean into that poetic feel to her prose. I was also fascinated by how much real family and local folklore George was able to weave into the story.
”We're all trying to break something. I understand that now. Sometimes we succeed, but we must know what needs to be broken, and every day we must choose to rebel against the parts of us that still like being cursed...I am not my curses, and neither are you. We don't have to agree with them any longer.”
Curses and Other Buried Things is a dark tale, but one that ends with light cutting through that darkness. The writing is lush, the story entrancing, and the sense of place one of the strongest I’ve encountered in a while. The characters weren’t perfect; all of them had their issues, their demons to battle and wars to wage. But they all breathed. There was life on every page of this book. There was also a lot of angst, but it worked with the story being told. If you’re looking for a spooky story that will transport you to the heart of the Georgia swamp, give this one a read. I will definitely be reading more from Caroline George!
October 9, 2023
"And if I am destined to burn, I want to go out like flames... not ambers"
- Curses and Other Buried Things by Caroline George
This is not the story of 3 people living today, it is a history of repeated cycles going in circles for generations. Every firstborn in Susana's family has been lost to the swamp and after her 18th birthday, unnatural events have started to occur. Every night she goes to sleep and wakes up drenched in swamp water. What she feared the most was about to come true as she lost her sleep, mind and peace to the curse, that is if she couldn't find a way to break it.
Showcasing a generational trauma affecting the lives of people in the family and the town they living in, the book draws your attention to what happens when you give a thought too much power. Developed in an ambience of swamps, mental illness, curses, nightmares and skeletons (both actual ones and metaphorical ones in the closet) - it translates to a perfect spooky read to me. With the underlying story of emotional bonds of forbidden love, the book added another layer to its causes. You will find yourself rooting for the characters and begging the protagonist to do something about it.
It is true when they say 'the best fiction is created from real stories'. The author has plucked instances from her own life and embedded them into the book, so make sure to keep reading till the end. I was surprised to find how much of it was real.
Thank you @netgalley @harpercollinschristian @authorcarolinegeorge for the digital ARC
Genre: #psychologicalmystery #fantasy
Age group: #teens #ya
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
P.S: If this isn't your perfect start to Spooktober, I don't know what is
- Curses and Other Buried Things by Caroline George
This is not the story of 3 people living today, it is a history of repeated cycles going in circles for generations. Every firstborn in Susana's family has been lost to the swamp and after her 18th birthday, unnatural events have started to occur. Every night she goes to sleep and wakes up drenched in swamp water. What she feared the most was about to come true as she lost her sleep, mind and peace to the curse, that is if she couldn't find a way to break it.
Showcasing a generational trauma affecting the lives of people in the family and the town they living in, the book draws your attention to what happens when you give a thought too much power. Developed in an ambience of swamps, mental illness, curses, nightmares and skeletons (both actual ones and metaphorical ones in the closet) - it translates to a perfect spooky read to me. With the underlying story of emotional bonds of forbidden love, the book added another layer to its causes. You will find yourself rooting for the characters and begging the protagonist to do something about it.
It is true when they say 'the best fiction is created from real stories'. The author has plucked instances from her own life and embedded them into the book, so make sure to keep reading till the end. I was surprised to find how much of it was real.
Thank you @netgalley @harpercollinschristian @authorcarolinegeorge for the digital ARC
Genre: #psychologicalmystery #fantasy
Age group: #teens #ya
Rating: 5/5 ⭐️
P.S: If this isn't your perfect start to Spooktober, I don't know what is
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October 3, 2024I can’t decide how I feel as a whole about this story—the plot. But I will say it very accurately paints a picture of the struggle with trauma. I’ve experienced its clutches in my own life, and how hard it is to break it. But I’ve also experienced the breakthroughs and lessons Susana did to turn away from, and begin to live above trauma and unhealthy generational repetitions. This story made me feel seen and assured me I’m learning and growing past trauma in a healthy way. We all have pain and hurt in our lives, and so many people live with unhealed or generational trauma. For that reason and others this book is an important light on a dark subject.
A few quotes I loved-
“Curse or no curse, believe something long enough, and it’s bound to come true.”
“How exhausting it must be to live as though love is something to earn.”
“I’m sorry for what people have said to you. There is God, and there’s what people say about God. I’m learning the two aren’t always the same.”
“Whatever people have said, you don’t have to carry it anymore.”
“I’m not my curses, and neither are you. We don’t have to agree with them any longer. We decide the life we want. We get the choice. From now on, we don’t have to repeat the past.”
A few quotes I loved-
“Curse or no curse, believe something long enough, and it’s bound to come true.”
“How exhausting it must be to live as though love is something to earn.”
“I’m sorry for what people have said to you. There is God, and there’s what people say about God. I’m learning the two aren’t always the same.”
“Whatever people have said, you don’t have to carry it anymore.”
“I’m not my curses, and neither are you. We don’t have to agree with them any longer. We decide the life we want. We get the choice. From now on, we don’t have to repeat the past.”
October 9, 2023
Blood holds all kinds of curses. Seven generations of women in Susana Prather’s family have been lost to the Georgia swamp behind her house. The morning after her eighteenth birthday, she awakens soaked with water, with no memory of sleepwalking. Now matter how she tries to stop it, she’s pulled from her safe bed night after night, haunted by her own family history and legacy. Now, the truth feels it’s only a matter of time before she looses her mind and the swamp becomes her grave.
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This book is so wonderful. It is so poignant and powerful. I learned so much about all the different superstitions and how that is so deeply entrenched in Southern life.
I loved how Caroline talked about generational curses, lies within families, and different types of abuse. I loved how the time lines went back and forth between present times and when the great, great, great, great, great, grandmother.
I loved seeing how the generational curses affected different family members and how Suzana fought so hard to break the curse.
I think that Caroline did a great job of handling the different issues in a different way.
One of my favorite lines from this book is; “A curse is a lie you tell yourself.” That line punched me in the gut!
A giant thank you to Caroline George, Netgalley, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
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This book is so wonderful. It is so poignant and powerful. I learned so much about all the different superstitions and how that is so deeply entrenched in Southern life.
I loved how Caroline talked about generational curses, lies within families, and different types of abuse. I loved how the time lines went back and forth between present times and when the great, great, great, great, great, grandmother.
I loved seeing how the generational curses affected different family members and how Suzana fought so hard to break the curse.
I think that Caroline did a great job of handling the different issues in a different way.
One of my favorite lines from this book is; “A curse is a lie you tell yourself.” That line punched me in the gut!
A giant thank you to Caroline George, Netgalley, and HarperCollins Christian Publishing.
December 16, 2023
2.5 stars
There were 2 things that I liked the most with this one. One was the descriptive strokes. They were rich and vivid. Really beautifully written. I also liked the MC. As she tried to uncover the familial secrets which were choking her, she ended up finding herself in the process. Relationships were done well.
I like too that she had boundaries. That showed her strength well and that she wasn't willing to let go of what she knew.
Now with all that said, this fell on the hokey side for me. I just couldn't get behind that ending. So I'll settle on 2 stars.
There were 2 things that I liked the most with this one. One was the descriptive strokes. They were rich and vivid. Really beautifully written. I also liked the MC. As she tried to uncover the familial secrets which were choking her, she ended up finding herself in the process. Relationships were done well.
I like too that she had boundaries. That showed her strength well and that she wasn't willing to let go of what she knew.
Now with all that said, this fell on the hokey side for me. I just couldn't get behind that ending. So I'll settle on 2 stars.
August 7, 2024
I'm a big fan of southern gothic stories, and wow, this one did not disappoint! The setting is eerie and beautifully realized, the main characters are pretty interesting, with all their secrets and their histories, and the writing style is just gorgeous! I would absolutely love to read more from this author!
I specifically got the audiobook edition, and the narrator did a very nice job! Her voice is well suited to the story, which is always a bonus.
Favorite quote: "A curse is a lie you believe about yourself"
I specifically got the audiobook edition, and the narrator did a very nice job! Her voice is well suited to the story, which is always a bonus.
Favorite quote: "A curse is a lie you believe about yourself"
October 7, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, writing brought the story to life, and the atmosphere was top notch.
I loved the idea of a generational curse that not only affected one family, but really the entire town. Seeing Susanna try her best to thwart the curse, while reconnecting with the boy she loved, all the while hiding everything shes going through from her grandparents had me really invested in the story and how it was all going to end.
I loved the idea of a generational curse that not only affected one family, but really the entire town. Seeing Susanna try her best to thwart the curse, while reconnecting with the boy she loved, all the while hiding everything shes going through from her grandparents had me really invested in the story and how it was all going to end.
February 9, 2024
"I suppose the swamp is a metaphor for the past. We all live in proximity to our histories, but many of us choose not to wade too deep, afraid of what might bite. Everyone has monsters that go unseen."
I love this book.
The writing was beautiful. If you are a quote person keep your notebook handy. It switches between present day and the past in a way that made me tense for the characters. Great use of magical realism to highlight the curse(s). There are so many layers to uncover and discuss. I had a hard time putting it down.
I love this book.
The writing was beautiful. If you are a quote person keep your notebook handy. It switches between present day and the past in a way that made me tense for the characters. Great use of magical realism to highlight the curse(s). There are so many layers to uncover and discuss. I had a hard time putting it down.
August 24, 2023
Two women; Suzanna Yawn in 1897, and her great x4 granddaughter Susanna Prather in the present. A lineage of curses, secrets, and trauma destined to keep repeating. This story is atmospheric, small-town southern, and steeped in superstition and family folklore.
This is a story that beautifully handled breaking toxic generational cycles. It is the best contemporary YA novel (based on real events) I may have ever read. It reflected perfectly to me some of my own experiences of breaking free from lies that had burdened and cursed my own life.
I am so thankful that this book exists, and I strongly recommend it to basically everyone. It is YA for a reason, and deals with a lot of heavy topics, so maybe not for the younger crowd, but it is exquisitely written.
Content: lynching, racism, discussion of sexual assault.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a story that beautifully handled breaking toxic generational cycles. It is the best contemporary YA novel (based on real events) I may have ever read. It reflected perfectly to me some of my own experiences of breaking free from lies that had burdened and cursed my own life.
I am so thankful that this book exists, and I strongly recommend it to basically everyone. It is YA for a reason, and deals with a lot of heavy topics, so maybe not for the younger crowd, but it is exquisitely written.
Content: lynching, racism, discussion of sexual assault.
Thank you to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review.
November 4, 2023
Genealogy and mysteries abound. I love that the author challenges one overcome generational curses with truth. We have lost the art of family histories through story telling, and this work gives great inspiration to rekindle and rediscover family histories.
September 6, 2024
"i suppose we're all ghost stories in the end."
caroline george literally never disappoints. this book solidified her as one of my favorite authors <3 also i think this healed something inside of me that i didn't even know was broken
caroline george literally never disappoints. this book solidified her as one of my favorite authors <3 also i think this healed something inside of me that i didn't even know was broken
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