A Fate Worse than Drowning

by Sarah L. Hawthorn

One deal with the devil makes a fool. Two? A villain...

A year ago, Elle made a deal with the devil to save her sister. Now, they live on a desolate spit of land beyond Halifax harbor. Elle, as lighthouse keeper, steers unsuspecting sailors to their destruction; those are the terms of her bargain. Liney need never know the cost. Her safety is worth every drop of blood.

But a sinner’s pact is not so simple. When the devil returns, demanding more – more shipwrecks, no survivors – Elle knows what she must do to keep Liney safe...

Another ship. Another crew killed in the devil’s name.

Then a woman washes ashore. Is she a soul to be sacrificed, or part of a darker design? As Liney and the stranger grow closer, Elle faces an impossible choice: kill, and break Liney’s heart, or forfeit her own soul.

Danger arises from all sides: the merciless sea, ruthless men on the mainland, and the infernal bargain itself…

Souls and sisterhood, fate and fire – what must be sacrificed for the devil to get his due?

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Queer, LGBT, Fiction, Lesbian, Adult

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2026

About the author

Sarah L. Hawthorn is a Canadian horror and speculative fiction writer. Her debut novel, A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING, will be published by Sourcebooks in 2026.

She holds a bachelor’s in public relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and has worked across federal, healthcare, secondary education, and tech fields. Their short fiction has been featured in The Arcanist and the Queer Blades anthology by From the Farther Trees Press.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys watercolour painting, video games, and swimming. Sarah lives in Halifax/Kjipuktuk, Nova Scotia, a maritime locale full of spooky folklore they've been devouring since elementary school.

Reviews

[Sarah L. Hawthorn]

"Everyone has read A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING" a statistical anomaly. Average person hasn't yet read A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING because it doesn't come out until 2026. Spooky Author Sarah, who lives in a haunted island lighthouse owned by the Devil and has read the book 10,000 times, is an outlier and should not have been counted.

[Anna ʚɞ {I'm back!!! I finished my masters!!!}]

: ̗̀➛ Pre-read: I got an arc??? 🫢

My very first one!! Super duper surprised honestly, but soooo excited to dive into this horror gothic fantasy! 😍

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Rebecca]

omg I love this cover so much

thank you very much to Poisoned Pen Press for early access to this ARC

[ObscureVi]

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I came for the horror, but I ended up staying for the romance subplots.

The premise (that I got from reading the blurb) was something that screamed to me "read me right now". I mean what can we wish more in a horror novel than: dark, gothic queer horror where everything orbits around a haunted lighthouse and on top of everything we also have a deal with the devil. It sounded like everything and even more than I could wish for... but it didn't fully work out in the way I hoped.

I had a really hard time to get into the story and it took me the whole part one to fully sink into the plot. I feel like the major reason for that might have been the fact that not a lot was happening during that time and I expected something more... and definitely a different type of horror than the one I ended up getting.

I really liked the atmosphere and it did gave that gothic vibes, almost like a manor, but make it lighthouse. The romance subplots, as I mentioned at the beginning of the review ended up being one of the most major things that hooked my attention. I was rooting for both Elle & Liney to get their happy endings... but I won't tell you if it happened. You will have to check out for yourself.

The ending turned out to be both satisfying and bittersweet. In a way, at some point in the story it was slowly becoming obvious how it all might end, but at the same time I was still rooting for a different outcome.

I would have loved if there was a bit more horror elements in it, but as I already said, it's not that type of horror. What we got was still good and I enjoyed that parts.

[Liana Gold]

Loading more horror and sci-fi/fantasy

Many thanks to NetGalley, Poisoner Pen Press and the author, Sarah L. Hawthorn for the early eARC!

Publication date: July 21, 2026

[Morgan Dante]

Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

Sarah L. Hawthorn’s A Fate Worse Than Drowning is effective Canadian lighthouse horror that centers the complicated relationship between two sisters. I love how Elle and Liney are juxtaposed and act as foils, although I was admittedly most intrigued by Elle and her contending with her inner darkness and her dealings with the Devil—I know, big surprise! What can I say? Faustian stories are great but often center men and their ambitions for knowledge, fulfillment, or power; we focus on Faust and not Gretchen, who is similar to him, but because of her stated place in society where she's made to be the caretaker for her family and then scorned when she becomes pregnant, she doesn’t get the same opportunities. She never got to be a renowned professor or travel the world and therefore be tired from learning all she can know. So, in this Faustian story, I’m happy to have a book that centers Elle and her relationship with her sister, especially Elle’s codependence on Liney because she needs to be her sister’s protector after all she lost and thinks that Liney cannot exist without her.

I have complicated feelings on this topic of Faustian stories and power. On one hand, I think because of social barriers, a woman’s search for knowledge and power, often derided in stories of witchcraft, is frowned upon because a patriarchal society benefits from shaking its finger and saying she should not grasp too much or shouldn’t corrupt her “gentler nature.” So, a part of me always roots for the woman choosing darkness and monstrosity and becoming powerful. However, on the other hand, especially with the Devil, we have to ask ourselves whether agency is ever really allowed. Is Elle really valued by “the Devil” or is she just a “hound dog” and therefore still subservient?

It was so telling that with all Elle and Liney endured at the hands of their parents and men in society, speaking to the Devil himself was a relief to Elle, despite him also being a force of control and, of course, supernatural darkness. I was interested in the theme of personas and artifices, the faces we show to the world or what we show to preserve a status quo. For example, what Elle hides from Liney to protect her and make her stay or how she dresses as a man to navigate the “real world” or how the Devil, AKA Mr. Pratterman, stops with the nice hibiscus tea and the pleasantries, but he still wears something to conceal his true face. There's the theme of control, of autonomy and ownership, how a woman still has to contend with a male figure, the Devil, and his deals to get some semblance of “freedom” at greater and greater costs. Either way, Elle or Liney would have been sacrifices, women made by their parents to become the wife and second mother to Thomas Seymour. The Devil’s promises, at least, are more literal and therefore tempting. And then, there is the way Elle controls Liney to keep the relationship of the protective big sister who went to great lengths to save her sister. It’s a cycle, and Hawthorn navigates this theme well because despite all the horrors Elle was capable of, I have to admit I was rooting for her.

While there is romance when it comes to Liney and her feelings for women, particularly Bridget, which I enjoyed and loved, the core of the story is what hits the hardest: an older sister willing to go to great, scary lengths to protect her little sister, who is lonely and therefore wants to leave and explore the world and fall in love despite her sister’s great sacrifices. While it’s easy to understand and sympathize with Liney’s motivations, I also sympathized for Elle, despite her increasing darkness. Great stuff. And of course, I couldn't get enough of the ocean atmosphere.

[Elle]

3.25/5 stars.

I was pretty excited for this book when I went into it. A deal with the devil? Luring sailors to their demise? Secluded lighthouse? I was locked in! I would say the first 20% of this book, I was highly intrigued but it started to become hit or miss for me from there on. I was really hoping for more atmosphere in this book, more suspense, and more horror. I found that my level of investment into this story kept coming and going in waves. Something interesting would happen that would draw me back in, and then it would lose momentum for me again.

I thought there were some strong components to this book such as the setting, the intriguing backstory with the FMCs' family, and I'm always drawn in when I see that a story is LGBTQ+. The plot was enjoyable, but not as much as I was hoping for. I struggled a bit with the characters too. I felt a slight disconnect from them but I did enjoy the tension between the two sisters. I thought this was very well crafted. The author also had a great air of mystery in this story. I still thought this was a worthy read even though it ended up being different than my expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Lucia]

The premise was interesting and I really liked the idea of this story but I found the internal thoughts of the characters too repetitive, I kept thinking that if this book had been shorter it would’ve been more powerful.

I'll start with the positives: The story is dark and nuanced, and I really liked how morally grey the character of Elle was. The setting and the atmosphere were also captivating, the author does an excellent job of painting the picture of this desolate and bleak island.
The plot overall wasn’t clichéd or overused, the book kept surprising me with unexpected turns and I couldn’t have predicted how it would end.

On the other hand, not much happens for a big portion of the story. I don’t mind a slow book if the characters and their internal thoughts are interesting, and while both sisters were layered and nuanced, after a while their thoughts started going back and forth again and again and became too repetitive.

Despite this, I'm looking forward to reading future books from this author, I just think this one maybe wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley for providing an eARC

[Brend]

[andie]

To put it simply, this was a good story badly told. There was potential here to create something genuinely interesting and engaging, but between the lack of execution, the lack of thematic development, stilted plot progression, and the poor quality of the prose, this book did not land. This was a chance to explore a character pushed to the limits of their morals, forced to make more and more difficult decisions until she looks back and realizes that she lost herself somewhere along the way. That is one of my favourite kinds of story. And maybe it’s because I so passionately love a well-executed corruption arc that this was so disappointing for me. But I can’t point to a single aspect of this book that I think actually worked.

Starting at the beginning, the inciting incident of this book came across forced and happened out of nowhere. When we enter the story, there is already an initial bargain in place, but Elle, falling short of the terms, needs to renegotiate. If we had spent some time watching Elle choose not to honour the terms of the bargain, watched her allow ships safe passage through the harbour against her better judgement, this might have landed. Instead, any set up for this is squeezed into one throw-away line. Because of this, it didn’t really feel like there was a reason for the second bargain to be made at all, which made the rest of the story feel a little pointless.

The dynamic between the two characters was meant to be a driving force of the novel. The relationship between the sisters was the motivation at the heart of the story, so when it fell flat, the rest of the book fell with it. In some ways, I did really feel the connection between the sisters, or at least, I wanted to. But instead of letting the dynamics between the two unfold naturally throughout the novel, we’re hammered over the head with each sister telling us exactly how they see the other. We don’t actually see them act and react in ways that reinforce this at all. To use one of the most clichéd pieces of writing advice out there, it’s a whole lot of telling instead of showing.

I don’t really have much else to say about the plot of the book. The aspects of the story that were meant to serve to catalyze and drive the plot didn’t work, so the plot itself ended up unengaging and boring. The ending felt haphazardly slapped together, like Hawthorn hadn’t really thought through how to conclude the story and just needed to tie it all together somehow. It wasn’t interesting or satisfying, there was no payoff. But such a weak setup driven by such nothing characters can’t really be expected to have a strong ending, so I can’t say I’m surprised.

One of the things that bothered me the most throughout this book was that every shred of intimacy in both sisters’ relationships felt unearned. Maybe it’s because of how flat the characters were, but there was no chemistry, no development, no build up. In Liney’s relationship, this is more forgivable, with Bridget being her rescuer and Liney’s inexperience, the foundation for affection was there, even if it was poorly developed and clumsily executed. But Elle’s relationship blew me away with its sheer lack of anything resembling a foundation. I felt like I was being gaslit into believing that there was any semblance of chemistry between those two characters every time they interacted romantically. I feel insane, truly.

The last thing I want to talk about is the prose. When I say this was a good story badly written, I mean that on a line level. The issues with some of the sentences in this book generally fell into one of two categories: grammatical errors or meaningless fluff. There were a number of sentences in this book that did not read like they had been seen by an editor at all. Around the halfway point, I found myself flipping to the back to check the acknowledgements to see if an editor was credited at all. There were sentences missing punctuation, words out of order, and sentences were the first and second clauses were entirely unrelated to each other. There were also places where one sentence would immediately contradict the sentence preceding it. I can be a pedant when it comes to grammar, but I’m not a prescriptivist. I understand that language can evolve and change over time, but at the core, language is a tool for communication. If you’re failing to communicate clearly, something needs to change. Not to sound too much like a high school English teacher, but if you want to break the rules, you need to understand them first, so you can break them in meaningful ways. Nothing about these sentences was meaningful, they were just broken.

On the other side of the prose, there were a number of phrases in this book that felt inappropriately, atonally poetic that added nothing to the scene in which they appeared. It felt like they’d been written with the sole intention of being used in a social media edit to promote the book. In many cases, the sentences themselves were actually quite meaningless, and only vaguely related to the events of the story at all. It didn’t feel like they’d been written organically along with the rest of the scene, more like they’d been conceived separately and the scene was built around the intention of fitting them in somewhere. It felt stilted, uncomfortable, and unnatural.

One example that made me feel particularly insane was around the 240-page mark where Elle develops a mantra. The mantra in question is “Terror doesn’t require cruelty, only conviction.” First of all, that sentence means nothing. Terror doesn’t require cruelty **or** conviction, it doesn’t really require anything. It’s a reactive emotion to something perceived as dangerous, either internally or externally. But let’s not let semantics get in the way of a snappy one-liner! Even beyond the senselessness of the actual phrase, what I could not get past was that it appears for the first time around page 241, is repeated around page 250, and then, around page 260 IT CHANGES. It becomes instead “Terror doesn’t require cruelty, only commitment.” You couldn’t even keep your senseless Instagram poetry catchphrase straight for a span of 25 pages!!!!!! Seriously, how did an editor not catch that? And even if you wanted to make the case that it was deliberate, what would be the point in changing it for such a similar-sounding word that means almost the same thing. Applying Occam’s Razor, the simplest explanation is that this was an oversight missed at every stage of the drafting and editing process, and it made me very mad.

I know I’ve been quite critical in this review, so I am going to put a disclaimer here at the end, because this is a smaller book, and I have local connections to the story. Reviews are for readers, not authors. If you are Sarah L. Hawthorn, or anyone who knows them personally, please do not engage with this review. I am not writing this to be mean or cruel. Once a work is available for public consumption, the public is allowed to react to it however they so choose. I wanted to love this story, I really did. I just couldn’t, for all of the reasons I’ve outlined here. Again, and for good measure: reviews are for readers.

[Emma]

Is there a fate worse than drowning? The year is 1861 and Mary Eleanor “Elle” and her sister Caroline “Liney” have fled to live in the lighthouse on Devil’s Island - a small uninhabited island in the Halifax harbour.

Elle has made a deal with the Devil to save her and her sister’s lives. In return, Elle must sacrifice the lives of those on incoming ships and boats to the hellscape that is beneath the island.

Told from both Elle and Liney’s perspectives, it is a tale of sacrifice, sisterhood, love, smothering, pain, and debt.

I loved this book. It’s not my typical genre (historical fantasy vs the thrillers and mysteries I’m partial to), but having followed the author on her journey to creating her debut novel, I knew I needed to read it. Thank you Sarah for an advanced copy of your book. What an honour to read it.

This isn’t a book you can mindlessly read, skimming the paragraphs to get the gist. Its prose is intentional and beautifully written, and each paragraph helps shape the atmospheric, isolated world the author has created.

The dynamic between Elle and Liney is tense and often times at odds with one another. Elle’s resolve to protect her sister infringes on Liney’s freedom; and Liney’s desire for something more directly threatens Elle’s sacrifice. Their dual perspectives provide contrast - a light to the darkness.

The book has smart twists which don’t feel forced, but instead we are uncovering details alongside the protagonists.

Is there a fate worse than drowning? You’ll have to read to find out.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Sarah L. Hawthorn, and Net Galley for an e arc in exchange for an honest review. I will be pre ordering a physical copy and I recommend others do the same!

[˗ˋˏ mckenna ˎˊ˗]

”I've been living with a murderer wearing the skin of my sister.”

Wow. Wow wow wow this book! A Fate Worse Than Drowning is a visceral slow burn experience where the terror creeps up your spine and you only realize it once it's dragged you to Hell.

This book follows two sisters, Elle and Liney, who have run away to Devil's Island to escape an abusive man and a controlling family. The dynamic between Elle and Liney is an interesting one, Elle is protective to a fault and Liney doesn't believe herself capable and asks Elle no questions. Throughout the story their relationship begins to fracture as Liney starts to realize the secrets that lurk beneath the lighthouse Elle tends and demands answers.

This book had so many fascinating plots happening at the same time but they all wove together in a eerily beautiful tale between sisters, a ghost, a woman washed ashore and the Devil himself. After reading the last page I felt a range of emotions pulling deeply at my heart and I feel both sad, happy, relieved and emotionally drained from the third act of the story. Just when you think things on Devil's Island can't get more tense the story takes it up a notch again and again. A Fate Worse Than Drowning was an incredible debut and I cannot wait to see what horrors this author will bring us next.

Huge thank you to netgalley and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Aaron Todd Reads]

4.5 ⭐️ 3 🔪 (Check TW)

This was such an atmospheric and stand-out debut.

I LOVED the isolated lighthouse setting. Many of the stories devices and elements, like the devil’s bargain and the complicated sister relationship, kept me completely invested. I was so invested in Elle and Liney’s sisterhood, and really felt for both of them.

The writing is beautiful without slowing the story down and the tension steadily built until the final page. The story was quite psychologically disorienting, as the sisters grapple with reality. It keeps you guessing…is it the isolation? A part of Elle’s bargain? Denial? Guilt? It made for a unique reading experience that added a lot to the overall atmosphere and pacing. Way more fast-paced than I originally anticipated. The action, while subdued at times, never stops.

I liked how identity and gender were incorporated as a part of the character’s experience. The self-discovery and romance aspects were lovely, even while the nuances of the time period, societal expectations/norms, and familial pressures made it more complex and disturbing.

If you enjoy gothic historical horror with folklore, fantasy elements, moral dilemmas, and emotional stakes, read this!

[Danielle]

You know what? That surprised me

I thought I knew what I was getting into when I started this book and then realised I had actually no idea. This was so different to anything that I have read before and I really enjoyed the two very distinct perspectives we got.

I think we’re so used to the Idea that a main character who does horrible things must feel horrible about them. I found it so refreshing that we don’t necessarily get that with Elle, or at least not in a way that we would expect.

I enjoyed the writing, enjoyed the plot, and really enjoyed this little twisted world on their little twisted island.

I received an ARC in return for an honest review

[Aila Krisse]

4.5 / 5 stars
That last chapter was one hell of a tearjerker. I was kind of on the fence about this for the longest time, but the last few chapters were just incredible and I’d feel bad rating this anything lower than 4.5 stars. It is definitely a bit slower paced for the longest time, and it didn’t really hook me until about the halfway mark.

I really liked the dynamic between the two sisters, which is good because it’s what the whole story revolves around. It is incredibly toxic and I can absolutely understand why it really didn’t work for some people. Especially because the older sister, Elle, is a very difficult character that I myself was really unsure about for most of the book.

The sapphic relationship was also really sweet, it felt to me like it developed very origanically throughout the narrative, even if it starts out a bit insta-lovey. The other romantic relationship in the book I didn’t enjoy quite as much because it felt far more rushed, but it also didn’t particularly stick out as overly obtrusive to me. The relationship was fine, I just didn’t think it really needed a romantic aspect.

The thing I struggled the most with in this book was the whole ‘deal with the devil’ thing, because the story is very coy about the exact reasons why Elle made this decision. So for a long time I just kept thinking that it felt like a bit of an overreaction, because certainly there must have been options that weren’t as drastic as selling your soul. However, it is also one of the few stories about someone making a deal with the devil I’ve read where I genuinely liked the way it ended.

Tropes and such:
- deal with the devil
- sapphic FMC & love interest
- disability rep (asthma)
- overprotective older sister
- fleeing from an arranged marriage
- set in 19th century Canada (Halifax)
- on an isolated windswept island
----
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

[S. L. Hemmings-Hall]

A very good read!
I was so intrigued by this book and was lucky enough to be given a free ARC to read so thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the arc in exchange for an honest review.
I had such a good time reading this book. It was interesting and gripping, and I adored the characters and their complexities. I did find it a bit slow in places but overall it was a great read, the last couple of chapters were really good and I thought the ending was brilliant.

[Channelle Gearon]

Wonderful world building, love the twist and turns within the story. Absolutely love the concept behind this book as well, thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this before it comes out. I definitely will be adding it to my bookshelves when it comes out

[SpookyxSpice]

review to come once I can gather words fitting enough. I devoured this book. It evoked emotions and was very well written.

[lauren h]

4.5⭐️
leave it to a man to ruin these sister’s east coast peace
(not you douglas, you are a wonderful ghost)

[Paulina]

This is such an interesting take on the deal with the devil trope.

Elle has made a deal with the devil a year ago to help her and her little sister escape her abusive fiance and uncaring parents. Now she's taken a role of a lighthouse keeper and has to send some boats to their annihilation to keep the devil satisfied. However, the devil always changes the rules and her sister, Liney is starting to feel more like a prisoner in the lighthouse. And when a beautiful woman washes on the shore, that might be the last push Liney needs for her independence.

I really enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, it was such a rich and complicated bond. The love between them was so clear on the pages, but the slow breakage of the relationship was beautifully drawn out in a way that made all the choices Elle made heartbreakingly understandable.

I loved both romance subplots in this story too, which is honestly surprising because I didn't expect Elle's love story to get to me as much as it did. It was just so charming and devastating at the same time. Liney's one was certainly more straightforward but not any less sweet.

I really enjoyed the aspect of the deal with the devil and the twists on it that we've got in the end. The way it both continued the way the patriarchal society had a total control over the sisters and at the same time it gave them the tools to free themselves.

I'll say the story got a little slow for my taste around the middle but it was still an extremely engaging read.

[Lisa Butville]

3 separate B&N employees told me I needed to read this book, that it was so good.

It was...fine. Well written but sort of boring. I kept reading expecting some kind of earth shattering twist, it certainly felt like it was working up to one, but alas, just some pieces coming together that easily could have not without changing the story much.

[Sarah Mcelhinney]

I can't claim to be unbiased, but this was genuinely absolutely fantastic.

[Cym & Her Books 🍉]

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review

What would you sacrifice for the one you love?

This was a dark, twisted tale about two sisters living on a small island off the coast of Halifax. The older sister, Elle, is the island's lighthouse keeper—but instead of guiding sailors safely home, she sacrifices them to the Devil to protect her younger sister, Liney, from their toxic family.

This gothic novel had everything I was looking for: queer love, murder, sisterhood, the supernatural, family drama, and fascinating details about marine life. The story is divided into three parts, with chapters alternating between each sister's point of view, which added depth to both characters and kept the mystery unfolding at just the right pace.

If you enjoy atmospheric, morally complex stories with a supernatural twist, this one is well worth picking up.

[Becky]

A Fate Worse Than Drowning is the kind of book I love curling up on a rainy evening to read. It is atmospheric, dark, mysterious, and beautifully written. Overall it was a really good time!

I enjoyed the FMC Eleanor because she truly was the epitome of desperation makes you do the worst things imaginable. Despite her becoming a legit murderer to save her sister, I felt so bad for her, and I probably would have done the same in her position if it meant saving any of my children. At the same time though, I also deeply empathized with Liney because she had every right to be upset. I really love when a book can make me feel for characters on fundamentally opposite sides.

I also have to give props because I am shocked that she had me rooting for a romance that I had no business supporting lol iykyk I give it a whole star for that.

The one complaint that I have about this book is that there are so many unanswered questions at the end that I feel should have been explored a little more deeply. For instance, there are characters with nearly nonexistent backstories that I desperately wanted to know more about. These characters lended much to the suspense of the story, with no real payoff, which made their role fall kind of flat.

Overall this is 4.25 stars for me. Despite its flaws, I loved it and will be reading anything this author writes from now on.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Kascha]

An intriguing setup with a muted payoff. 

This hooked me immediately with a first chapter full of danger, mystery, and supernatural intrigue. Between two sisters on the run, a bargain with the Devil, a haunted lighthouse, shipwrecks, and dark magic, it felt like it was setting up an eerie, high-stakes gothic horror. Unfortunately, it never quite lived up to that promise.

The story follows sisters Elle and Liney as they hide on Devil's Island in 1861 after fleeing their abusive ex-fiancé. To protect Liney, Elle strikes a bargain with the Devil, binding herself to the island's lighthouse and dooming passing ships in the process. Watching Elle become increasingly consumed by fear, secrecy, and the lengths she'll go to keep their hiding place safe was one of the more compelling aspects of the novel. I also enjoyed the ghost that constantly challenged her choices, adding an interesting moral counterpoint as she slowly lost herself to the darkness.

Liney's perspective offered a stark contrast. Sheltered by asthma and lacking confidence, she's spent much of her life letting Elle make decisions for her. Her imaginary friend blurred the line between reality and delusion in an intriguing way, and her growing attraction to Bridget (the lone survivor of a shipwreck) added a subtle queer romance that I appreciated.

Where the book lost me was its focus. Despite the constant supernatural threats, the story spends much more time exploring the sisters' fractured relationship, secrets, and unreliable memories than leaning into the horror or dark fantasy elements. The Devil himself remains frustratingly vague, with little explanation for who he is, where his power comes from, or how his bargains actually work. Even when major revelations arrive, they don't answer many of those lingering questions.

In the end, this felt less like the chilling gothic horror I expected and more like a character study of two sisters whose love for each other is tested by fear, guilt, and isolation. Readers looking for an emotionally driven gothic tale may enjoy it more than I did, but I was hoping for a stronger payoff to the eerie premise and supernatural mythology.

[Thale Jensen]

Why did I read this? If you want to read a boring book with a terrible plot and incredibly uninteresting characters, go ahead.

[De Rijdende Boekenwurm]

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC. This is my honest, voluntary review.

When Love Becomes the Darkest Curse

There are stories that slowly wrap around you like a thick blanket of sea mist, making it impossible to tell where reality ends and nightmares begin. A Fate Worse Than Drowning is exactly that kind of novel.

Sarah L. Hawthorn creates an unforgettable gothic atmosphere from the very first pages. The lonely lighthouse, the crashing waves, the constant feeling of isolation, and the ever-present darkness make the setting feel like a character of its own. Every chapter carries an unsettling sense of dread that quietly lingers beneath the surface, making it impossible to fully relax.

The writing style is beautifully immersive. Rich without becoming overwhelming, descriptive without slowing the story down, it perfectly balances lyrical prose with emotional tension. The pacing is deliberately measured, allowing both the mystery and the characters to unfold naturally while steadily increasing the feeling that something terrible is waiting just beyond the next page.

Elle is a fascinating morally grey protagonist whose choices are driven by fierce love, fear, and desperation. She isn't always easy to like, but she is endlessly compelling to follow. Liney provides a wonderful contrast, bringing warmth, hope, and vulnerability to the story while slowly discovering that the truth can be far more dangerous than ignorance. Their complicated sisterly bond forms the emotional heart of the novel and gives the story far more depth than its supernatural premise alone.

The plot weaves together gothic horror, historical fantasy, folklore, and psychological tension into a story filled with impossible choices and haunting consequences. Rather than relying on constant action, it builds suspense through atmosphere, emotional conflict, and the weight of every decision. The mystery unfolds naturally, rewarding patience without ever revealing its hand too soon.

A Fate Worse Than Drowning is a beautifully haunting debut that explores how far someone is willing to go to protect the people they love, and what happens when devotion slowly transforms into obsession. While the slower pacing occasionally softened the momentum, the unforgettable atmosphere and emotionally layered characters made this a captivating reading experience from beginning to end.

Gothic Horror | Historical Fantasy | Morally Grey FMC | Devil's Bargain | Sisters | Lighthouse Setting | Queer Romance | Slow Burn | Atmospheric | Psychological

[KayPea ⚔️]

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Sarah L Hawthorn for the ARC on NetGalley this one!

I was drawn in by the setting of the Devil Island Lighthouse and stayed for the emotional storylines of our two characters Elle and Liney. Although the book didn't end up going where I thought it might have, I was still pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this. I'm a big fan of emotionally-driven stories and this one definitely ticks that box.

A Fate Worse Than Drowning has undercurrents of dread and tragedy that definitely pulled me under and left me in its wake! Thoroughly enjoyed my time with this and felt like it's easily going to be a book I recommend to others around me that I know will really love this as well!

Definitely a 4.5 star but Goodreads doesn’t offer half stars 😫

[Amber Nay]

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Gahhhh. The premise of this sounded SO GOOD. I was so excited to read it.

Then, I started it. And it felt like a chore to finish it.🫠

I did not feel connected to Elle or Liney at ALL during this book. I don’t know why that was. The writing was fine, but the pacing was off, and the backstory just felt kind of glossed over, like it lacked depth or sustenance.

I wish there were more details of the before. I really think that would have helped this story. Instead, we’re thrown in. I think it would have been beneficial to the background of Thomas, and helping the reader to understand why they fled on a deeper level.

Great premise, not so great execution.

[shayla]

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