Possession Island: A Novel

by Sarah McCarry

Women bite back in this queer gothic thriller, perfect for fans of Interview with the Vampire and Plain Bad Heroines.

It wasn't easy for Angela Bell growing up on Possession island, the remote Pacific Northwest setting of her late mother's wildly popular vampire novel. When she returns home from college and her estranged best friend, Mo, is murdered, she's forced to reckon with yet another loss—and finds herself in the crosshairs of the bungled police investigation.

Sally Raleigh has longed to leave the island for years, but she's trapped by her father's declining health and her devotion to her charismatic twin brother Adrian. The last thing she needs is her high-school nemesis Angela back in town. But Sally is also devastated by Mo's death, and finds herself forging an unlikely alliance with her former enemy to find Mo's killer.

As Angie and Sally delve deeper into the island's sinister underbelly, they must confront just how far they're willing to go to protect the people they love. And they'll soon find that the secrets they've been keeping from each other won't stay buried for long...

Genres: Horror, Thriller, LGBT, Mystery, Queer, Fiction, Adult

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication December 1, 2026

About the author

Sarah McCarry is a writer.

Reviews

[Tucker Almengor]

"Women bite back in this queer gothic thriller."

enough said. i'll take five

[Rachel Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Possession Island” by Sarah McCarry is a haunting queer gothic thriller filled with buried secrets clawing their way back to the surface. The atmosphere is rich and unsettling, with a slow, creeping tension that builds as the past refuses to stay hidden. A compelling and eerie read—4 stars for me.

[cyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This book was really good and extremely entertaining. Clearly inspired by things like Interview With a Vampire but still unique enough to be enjoyable. I will say at times the writing could get a little unnecessarily flowery but after the first 15% or so it gets better. This book takes a minute to find its footing but once you get into it gets really good. I think the excerpts from the in universe Possession Island book were kind of unnecessary but I get the parallel they were going for. The underlying romance felt like it was added just to be able to say there was a romance but it didn’t take away from the story. The mystery aspect was the best part for me and I thought the plotwist was good. The ended was a little rushed and I wouldn’t have minded if this was a little bit longer. Overall really good and I would recommend this one.

[Tayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75⭐

Sarah McCarry's Possession Island includes all the best things: suspense, complex/messy situations, and lesbians. Set on the rainy, isolated island that Sally Raleigh has wanted to escape from the moment she moved there with her twin brother, Adrian, it creates the perfect atmosphere for a story like this one. After the death of her friend, Mo, she's forced to confront a former nemesis and Mo's estranged best friend, Angela Bell, when she returns to the island. In order to find out what happened to Mo, they must dive into their own as well as the island's secrets and confront just how far they are willing to go to protect the ones they love.

Firstly, I want to start by driving home just how much I love the themes and idea of lesbians and vampires (even if the execution wasn't my absolute favorite, hence the lower rating). Additionally, I really enjoyed the writing and thought there were some great quotes! There was nothing outwardly "wrong" with this, just a few critiques that I feel could improve this premise. However, I definitely feel like there is a perfect audience for this story as it is now, even though it was not my cup of tea personally!

With that being said, personally, and since it is marketed as such, I could have done with even more queer, horror, and thriller elements. These are all my absolute favorite types of stories, so to have had all three of these more intertwined and cohesive in this story would have been really great to see. On the topic of being more cohesive, I didn't feel like the main conflict was super to the point. It felt as though everyone kept assuming things (incorrectly) about one another instead of ever asking or having even somewhat of a conversation. This arguably could be the point of a story like this, but I feel as though the characters were even lying to themselves when we got their POV's. Therefore, I felt a little confused at times about what was supposed to be "fact" about these characters' personalities. I feel as though this could be fixed if there was a little bit more of "showing" rather than "telling" because, as I just said, these characters did a lot of lying, so telling us everything was kind of pointless. This also made the ending or resolution feel kind of out of the blue to me. Now this could have just been a me thing, but there were a few other issues I had when it came to the conflict, climax, and resolution. Personally, I felt like some parts felt super juvenile and petty and other parts felt very serious, so it was almost like it wasn't clicking together in my brain.

Nonetheless, I'm still super glad I picked this one up! Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Saturday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

[ashley.ೃ࿐]

Thank you, Netgalley, for an ARC of this book.

The highlight of this book, for me, was the atmosphere. This story read the way misty rain feels on your skin while you stand on a coastal beach watching storm clouds roll in.

I loved it.

The dynamic between the characters was interesting, as it seemed that everyone had some underlying hint of attraction or sexual tension. Everyone either wanted or hated everyone else.

Angela is who I want to be when I grow up. She's unimpressed and skeptical, mysterious and out-of-reach. I get it, Sally, I get it. I absolutely love their ending and want a sequel, though, much like Possession Island itself, I feel it would cheapen this story. Everything about it felt unfinished, but in such a way, that I was completely satisfied.

I wish I could read the beloved Possession Island that every woman in this book was so obsessed with. If McCarry ever decides to bring it to life in a book of its own, I would happily devour it. As it is, we have a book within a book.

I enjoyed the twist, which I didn't see coming, but thought was brilliant.

[Cassidy]

Thanks to Saturday Books and NetGalley for this ARC! Possession Island by Sarah McCarry comes out on December 1, 2026.

[Tiffany Haineault]

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy

I made it about 25% through before stopping. U wanted to give this book the best shot possible. I just couldn’t get behind how this book was structured. The flipping back and forth between a fictional novel, the present and some flashbacks. It was a bit much for me. Not to mention that I found sometimes the story didn’t follow? Like there’s a scene where the main female character goes to a crime scene and then home. Then an undisclosed amount of time passes, which felt like a day, she goes back to the scene that appears to still have a body? Like they’re still picking up evidence and everything is still at the crime scene. Or sometimes things are happening in the story and the next sentence doesn’t follow. For example the main character gets coffee for the officers, something is said and then the next sentence doesn’t follow the last. It was confusing me. Not sure if it was because this is an early review form NetGalley. But it was confusing enough that I had to stop reading.

[Savannah Mattair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queer gothic thriller? Say no more!
This had immaculate vibes The moody gothic feeling I had throughout the book was so good though I wish it was even darker.
There are multiple POVs which I always enjoy. Especially when some of those narrators are unreliable.
I also didn’t see the twist coming not sure how I missed that lol
Typically long chapters and I don’t mix well. I prefer a bunch of shorter chapters verses a few longer chapters BUT these were chopped up nicely & I understand what the author was going for so I didn’t mind them!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc for my honest review!

[Katey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 I really enjoyed this! For once a book was exactly what it was marketed as; a queer gothic thriller for fans of Interview with the Vampire and Plain Bad Heroines.

I loved the overarching presence of “Possession Island” the novel, the character’s relationships to it and the way it translated to their real lives. Including excerpts from the book was fun. I don’t always love a dual POV but I thought it was so effective in this because we relive the same events from both Sally and Angela’s perspectives and see how differently events can be perceived.

[Liralen]

An absolute delight. Review to come December 2026.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sapphic murder mystery, plus maybe vampires? Sign me up, babe.

Possession Island was such a fun read! The book alternates POV with two of the main characters, plus there are excerpts from a vampire novel written by one of the main character's mother. I very much enjoyed the shifting perspectives and the way the excerpts added to the narrative. Possession Island is a medium-paced novel with a great balance between plot and description, really painting a full picture for the reader. The writing itself was excellent and the book has a wonderful rhythmic quality that reminded me of the tides. The island itself is its own character and the water seeps into the prose in a lovely way.

I know that this book is highlighting the romance aspect of the story, but I really find that the romance takes a backseat to the mystery/thriller part of the plot. I definitely don't mind this at all. I think that if the romance (I am really trying not to spoil anything here) played a more central role, the novel would have lost its literary quality and some of the larger themes of liberation. coming of age, and sovereignty might have been diminished.

So, I really loved reading Possession Island and I've already been recommending it to my friends. :P

Thank you to NetGalley, Saturday Books, and the author for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a 2.5 for me that I rounded up to a 3 for Goodreads. I don't think this book did anything wrong but it didn't do anything new or exciting for me. It is interesting to me that the book is first listed as horror because I didn't find this to be horror at all. This read like a mystery.

The entire book takes place on Possession Island, a tiny island off the West Coast of the U.S. only made famous by a Sapphic vampire book that has a bit of a cult following. We follow three main points of view. We have Angela, the daughter of the author of the infamous book, her best friend Mo and Sally, a girl who just happened to be obsessed with the book before her father decided to move she and her twin brother, Adrian, to the island after the loss of their mother. The story bops back and forth between current day when all of these people are in their early 20s and their time in high school. In high school, Sally does her darndest to infiltrate Mo and Sally's group but they are really very taken when her enigmatic twin brother and she is kind of left in the dust. When Angela decides to go off to school out East Sally and Mo end up forming a friendship. However, the book kicks off when Angela is back on the island for a school break and she happens upon a burnt body at the high school and everyone concludes this body is Mo. Then the rest of the book kind of reckons with the question of what might have happened.

I just did not find myself invested in the characters. I didn't think that this culty vampire book really played much of a part in the story. It felt like disparate storylines all lumped into the same book. There was a lot of drama in the relationships between these folks but I just didn't find myself really invested in any of it. I would give this one a pass. If you're looking for a Sapphic vampire novel read Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. If you're looking for a mystery I mean there are tons of those out there that are more direct and to the point than this one.

[Bailey Lamar · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Thank you NetGalley & Saturday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. *

"it's the women you have to watch out for. We're the ones who bite."

Possession Island is a book about a book, and a book with a heart made up of complicated girls and very uncomplicated men. Which is to say, my favorite kind of book. Set on Possession Island, a creepy-dreamy little Washington island, and also about Possession Island, a sapphic vampire book. The story follows Angela Bell, the daughter of the infamous Possession Island author, and Sally Raleigh, stuck on the island because of her complicated family, who both find themselves embroiled in the recent gruesome murder of Mo, their mutual friend.

Alright. You got me. I loved this book.

This is an incredibly haunted book. Mo, dead from the first pages, lurks in the background of every interaction. You can sense her just beyond the edges, just out of reach. She's a complicated girl, which is both the best and only kind you can be. She is both very dead and very alive in these pages, as if you could just hold onto her if you tried hard enough. And just like Mo haunts the narrative, Possession Island (the book) hangs like a guillotine above the neck of this story.

"I knew it's vivid heart, its magnificent vision. In that book, girls were rampageous. They ate and fucked and dreamed and did. They did not experience regret."

If I had anything negative to say, I'd say that the first 10% is a bit slow and was harder for me to get into (I didn't love the Possession Island chapters) but after that initial lull, I flew through the book. I personally loved Angela the best, though I did also really like Sally, and felt a deep affinity for Mo.

I don't want to talk much about the contents of the book itself, as it is best to go in confused. But you should definitely go into it if you're a fan of queer gothic thrillers, as I am.

This is one of the few mysteries that surprised me, and for that, and many other things, I bestow it my 5 star.

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah McCarry’s “Possession Island”, set in the late ’90’s, centers on a book by the same name about an island of female vampires that became a cult classic, later made into a movie by the same name. The book was written by Valentine de Sanglante, who later moved to the island on which her book was based, buying an imposing old mansion. Shortly afterwards she disappeared aboard a boat and is presumed dead in the same manner as the protagonist in her famous book.

Angela, Valentine’s daughter, befriends Mo at grade school and they become inseparable through high school. Angela loves Mo even though she knows that Mo is heterosexual and will never love her the same way. Not long after Mo starts dating Adrian, Angela and Mo have a very public falling out in the high school cafeteria their senior year. Two years later, Angela returns to the island after leaving for college on the mainland and the next day, Mo’s burnt remains are found in the high school parking lot.

Some of the island’s inhabitants suspect Angela, while others thought the murderer might be Adrian. Sally, Adrian’s twin sister, who built a close friendship with Mo after Sally returned to the island from Art School, hates Angela with a passion. She blames her for creating the widening gap between Sally and Adrian, who had once been close before high school and the triangle of Angela, Mo and Adrian, from which Sally was excluded.

“Possession Island” is unlike any book I’ve ever read. Part love story, part dark fairy tale, part LGBTQ, more than anything it speaks of female empowerment and freedom. The female protagonists all long for the unrestrained and unapologetic freedom enjoyed by the female vampires in their favorite novel. The language in the book is profound and lyrical, seeming to plumb the very meaning of life, freedom and self. The twist at the end added an emotional punch and surprise that further strengthened an already excellent book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for providing me an ARC of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I won’t mince words here. I hated this book by the end of it and I felt cheated by it. It's basically a mystery that you'd never be able to figure out yourself because Angela (in particular) is a completely unreliable narrator who you cannot trust to tell you the truth. Which was just one of my problems with Possession Island.

Frankly, the book pissed me off. It took about a quarter of the way in before I was finally getting into it. At that point, it really sucked me in. Unfortunately, at about 75% of the way through, that was shattered and the book just left me angry at the ridiculous twist. And the twist itself could have worked, but it was the reasoning behind it that pissed me off so much. Yes, a bad thing was done, but the response to it was so ridiculously over the top and was in no way realistic or something any remotely sane person would do. I'm avoiding spoilers here or I would probably have a thousand word rant about how stupid all of this was and it completely killed the book for me.

And due to all of this, I ended up hating every single character in the book. I had previously liked them despite their faults, but the last quarter made me retroactively hate the first three-quarters of the book and all of the characters. Everyone in this book was entirely selfish, and by the end, I was hoping there would be another plot twist and a natural disaster would take out the whole town and everyone in it.

The only good thing I can say is that I liked the middle fifty percent or so, the book had a good moody, atmospheric vibe throughout, and bonus points for referencing my favorite TV show. Unfortunately, the last quarter absolutely ruined everything good about it for me. If it hadn’t been for that, I would probably be giving it four or five stars right now, but alas.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[lav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for this ARC.

A story revolving around a novel that is essentially Interview With the Vampire meets twilight? With dykes? Sign me the fuck up!

The first half is dominated by an incredibly messy quartet of teens/young adults, each more tangled up in the next one's life, and not one of them being honest with one another. The second half of the novel reveals the secrets they keep: some gasp-worthy and others heartbreaking. The trio of girls at the heart of this book all felt very real, with several details feeling plucked out of my own high school experiences and friends (hello band-tee-clad teen girl with a rider-waite deck... hello young lesbian from the middle of nowhere not knowing it was possible for there to be more than one per town...... hello consuming obsession with leaving That Place..........). The plot is compelling, but ultimately it is the characters that carry this novel.

As for the villain(s), Angela's father is a pretty open and shut case, but Adrian is more complex; he's clearly set up as a shady figure from early-on, but the narration delivered from the loving gaze of his twin sister renders him human.

A couple complaints:
- The extent to which the fictional Possession Island permeates every scene, not just in spirit, but in a very literal sense, was a little eye-rolly. Was definitely suspending my disbelief a little more consciously at the frequency with which every character mentions/interacts with it.
- I find myself making this comment frequently these days, but I think this could have benefitted from another 100 pages of development between our main duo; the jump from hookup to suppressed declarations of love was jarring.

All around a very enjoyable book! Nibbled away for the first 20% and all but devoured the rest.



(3.75)

[Elise ~ BooksForAModernWorld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of Possession Island by Sarah McCarry from Macmillan Publishing.

At its heart, Possession Island is a tender, aching coming-of-age story, exploring how girls experience formative first loves as infatuations that leave them irrevocably changed. These moments feel fragile and consuming, capturing how first love can be everything at once: a sickness, a balm, an absolution, and a sacrifice.

This novel asks what women are willing to do to claim their freedom, and who gets labeled a monster for it. The female relationships feel essential and alive, layered with loyalty, tension, and a kind of devotion that borders on dangerous. None of these women are “good” in the traditional sense, and yet they are all deeply lovable—each of their so-called monstrous choices rendered understandable, even necessary.

All of the characters are shaped by the titular vampire novel left behind by one character’s mother before her death, held up by society as a seminal work of lesbian erotica. In its wake, the girls are influenced in how they see the world, how others perceive them, and what power they believe they have to change their own fate. McCarry also reflects on the formative power of romance and monster stories in shaping young girls, often as a replacement for a parental figure. That idea echoes in one of my favorite lines: “Like a woman, a vampire is made, not born. She is a creature of her own invention. And in all the best stories, the monster always wins. As she should.”

The writing is thoughtful and atmospheric, with complex characters who resist easy categorization. This is a story about power, transformation, and the quiet, feral insistence on becoming something more.

[Gabby]

“What did it mean to be in love with an idea of a person, to love someone you had never known at all?”

Possession Island by Sarah McCarry
3.75/5✨
First, a huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book!
Possession Island is a small island town with little in the way of intrigue or excitement for those who live there. The only reason it’s so well known is for the queer vampire novel and movie adaptation called Possession Island written before the authors mysterious death, leaving her husband and daughter Angela behind.
Angela was not a very sociable child or teenager, and was quite content to spend all her time with her friend Mo. That is until twins Adrian and Sally move into town and Adrian starts dating Mo and begins creating a rift between the two girls. They have a huge fight just as High School ends and Angela moves to New York leaving Mo and Possession Island behind. When Angela returns to town for winter vacation people become suspicious of her true intentions when Mo’s dead body is discovered.
Determined to clear her name and have Mo’s killer convicted, Angela makes an unlikely alliance with Sally as they investigate the clues Mo left behind and try to ignore the feelings they have for each other that lie underneath their hatred.
This book was a little tough for me to get invested in at the beginning, but I found myself really engaged as the story went on! I was completely caught of guard by the big reveal and enjoyed both Angela and Sally’s characters. I did feel the book was paced a little too quickly which made the romance feel a little forced, but overall a really fun read!

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this Advanced Reader Copy of Possession Island!

I was initially drawn to this ARC due to the gothic, queer mystery storyline and the intriguing cover art. However, after reading the story, I fear the plot fell incredibly flat for me. I found the first 10-15% of this book to be confusing and, frankly, boring. I never really got invested in any of the characters and the multiple POVs were not written in a way that was distinctive enough to differentiate whose POV we were in. They were all basically the same for me, making it hard to remember details about each character.
The story starts with a therapy session between a vampire and a therapist... but was this scene just an excerpt from Angela's mother's book? I was led to believe that one of the main characters was actually a vampire, perhaps Mo staging her death so she could transform into her vampiric self? But no, it was just random and added to my confusion.
The humor in the writing was ok at times but I did not find the motivation for Mo to fake her death to be believable. They didn't need to steal a body from the morgue, burn it and pass it off as Mo, hide Mo off the island in a crappy Motel, and "frame" Adrian for the murder to get back at him for posting nude pics of Mo around the school. Sounds like Mo could have just filed a police report and moved off the island to start a new life.
Also, I kept forgetting that all of these characters are only 19. Why was the 19 year old running her dad's bar every day after school?
These details, unless I've completely misunderstood them, totally took me out of the story.

[suzanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Saturday Books for the arc !

Firstly: I love books set in Washington! I was pleasantly tickled to read all the references and try and figure out where Possession Island would actually be situated. I think,, following the Elliot Bay references it would be situated as a smaller version of Bainbridge but spiritually I imagined more of Whidbey. Anyways.

I was a little confused at the beginning because the author throws a lot of proper nouns on page 1 and it was a bit difficult to figure out what to pay attention to right away and remember, as well as the epub formatting being a little messed up in terms of lumping together the first chapter title, epigraph, and dedication without proper spacing and line/page breaks. but after the first bit it really hooked me.

I really enjoyed the cyclical nature of the story, in terms of following and breaking away from the frame tale novel (would love to read the faux Possession Island) and still having surprises. I also really enjoyed the romance, but let's just say there was the common trope in one intimate scene being much shorter/less in depth than the other. I guess you could argue for the nature of that secondary relationship being stronger at the time, but it is still always something that makes me sigh a bit.

I say this all but I had a lot to chew on for this book! Would be a great pick for a book club or for anyone who likes to poke fun at the idea of Twilight/50 shades from a more local perspective. I would very much read another book from this author.

[LeeAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t expect to have this much fun with this one… but here we are.

Devious women. Lesbian Vampires. Unreliable narrators.
And moments that made me laugh out loud.

Possession Island leans fully into its chaos—and somehow keeps you hooked the entire time. The writing pulls you in quickly, and once you’re in, it’s hard to step away… and even harder to stop thinking about the characters when you do. But underneath all of it—the twists, the shifting perspectives, the constant question of what’s real—there’s something else holding it together: loyalty. The kind that says I’d do anything for you.

Depth
Beneath the chaos and shifting perspectives, this explores loyalty, identity, and how far someone will go for love.

Connection
Even when the narrators can’t be trusted, the emotional pull—especially around loyalty and desire—keeps you invested.

Momentum
The constant twists, unreliable narration, and sharp shifts make it hard to put down and even harder to stop thinking about.

Final Call
This earns shelf space for doing something different—and fully committing to it. It is deviously delicious and would make a great special edition for a horror book box.

Who this is and isn’t for:

For readers who like messy, character-driven stories with morally gray women and layered relationships. Not for those who want something straightforward or fully reliable—this one thrives in ambiguity.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ARC

[Brynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I went in knowing very little about this book, and I was pleasantly surprised by what I then had the pleasure to read. The first thing that will always hook me into a book, is if the author is able to describe the weather and atmosphere so well I feel either hot, sweaty, damp, or cold. For this, I felt the overwhelming persistence of pacific northwestern rain and clouds, and that immediately set the tone for the rest of the book. Locations that also serve as characters of their own are also a huge favorite of mine.

Possession Island is a great slow burn of a novel where things are revealed to the audience slowly and from both povs simultaneously as the murder mystery progresses. Both leads feel incredibly solid and relatable, each with their own distinctive voices and quirks. I did not feel that they were interchangeable with one another and each held their own.

The tumultuous reality of being young and queer teenage girls and the friendship and relationship dynamics that exists within these small town and then the realities of then being young adult women are explored through both povs and each are treated and given the space to breathe. While not super similar in subject matter, Bliss by Lauren Myracle comes to mind as a similar work that explores these ideas and the pitfalls that occur within these dynamics.

Overall, this is a very strong novel and I look forward to reading what else this author publishes.

[Jason Lavoie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully written book. Gothic, atmospheric and queer in all the best ways.

Angela Bell is introduced to Morgan Flanagan when Angela moves to Possession Island as a child. Possession Island was the setting of her mother’s vampire novel of the same name. Eventually, Sally and Adrian Raleigh, twins, also move there when their father George buys the local bar.

Mo is savagely murdered and Angela and Sally put aside any perceived differences to find Mo’s killer.

Family dynamics play a large role with most of the characters in the book. Our main characters are either motherless or disconnected from a maternal influence. Their fathers, though present, have minimal positive influence on their lives.

The story is told from the perspectives of Angela and Sally. Though Angela and Sally are deemed enemies, their disconnect from one another comes down to wealth. Angela has it, due to the success of her mom’s novel, and Sally doesn’t.

The chapters are long and the build is slow. For most books with long chapters, it’s easy for a reader to lose interest but with this book, I couldn’t help but to keep turning those pages and to keep reading as if obsessed with the story. I kept wanting to know what happened next. And when you get to the twist, you just want to see how it plays out.

I don’t find that the conclusion was rushed and thought the author tied up the story perfectly.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Saturday Books for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of Possession Island by Sarah McCarry. This book will be published on December 1, 2026.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was gifted an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Saturday Books for this opportunity.

This book is the book I’ve been looking for. I loved absolutely everything about it, from the setting, to the characters, to the format. The island is its own character here, and that’s my favorite type of backdrop for a book. Wild, moody, ugly, and beautiful, all at the same time. The premise (a book about a matriarchal vampire colony written in 1985 and how feral all the female characters in this book were for it) took me back to my love of growing up on Anne Rice.

The writing is raw and visceral and explores the fierce loyalty and urgency that comes with true teenage female friendship, delving into a love that blurs the lines of sexuality. It also depicts how infatuation can overwhelm and overcome in a way that causes you to lose yourself with startling accuracy. The way the internal experience of each character is woven into the fabric of the story is expertly executed, and the gruesome murder keeps the stakes high throughout.

I cannot overstate that the vibes of this entire work are immaculate. I would call this a feminist triumph, an exploration and examination of women who dare to become what they call monsters, simply by reclaiming the privileges of what men have had all along, highlighted by the vampire metaphor throughout. 5 stars, 10/10, I would read anything else this author puts out.

[Em Reifsnyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Advanced copy received through goodreads giveaway*
4.5 ⭐️

If you took a grab bag of all the buzz words you could possibly use to catch my attention, and then fleshed it out into a book, I think you’d end up with Possession Island. I fucking loved this book. It’s messy, it’s absurd, its characters are all doing too much, and I love it all the more for it.

This having been said, I thought the beginning of the book to be just a touch odd. I was set back by the chapters alternating between one that was unnamed, into a passage from the fictional novel, then to chapters attributed to Angela and Sally. I’m not convinced this was the most effective way to begin the novel, but if you muscle through the messy start it’s easy sailing from there.

I may just be a sucker for books that dangle lesbians and vampires in front of my eyes, but who can blame a girl? All the characters were complicated and confused and the girls wormed their way into my heart as if it were a rotten apple. Sure this book has flaws, if you took a microscope to the mystery premise it’d likely fall apart a bit. But, the feeling of being a young queer woman who would do absolutely anything for the women in her life rings so perfectly that that it’s easy to look past that. It was never truly about that anyways.

It’s my dearest wish that when this book is out, it finds the messy sapphic audience it deserves, if only so I can really gush about it with someone else.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re going to summarize a book with, “women bite back in this queer gothic thriller”, you know I’m going to read it.

Set on an isolated island made popular by a sapphic lesbian horror book, we see four former high school friends/acquaintances thrown together after one of them is found dead. We see Sally and Adrian, twins who want to escape the island but can’t due to caring for their ailing father and running his downtown bar, Mo, who is found dead and was always sort of a loner in high school, and Angela, Mo’s estranged best friend and whose mum wrote the cult classic, Possession Island. The way that the whole town is captivated by this book that came out decades ago is amazing, it’s still permeating their everyday lives.

I would have been happy with it being a litter bit darker and more outwardly queer than just yearning and saving but I’ll take what I can get. I loved how Angela is influenced by the book her mum wrote, even though her mum died when she was little and so the book ended up having more influence than her mum did.

My biggest critique is that I didn’t find myself connecting with any of the characters on a deep level, I kept waiting for them to get more interesting or do something astounding and I don’t think that any of them really did.

Possession Island will be published December 1, 2026 and I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my review.

[Crystal Gritzmacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's, and Saturday Books for the e-ARC.

Possession Island was such an engaging read that I flew through it in just a couple of days. The dual perspectives between Angie and Sally worked incredibly well, giving both women distinct voices while slowly peeling back the layers of the mystery. I was equally invested in both of their stories, which isn't always easy to pull off. I wasn't sure how the whole vampire aspect would play a part but it worked well.

One aspect that really resonated with me was Angie's grief over losing her mother. Having experienced the loss of a parent myself, those moments felt genuine and added an emotional depth that made it easy to connect with her beyond the central mystery.

As someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest, the island setting felt especially immersive. It captured that moody, atmospheric feeling that makes the region such a perfect backdrop for a gothic thriller, and it genuinely felt like home while reading.

There were a couple of plot points that required a bigger suspension of disbelief for me. Those moments stretched believability a bit, but they weren't enough to take away from how much I enjoyed the overall experience.

With compelling characters, an atmospheric setting, multiple perspectives that truly enhanced the story, and an addictive mystery, Possession Island was a fast, entertaining read that I'd happily recommend to fans of gothic thrillers, queer fiction, and atmospheric mysteries.

[Michelle Kocin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book to review.

Based on the title and cover alone (I know, don't just by just that) I thought this might veered into the fantasy lane a bit more, but I was still pleasantly surprised by the story.

I'd probably put it in the slow-burn thriller and romance section. So a slo-thril-mance?

I love anything set on a semi-isolated island (even if it has a ferry that's remote to me) and it's a good metaphor for growing up in a small town, feeling different, and expecting that your life will be infinitely better once you can escape. In my own life, I've found that has varying results, but for the main characters, it did seem like escaping Possession Island was vital to their emotional fulfillment.

I was concerned the ending wouldn't be satisfying as I was getting closer and closer to the end without resolution. In the end (literally), I was happy with the ending and it could be interesting to see what a follow up, or likely more intriguing, a prequel would look like. Angela's mother's fate is somewhat ambiguous so I'd like to know what her experience was like writing the original Possession Island novel. AND what she'd think of Angela's take on the second book.

Regardless, this was a quick, fun read and a fairly unique take on the slothrilmance genre.

[Tami Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley

Possession Island really pulled me in with its intriguing premise, layered friendships, and emotional depth. I especially appreciated the LGBTQ+ representation, which felt naturally woven into the story and added meaningful complexity to the relationships.

The novel follows Angela as she returns home and is forced to confront a past tragedy involving her close-knit group of friends. The dual timeline works well to slowly reveal pieces of the story, and I found myself genuinely invested in uncovering what happened. The strength of this book really lies in its characters—their dynamics, tensions, and history kept me turning the pages.

While this leans more character-driven than action-packed, I enjoyed the steady buildup and the way the story unfolds over time. It has a reflective, almost intimate feel that gives you a deeper look into each character’s motivations and emotions.

There’s a strong sense of intrigue throughout, and even when the pacing is more measured, I still found myself wanting to keep reading to see how everything would come together.

Overall, this is a thoughtful and engaging read with a compelling mystery at its core. If you enjoy character-focused stories with emotional depth and a steady unraveling of secrets, this is definitely one to pick up.

[Jensen McCorkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise promises a thriller with a dead best friend, a remote island, and secrets buried in the past. But the reality is something quieter, stranger, and more lingering than expected.

What stood out for me were the messy, complicated relationships and the queer gothic undercurrent, though it’s really the atmosphere that carries the book. The writing is immersive, almost hypnotic at times. The isolation of the island, the steady hum of tension, and the gothic mood. None of it feels decorative. It’s all woven into the emotional stakes and the unfolding mystery.

The author leans heavily into tone and interiority rather than action, and embraces ambiguity instead of tidy explanations. If you’re someone who wants everything clearly resolved, that might be frustrating. It also shapes the pacing: this is a slow, moody story, not a fast-moving, plot-driven thriller.

Ultimately, Possession Island is a vibe-rich, character-focused queer gothic mystery rather than a conventional thriller. If you go in expecting atmosphere, emotional complexity, and a slow burn, it will likely resonate. If you’re looking for tight plotting and constant twists, it may feel a bit diffuse. It’s a book that will absolutely work for some readers, especially those who enjoy introspective, lingering stories but I found myself wishing for a little more momentum and clarity.