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Small Town Monsters
The Conjuring meets The Vow! This terrifying paperback original tells the unputdownable story of a girl, a dark angel, and the cult hellbent on taking over her small, coastal town.
Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.
Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.
When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.
Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.
When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 7, 2021
72 people are currently reading
9892 people want to read
About the author
Diana Rodriguez Wallach
13 books275 followersDiana Rodriguez Wallach is a multi-published author of young adult novels, most recently YA horror novels. Her next book, THE SILENCED, described as Girl Interrupted meets Poltergeist, comes out in Fall 2025 through Random House/Delacorte. In October 2023, she released HATCHET GIRLS, a modern twist on Lizzie Borden, and in 2021, she published SMALL TOWN MONSTERS, named one of the “13 Scariest Books of 2021” by Kirkus Reviews (both Random House).
Additionally, Diana is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series, a trilogy of young adult spy thrillers. The first book in the series, Proof of Lies, has been optioned for film and was chosen as a finalist for the 2018 International Thriller Awards for Best Young Adult Novel. Additionally, Bustle listed her as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to Read for Women’s History Month.”
In 2011, she published a highly regarded essay in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperCollins). It was the only essay chosen from the anthology by Scholastic to be used in its classroom materials. Diana has previously penned YA contemporary Latina novels, a YA short-story collection, and is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books, 2015).
She currently teaches a writing workshop annually through the Highlights Foundation, and she has been a mentor for SCBWI and Las Musas. Diana previously taught Creative Writing through Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth for six years. She currently speaks at schools and libraries throughout the Northeast. She holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
Social Media Links
Website: www.dianarodriguezwallach.com
TikTok: @dianarodriguezwallach
Instagram: @dianawallachauthor
Threads: @dianawallachauthor
Twitter/X: @dianarwallach (less active)
Additionally, Diana is the author of the Anastasia Phoenix Series, a trilogy of young adult spy thrillers. The first book in the series, Proof of Lies, has been optioned for film and was chosen as a finalist for the 2018 International Thriller Awards for Best Young Adult Novel. Additionally, Bustle listed her as one of the “Top Nine Latinx Authors to Read for Women’s History Month.”
In 2011, she published a highly regarded essay in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperCollins). It was the only essay chosen from the anthology by Scholastic to be used in its classroom materials. Diana has previously penned YA contemporary Latina novels, a YA short-story collection, and is featured in the anthology, Latina Authors and Their Muses (Twilight Times Books, 2015).
She currently teaches a writing workshop annually through the Highlights Foundation, and she has been a mentor for SCBWI and Las Musas. Diana previously taught Creative Writing through Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth for six years. She currently speaks at schools and libraries throughout the Northeast. She holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University, and lives in the Philadelphia area with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
Social Media Links
Website: www.dianarodriguezwallach.com
TikTok: @dianarodriguezwallach
Instagram: @dianawallachauthor
Threads: @dianawallachauthor
Twitter/X: @dianarwallach (less active)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 294 reviews
November 19, 2024
I don't really get what I said, as different people using my head / I'm still awake 'cause maybe I need to, play pretend in place of a breakthrough (My Part, Demo – Dom Fera).
Hey there, in my heart of hearts, I'm still stuck in the spooky season of Halloween even though deep down I know we're well into November already. Bleh. I guess this is my way of holding onto the long lost past like I’ve been taking The Substance or whatever. Time flies, but I’ve got to keep the vibe going, you know? And one of the ways I accomplished this was that I read the majority of this book by candlelight. Ahh, so atmospheric! I mean, I didn't go all full Victorian on purpose, I literally had to considering it gets dark by 4 pm now. Anyway, topical references aside, I liked this book a lot! Well, actually about as much as a "three star" rating can really mean, but to me... three stars is a lot of stars, so I can easily say that I liked this quite a bit. Though, I’ll admit that I originally only picked it up because I thought it’d be one of those “actually the real monster was bigotry and small-mindedness” stories like Twilight Zone’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” but… nah, it’s a demonic possession story. Which is fine, I guess, but I was a little disappointed because I kind of find the genre, the switch to crass language and the spinning head stuff, to be more funny than terrifying. And my main issue is that this book didn't really do anything all that different from the classic possession stories that preceded it. Of course, this is probably because The Exorcist was such a masterpiece that literally every piece of media after it parodied it to no end, making everything feel like a pale imitation, but even in the original movie I've always thought that the demon talking trash to the priest guy that's supposed to do the exorcism was mostly hilarious. Not to be that annoying guy in the friend group who’s always talking about how [Insert Scary Movie Here] wasn’t even that scary, but yeah, like I've said, I’ve never really been the kind of guy that finds possession stories that interesting or frightening. Like, they’re not even that scary, maaan! So, I suppose it’s a personal thing, because I’ve always been of the mind that if something wants to take me over, take the wheel and all that, then go right ahead. Enjoy the next four years, pal! Wait, I’m starting to sound like the dumbass husband in every Paranormal Activity movie, always tempting fate and making everything worse, so I should probably chill out a little. Well, none of this is to say that the genre never works for me, because you could say that the Smile movies are technically possession movies, and they were really, really, really freaky! Had me double checking every corner and looking over my shoulder for anybody smiling at me suspiciously and all that. Anyway, what I was getting at is that I didn’t find Small Town Monsters scary, but that never really came into conflict with my enjoyment of the story. This will sound pretty weird, but I think an interesting story in horror is more important to me than something that's always trying to terrify the reader. Always being on edge and stuff throughout the experience can get tiring after a while.
Let’s see… what else? Oh yeah, large swaths of the book are written in italics. It’s supposed to be creepy or something, showing the perspective of the demon, but I don’t know, something about several pages of italicized writing always makes my eyes glaze over. I think it reminds me of how when I used to watch those old Vegas live show performances by people like Dean Martin and Bobby Darin on YouTube (I was a cool kid), and they used to do this really annoying thing where they’d stop mid song and start doing their shitty little stand-up sets in the middle and then go back to singing. Sing, stop, sing, stop, sing! Finish the song, I beg you! I don't know, I guess it was just another thing that didn't scare me as intended. Otherwise, I know “YA horror” is a genre that gets a few eye rolls because a lot of people think that things aimed at younger audiences can’t be truly scary in a way that matters, but I don’t think a horror story is worse off just because you know that everybody's going to have a sunshiny, a-okay day in the end. In fact, I think happy endings in a horror can often be more subversive than having Freddy Krueger inexplicably revealing that he’s still alive in the last few seconds, all just for one last cheap jump-scare. With a conclusively positive ending, you kind of get the best of both worlds in that we get scared along the way while also getting nice closure for the characters. Then again, I might just be rationalizing because I don't want to admit that I'd like to sometimes watch a horror movie without having to hide behind a pillow! Hey, I’m always talking about how much of a scaredy cat I am, right? Well, the biggest reason why I constantly watch horror movies despite hating loud noises and gruesome imagery is simply because these stories always seem interesting to me. Look at Nope, The Haunting of Hill House, and Midnight Mass, they’re all a few of my favorites, and none of them feel the need to bombard us with cheap jump-scares. Besides, if I wanted to be startled, I’d just sign out of my YouTube account and jump at all the slop on the homepage. I just think that there's room for a lot of different kinds of stories in the horror genre, and having everything be incredibly depressing and mean-spirited can get a little tired after awhile. Take In A Violent Nature, for example. It's a slasher movie from the perspective of a Jason Voorhees type, where a simple shift in perspective changes the whole tone of the movie. Sure, it's still unnerving the way a horror movie should be, but a little tweak shifts the genre from a noisy slasher to a contemplative character study. I love when people try different things! And this is also my general opinion on Small Town Monsters; I'm more than cool with this book wanting to be on the lighter side because, hey, there's more than enough room for everyone!
Oh yeah, there’s also a bit of a romance in this. And while I thought it was cute, for the most part, I will say that I didn’t really like Max all that much. The basic story is that his mom gets way into this new pseudo “health and wellness” group that turns out to be a secret front for a cult that wants to summon a demon (there’s a scathing joke hidden in there somewhere), and he begs a goth loner girl, Vera, whose family has been ostracized for their apparent ties to the occult, for help in saving his family. The part where Max annoyed me is that even though Vera helps him out of the goodness of her heart, he still spends most of the book whining, acting like she’s a creepy loner girl, even though she's totally normal. Besides, he’s the one who asked her for help! I guess he does change for the better, but it’s kind of annoying how he has the audacity to wonder why everyone is so mean and cruel to her when he also stood aside as Vera had spent her entire life getting treated horribly by the shitty townsfolk. Like, get real, dude. It doesn’t help that Vera isn’t even given any actual “weird” traits to help explain why everybody treats her so terribly. Not like people really need too much encouragement to be shitty to people who are a little different from them, but maybe a little quirkiness would have helped to make Vera a little more interesting, at the very least. I think the author was trying to go for a Breakfast Club thing where the jock randomly starts to fall for the “weird” girl and we all swoo~oon, but I’ve never liked it in that movie, and I sure as hell didn’t like it here. I will say that I thought that it was an interesting inversion to the horror genre that the author allowed Max to be the "irrationally" terrified character. “Abject fear” in men is a theme that isn’t often explored in horror movies because I don't think writers trust that audiences would be comfortable with seeing a man afraid in a way that isn’t portrayed as “artistically tortured” or “broodingly sexy.” I guess this is my way of saying that I appreciated seeing a dude in a horror story that was, like, freaked the fork out the whole time. Because it’s subversion, sure, but also because that’s exactly the kind of character I’d be in a horror movie. So in other words, maybe this book didn't have the complete desired effect, but I think this was absolutely a good book. It sounds weird to describe a horror book as “A light read,” but Small Town Monsters was as light as a feather and I can’t deny that I had a great time with it!
“I’m as good as I can be.”
“That’s all we can ask for.”
Hey there, in my heart of hearts, I'm still stuck in the spooky season of Halloween even though deep down I know we're well into November already. Bleh. I guess this is my way of holding onto the long lost past like I’ve been taking The Substance or whatever. Time flies, but I’ve got to keep the vibe going, you know? And one of the ways I accomplished this was that I read the majority of this book by candlelight. Ahh, so atmospheric! I mean, I didn't go all full Victorian on purpose, I literally had to considering it gets dark by 4 pm now. Anyway, topical references aside, I liked this book a lot! Well, actually about as much as a "three star" rating can really mean, but to me... three stars is a lot of stars, so I can easily say that I liked this quite a bit. Though, I’ll admit that I originally only picked it up because I thought it’d be one of those “actually the real monster was bigotry and small-mindedness” stories like Twilight Zone’s “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” but… nah, it’s a demonic possession story. Which is fine, I guess, but I was a little disappointed because I kind of find the genre, the switch to crass language and the spinning head stuff, to be more funny than terrifying. And my main issue is that this book didn't really do anything all that different from the classic possession stories that preceded it. Of course, this is probably because The Exorcist was such a masterpiece that literally every piece of media after it parodied it to no end, making everything feel like a pale imitation, but even in the original movie I've always thought that the demon talking trash to the priest guy that's supposed to do the exorcism was mostly hilarious. Not to be that annoying guy in the friend group who’s always talking about how [Insert Scary Movie Here] wasn’t even that scary, but yeah, like I've said, I’ve never really been the kind of guy that finds possession stories that interesting or frightening. Like, they’re not even that scary, maaan! So, I suppose it’s a personal thing, because I’ve always been of the mind that if something wants to take me over, take the wheel and all that, then go right ahead. Enjoy the next four years, pal! Wait, I’m starting to sound like the dumbass husband in every Paranormal Activity movie, always tempting fate and making everything worse, so I should probably chill out a little. Well, none of this is to say that the genre never works for me, because you could say that the Smile movies are technically possession movies, and they were really, really, really freaky! Had me double checking every corner and looking over my shoulder for anybody smiling at me suspiciously and all that. Anyway, what I was getting at is that I didn’t find Small Town Monsters scary, but that never really came into conflict with my enjoyment of the story. This will sound pretty weird, but I think an interesting story in horror is more important to me than something that's always trying to terrify the reader. Always being on edge and stuff throughout the experience can get tiring after a while.
Let’s see… what else? Oh yeah, large swaths of the book are written in italics. It’s supposed to be creepy or something, showing the perspective of the demon, but I don’t know, something about several pages of italicized writing always makes my eyes glaze over. I think it reminds me of how when I used to watch those old Vegas live show performances by people like Dean Martin and Bobby Darin on YouTube (I was a cool kid), and they used to do this really annoying thing where they’d stop mid song and start doing their shitty little stand-up sets in the middle and then go back to singing. Sing, stop, sing, stop, sing! Finish the song, I beg you! I don't know, I guess it was just another thing that didn't scare me as intended. Otherwise, I know “YA horror” is a genre that gets a few eye rolls because a lot of people think that things aimed at younger audiences can’t be truly scary in a way that matters, but I don’t think a horror story is worse off just because you know that everybody's going to have a sunshiny, a-okay day in the end. In fact, I think happy endings in a horror can often be more subversive than having Freddy Krueger inexplicably revealing that he’s still alive in the last few seconds, all just for one last cheap jump-scare. With a conclusively positive ending, you kind of get the best of both worlds in that we get scared along the way while also getting nice closure for the characters. Then again, I might just be rationalizing because I don't want to admit that I'd like to sometimes watch a horror movie without having to hide behind a pillow! Hey, I’m always talking about how much of a scaredy cat I am, right? Well, the biggest reason why I constantly watch horror movies despite hating loud noises and gruesome imagery is simply because these stories always seem interesting to me. Look at Nope, The Haunting of Hill House, and Midnight Mass, they’re all a few of my favorites, and none of them feel the need to bombard us with cheap jump-scares. Besides, if I wanted to be startled, I’d just sign out of my YouTube account and jump at all the slop on the homepage. I just think that there's room for a lot of different kinds of stories in the horror genre, and having everything be incredibly depressing and mean-spirited can get a little tired after awhile. Take In A Violent Nature, for example. It's a slasher movie from the perspective of a Jason Voorhees type, where a simple shift in perspective changes the whole tone of the movie. Sure, it's still unnerving the way a horror movie should be, but a little tweak shifts the genre from a noisy slasher to a contemplative character study. I love when people try different things! And this is also my general opinion on Small Town Monsters; I'm more than cool with this book wanting to be on the lighter side because, hey, there's more than enough room for everyone!
Oh yeah, there’s also a bit of a romance in this. And while I thought it was cute, for the most part, I will say that I didn’t really like Max all that much. The basic story is that his mom gets way into this new pseudo “health and wellness” group that turns out to be a secret front for a cult that wants to summon a demon (there’s a scathing joke hidden in there somewhere), and he begs a goth loner girl, Vera, whose family has been ostracized for their apparent ties to the occult, for help in saving his family. The part where Max annoyed me is that even though Vera helps him out of the goodness of her heart, he still spends most of the book whining, acting like she’s a creepy loner girl, even though she's totally normal. Besides, he’s the one who asked her for help! I guess he does change for the better, but it’s kind of annoying how he has the audacity to wonder why everyone is so mean and cruel to her when he also stood aside as Vera had spent her entire life getting treated horribly by the shitty townsfolk. Like, get real, dude. It doesn’t help that Vera isn’t even given any actual “weird” traits to help explain why everybody treats her so terribly. Not like people really need too much encouragement to be shitty to people who are a little different from them, but maybe a little quirkiness would have helped to make Vera a little more interesting, at the very least. I think the author was trying to go for a Breakfast Club thing where the jock randomly starts to fall for the “weird” girl and we all swoo~oon, but I’ve never liked it in that movie, and I sure as hell didn’t like it here. I will say that I thought that it was an interesting inversion to the horror genre that the author allowed Max to be the "irrationally" terrified character. “Abject fear” in men is a theme that isn’t often explored in horror movies because I don't think writers trust that audiences would be comfortable with seeing a man afraid in a way that isn’t portrayed as “artistically tortured” or “broodingly sexy.” I guess this is my way of saying that I appreciated seeing a dude in a horror story that was, like, freaked the fork out the whole time. Because it’s subversion, sure, but also because that’s exactly the kind of character I’d be in a horror movie. So in other words, maybe this book didn't have the complete desired effect, but I think this was absolutely a good book. It sounds weird to describe a horror book as “A light read,” but Small Town Monsters was as light as a feather and I can’t deny that I had a great time with it!
“I’m as good as I can be.”
“That’s all we can ask for.”
July 2, 2022
4.5 Stars
Good and creepy and I love it had an influence of Ed & Lorraine Warren as well as some evil peeps in real life.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Good and creepy and I love it had an influence of Ed & Lorraine Warren as well as some evil peeps in real life.
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
September 27, 2021
Roaring Creek, a perfect example of small-town America, has seen more than its fair share of tragedy. But now things seem even more wrong than usual; there’s a brand new self-help group in town, and something’s just not quite right about their followers.
Vera Martinez is the school – and town – outcast, deemed spooky and ghoulish thanks to parents who work for the Vatican investigating possession. Maxwell Oliver never had a problem fitting in; but it’s only Vera he can think to turn to when his mother starts sleepwalking and whispering in the night. The two of them are going to have to save the town from the insidious threat that no-one else seems to have noticed.
This was a really good book, the kind of book that feels short because of how fast it pulls you through its story. Vera and Max are distinct and truly likeable characters, and though it’s aimed at teens, the message Small Town Monsters offers is one any reader can appreciate.
While Max’s journey is one of realizing his own missteps, it was Vera that I truly found myself getting attached to. A secret reader, she’s a caring girl that never fails to put others before herself, despite the fact that she’s generally shunned by Roaring Creek inhabitants. When Max reaches out for help, despite her wariness she’s ready to do whatever she can do to support the boy who ignored her until now – when the town itself comes under threat, she steps in again.
If you look no further than the surface, you’ll still get one incredibly entertaining horror experience from Small Town Monsters. Consider the story a little more deeply, though, and this book has a lot to say on grief, acceptance, and the ease with which nihilism can replace truly working through the rough patches on a scale both large and small. Diana Rodriguez Wallach has written a book well worth the time, and I’ll be looking for more from her.
Vera Martinez is the school – and town – outcast, deemed spooky and ghoulish thanks to parents who work for the Vatican investigating possession. Maxwell Oliver never had a problem fitting in; but it’s only Vera he can think to turn to when his mother starts sleepwalking and whispering in the night. The two of them are going to have to save the town from the insidious threat that no-one else seems to have noticed.
This was a really good book, the kind of book that feels short because of how fast it pulls you through its story. Vera and Max are distinct and truly likeable characters, and though it’s aimed at teens, the message Small Town Monsters offers is one any reader can appreciate.
While Max’s journey is one of realizing his own missteps, it was Vera that I truly found myself getting attached to. A secret reader, she’s a caring girl that never fails to put others before herself, despite the fact that she’s generally shunned by Roaring Creek inhabitants. When Max reaches out for help, despite her wariness she’s ready to do whatever she can do to support the boy who ignored her until now – when the town itself comes under threat, she steps in again.
If you look no further than the surface, you’ll still get one incredibly entertaining horror experience from Small Town Monsters. Consider the story a little more deeply, though, and this book has a lot to say on grief, acceptance, and the ease with which nihilism can replace truly working through the rough patches on a scale both large and small. Diana Rodriguez Wallach has written a book well worth the time, and I’ll be looking for more from her.
October 4, 2021
"It was always girls like her, the overlooked ones, the misjudged ones, who changed the world."
The Conjuring meets Stranger Things in this Latin American folklore-inspired horror novel that is the perfect read for the spooky season.
Underlined horror novels haven’t been great lately. They’ve been a huge disappointment and I was about to give up on them. Then this eerie promising novel appeared in my life like a ghost in the night. This book changed my mind on giving Underlined horror another shot and I’m glad that I did.
Diana delivers a creepy tale that is sure to make you look in the closet and underneath the bed before going to sleep. Demonic possession will always be terrifying and this book explores the darker side of that. How it can not only control your body but also your mind. How it warps things to get what it/they want. Think The Exorcist with folklore thrown in and make it creepier.
Small Town Monsters was a magnificent horror novel and I highly recommend this one. If you love horror novels, then this is a must-read! As the saying goes, "Your mother cooks socks in hell!" (I used the cleaner quote)
The Conjuring meets Stranger Things in this Latin American folklore-inspired horror novel that is the perfect read for the spooky season.
Underlined horror novels haven’t been great lately. They’ve been a huge disappointment and I was about to give up on them. Then this eerie promising novel appeared in my life like a ghost in the night. This book changed my mind on giving Underlined horror another shot and I’m glad that I did.
Diana delivers a creepy tale that is sure to make you look in the closet and underneath the bed before going to sleep. Demonic possession will always be terrifying and this book explores the darker side of that. How it can not only control your body but also your mind. How it warps things to get what it/they want. Think The Exorcist with folklore thrown in and make it creepier.
Small Town Monsters was a magnificent horror novel and I highly recommend this one. If you love horror novels, then this is a must-read! As the saying goes, "Your mother cooks socks in hell!" (I used the cleaner quote)
May 18, 2023
Excellent characters with complex backstories. This is well written and a page turner. I didn't give it a five-star review mostly because it didn't wow or surprise me. That might be due to my age, though. I'm 38 and this is a YA. I don't fit into the "young" adult category anymore. I'm just "adult."
Regardless, it's worth a read. There is a cult, an outcast girl that will (likely) save the world, a hurricane, and a lot of grieving people who turn to the easy solution rather than the right one. It is well researched, and the author seems like a pretty cool person (I follow her on TikTok, & that was what encouraged me to try this book)
Regardless, it's worth a read. There is a cult, an outcast girl that will (likely) save the world, a hurricane, and a lot of grieving people who turn to the easy solution rather than the right one. It is well researched, and the author seems like a pretty cool person (I follow her on TikTok, & that was what encouraged me to try this book)
November 24, 2021
Those of you that know me know I'm typically not a fan of YA. I've tried multiple genres of YA and find most of them to be just okay. (Usually the whiny teens are just too much for me.) But THIS is how you write YA horror! Fantastic characters and plot and some truly creepy moments. I can't wait to read more from Diana Rodriguez Wallach. Highly recommend!
December 3, 2021
Small Town Monsters is a really great story on friends encountering eerie and demonic beings. There is Vera Martinez, an outcast that did not really talk to anyone. Tagged along with her is Maxwell Oliver, who was the opposite and had no trouble talking and being around others. The quote I chose was, "It was always girls like her, the overlooked ones, the misjudged ones, who changed the world". This quote tells bout how Vera, a person who people thought was not that important, can make an impact to the world around us. This is one of the reasons I like this book, because it shows that anyone can accomplish the goals they want and need to achieve, which in Vera' and Maxwell's case, was to save the town from demonic beings. Another reason I liked this book and really why I chose it, was because of the spooky setting and atmosphere it gave off while reading it. I personally prefer reading horror genre books like this one. The author did a fantastic job creating the unsettling feeling I got while reading using the demonic elements such as possession and cults.This book also got you really attached with the characters and their different perspectives of the story, which i really enjoyed. Their character development really played a big role in this story as well as they became more brave as the story went on. However the story felt a bit rushed at the end, I felt it needed a bit more clearance on what happened with Vera and her parents. The main plot of the story was also a bit short due to a really long introduction of the 2 main characters at the beginning of the book, but other than that I really enjoyed this book!
September 10, 2021
I must admit that I’ve never read as many horror books in a row than I did in the last few weeks. And again I’ve read an amazingly written horror novel.
The storyline of « Small Town Monsters » is just awesome. I found myself immediately intrigued and I just absolutely love this in book. I need something to make me want to stick to the book and the author managed to do just that with this novel.
I also enjoyed the fact that we were able to read more than one P.O.V. It was interesting to read about Maxwell and Vera’s thoughts all throughout the story. Especially when they tried to understand each other. This was kind of fun. Plus it made us get to know the both of them better which is always a great thing, don’t you agree?
This book also managed to give me serious goosebumps and scared the hell out of me. In a positive way of course. « Small Town Monsters » also has some huge mystery. What is going on with this secret organization and what is happening in Roaring Creek? To get the answers you’ll just have to read the book. It’s as easy as that. Besides the writing style is amazing, the imagery is perfect and with a little imagination (which we all have) you will have the feeling that you’re living yourself in this small town where some crazy and creepy things happen.
The goosebump factor is guaranteed. If you love horror movies, and you like the scary atmosphere then give Diana Rodriguez Wallach and her book a chance! You will certainly not regret it.
The storyline of « Small Town Monsters » is just awesome. I found myself immediately intrigued and I just absolutely love this in book. I need something to make me want to stick to the book and the author managed to do just that with this novel.
I also enjoyed the fact that we were able to read more than one P.O.V. It was interesting to read about Maxwell and Vera’s thoughts all throughout the story. Especially when they tried to understand each other. This was kind of fun. Plus it made us get to know the both of them better which is always a great thing, don’t you agree?
This book also managed to give me serious goosebumps and scared the hell out of me. In a positive way of course. « Small Town Monsters » also has some huge mystery. What is going on with this secret organization and what is happening in Roaring Creek? To get the answers you’ll just have to read the book. It’s as easy as that. Besides the writing style is amazing, the imagery is perfect and with a little imagination (which we all have) you will have the feeling that you’re living yourself in this small town where some crazy and creepy things happen.
The goosebump factor is guaranteed. If you love horror movies, and you like the scary atmosphere then give Diana Rodriguez Wallach and her book a chance! You will certainly not regret it.
October 25, 2021
An excellent scary novel! Don't be fooled by the Young Adult tag, as with Adam Cesare's recent Clown in a Cornfield, DRW's SMALL TOWN MONSTERS roars up from the page, raising the hairs on the back of your neck, and prickling all the right feelers.
Possession, cults, and an unforgettable couple of teenagers bring this story to life like few others I've read this year.
5 stars!
Highly recommended.
Possession, cults, and an unforgettable couple of teenagers bring this story to life like few others I've read this year.
5 stars!
Highly recommended.
January 6, 2022
This was a solid let down for me.
RTC
RTC
December 17, 2023
DNF pg. 190
Lost interest. :/
Lost interest. :/
September 29, 2021
Firstly, before we continue with my review I just want to state that I did get this novel in the form of a free ebook thanks to Penguin Random House, the author, Netgalley and TBR and Beyond Tours, however all opinions reflected in this review are my own.
I really loved this story, I found it really creepy and eerie in places. I have always found possession stories in the supernatural genre interesting and this one was no exception. I loved how cults and demonic possession was explored in this novel and I think the author did a great job in exploring these concepts.
The first thing I loved about Small Town Monsters was the character development that took place within the novel as it was really good especially when it came to our two main characters Vera and Maxwell. I loved that throughout the novel they grew into who they are meant to be, Vera for example grew in confidence in her place in her world. Maxwell grew to see beyond seeing the opinions of others which is significant in regards to Vera and how he saw her.
The pacing for the most part was really good, I just think at the end it went a bit too fast and it needed to be explored a bit more, especially in regards to Vera and her parents. The language used was great, the characters came across the ages that they are meant to be which helped it to become immersive and I loved the use of Latin. This is crucial because of the world development that took place in the novel which was really well developed. I loved seeing the examples at the end of where the author got inspiration for certain elements from her story in the real word.
Overall, I give Small Town Monsters 4/5 stars and its definitely worth reading especially if you love supernatural stories.
I really loved this story, I found it really creepy and eerie in places. I have always found possession stories in the supernatural genre interesting and this one was no exception. I loved how cults and demonic possession was explored in this novel and I think the author did a great job in exploring these concepts.
The first thing I loved about Small Town Monsters was the character development that took place within the novel as it was really good especially when it came to our two main characters Vera and Maxwell. I loved that throughout the novel they grew into who they are meant to be, Vera for example grew in confidence in her place in her world. Maxwell grew to see beyond seeing the opinions of others which is significant in regards to Vera and how he saw her.
The pacing for the most part was really good, I just think at the end it went a bit too fast and it needed to be explored a bit more, especially in regards to Vera and her parents. The language used was great, the characters came across the ages that they are meant to be which helped it to become immersive and I loved the use of Latin. This is crucial because of the world development that took place in the novel which was really well developed. I loved seeing the examples at the end of where the author got inspiration for certain elements from her story in the real word.
Overall, I give Small Town Monsters 4/5 stars and its definitely worth reading especially if you love supernatural stories.
February 28, 2025
Great horror story with Hispanic characters for anyone who enjoys some demonic possession and/or cult lore. Vera's Catholic upbringing plays a part with the local priest coming around to help out. The whole vibe feels reminiscent of Supernatural, and I strongly urge SPN fans to check it out. Dual pov between Vera and Max works great to see both sides to her outcast identity and his situation. I rooted for her to find comfort somehow. Flashbacks and the community presence of the story epically tie everything together. The only drawback was lacking a more solid understanding for Vera's actions at the climax of the fight.
The narrator does wonderfully with the audio, although I had to speed the pacing up just a bit.
The narrator does wonderfully with the audio, although I had to speed the pacing up just a bit.
October 21, 2021
I was going back and forth between 4 and 5 stars on this. I settled on 5 because this book was perfect for October and was probably the first "spooky" book that actually scared me a little bit lol. I don't usually get creeped out too much with most books but I have always been scared of possession so that could have something to do with it lol. Either way, this was definitely well written and I loved that at the end, the author explains her influences for the book and explains the truth versus her fictionized versions of events. For a YA "scary" book, this definitely exceeded my expectations going into it.
October 19, 2021
I really didn’t like this book. I haven’t read YA in a while and this was disappointing. The author drew inspiration from Ed and Lorraine Warren, Jonestown, Catholicism, and real life satanic murders. As a fan of creep and horror I know these stories. This book really did feel like it was just a mash up of those things without anything binding them and characters not strong enough to carry it. Glad to read latinx authors with latinx characters
October 19, 2024
What if demons used yoga moms and merch to get you to join their death cult?
September 1, 2023
This is a really fun YA Thriller/Horror. It’s got everything - cults, demon possession, young love - and all in great portions! I felt the ending with the cult aspect was kind of wrapped up quick in the epilogue, but there was so much else going on that it actually worked well. A great read for spooky season!
November 26, 2021
I was impressed but NOT scared by this book about demonic possession, and demons....and a couple of teen aged characters that were not as fleshed out as well as they could have been. However what really impacted me was the fact the author accessed REAL cases and people to base her writing on, and it works in "Small Town Monsters".
Vera Martinez is tormented by devils and demons.......but they are the demons that both her parents exorcise out of possessed victims! Yes, she is basically the daughter of 'The Warrens; Ed and Lorraine" and it actually works here. The town of Roaring Creek has monsters, and I am talking about tons of them, and they are from the very depths of HELL itself, yes the town is ruled by the Devil himself. Vera's parents are Demonologists and they are very much based on the Warrens, however not to the point that this becomes just another ripoff of Ed and Lorraine and their daughter Judy. Now, if this were a 'based on the real life story of Judy Warren' this is the book you would want to read.
Maxwell "Max" Oliver is a popular boy at his high school and in these important years he has never spoke a word to Vera in the halls, that is right. She is 'the weird one, whose parents are even weirder' but she is the first one he reaches out to when he first starts to notice that his alcoholic mother is changing. Yes, his mother needs help and Vera is the one that is going to help Max fight this changing in his mother. Max has a younger sister and he fears for her life while he is at school and he must save her from the one that we are supposed to love and trust the most our parents.
Max's mom starts sleepwalking, talking to herself in a voice Max does not recognize, then he hears her whispering to some 'thing' that he cannot see; yet fears. This is a book about a town that suffers from tragedy already, and it was a tragedy that took the lives of many of its residents and changed the remaining townsfolk's beliefs forever and the author does this well, but she could have really taken this further.....way further but didn't. Now, this book is labeled YA and I did not know this before i started to listen to the audio book on Libby, but that was not the problem in my opinion....the only problem was it was not scary, and the narrator was HORRIBLE in trying to make her voice sound like a demonic presence coming out of the afflicted victims in the tale. Instead of sounding like Regan McNeil in The Exorcist; she sounded like what we would think Mario and Luigi would sound like if they were drunk. I did enjoy this, and would have easily given this book a 5 star rating, but it just did not scare me at all. Would recommend it to anyone who does NOT want the shit scared out of them while reading a horror novel.
3 👹👹👹
Vera Martinez is tormented by devils and demons.......but they are the demons that both her parents exorcise out of possessed victims! Yes, she is basically the daughter of 'The Warrens; Ed and Lorraine" and it actually works here. The town of Roaring Creek has monsters, and I am talking about tons of them, and they are from the very depths of HELL itself, yes the town is ruled by the Devil himself. Vera's parents are Demonologists and they are very much based on the Warrens, however not to the point that this becomes just another ripoff of Ed and Lorraine and their daughter Judy. Now, if this were a 'based on the real life story of Judy Warren' this is the book you would want to read.
Maxwell "Max" Oliver is a popular boy at his high school and in these important years he has never spoke a word to Vera in the halls, that is right. She is 'the weird one, whose parents are even weirder' but she is the first one he reaches out to when he first starts to notice that his alcoholic mother is changing. Yes, his mother needs help and Vera is the one that is going to help Max fight this changing in his mother. Max has a younger sister and he fears for her life while he is at school and he must save her from the one that we are supposed to love and trust the most our parents.
Max's mom starts sleepwalking, talking to herself in a voice Max does not recognize, then he hears her whispering to some 'thing' that he cannot see; yet fears. This is a book about a town that suffers from tragedy already, and it was a tragedy that took the lives of many of its residents and changed the remaining townsfolk's beliefs forever and the author does this well, but she could have really taken this further.....way further but didn't. Now, this book is labeled YA and I did not know this before i started to listen to the audio book on Libby, but that was not the problem in my opinion....the only problem was it was not scary, and the narrator was HORRIBLE in trying to make her voice sound like a demonic presence coming out of the afflicted victims in the tale. Instead of sounding like Regan McNeil in The Exorcist; she sounded like what we would think Mario and Luigi would sound like if they were drunk. I did enjoy this, and would have easily given this book a 5 star rating, but it just did not scare me at all. Would recommend it to anyone who does NOT want the shit scared out of them while reading a horror novel.
3 👹👹👹
April 8, 2024
⭐️ 3.5 ⭐️ rounding up to 4 stars cause I don't know if I should round it down and give it 3.
It's got quite a few flaws, but I wanna say it leans more on the good side than it being meh.
The main antagonist is a demon. I did not know anything about this book when I got it but it sounded cool and I liked the book cover. I didn't know it was only about demons lol I thought it was going to be more like an adult goosebumps but it isn't, which is slightly disappointing, but that's on me, not the writer.
The writing is okay, it's not terrible but the other books I've read has writing that I enjoy more. I hate the demons and its servants dialogue, I didn't like it and found it cliché, stereotypical and cringey, but that's my opinion. Vera's and Max's dialogue is mostly fine. I'm not a fan of stories where the antagonists are demons, I usually avoid those, but again, I didn't know that this is what that was but nevertheless this one was semi enjoyable. It felt slightly rushed, like Vera's and Max's relationship and opinions on each other, but I still thought they were pretty cute. The story also felt a little rushed. Cute ending!
It's got quite a few flaws, but I wanna say it leans more on the good side than it being meh.
The main antagonist is a demon. I did not know anything about this book when I got it but it sounded cool and I liked the book cover. I didn't know it was only about demons lol I thought it was going to be more like an adult goosebumps but it isn't, which is slightly disappointing, but that's on me, not the writer.
The writing is okay, it's not terrible but the other books I've read has writing that I enjoy more. I hate the demons and its servants dialogue, I didn't like it and found it cliché, stereotypical and cringey, but that's my opinion. Vera's and Max's dialogue is mostly fine. I'm not a fan of stories where the antagonists are demons, I usually avoid those, but again, I didn't know that this is what that was but nevertheless this one was semi enjoyable. It felt slightly rushed, like Vera's and Max's relationship and opinions on each other, but I still thought they were pretty cute. The story also felt a little rushed. Cute ending!
April 16, 2022
Roaring Creek is cursed. That’s what everyone says a decade after a gas explosion left dozens of families devastated, and it seems like the town has had nothing but accidents and tragedy since. For Vera Martinez, it was always like that. As the daughter of two of the most famous demonologists in the country, she’s always been an outsider. When Maxwell Oliver’s mother starts showing signs of possession, he goes to Vera for help, and they discover that Mrs. Oliver isn’t the only one acting strange. Roaring Creek might actually be cursed, as something sinister sets the stage for an even greater disaster. Trigger warnings: death, parent death, child endangerment, cults, hurricanes, fire/explosions, severe illness, violence/injury, hospitals, poison, mental illness, depression, grief, religion, threats.
This is a spooky YA horror novel with some genuinely creepy, Conjuring-style possession scenes in it. Naturally, those were my favorite parts of the book, and Rodriguez Wallach does a nice job on the possession horror. It’s atmospheric, well-described, and hits close to home when it’s family, and I found myself both afraid for the characters and sympathizing with them. I also like the way the possession ties into very real-world issues like depression and grief, which leave people open to being taken advantage of, both by demonic entities and humans. I was less interested in the cult aspect of the novel, but those are always hit or miss for me. It doesn’t get quite the same level of attention as the rest of the horror aspects (until it suddenly gets a lot), and I think more investigation into it could have helped with that.
Aside from that, I’m not sure there’s a lot about Small Town Monsters that will appeal to an adult audience, but there’s nothing wrong with a YA novel that’s only written for young adults. The writing is average and a little simplistic with a couple weird turns of phrase ("her eyes flexed" what??), and there are a number of cliched YA tropes that don’t make any effort to break the mold: popular boy falling for the outsider, she’s not like other girls, the main character is beautiful but doesn’t know it, etc. The romance is pretty run of the mill, and it didn’t add a lot to the story for me (but, in a weird personality quirk, I’m fond of romance books but not romance subplots–not sure when or how that happened). The end is a little abrupt but I like where it went, and I was overall satisfied with the story. It’s a fun little horror novel, and sometimes that’s all I want out of my reading.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
This is a spooky YA horror novel with some genuinely creepy, Conjuring-style possession scenes in it. Naturally, those were my favorite parts of the book, and Rodriguez Wallach does a nice job on the possession horror. It’s atmospheric, well-described, and hits close to home when it’s family, and I found myself both afraid for the characters and sympathizing with them. I also like the way the possession ties into very real-world issues like depression and grief, which leave people open to being taken advantage of, both by demonic entities and humans. I was less interested in the cult aspect of the novel, but those are always hit or miss for me. It doesn’t get quite the same level of attention as the rest of the horror aspects (until it suddenly gets a lot), and I think more investigation into it could have helped with that.
Aside from that, I’m not sure there’s a lot about Small Town Monsters that will appeal to an adult audience, but there’s nothing wrong with a YA novel that’s only written for young adults. The writing is average and a little simplistic with a couple weird turns of phrase ("her eyes flexed" what??), and there are a number of cliched YA tropes that don’t make any effort to break the mold: popular boy falling for the outsider, she’s not like other girls, the main character is beautiful but doesn’t know it, etc. The romance is pretty run of the mill, and it didn’t add a lot to the story for me (but, in a weird personality quirk, I’m fond of romance books but not romance subplots–not sure when or how that happened). The end is a little abrupt but I like where it went, and I was overall satisfied with the story. It’s a fun little horror novel, and sometimes that’s all I want out of my reading.
I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.
May 3, 2023
loved it! hooked me right away and kept me engaged throughout!
April 3, 2025
This was a really great read! Although the story was a bit predictable it was still a fun ride to see it all play out. I really liked our MC Vera, however I absolutely disliked Maxwell. He just annoyed the crap out of me at all times. He would say something shitty and then realize he said something that was messed up, but he didn't really seem to grow in the narrative. This story was told in both of the character's perspectives, but it felt like Vera was the main main character. I think for this story it was necessary to have both of their perspectives, but I would have preferred a story in just Vera's perspective.
Vera was a really relatable and fun character. I wish she wasn't written so stereotypically as the outsider girl. However, I can forgive that because it is a YA book, so I try not to take off too many points for the predictable writing. What I particularly like about Vera is her trying to navigate religion, especially her family's strong ties to Catholicism and her own scientific mind. I thought this was a very interesting dynamic and one I could relate to, being Agnostic but growing up as Christian.
I had no idea going in to this that this had Conjuring vibes, in case you are familiar with that horror movie franchise. I was pleasantly surprised by this and the addition of cult like aspects. The author stated that she got inspirations from cults like the Jonestown tragedy, which I also found super fascinating. I don't want to give away too much so I will hide some more spoilery aspects that I loved.
Needless to say this was a great horror read. I have very much been enjoying my horror kick lately and would recommend for fellow horror readers who also love the YA genre.
Vera was a really relatable and fun character. I wish she wasn't written so stereotypically as the outsider girl. However, I can forgive that because it is a YA book, so I try not to take off too many points for the predictable writing. What I particularly like about Vera is her trying to navigate religion, especially her family's strong ties to Catholicism and her own scientific mind. I thought this was a very interesting dynamic and one I could relate to, being Agnostic but growing up as Christian.
I had no idea going in to this that this had Conjuring vibes, in case you are familiar with that horror movie franchise. I was pleasantly surprised by this and the addition of cult like aspects. The author stated that she got inspirations from cults like the Jonestown tragedy, which I also found super fascinating. I don't want to give away too much so I will hide some more spoilery aspects that I loved.
Needless to say this was a great horror read. I have very much been enjoying my horror kick lately and would recommend for fellow horror readers who also love the YA genre.
November 24, 2021
It feels nice to have finished an audiobook that I actually really liked! (And I mean an audiobook from the library, not one that I read for work or from my own personal collection.)
If you need a spooky YA audiobook to battle the increasing radio play of Holiday songs, then I think you'll really enjoy this. And the narrator does such a wonderful job of creating the spooky atmosphere that it actually made me pause every so often. The story itself is creepy and fun, but that voice actor did SUCH an amazing job.
I also loved the intermittent use of Spanish because of one of the MC's backgrounds (I always love seeing this in books), and how some of the Latino catholic beliefs played into this spooky read. I also love the whole idea of the outsider girl being the only person who can help the popular boy. Call me a sap.
I'm not giving this a full 5 star rating because I started feeling that sense of "Is it almost over?" feeling that I sometimes get when my mind starts to wonder. It's not entirely the books fault that I have little control of where my attention lies, but there HAVE been books that have kept me completely enthralled all the way through. But with that in mind, I want to say that this is probably one of the only spooky books that I've read this year that actually surprised me (in a good way). And it's even better that it was written by a Latina author!
I'd recommend this if you want a spoopy book with possession, goosebump-inducing moments, and a cute romance growing on the back of a possessed mother/town.
Happy reading!
If you need a spooky YA audiobook to battle the increasing radio play of Holiday songs, then I think you'll really enjoy this. And the narrator does such a wonderful job of creating the spooky atmosphere that it actually made me pause every so often. The story itself is creepy and fun, but that voice actor did SUCH an amazing job.
I also loved the intermittent use of Spanish because of one of the MC's backgrounds (I always love seeing this in books), and how some of the Latino catholic beliefs played into this spooky read. I also love the whole idea of the outsider girl being the only person who can help the popular boy. Call me a sap.
I'm not giving this a full 5 star rating because I started feeling that sense of "Is it almost over?" feeling that I sometimes get when my mind starts to wonder. It's not entirely the books fault that I have little control of where my attention lies, but there HAVE been books that have kept me completely enthralled all the way through. But with that in mind, I want to say that this is probably one of the only spooky books that I've read this year that actually surprised me (in a good way). And it's even better that it was written by a Latina author!
I'd recommend this if you want a spoopy book with possession, goosebump-inducing moments, and a cute romance growing on the back of a possessed mother/town.
Happy reading!
September 6, 2021
I was fortunate enough to receive an early look at Small Town Monsters, and I couldn't put it down if my life depended on it. From the opening page, the tragic lore that haunts the streets of Roaring Creek, Connecticut begins to slowly seep into the story and, with it, comes that building sense of dread and cautious anticipation that is the hallmark of all great horror stories. Throughout the novel, Diana Rodriguez Wallach displays a masterful grip on her third person narrator, adeptly bouncing back and forth between the lives of her two main characters, Vera and Max, while slowly and deliciously revealing both their troubled pasts and their growing obsession with each other. The closer they get to each other, the farther they find themselves thrust into a world from which they don't belong, a world that is hopelessly marred by death, darkness, and the merciless clutches of evil. Small Town Monsters is a headlong dive into the world of the occult armed with more terrifying twists and turns than a roller coaster ride through the actual Pet Sematary. If you're a fan of YA horror, you will definitely love Diana Rodriguez Wallach's latest novel for teens.
October 29, 2021
From my keyboard to your bookshelf, I hand Vera and Max over to you, readers! I hope their twisty creepy story gives you all the spooky feels you’re looking for.
If you've read it and reviewed it, THANK YOU! If you're looking forward to reading it, I hope I really get to scare you.
Below are the opening lines of Small Town Monsters to give you a taste:
"A darkness surged through Roaring Creek, casting a shadow upon its modest homes and oozing onto Vera Martinez’s hands—and it all began, at least for her, the day Maxwell Oliver’s pale brown eyes turned her way. He was staring."
You can learn more about the book on my website, www.buysmalltownmonsters.com
Without readers like you, my books would not exist. I thank you all from the bottom my twisty, horror-loving heart.
If you've read it and reviewed it, THANK YOU! If you're looking forward to reading it, I hope I really get to scare you.
Below are the opening lines of Small Town Monsters to give you a taste:
"A darkness surged through Roaring Creek, casting a shadow upon its modest homes and oozing onto Vera Martinez’s hands—and it all began, at least for her, the day Maxwell Oliver’s pale brown eyes turned her way. He was staring."
You can learn more about the book on my website, www.buysmalltownmonsters.com
Without readers like you, my books would not exist. I thank you all from the bottom my twisty, horror-loving heart.
August 26, 2024
I just finished. I didn't like it. It reminded me of a potluck plate. Seems like a good idea until you make your plate and taste everything.
It was pulling from too many sources for me to enjoy ie The Warrens, Mexican folklore, Cults: Jonestown and NXIVM, etc.
I give it props for delivering small-town feels. That leads me to the pacing. It was slow to me. More often than not, I was ready to get out and see something else.
If I were to suggest it to anyone, it would be for readers who enjoy a mashup.
It was pulling from too many sources for me to enjoy ie The Warrens, Mexican folklore, Cults: Jonestown and NXIVM, etc.
I give it props for delivering small-town feels. That leads me to the pacing. It was slow to me. More often than not, I was ready to get out and see something else.
If I were to suggest it to anyone, it would be for readers who enjoy a mashup.
October 1, 2021
I didn't think to fall in love with this amazing book. I loved it!!!
I really got some goose bumps in some parts of this book.
It's scary and so entertainable that makes this book more captivating.
Inspired by latin culture and demonologist like Ed and Lorraine Warren (the Conjuring).
Plus the main character Vera Martinez is an amazing and stronger character.
I really got some goose bumps in some parts of this book.
It's scary and so entertainable that makes this book more captivating.
Inspired by latin culture and demonologist like Ed and Lorraine Warren (the Conjuring).
Plus the main character Vera Martinez is an amazing and stronger character.
October 11, 2021
This was a blast of a read.
While it’s YA, it should satisfy any horror reader – it’s genuinely spooky, suspenseful, and features characters you really care about.
I tore through the read quickly and found myself eager to read the author again! Happy to see that she’s got a number of other books for me to discover!
Definitely worth reading!
*ARC via Net Galley
While it’s YA, it should satisfy any horror reader – it’s genuinely spooky, suspenseful, and features characters you really care about.
I tore through the read quickly and found myself eager to read the author again! Happy to see that she’s got a number of other books for me to discover!
Definitely worth reading!
*ARC via Net Galley
October 17, 2021
A creepy and atmospheric book about a town plagued by demonic possession, but the characters fell flat for me and weren’t as well developed as they could have been.
March 10, 2022
Loved the creepy vibes of an evil cult, but it lacked the summer vibes promised in the first few chapters and the romance was simple and boring
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