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As the Snow Gathers
Not yet published
Expected 1 Sep 26The forest doesn't just take what it's owed—it takes whatever it wants.
Dominic was born in Aplin Shade, a remote Canadian town built on the bones of another that vanished without a trace. Bookish and quiet, he never asked to lead his family, but after a carriage crash kills his father and leaves his sister forever changed, he has no choice.
The only person who truly sees him is Lex, a logger in the camp near town and the love Dominic must keep secret. Together they dream of escaping Aplin Shade, a place where isolation breeds judgment and every kindness hides a cost.
But the forest is no refuge. The Fanteur dwell there—shadowed beings who come at night to drain the dead of their blood and return them for burial by dawn.
They've never touched the living.
Until now.
As winter descends and the Fanteur strike back against the logging camp, Dominic and Lex must fight for their lives, their love, and a way out of the woods' tightening grasp.
Because the forest doesn't forgive, and it never forgets.
Dominic was born in Aplin Shade, a remote Canadian town built on the bones of another that vanished without a trace. Bookish and quiet, he never asked to lead his family, but after a carriage crash kills his father and leaves his sister forever changed, he has no choice.
The only person who truly sees him is Lex, a logger in the camp near town and the love Dominic must keep secret. Together they dream of escaping Aplin Shade, a place where isolation breeds judgment and every kindness hides a cost.
But the forest is no refuge. The Fanteur dwell there—shadowed beings who come at night to drain the dead of their blood and return them for burial by dawn.
They've never touched the living.
Until now.
As winter descends and the Fanteur strike back against the logging camp, Dominic and Lex must fight for their lives, their love, and a way out of the woods' tightening grasp.
Because the forest doesn't forgive, and it never forgets.
368 pages, Paperback
Expected publication September 1, 2026
2 people are currently reading
7761 people want to read
About the author
Mere Joyce
17 books105 followersMere Joyce lives in Atlantic Canada. As both a writer and a librarian, she understands the importance of reading, and the impact the right story can have.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 31, 2026
Aplin Shade is a remote Canadian town that was discovered abandoned, its former residents gone without a trace. At first glance, it looks like an ideal place to settle, but at night, a magical force called the Fanteur arrives and drains the dead. Dominic was born in Aplin Shade and never wanted to stay, but after his father died in a carriage accident, he became the head of his family. Only Lex, a logger working at a camp outside town, notices Dominic. Together, they have dreams of escaping Aplin Shade. But the Fanteur are now going after the living and killing anyone trying to escape. Dominic and Lex must find out what the Fanteur wants before it's too late.
As the Snow Gathers is a gripping horror story filled with a village of unlikable characters and a paranormal mystery hidden in the woods. The town feels even more eerie because of its winter isolation, and I liked how the tension grew between the townspeople and the logging camp as the Fanteur continued to terrorize the villagers. The romance between Lex and Dominic was a nice break from the horrors of the Fanteur, but it was truly heartbreaking in the end. Overall, this was a fantastic horror novel, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.
As the Snow Gathers is out September 1st.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review As the Snow Gathers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As the Snow Gathers is a gripping horror story filled with a village of unlikable characters and a paranormal mystery hidden in the woods. The town feels even more eerie because of its winter isolation, and I liked how the tension grew between the townspeople and the logging camp as the Fanteur continued to terrorize the villagers. The romance between Lex and Dominic was a nice break from the horrors of the Fanteur, but it was truly heartbreaking in the end. Overall, this was a fantastic horror novel, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the genre.
As the Snow Gathers is out September 1st.
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review As the Snow Gathers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
March 23, 2026
This book was horribly miserable, I loved it. Set in a vile little village with a logging camp at its outskirts, the dead are taken by an unknown source for years until one day the source stops waiting until they are dead.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The storyline was incredibly unique. Essentially, the author crafted a setting and group of characters that explores what happens in a place where hope has gone to die.
I can acknowledge that this book wasn’t perfect, some of the world building left unanswered questions, and the pacing ebbed and flowed, but I was quickly sucked into this story. I feel like the author did an excellent job of setting the tone at the beginning and I don’t know.. this book just really worked for me.
I would highly recommend this book and it had a sort of Wildjackets vibe to it (it evoked the same feeling in me I had when watching the show despite them being nothing alike). I truly was not expecting to like this as much as I did.
In conclusion everything is awful and everyone sucks in this book, it’s my favorite read of the year so far (and I could truly see it being my top read of the year).
Special thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The storyline was incredibly unique. Essentially, the author crafted a setting and group of characters that explores what happens in a place where hope has gone to die.
I can acknowledge that this book wasn’t perfect, some of the world building left unanswered questions, and the pacing ebbed and flowed, but I was quickly sucked into this story. I feel like the author did an excellent job of setting the tone at the beginning and I don’t know.. this book just really worked for me.
I would highly recommend this book and it had a sort of Wildjackets vibe to it (it evoked the same feeling in me I had when watching the show despite them being nothing alike). I truly was not expecting to like this as much as I did.
In conclusion everything is awful and everyone sucks in this book, it’s my favorite read of the year so far (and I could truly see it being my top read of the year).
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I'm trying to write this review & wondering if I actually know anything anymore, because a book I was hesitant on ended up being my FIRST 5-star read of 2026. When I first read the description for As the Snow Gathers I was absolutely intrigued ((as any good horror goblin would be)) but the mentions of romance had me pausing. I love a romance plot line for anyone who ISN'T me, but I tend to get annoyed when my horror is too romance heavy. What I didn't know before reading this book is that Mere Joyce is brilliant at using romance to twist the knife & make the horror hit that much harder.
The setting of this book instantly called to me. It's isolated, wooded, & icy- perfect for losing yourself in. ((But remember... you're not alone out there...)) I also found myself quickly wrapped up in both the tension that blanketed the town of Aplin Shade & the overwhelming sense of dread that Dom is grappling with. I really loved him & Lex as characters and thought they balanced each other well.
If you're not one for gore there will be some scenes here that aren't for you, but I loved them. Joyce has this innate skill for making even gruesome scenes read like poetry. I'd simultaneously love to see this as a horror film & dread seeing someone bring it to life as anything less than what it deserves. I don't picture things when I read ((my brain doesn't work that way)) but As the Snow Gathers is a book that I felt on a visceral level the whole time I was consuming it. ((Or was it consuming me? It's too soon to tell...))
I need this book to be on the radar of every horror reader ASAP, because though it isn't expected to release until 9/1/26, Mere Joyce has written something darkly captivating. Pre-order, request at your local library, see what you can do to get this book in your hands & on the shelves- I can't wait to hear what you think about this one!
((While the viewpoints shared are my own, I want to thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Mere Joyce for this complimentary copy.))
The setting of this book instantly called to me. It's isolated, wooded, & icy- perfect for losing yourself in. ((But remember... you're not alone out there...)) I also found myself quickly wrapped up in both the tension that blanketed the town of Aplin Shade & the overwhelming sense of dread that Dom is grappling with. I really loved him & Lex as characters and thought they balanced each other well.
If you're not one for gore there will be some scenes here that aren't for you, but I loved them. Joyce has this innate skill for making even gruesome scenes read like poetry. I'd simultaneously love to see this as a horror film & dread seeing someone bring it to life as anything less than what it deserves. I don't picture things when I read ((my brain doesn't work that way)) but As the Snow Gathers is a book that I felt on a visceral level the whole time I was consuming it. ((Or was it consuming me? It's too soon to tell...))
I need this book to be on the radar of every horror reader ASAP, because though it isn't expected to release until 9/1/26, Mere Joyce has written something darkly captivating. Pre-order, request at your local library, see what you can do to get this book in your hands & on the shelves- I can't wait to hear what you think about this one!
((While the viewpoints shared are my own, I want to thank NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Mere Joyce for this complimentary copy.))
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This started out really intriguing, and I liked a lot of the elements As the Snow Gathers was working with. The snowy, isolated village is a great setting for this kind of supernatural horror, and it really works as backdrop for the introspection and frustration we get to explore with our queer main characters. I also really liked how the social dynamics of this village evolved and how that influenced/was influenced by the looming threat of the fanteur.
Unfortunately a lot of other things just didn't get handled well in the long run, and a lot of the tension we get from the setup just doesn't go anywhere fast enough to keep me interested. While we get some bits of information about the supernatural forces at play in the first half, there isn't enough for me to really understand how much of a threat they pose to the villagers. Then we do eventually get some reveal, and though the scene was unsettling it left me with more questions than answers. While I can appreciate that ambiguity can add to suspense I felt like I never knew enough to understand the the kind of danger anyone was in or why any of this was happening. There are so many eerie aspects to this story, but we just don't do enough with them.
Pacing was similarly an issue with character development, and it left me frustrated. While there's definitely a big change in Dom from beginning to end it isn't until the last quarter or so that we see this rapid shift, and I just wish that process had begun sooner. There's certainly reason for the sudden change, but it was more one extreme to another and not actual character "development." This in addition to the way the situation with the village was resolved left me with a sense of whiplash more than anything, and it kept me from getting totally invested in these characters that I really wanted to like.
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC
Unfortunately a lot of other things just didn't get handled well in the long run, and a lot of the tension we get from the setup just doesn't go anywhere fast enough to keep me interested. While we get some bits of information about the supernatural forces at play in the first half, there isn't enough for me to really understand how much of a threat they pose to the villagers. Then we do eventually get some reveal, and though the scene was unsettling it left me with more questions than answers. While I can appreciate that ambiguity can add to suspense I felt like I never knew enough to understand the the kind of danger anyone was in or why any of this was happening. There are so many eerie aspects to this story, but we just don't do enough with them.
Pacing was similarly an issue with character development, and it left me frustrated. While there's definitely a big change in Dom from beginning to end it isn't until the last quarter or so that we see this rapid shift, and I just wish that process had begun sooner. There's certainly reason for the sudden change, but it was more one extreme to another and not actual character "development." This in addition to the way the situation with the village was resolved left me with a sense of whiplash more than anything, and it kept me from getting totally invested in these characters that I really wanted to like.
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Alpin Shade, a remote town in the Canadian wilderness, may have an idyllic name, but the bones of ta past abandoned town its built on should have served as a warning, not an invitation. Dominic was born here, raised here, and will likely die here - after a carriage crash which killed his father and maimed his siter, he's now the reluctant head of his family, and his dreams of leaving the judgement, isolation, and destitution of Alpin Shade with Lex - a logger in the camp near town and his secret love - seem more far-fetched by the day.
Making an escape through the woods more complicated are the Fanteur - shadowed beings who come at night to drain the dead of their blood and return them for burial by dawn. Before now, they've never touched the living - but as winter descents on the logging camp so do the Fanteur on the loggers - and if Lex and Dominic aren't careful, the lovely, dark and deep woods will be their reluctant resting place before they can even dream of spring.
If this doesn't get picked up by Netflix - or probably HBO, because this is an R-rated book - I don't know what I'm going to do. Horror is not happy and is not easy, and this was EXACTLY what I wanted in a book about the things we don't talk about in the forest. This was dripping with horror - both the things that go bump in the night and that of a micro-town in a time before antibiotics where you happen to be a man who likes a man. Big fan of the horrors within and without, and I finished this book in a few short days because I needed to KNOW what happened next. This would be a great atmospheric read for the fall or for that nice trip to the Canadian woods you have this summer - try not to die!
Making an escape through the woods more complicated are the Fanteur - shadowed beings who come at night to drain the dead of their blood and return them for burial by dawn. Before now, they've never touched the living - but as winter descents on the logging camp so do the Fanteur on the loggers - and if Lex and Dominic aren't careful, the lovely, dark and deep woods will be their reluctant resting place before they can even dream of spring.
If this doesn't get picked up by Netflix - or probably HBO, because this is an R-rated book - I don't know what I'm going to do. Horror is not happy and is not easy, and this was EXACTLY what I wanted in a book about the things we don't talk about in the forest. This was dripping with horror - both the things that go bump in the night and that of a micro-town in a time before antibiotics where you happen to be a man who likes a man. Big fan of the horrors within and without, and I finished this book in a few short days because I needed to KNOW what happened next. This would be a great atmospheric read for the fall or for that nice trip to the Canadian woods you have this summer - try not to die!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Rating 2.75 rounded up
As The Snow Gathers is a introspective novel that leans heavily into atmosphere and emotional nuance with themes of isolation, emotional distance and regret. The narrative unfolds through fragments of memory combined with subtle interactions and shifting emotional states. Tension builds quietly over time leading to a sense of acceptance, or at least recognition, rather than a dramatic resolution.
The world building seems it’s deliberately constrained. Joyce builds a tight, almost claustrophobic setting shaped by winter which suits the story line perfectly and creating more of a psychological worldbuilding. The result is a setting that feels less like a place on a map and more like a state of being. This creates this sense of stillness that’s immersive… at least at first.
The problem is that the novel leans so heavily into that stillness that it starts to work against itself. The pacing is very slow, and not much happens on a plot level. Instead, the story focuses on internal emotion but those feelings are often so restrained that they never fully land. I kept waiting for something to break open, for a moment of clarity or confrontation, and it never quite came.
Overall, its a thoughtfully written, atmospheric novel that will work for readers who love slow, introspective fiction but for me, it was a bit too distant and uneventful to fully connect with.
As The Snow Gathers is a introspective novel that leans heavily into atmosphere and emotional nuance with themes of isolation, emotional distance and regret. The narrative unfolds through fragments of memory combined with subtle interactions and shifting emotional states. Tension builds quietly over time leading to a sense of acceptance, or at least recognition, rather than a dramatic resolution.
The world building seems it’s deliberately constrained. Joyce builds a tight, almost claustrophobic setting shaped by winter which suits the story line perfectly and creating more of a psychological worldbuilding. The result is a setting that feels less like a place on a map and more like a state of being. This creates this sense of stillness that’s immersive… at least at first.
The problem is that the novel leans so heavily into that stillness that it starts to work against itself. The pacing is very slow, and not much happens on a plot level. Instead, the story focuses on internal emotion but those feelings are often so restrained that they never fully land. I kept waiting for something to break open, for a moment of clarity or confrontation, and it never quite came.
Overall, its a thoughtfully written, atmospheric novel that will work for readers who love slow, introspective fiction but for me, it was a bit too distant and uneventful to fully connect with.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book!
As the Snow Gathers is a fantastical, romantic horror novel that I think a lot of people would enjoy reading. I found the pacing to be perfect (there is never a time where things feel too rushed or like the plot is dragging) and the Fanteur are a compellingly scary adversary. I really enjoyed the sweetness of Lex and Dom's relationship, and Joyce made their decision to continue running towards horror make sense in context.
I have two main critiques of this book: firstly, the prose does not read in any way like the 19th century. I understand that this makes the book more accessible and quicker to read, but I would have liked the dialogue at least to draw me in and make me feel rooted in the 19th c. Secondly, I think Dominic's characterization throughout the book does not follow closely enough to make his character growth make complete sense in the end.
I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, relatively light read who enjoys thrillers or more romantic horror novels!
As the Snow Gathers is a fantastical, romantic horror novel that I think a lot of people would enjoy reading. I found the pacing to be perfect (there is never a time where things feel too rushed or like the plot is dragging) and the Fanteur are a compellingly scary adversary. I really enjoyed the sweetness of Lex and Dom's relationship, and Joyce made their decision to continue running towards horror make sense in context.
I have two main critiques of this book: firstly, the prose does not read in any way like the 19th century. I understand that this makes the book more accessible and quicker to read, but I would have liked the dialogue at least to draw me in and make me feel rooted in the 19th c. Secondly, I think Dominic's characterization throughout the book does not follow closely enough to make his character growth make complete sense in the end.
I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, relatively light read who enjoys thrillers or more romantic horror novels!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
2.75/5 rounded up.
Remote cabin spookiness! That always sounds fun.
But I didn't find this to be nearly as intriguing or exciting as I expected it to be.
The atmosphere is definitely the star of the show. It is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
This story follows the mental and emotional aspects rather than the actual spooky happenings. I don't tend to love that. It's not as engaging for the reader, in my opinion. I find it to stunt the story and my connection to it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Remote cabin spookiness! That always sounds fun.
But I didn't find this to be nearly as intriguing or exciting as I expected it to be.
The atmosphere is definitely the star of the show. It is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
This story follows the mental and emotional aspects rather than the actual spooky happenings. I don't tend to love that. It's not as engaging for the reader, in my opinion. I find it to stunt the story and my connection to it.
Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!
Want to read
March 5, 2026A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Did not finish
March 30, 2026As The Snow Gathers immediately drew me in with its promise of a mysterious town and the dangers that lurked in the surrounding woods. The story dives head first into the escalating tensions, which pits the villagers against both monsters and their fellow man. The creatures themselves are super interesting, and I could see them becoming quite chilling as the story progresses. The main cast of characters was diverse and there were glimpses of a cute, if predictable, dynamic between the lovers.
So why the DNF? The main issue was unfortunately the prose, I found the writing to be very distracting. Overuse of repetitive descriptions completely pulls me out of a story. I want the author to trust me with remembering plot details and making connections. Show me, don’t tell me. The pacing was also not working for me. As it stands, by almost the half way point the horror elements have been rather tame, and the plot is dragging.
In the end this wasn’t for me. But, I could see this being better suited to a reader who thrives off slower burns and straightforward storytelling
* Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review *
So why the DNF? The main issue was unfortunately the prose, I found the writing to be very distracting. Overuse of repetitive descriptions completely pulls me out of a story. I want the author to trust me with remembering plot details and making connections. Show me, don’t tell me. The pacing was also not working for me. As it stands, by almost the half way point the horror elements have been rather tame, and the plot is dragging.
In the end this wasn’t for me. But, I could see this being better suited to a reader who thrives off slower burns and straightforward storytelling
* Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for my honest review *
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