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We Don't Swim Here
She is the reason no one goes in the water. And she will make them pay. A chilling new novel for fans of Tiffany D. Jackson, Lamar Giles, and Ryan Douglass.
Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they're all meant to make some final memories together.
Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can't even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.
Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn't get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren't the only ones who seek retribution when they're wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn't expect.
Bronwyn is only supposed to be in rural Hillwoods for a year. Her grandmother is in hospice, and her father needs to get her affairs in order. And they're all meant to make some final memories together.
Except Bronwyn is miserable. Her grandmother is dying, everyone is standoffish, and she can't even go swimming. All she hears are warnings about going in the water, despite a gorgeous lake. And a pool at the abandoned rec center. And another in the high school basement.
Anais tries her hardest to protect Bronwyn from the shadows of Hillwoods. She follows her own rituals to avoid any unnecessary attention—and if she can just get Bronwyn to stop asking questions, she can protect her too. The less Bronwyn pays attention to Hillwoods, the less Hillwoods will pay attention to Bronwyn. She doesn't get that the lore is, well, truth. History. Pain. The living aren't the only ones who seek retribution when they're wronged. But when Bronwyn does more exploring than she should, they are both in for danger they couldn't expect.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2023
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July 19, 2025
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reading Vincent Tirado's 2022-YA Horror debut, Burn Down, Rise Up.
First, let me say, if you are a YA Horror fan who enjoys stories involving urban legends, settings with a dark history, as well as a deep sense of place in the storytelling, you really should pick that one up.
I had a lot of fun with it and was instantly drawn in by Tirado's creativity and writing style. I loved how quickly the action kicked off, no wasted time whatsoever.
Additionally, there was some fantastic horror imagery within that story that really got under my skin. Not too long after completing that book, I heard some buzz for Tirado's latest release, We Don't Swim Here.
I immediately made it my mission to get my hands on it.
I was so blessed to receive an early copy of the audiobook from Tantor Audio...
And I'm not even lying to you, when I say I listened to it twice this weekend. Explanation as to why I listened twice: I was on a long solo road trip and had a lot of steering wheel time and it was that good.
The narration of the audiobook is FANTASTIC. I absolutely recommend it as a format. The narrator, iiKane, was able to channel a overriding sense of urgency to the entire story. It had my pulse racing, even when nothing overtly scary was happening.
This story follows two cousins, Bronwyn and Anais. Their grandmother, LaLa, is in ill health and because of that, Bronwyn's father, moves their family to the small Arkansas town, Hillwoods, where he grew up and into LaLa's house, while she is in hospital.
Anais calls Hillwoods home. Her Dad and Bronwyn's Dad are brothers, but because their two fathers have a strained relationship, Bronwyn and Anais, don't know each other all that well, even though they're cousins.
Bronwyn takes the move pretty well. She's a good girl. Her biggest disappointment is that she was a really successful swimmer at her old school, and this school doesn't have a swim team. In fact, in seems like there is no place to swim in the entire town.
While that's a major bummer, as soon as she starts school, Bronwyn is more distracted by how weird everyone is acting to care too much about the whole swimming thing.
One overly-enthusiastic girl befriends her and seems to be hovering around like an annoying fly every time Bronwyn turns around. Additionally, other classmates are super strange and elusive. It's like they're all hiding something from her; some giant collective secret.
This story is fast-paced and it involves a lot. That's why I didn't mind listening to it two times in a row. I was sure there were little things I might have missed the first time through, in my haste to get to the bottom of what was happening in Hillwoods.
Overall, this is a solid read. It's quite trope-filled, but honestly, for YA Horror, that's what I'm here for. It did have some of my favorite things too.
There was a lot of local lore, missing outsiders, odd acting locals, the new girl, a found diary, a nosy reporter digging into the past and an older character guiding the younger ones, whilst also providing a bit of levity.
Mystery, intrigue, dark imagery, a spooky town, it has it all. It felt like a mix of the 90s movie, The Faculty, with Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt + diversity. It's so freaking mysterious. I had no clue what was going on in the beginning and it had me disturbed.
My slight criticism is that it almost did too much. I could have delved more into certain areas, while leaving other areas out, if that makes sense. Digging deeper into certain aspects could have made it feel more tied up at the end; more focused.
This is just my opinion though and at the end of the day, I know nothing of writing and certainly could never have created what Tirado did here. Also, I read it twice and gave it four stars, so clearly, I still really enjoyed it.
For a sophomore novel, this showed growth and I'm super stoked that Tirado stayed in this lane. I'm so glad to have a new voice in the YA Horror space that I can obsess over.
Thank you to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I definitely recommend this one, as well as Tirado's debut.
Also, if you have enjoyed Tiffany D. Jackson's Horror novels, I think you'll enjoy this as well. The synopsis definitely got that comp right.
First, let me say, if you are a YA Horror fan who enjoys stories involving urban legends, settings with a dark history, as well as a deep sense of place in the storytelling, you really should pick that one up.
I had a lot of fun with it and was instantly drawn in by Tirado's creativity and writing style. I loved how quickly the action kicked off, no wasted time whatsoever.
Additionally, there was some fantastic horror imagery within that story that really got under my skin. Not too long after completing that book, I heard some buzz for Tirado's latest release, We Don't Swim Here.
I immediately made it my mission to get my hands on it.
I was so blessed to receive an early copy of the audiobook from Tantor Audio...
And I'm not even lying to you, when I say I listened to it twice this weekend. Explanation as to why I listened twice: I was on a long solo road trip and had a lot of steering wheel time and it was that good.
The narration of the audiobook is FANTASTIC. I absolutely recommend it as a format. The narrator, iiKane, was able to channel a overriding sense of urgency to the entire story. It had my pulse racing, even when nothing overtly scary was happening.
This story follows two cousins, Bronwyn and Anais. Their grandmother, LaLa, is in ill health and because of that, Bronwyn's father, moves their family to the small Arkansas town, Hillwoods, where he grew up and into LaLa's house, while she is in hospital.
Anais calls Hillwoods home. Her Dad and Bronwyn's Dad are brothers, but because their two fathers have a strained relationship, Bronwyn and Anais, don't know each other all that well, even though they're cousins.
Bronwyn takes the move pretty well. She's a good girl. Her biggest disappointment is that she was a really successful swimmer at her old school, and this school doesn't have a swim team. In fact, in seems like there is no place to swim in the entire town.
While that's a major bummer, as soon as she starts school, Bronwyn is more distracted by how weird everyone is acting to care too much about the whole swimming thing.
One overly-enthusiastic girl befriends her and seems to be hovering around like an annoying fly every time Bronwyn turns around. Additionally, other classmates are super strange and elusive. It's like they're all hiding something from her; some giant collective secret.
This story is fast-paced and it involves a lot. That's why I didn't mind listening to it two times in a row. I was sure there were little things I might have missed the first time through, in my haste to get to the bottom of what was happening in Hillwoods.
Overall, this is a solid read. It's quite trope-filled, but honestly, for YA Horror, that's what I'm here for. It did have some of my favorite things too.
There was a lot of local lore, missing outsiders, odd acting locals, the new girl, a found diary, a nosy reporter digging into the past and an older character guiding the younger ones, whilst also providing a bit of levity.
Mystery, intrigue, dark imagery, a spooky town, it has it all. It felt like a mix of the 90s movie, The Faculty, with Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt + diversity. It's so freaking mysterious. I had no clue what was going on in the beginning and it had me disturbed.
My slight criticism is that it almost did too much. I could have delved more into certain areas, while leaving other areas out, if that makes sense. Digging deeper into certain aspects could have made it feel more tied up at the end; more focused.
This is just my opinion though and at the end of the day, I know nothing of writing and certainly could never have created what Tirado did here. Also, I read it twice and gave it four stars, so clearly, I still really enjoyed it.
For a sophomore novel, this showed growth and I'm super stoked that Tirado stayed in this lane. I'm so glad to have a new voice in the YA Horror space that I can obsess over.
Thank you to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I definitely recommend this one, as well as Tirado's debut.
Also, if you have enjoyed Tiffany D. Jackson's Horror novels, I think you'll enjoy this as well. The synopsis definitely got that comp right.
May 12, 2023
Bronwyn and her family have just moved back to her father's hometown because her grandmother is sick. Since her dad never spoke of it much, she doesn't know what to expect and finds some of the seemingly unspoken rules to be confusing and arbitrary. Annias, Bronwyn's cousin, has grown up in this town and is well aware of its quirks and rules. But she can tell Bronwyn doesn't get it and is afraid she may stir up trouble. With the secrets and rules that abound in this town, it’s only a matter of time before someone makes a mistake they can’t take back.
This was a well written atmospheric work. Almost immediately I was immersed in the setting and the events of the book. The author did an excellent job at setting up the atmosphere, creating and building tension, and incorporating spooky supernatural aspects. I also liked the bit of esoteric exploration that was included regarding the "rules" of the town and its inhabitants. It was a meaningful inclusion to this YA read and added an interesting layer of conflict. But at the same time, there wasn’t enough explanation as to why the rules existed and how they came to be in such a short time. This book shouldn’t be thought too critically about in relation to the rules/rituals/timeline – I can’t get into details without spoilers, but there were several things that didn’t make that much sense and other things that weren’t explained well or were built up to be a big deal then disappeared into nothingness.
This story is told from the dual POV of Bronwyn and Annias who are cousins. The author did a good job with their characterization despite them being quite similar. The characters were all well written and were engaging, adding much to the tension of this work. However, there was a lot of repetitive dialogue between the characters that didn’t add much to the work and detracted from the spookiness as well.
One quick note: the text didn't necessarily condone revenge killing but it certainly didn't seem to be against revenge killing. Now this is a work of fiction so I don't mind that the characters felt that way, but not all readers may be okay with this.
This was an enjoyable YA supernatural mystery that was entertaining overall (and the narrator did an amazing job!). My thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing me to read this book, which will be published 16 May 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This was a well written atmospheric work. Almost immediately I was immersed in the setting and the events of the book. The author did an excellent job at setting up the atmosphere, creating and building tension, and incorporating spooky supernatural aspects. I also liked the bit of esoteric exploration that was included regarding the "rules" of the town and its inhabitants. It was a meaningful inclusion to this YA read and added an interesting layer of conflict. But at the same time, there wasn’t enough explanation as to why the rules existed and how they came to be in such a short time. This book shouldn’t be thought too critically about in relation to the rules/rituals/timeline – I can’t get into details without spoilers, but there were several things that didn’t make that much sense and other things that weren’t explained well or were built up to be a big deal then disappeared into nothingness.
This story is told from the dual POV of Bronwyn and Annias who are cousins. The author did a good job with their characterization despite them being quite similar. The characters were all well written and were engaging, adding much to the tension of this work. However, there was a lot of repetitive dialogue between the characters that didn’t add much to the work and detracted from the spookiness as well.
One quick note: the text didn't necessarily condone revenge killing but it certainly didn't seem to be against revenge killing. Now this is a work of fiction so I don't mind that the characters felt that way, but not all readers may be okay with this.
This was an enjoyable YA supernatural mystery that was entertaining overall (and the narrator did an amazing job!). My thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing me to read this book, which will be published 16 May 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
October 6, 2023
Tirado takes YA horror to an entirely new level in their sophomore novel. Loved the subtle commentary on Black folks’ trauma with water & racism in swimming pools. This was major Stranger Things and Jake Livingston vibes. It has so many moving parts, horrific scenes, and a mystery that kept us guessing. The secrets of this cursed town unravel maddeningly slow, forcing you on to the next page.
Will read anythinggg this author writes.
Binging Autumnal Black Girl Horror & Dark Academia To Celebrate Fall🍁
https://youtu.be/tlk8d5-Cy8A
Will read anythinggg this author writes.
Binging Autumnal Black Girl Horror & Dark Academia To Celebrate Fall🍁
https://youtu.be/tlk8d5-Cy8A
May 18, 2023
I really enjoyed this one. So many twists and turns, some spooky bits and even some moments I was like "aww". Has a paranormal vibe around the town, but cool to see the layers unfold and learn the truth. It kept me on the edge of my seat and the ending was BEAUTIFUL! I'd absolutely recommend if you're into twists, turns and shock factors!
I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading the book.
I received this book from a Goodreads Giveaway. All of the statements above are my true opinions after fully reading the book.
April 3, 2023
3.0 Stars
After enjoying the author's debut YA horror novel, I was hopeful to also enjoy their newest release. I don't read a lot of YA horror but I occasionally try ones, especially if the author has worked for me before.
In this case, I failed to become immersed in the story. I never felt particularly attached to the characters or the subsequent story.
One challenge is that this book centers around the trope of the unhappy displaced teen. While this girl's feelings are understandable, I found it a bit tiring.
I hoped to enjoy this story more but I would still recommend it to young adult readers looking for a horror story with a black ownvoices narrative.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher
After enjoying the author's debut YA horror novel, I was hopeful to also enjoy their newest release. I don't read a lot of YA horror but I occasionally try ones, especially if the author has worked for me before.
In this case, I failed to become immersed in the story. I never felt particularly attached to the characters or the subsequent story.
One challenge is that this book centers around the trope of the unhappy displaced teen. While this girl's feelings are understandable, I found it a bit tiring.
I hoped to enjoy this story more but I would still recommend it to young adult readers looking for a horror story with a black ownvoices narrative.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher
September 7, 2023
Bronwyn just wants to make it through the year without a breakdown. When her family moves due to her grandmother's ailing health all Bronwyn wants is to find her stress relief at the pool. Doing laps, participating on.the swim team, preparing for being a possible Olympian someday soon. Her cousin, Anias, quickly informs Bronwyn of one of the towns quirks: We Don't Swim Here. Legends and lore of a woman who latches onto you in water flood Bronwyn with scepticism, until she starts hearing voices coming from an old abandoned pool. What horrors await both Bronwyn and Anais, and how much of themselves will they have to sacrifice to set things right?
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It's pretty hard to get closer to perfection when it comes to possession than what I found in We Don't Swim Here. A great story to support the non spooky parts: ✅. Intriguing characters who make you pay attention and care: ✅. Ghosty goodness with a great backstory to boot: ✅✅✅✅✅. Bronwyn finds herself mixed up in something she doesn't fully understand and by the time it truly hits her it could be too late to come back to herself. This theme was really felt for me, how far gone one could get, how empty and hopeless before someone becomes unsavable. Anais could have handled all the situations presented to her better, but it's those moments we can reflect back on that help one grow.... hopefully she continues to soul search after the prologue.
A book that keeps readers guessing from beginning to end, We Don't Swim Here is perfect for the upcoming spooky season! Recommended for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess, and such other spook-tacular novels. Grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage, curl up, and let We Don't Swim Here wash over you....if you dare. Age recommended for 12+. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It's pretty hard to get closer to perfection when it comes to possession than what I found in We Don't Swim Here. A great story to support the non spooky parts: ✅. Intriguing characters who make you pay attention and care: ✅. Ghosty goodness with a great backstory to boot: ✅✅✅✅✅. Bronwyn finds herself mixed up in something she doesn't fully understand and by the time it truly hits her it could be too late to come back to herself. This theme was really felt for me, how far gone one could get, how empty and hopeless before someone becomes unsavable. Anais could have handled all the situations presented to her better, but it's those moments we can reflect back on that help one grow.... hopefully she continues to soul search after the prologue.
A book that keeps readers guessing from beginning to end, We Don't Swim Here is perfect for the upcoming spooky season! Recommended for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess, and such other spook-tacular novels. Grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage, curl up, and let We Don't Swim Here wash over you....if you dare. Age recommended for 12+. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 6, 2023
This wasn't it! It took me two tries to finish this book and I kind of wish I'd just dnf'ed it after the first try. This isn't really a horror novel. It's more a mystery with a ghost story tossed in. That can be cool too but if you're looking at this in search of a novel about a haunting or an actually atmospheric, creepy story, that's just not what this book is. Mostly, I thought the book was okay until the 60% mark when everything just unravelled.
My main gripe with "We Don't Swim Here" is that it's just badly written. The writing style is okay but the pacing is all over the place. There are loads of weirdly placed time jumps and scenes are cut off before they get to fully play out, everything seems kind of rushed, like the author couldn't wait to get to the next scene. There is no creepy atmosphere either, nothing is described. The grandma's old house, the Arkansas town this is set in, only the body horror scenes had any kind of description but they were brief and there were only two or three of them. Like I said: Not a horror novel.
Some scenes just aren't there at all. In one scene, Bronwyn is suddenly wearing her grandma Lucia's old ring. I did a double take, thinking I had somehow missed her finding it, but no, she really just suddenly has it and you're to assume she found it in the house with her granny's old things without being told. The same thing happens with a character named Mars who is suddenly Annais' best friend and has a crush on Bronwyn. Again, I thought I'd accidentally skipped a chapter because he wasn't shown talking to either girl even once before Annais goes to his house to confront him about Bronwyn.
There is a lot of potential here, the premise seemed so cool: A small town haunted by a spirit that kills you if you dare to swim in a lake or pool. The pools are shut down, no one dares to go near water, until new girl Bronwyn arrives, a passionate swimmer ... It's a real shame the whole book was so underdeveloped because the story doesn't really go anywhere. Nothing goes anywhere, really. Bronwyn being a swimmer in a town of people deathly afraid of swimming is only explored a bit in the beginning. Annais can see ghosts but the author does nothing with this at all. There is a ghost bus which crashed into the lake years ago with everyone on board being killed which would be a cool ghost story if anything had happened with it which it didn't.
I also found the solution to the mystery to be super contrived. Everyone believes thing A happened, then Bronwyn finds some evidence that actually thing B happened but then it's revealed that actually things C and D happened without giving the reader any chance to come to their own conclusions because the author gives you no clues, they just pull the solutions out of thin air. Characters just have epiphanies about what must have happened. There's also Stevie whose last name could as well have been McGuffin since that's all that she was really: She kept popping up to give Bronwyn and Annais the information they needed and then faded into the background again until her next coincidental appearence to share more information.
I would have still given the book three stars. Up until the 90% mark or so it was a mid YA mystery novel with a paranormal twist thrown in, not great, but entertaining enough for me to finish the book within two days. But then it got even more convoluted towards the end, people kept dying and no one really cared and the big finale just left a bitter taste in my mouth. I don't want to say too much but let's get one thing straight: A ghost can have a tragic backstory and have been an innocent person while alive but they can still become a vengeful ghost and there does not need to be a redemption arc.
Also I want to talk about the character of Molly Grace because something about that just seemed wrong to me. She's introduced as this stuck-up white girl busy-body, a gossip who gets involved in everyone elses business and that's fine of course, we all know that type of person. But picking her as some type of villain was ... a choice. The adopted girl with a dead mother and two fathers is the bad one. Oh, really? I cannot count how often YA books go for the "the adopted kid is weird and evil" trope but it never gets less gross. Oh, and:
In the end I get what the author was trying to do here and I think the story had a LOT of potential that gets lost in the convoluted mystery. I have to put this into a spoiler tag because it's only revealed halfway through the book but it's kind of important: ) This premise reminded me a bit of "We Deserve Monuments" which I read earlier this year but it wasn't nearly as well done here.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book at all. If you're looking for a YA mystery novel and lower your expectations a bit, go ahead, it might be fun. But if you're looking for a horror novel, you might also want to check out "White Smoke" by Tiffany D. Jackson, "Delicious Monsters" by Liselle Sambury or "I'm Not Supposed to Be in the Dark" by Riss M. Neilson, all of which also have Black leads.
My main gripe with "We Don't Swim Here" is that it's just badly written. The writing style is okay but the pacing is all over the place. There are loads of weirdly placed time jumps and scenes are cut off before they get to fully play out, everything seems kind of rushed, like the author couldn't wait to get to the next scene. There is no creepy atmosphere either, nothing is described. The grandma's old house, the Arkansas town this is set in, only the body horror scenes had any kind of description but they were brief and there were only two or three of them. Like I said: Not a horror novel.
Some scenes just aren't there at all. In one scene, Bronwyn is suddenly wearing her grandma Lucia's old ring. I did a double take, thinking I had somehow missed her finding it, but no, she really just suddenly has it and you're to assume she found it in the house with her granny's old things without being told. The same thing happens with a character named Mars who is suddenly Annais' best friend and has a crush on Bronwyn. Again, I thought I'd accidentally skipped a chapter because he wasn't shown talking to either girl even once before Annais goes to his house to confront him about Bronwyn.
There is a lot of potential here, the premise seemed so cool: A small town haunted by a spirit that kills you if you dare to swim in a lake or pool. The pools are shut down, no one dares to go near water, until new girl Bronwyn arrives, a passionate swimmer ... It's a real shame the whole book was so underdeveloped because the story doesn't really go anywhere. Nothing goes anywhere, really. Bronwyn being a swimmer in a town of people deathly afraid of swimming is only explored a bit in the beginning. Annais can see ghosts but the author does nothing with this at all. There is a ghost bus which crashed into the lake years ago with everyone on board being killed which would be a cool ghost story if anything had happened with it which it didn't.
I also found the solution to the mystery to be super contrived. Everyone believes thing A happened, then Bronwyn finds some evidence that actually thing B happened but then it's revealed that actually things C and D happened without giving the reader any chance to come to their own conclusions because the author gives you no clues, they just pull the solutions out of thin air. Characters just have epiphanies about what must have happened. There's also Stevie whose last name could as well have been McGuffin since that's all that she was really: She kept popping up to give Bronwyn and Annais the information they needed and then faded into the background again until her next coincidental appearence to share more information.
I would have still given the book three stars. Up until the 90% mark or so it was a mid YA mystery novel with a paranormal twist thrown in, not great, but entertaining enough for me to finish the book within two days. But then it got even more convoluted towards the end, people kept dying and no one really cared and the big finale just left a bitter taste in my mouth. I don't want to say too much but let's get one thing straight: A ghost can have a tragic backstory and have been an innocent person while alive but they can still become a vengeful ghost and there does not need to be a redemption arc.
Also I want to talk about the character of Molly Grace because something about that just seemed wrong to me. She's introduced as this stuck-up white girl busy-body, a gossip who gets involved in everyone elses business and that's fine of course, we all know that type of person. But picking her as some type of villain was ... a choice. The adopted girl with a dead mother and two fathers is the bad one. Oh, really? I cannot count how often YA books go for the "the adopted kid is weird and evil" trope but it never gets less gross. Oh, and:
In the end I get what the author was trying to do here and I think the story had a LOT of potential that gets lost in the convoluted mystery. I have to put this into a spoiler tag because it's only revealed halfway through the book but it's kind of important: ) This premise reminded me a bit of "We Deserve Monuments" which I read earlier this year but it wasn't nearly as well done here.
I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book at all. If you're looking for a YA mystery novel and lower your expectations a bit, go ahead, it might be fun. But if you're looking for a horror novel, you might also want to check out "White Smoke" by Tiffany D. Jackson, "Delicious Monsters" by Liselle Sambury or "I'm Not Supposed to Be in the Dark" by Riss M. Neilson, all of which also have Black leads.
November 14, 2022
Ima give this one a 3.5.
I actually like the simplistic cover for this one. I think a colorful cartoon picture like Vincent’s last book wouldn’t fit the theme very well.
I really enjoyed Burn Down, Rise Up so I was excited for this. I love YA horror with some queer rep. There was unfortunately a lot here that confused me and didn’t really make a lot of sense. Also the queer rep was kinda stale. Two girls who were kinda? Dating kinda not really but not friends anymore but hanging out a lot but not really tolerating each other. Also there was a lot less action in this one. There was a lot more talking but the talking was “why won’t you tell me things!” “It’s for your own good!” And back and forth with multiple characters.
This is also weirdly the second story about a family who moves to a strange town with ominous secrets because a family member is dying that I’ve read in the last few weeks.
This story is about Bronwyn “Wynnie” who is a competitive swimmer and who moves back to her father’s home town because her grandmother is put into Hospice. She reunites with her cousin Anais who she hasn’t seen in years and discovers that the people in town are very strange about swimming and won’t let anyone near a body of water.
Spoiler-y bits with my confused brain:
A few things didn’t make sense to me. You’re saying that nobody in this town ever leaves? Ever? No vacations or family visitors from out of town? Obviously Anais did when she was a kid to visit Bronwyn. Why didn’t the town just leave? You don’t have big thanksgiving meals with out of town family? Everyone in this town knew about Sweetie and that you can’t swim. Why don’t people just go somewhere else? I feel like if you have to live day by day doing strange sacrifices and rituals, maybe it’s time to move a town over? Every outsider is treated like a liability like people never ever come and go like a normal town. Why did she hate the janitor? Did I miss what he did? Was he there when she got killed or something? It was also weird that Bronwyn’s dad was oblivious to Sweetie and the rituals when they lived in the same house. Obviously it was showing that Anais kept secrets like he did, but why? Lala said she kept the brothers apart because one was being rebellious, but that also didn’t seem to add up to me. They never talked? He never said “bro there’s this weird curse on the town” because I would have told everyone! And on that, why didn’t anyone just tell Bronwyn what to do? When she kept talking about swimming and people were shocked and appalled, why didn’t someone just take her to the side and say “hey there’s a spirit that kills people who swim here, maybe just don’t talk about it?” Yes, she would be curious and ask questions, but how do you expect her to be there for a YEAR and not notice things are weird? This whole book happened in 3 WEEKS and so much popped off cause people just can’t talk to each other! Also how did nobody know how Locke died? Word travels so fast in that little town apparently, and nobody had seen or heard that he’d been shot in the chest? Who was watching Bronwyn? The sheriff? The students at school? The ghost of Sweetie? Did the stalker have a purpose except to create tension?
I didn’t hate this one. It just seemed very off with the storytelling. Some things didn’t really make sense for the story. I’ll be interested to see what Vincent comes up with next.
I actually like the simplistic cover for this one. I think a colorful cartoon picture like Vincent’s last book wouldn’t fit the theme very well.
I really enjoyed Burn Down, Rise Up so I was excited for this. I love YA horror with some queer rep. There was unfortunately a lot here that confused me and didn’t really make a lot of sense. Also the queer rep was kinda stale. Two girls who were kinda? Dating kinda not really but not friends anymore but hanging out a lot but not really tolerating each other. Also there was a lot less action in this one. There was a lot more talking but the talking was “why won’t you tell me things!” “It’s for your own good!” And back and forth with multiple characters.
This is also weirdly the second story about a family who moves to a strange town with ominous secrets because a family member is dying that I’ve read in the last few weeks.
This story is about Bronwyn “Wynnie” who is a competitive swimmer and who moves back to her father’s home town because her grandmother is put into Hospice. She reunites with her cousin Anais who she hasn’t seen in years and discovers that the people in town are very strange about swimming and won’t let anyone near a body of water.
Spoiler-y bits with my confused brain:
A few things didn’t make sense to me. You’re saying that nobody in this town ever leaves? Ever? No vacations or family visitors from out of town? Obviously Anais did when she was a kid to visit Bronwyn. Why didn’t the town just leave? You don’t have big thanksgiving meals with out of town family? Everyone in this town knew about Sweetie and that you can’t swim. Why don’t people just go somewhere else? I feel like if you have to live day by day doing strange sacrifices and rituals, maybe it’s time to move a town over? Every outsider is treated like a liability like people never ever come and go like a normal town. Why did she hate the janitor? Did I miss what he did? Was he there when she got killed or something? It was also weird that Bronwyn’s dad was oblivious to Sweetie and the rituals when they lived in the same house. Obviously it was showing that Anais kept secrets like he did, but why? Lala said she kept the brothers apart because one was being rebellious, but that also didn’t seem to add up to me. They never talked? He never said “bro there’s this weird curse on the town” because I would have told everyone! And on that, why didn’t anyone just tell Bronwyn what to do? When she kept talking about swimming and people were shocked and appalled, why didn’t someone just take her to the side and say “hey there’s a spirit that kills people who swim here, maybe just don’t talk about it?” Yes, she would be curious and ask questions, but how do you expect her to be there for a YEAR and not notice things are weird? This whole book happened in 3 WEEKS and so much popped off cause people just can’t talk to each other! Also how did nobody know how Locke died? Word travels so fast in that little town apparently, and nobody had seen or heard that he’d been shot in the chest? Who was watching Bronwyn? The sheriff? The students at school? The ghost of Sweetie? Did the stalker have a purpose except to create tension?
I didn’t hate this one. It just seemed very off with the storytelling. Some things didn’t really make sense for the story. I’ll be interested to see what Vincent comes up with next.
March 24, 2023
Mini blurb: A teenage competitive swimmer is dragged by her parents to her dad's rural hometown where her grandmother is dying, finds out that nobody ever goes near the water there, and sets to uncover the reason, despite her cousin's efforts to keep her out of trouble.
***
First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Netgalley. Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.
First off - please note that I didn't have any issues with the writing style or the characters, but regardless, I had to throw in the towel after a few chapters 🙁. This ended up being another instance of "I didn't buy the premise" - and yeah, of course I read the blurb before I requested an ARC, but I guess I expected something different...something, well, less forced. For one thing, there's no foreshadowing whatsoever - the visiting girl is dropped straight into a world of rituals and secrets, except everyone expects her to be a passive spectator and not to ask questions. Besides, I can't believe that no one in Hillwoods ever considered relocating (unless there's a reason why they can't, but if there is, I didn't get that far...and anyway, why was the protagonist's family able to leave, then?). And I can't buy that the visiting girl's dad (who grew up in Hillwoods) didn't know anything about the local curse, whatever the explanation was (again, I didn't get that far). All this was keeping me at an arm's length from the story, so I decided a DNF was in order. But if you're interested in small-town supernatural mysteries, familial relationships and Black + lesbian rep, and if you can suspend disbelief about the points I made, by any means pick this book up.
Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).
***
First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on Netgalley. Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.
First off - please note that I didn't have any issues with the writing style or the characters, but regardless, I had to throw in the towel after a few chapters 🙁. This ended up being another instance of "I didn't buy the premise" - and yeah, of course I read the blurb before I requested an ARC, but I guess I expected something different...something, well, less forced. For one thing, there's no foreshadowing whatsoever - the visiting girl is dropped straight into a world of rituals and secrets, except everyone expects her to be a passive spectator and not to ask questions. Besides, I can't believe that no one in Hillwoods ever considered relocating (unless there's a reason why they can't, but if there is, I didn't get that far...and anyway, why was the protagonist's family able to leave, then?). And I can't buy that the visiting girl's dad (who grew up in Hillwoods) didn't know anything about the local curse, whatever the explanation was (again, I didn't get that far). All this was keeping me at an arm's length from the story, so I decided a DNF was in order. But if you're interested in small-town supernatural mysteries, familial relationships and Black + lesbian rep, and if you can suspend disbelief about the points I made, by any means pick this book up.
Note: definitive review (I don't have enough to say to justify writing a full-length one later, and of course I don't plan to reread this book).
April 20, 2023
Release May 2 2023
Welcome to small-town America Folk Horror: here, specifically Ozark Folk Horror. No intended offense to the population of the Ozarks, but the citizens of this community harbor beliefs that might be expected in villages of Scotland or England or Wales in the Middle Ages! [You know, they burned Witches then, too!] Okay, no Witch-burnings in this community, but as you will find out for yourself when you read this very special and engrossing novel that some real evil exists here, right here in this small town, some really horrid villains going about their daily lives disguising their bigotry and Superstition, and tossing Rationality and Logic out the metaphorical window.
WE DON'T SWIM HERE brings strong POC and LGBT+ rep, never browbeating but bringing it subtly so that we become immersed in the story. It also stands firm on "Speaking Truth to Power," and this is prevalent throughout the book and in multiple situations. [I.E., NOT all the villains are Old White Guys. Feel me.]
Welcome to small-town America Folk Horror: here, specifically Ozark Folk Horror. No intended offense to the population of the Ozarks, but the citizens of this community harbor beliefs that might be expected in villages of Scotland or England or Wales in the Middle Ages! [You know, they burned Witches then, too!] Okay, no Witch-burnings in this community, but as you will find out for yourself when you read this very special and engrossing novel that some real evil exists here, right here in this small town, some really horrid villains going about their daily lives disguising their bigotry and Superstition, and tossing Rationality and Logic out the metaphorical window.
WE DON'T SWIM HERE brings strong POC and LGBT+ rep, never browbeating but bringing it subtly so that we become immersed in the story. It also stands firm on "Speaking Truth to Power," and this is prevalent throughout the book and in multiple situations. [I.E., NOT all the villains are Old White Guys. Feel me.]
June 13, 2023
3.5* A twisted, eerie and fast-paced read with a level of suspense that doesn't let up. Tirado does a brilliant job at balancing fun, paranormal horror vibes with an honest exploration of racism past and present. For me, the books only downfall was the lack of development of certain areas, leaving me with a few unanswered questions. All in all, if you're looking for a gripping and atmospheric horror read with depth, this is the book for you. The audiobook production was also great.
TW: racism, discussion of suicide, hate crime
TW: racism, discussion of suicide, hate crime
September 3, 2023
Bronwyn just wants to make it through the year without a breakdown. When her family moves due to her grandmother's ailing health all Bronwyn wants is to find her stress relief at the pool. Doing laps, participating on.the swim team, preparing for being a possible Olympian someday soon. Her cousin, Anias, quickly informs Bronwyn of one of the towns quirks: We Don't Swim Here. Legends and lore of a woman who latches onto you in water flood Bronwyn with scepticism, until she starts hearing voices coming from an old abandoned pool. What horrors await both Bronwyn and Anais, and how much of themselves will they have to sacrifice to set things right?
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It's pretty hard to get closer to perfection when it comes to possession than what I found in We Don't Swim Here. A great story to support the non spooky parts: ✅. Intriguing characters who make you pay attention and care: ✅. Ghosty goodness with a great backstory to boot: ✅✅✅✅✅. Bronwyn finds herself mixed up in something she doesn't fully understand and by the time it truly hits her it could be too late to come back to herself. This theme was really felt for me, how far gone one could get, how empty and hopeless before someone becomes unsavable. Anais could have handled all the situations presented to her better, but it's those moments we can reflect back on that help one grow.... hopefully she continues to soul search after the prologue.
A book that keeps readers guessing from beginning to end, We Don't Swim Here is perfect for the upcoming spooky season! Recommended for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess, and such other spook-tacular novels. Grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage, curl up, and let We Don't Swim Here wash over you....if you dare. Age recommended for 12+.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. It's pretty hard to get closer to perfection when it comes to possession than what I found in We Don't Swim Here. A great story to support the non spooky parts: ✅. Intriguing characters who make you pay attention and care: ✅. Ghosty goodness with a great backstory to boot: ✅✅✅✅✅. Bronwyn finds herself mixed up in something she doesn't fully understand and by the time it truly hits her it could be too late to come back to herself. This theme was really felt for me, how far gone one could get, how empty and hopeless before someone becomes unsavable. Anais could have handled all the situations presented to her better, but it's those moments we can reflect back on that help one grow.... hopefully she continues to soul search after the prologue.
A book that keeps readers guessing from beginning to end, We Don't Swim Here is perfect for the upcoming spooky season! Recommended for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House, The Seven Visitations of Sydney Burgess, and such other spook-tacular novels. Grab a mug of your favorite hot beverage, curl up, and let We Don't Swim Here wash over you....if you dare. Age recommended for 12+.
October 9, 2024
Nothing stood out here. The characters were one-dimensional, and the story was rushed at times, but at least it concluded well.
If you love active book communities, check out LiterALLy BOOKiSh Book Club (on Facebook)! Games, giveaways, discussions, reviews, bingo, swaps, pen pals, traveling books, and a lot more!
If you love active book communities, check out LiterALLy BOOKiSh Book Club (on Facebook)! Games, giveaways, discussions, reviews, bingo, swaps, pen pals, traveling books, and a lot more!
November 23, 2023
Such a good paranomal thriller!!
creepy town with really weird people. I really enjoyed it a lot!
creepy town with really weird people. I really enjoyed it a lot!
January 10, 2025
As much as I hate to leave bad reviews for books of which I received a free copy, I just can't give this more than 2 stars. The premise behind the story was good, and I liked that it incorporated black voices, LGBT voices, and touched on social issues of racial discrimination. Unfortunately, that's where my compliments about this one end.
I was provided a free copy of the audiobook via netgalley, and I'm honestly not sure if it was an unedited version or the final cut. But if it was the final cut, I would not be pleased with my editor were I this author. There were some glaring errors even in audio format, not to mention some crazy time jumps that made no sense. There were multiple times when I had to go back and restart a chapter or scan back 2-3 minutes to see if I had missed something because the point of view just shifted from one character to the other with no warning whatsoever. Or, the point of view would remain the same, but the character would be talking to one group of people at school and then in the next sentence be at home talking to her parents. I do realize there were a couple of instances where this was intentional. The author was trying to show that one of the characters was going into like blackout states due to possession. But that was not the case every single time. Especially incidents where it happened with another character that wasn't Bronwyn.
Furthermore, there were things that seemed to have special significance but that weren't mentioned before. For example, there is a scene where the main character is twisting a ring around her finger. The ring obviously holds definite significance for the book, but there was never any previous mention of her finding the ring or someone giving her the ring or how she got it at all. It was suddenly just there, and we were supposed to understand that it had significance even though it had never appeared before. Unless I completely missed it, which is possible because, as I mentioned, the time jumps were ridiculous. They made it extremely hard to follow the plot and to stay interested in the book overall.
Another example occurred when suddenly a character appeared that we were obviously supposed to know had a huge crush on the main character. But again, unless I missed it, this character had never appeared in the book before or had any conversation with the main character. It was really aggravating and broke up the flow of the book.
Finally, the book just dropped plot points. I thought the main plot was really going to be about this ghost bus that was introduced near the beginning of the story. But there was never any resolution or explanation or anything with that plot point. There were additional things like that that were introduced into the story and then just dropped without warning or explanation. For example, what was the issue between the 2 brothers that had them fighting halfway through the story? Why did the brothers' mom send them to different schools? Who actually ratted out the brother that was sneaking out at night if it wasn't the younger brother?
There was so much wrong with this book that I really wish I hadn't finished it. And it sucks because I think it could have been a good book. It seems like, though, it was written in a total hurry. Perhaps the author was on a deadline and decided that finishing A book was better than writing a DECENT book? I'm not sure. But I do know I was not impressed.
I was provided a free copy of the audiobook via netgalley, and I'm honestly not sure if it was an unedited version or the final cut. But if it was the final cut, I would not be pleased with my editor were I this author. There were some glaring errors even in audio format, not to mention some crazy time jumps that made no sense. There were multiple times when I had to go back and restart a chapter or scan back 2-3 minutes to see if I had missed something because the point of view just shifted from one character to the other with no warning whatsoever. Or, the point of view would remain the same, but the character would be talking to one group of people at school and then in the next sentence be at home talking to her parents. I do realize there were a couple of instances where this was intentional. The author was trying to show that one of the characters was going into like blackout states due to possession. But that was not the case every single time. Especially incidents where it happened with another character that wasn't Bronwyn.
Furthermore, there were things that seemed to have special significance but that weren't mentioned before. For example, there is a scene where the main character is twisting a ring around her finger. The ring obviously holds definite significance for the book, but there was never any previous mention of her finding the ring or someone giving her the ring or how she got it at all. It was suddenly just there, and we were supposed to understand that it had significance even though it had never appeared before. Unless I completely missed it, which is possible because, as I mentioned, the time jumps were ridiculous. They made it extremely hard to follow the plot and to stay interested in the book overall.
Another example occurred when suddenly a character appeared that we were obviously supposed to know had a huge crush on the main character. But again, unless I missed it, this character had never appeared in the book before or had any conversation with the main character. It was really aggravating and broke up the flow of the book.
Finally, the book just dropped plot points. I thought the main plot was really going to be about this ghost bus that was introduced near the beginning of the story. But there was never any resolution or explanation or anything with that plot point. There were additional things like that that were introduced into the story and then just dropped without warning or explanation. For example, what was the issue between the 2 brothers that had them fighting halfway through the story? Why did the brothers' mom send them to different schools? Who actually ratted out the brother that was sneaking out at night if it wasn't the younger brother?
There was so much wrong with this book that I really wish I hadn't finished it. And it sucks because I think it could have been a good book. It seems like, though, it was written in a total hurry. Perhaps the author was on a deadline and decided that finishing A book was better than writing a DECENT book? I'm not sure. But I do know I was not impressed.
November 6, 2022
[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
We Don’t Swim Here releases May 2, 2023.
We Don’t Swim Here is a YA mystery/thriller/horror blend told in alternating dual pov’s from two cousins: Bronwyn and Anais.
Bronwyn is an active competitive swimmer, and is on track to be an Olympic swimmer — that is, until her family uproots her from Illinois, back to her father’s hometown in Arkansas after her grandmother suffered from a stroke, leading her to now live in hospice care.
This town is very eerie, rural, and has a bunch of rituals that they follow. They don’t fare well to “outsiders” or tourists.
Their motto is “we don’t swim here” — but why? What is wrong with the lake? Why are all of the community pools and rec centers closed down?
These questions had me itching to find out what sort of creepy nonsense was deep rooted in this town full of secrets.
Unfortunately, this was a miss for me, but I think there’s potential if this was presented in a novella format to reduce some of the filler.
I found that there was a lot of telling, and not showing. A lot of time jumps, and things that just weren’t explained well.
One of the main plot points happened way too early in the story for me, which had the remaining 60% dragging.
It’s hard for me to believe that this town has been so tightly knit and rallying together for decades, yet this story was propelled by this new generation of kids, and none of the adults seemed to have any clue or care in the world as to what was going on.
I’m disappointed that not much resulted from the “ghost bus”. The ballot box ritual was pretty anticlimactic for me as well, and I don’t understand how there just happened to be certain “blind spots” around town where nothing was effected by this “curse”.
Anais’ perspectives were so evasive and I feel like I still don’t understand a whole lot of why things happened they way they were. She kept saying that the town has such strict rituals, schedules, and timed events — but what were those? There were no enforced curfew times or anything like that mentioned or shown.
Who was stalking them? Why was there SO much emphasis to not trust Molly Grace?
The side plot with Hanna was disjointed too. They were exes, then they were in contact with each other again thanks to some run-in in the woods, and then later in the book there was this dramatic scene where Hanna was like “I can’t do this anymore.” Do what? Pass her in the hallway? Have mutual friends? The placement was so unnatural.
Why did it take one person asking questions about why they’re not allowed to swim for anyone to think oh maybe this doesn’t make a lot of sense to begin with??
What was the point of the whole conflict between their two fathers when they are brothers and lived in the same town? It literally does not make sense to have separated them.
I’m just left wanting so much more.
If you really like stories with sirens, possession, and diverse characters, I’d say maybe give it a shot.
TW: racial hate crime involving death by acid and drowning.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
We Don’t Swim Here releases May 2, 2023.
We Don’t Swim Here is a YA mystery/thriller/horror blend told in alternating dual pov’s from two cousins: Bronwyn and Anais.
Bronwyn is an active competitive swimmer, and is on track to be an Olympic swimmer — that is, until her family uproots her from Illinois, back to her father’s hometown in Arkansas after her grandmother suffered from a stroke, leading her to now live in hospice care.
This town is very eerie, rural, and has a bunch of rituals that they follow. They don’t fare well to “outsiders” or tourists.
Their motto is “we don’t swim here” — but why? What is wrong with the lake? Why are all of the community pools and rec centers closed down?
These questions had me itching to find out what sort of creepy nonsense was deep rooted in this town full of secrets.
Unfortunately, this was a miss for me, but I think there’s potential if this was presented in a novella format to reduce some of the filler.
I found that there was a lot of telling, and not showing. A lot of time jumps, and things that just weren’t explained well.
One of the main plot points happened way too early in the story for me, which had the remaining 60% dragging.
It’s hard for me to believe that this town has been so tightly knit and rallying together for decades, yet this story was propelled by this new generation of kids, and none of the adults seemed to have any clue or care in the world as to what was going on.
I’m disappointed that not much resulted from the “ghost bus”. The ballot box ritual was pretty anticlimactic for me as well, and I don’t understand how there just happened to be certain “blind spots” around town where nothing was effected by this “curse”.
Anais’ perspectives were so evasive and I feel like I still don’t understand a whole lot of why things happened they way they were. She kept saying that the town has such strict rituals, schedules, and timed events — but what were those? There were no enforced curfew times or anything like that mentioned or shown.
Who was stalking them? Why was there SO much emphasis to not trust Molly Grace?
The side plot with Hanna was disjointed too. They were exes, then they were in contact with each other again thanks to some run-in in the woods, and then later in the book there was this dramatic scene where Hanna was like “I can’t do this anymore.” Do what? Pass her in the hallway? Have mutual friends? The placement was so unnatural.
Why did it take one person asking questions about why they’re not allowed to swim for anyone to think oh maybe this doesn’t make a lot of sense to begin with??
What was the point of the whole conflict between their two fathers when they are brothers and lived in the same town? It literally does not make sense to have separated them.
I’m just left wanting so much more.
If you really like stories with sirens, possession, and diverse characters, I’d say maybe give it a shot.
TW: racial hate crime involving death by acid and drowning.
August 23, 2023
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway.
I entered the Giveaway for this book because it had an interesting premise, but I'm afraid that's all it was. The actual execution of this novel was a mess, with more unresolved plot points than I can count. Also, I read an uncorrected copy, so hopefully this gets addressed with more editing, but this was riddled with typos and incorrect language.
Start spoiler review...
I was really disappointed because I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.
I entered the Giveaway for this book because it had an interesting premise, but I'm afraid that's all it was. The actual execution of this novel was a mess, with more unresolved plot points than I can count. Also, I read an uncorrected copy, so hopefully this gets addressed with more editing, but this was riddled with typos and incorrect language.
Start spoiler review...
I was really disappointed because I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2023
This was a superbly narrated story, written with such eerie detail and I loved it.
I am NOT a fan of the “keeping secrets from you to protect you” trope in mysteries or thrillers, and I will admit that the beginning of this book was making me so mad. BUT… it was warranted and ultimately justified.
Bronwyn moves with her parents into her grandmother’s house when her health begins to fail and is out in hospice care. While she cares deeply for her grandmother, she dislikes being displaced from her school and her life. She was on the fast track to swimming championships but that all changes when the town they move to is incredibly weird about water, toting the same line all the time, “we don’t swim here.”
It doesn’t take long for Bronwyn to realize that something is really off in this town and her cousin Anais isn’t helping her understand or acclimate. Instead, everyone is very watchful of her as the new girl, keeping hushed about the fact that the lake is CLOSED and the swimming pools are dried up and locked.
Instead, Bronwyn finds herself wrapped up in a very dangerous revenge game that is decades old.
I loved this book! I thought the writing was fantastic. The message was clear by the end, and while it was devastating, it was eye opening at the same time. This book deals with racism and sacrifices and I found it riveting! I will absolutely be reading more form this author.
I am NOT a fan of the “keeping secrets from you to protect you” trope in mysteries or thrillers, and I will admit that the beginning of this book was making me so mad. BUT… it was warranted and ultimately justified.
Bronwyn moves with her parents into her grandmother’s house when her health begins to fail and is out in hospice care. While she cares deeply for her grandmother, she dislikes being displaced from her school and her life. She was on the fast track to swimming championships but that all changes when the town they move to is incredibly weird about water, toting the same line all the time, “we don’t swim here.”
It doesn’t take long for Bronwyn to realize that something is really off in this town and her cousin Anais isn’t helping her understand or acclimate. Instead, everyone is very watchful of her as the new girl, keeping hushed about the fact that the lake is CLOSED and the swimming pools are dried up and locked.
Instead, Bronwyn finds herself wrapped up in a very dangerous revenge game that is decades old.
I loved this book! I thought the writing was fantastic. The message was clear by the end, and while it was devastating, it was eye opening at the same time. This book deals with racism and sacrifices and I found it riveting! I will absolutely be reading more form this author.
August 23, 2023
1.5/5
There was weak character and plot development, slow pacing, and lack of suspense, not to mention that there were too many plot holes with far too much left unexplained. This could have been a creepy supernatural mystery but it failed to deliver on account of too many flimsy backstories that made little to no sense.
There was weak character and plot development, slow pacing, and lack of suspense, not to mention that there were too many plot holes with far too much left unexplained. This could have been a creepy supernatural mystery but it failed to deliver on account of too many flimsy backstories that made little to no sense.
July 22, 2023
4 or 4.5, haven't fully decided yet. I didn't love this as much as Burn Down, Rise Up, but it was still very good.
April 28, 2023
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for an advance physical copy!
This is a YA horror, which I adore. It also had Queer rep and BIPOC characters!! 👏👏👏 And an OwnVoices author!
This book did take me a bit to get into, just because of not knowing what's happening (for obvious reasons to the story). But once you start figuring things out, the story takes off! Tirado did a great job of setting the spook factor. I have their other book and haven't read it yet, but I am certainly picking it up ASAP!
This is a YA horror, which I adore. It also had Queer rep and BIPOC characters!! 👏👏👏 And an OwnVoices author!
This book did take me a bit to get into, just because of not knowing what's happening (for obvious reasons to the story). But once you start figuring things out, the story takes off! Tirado did a great job of setting the spook factor. I have their other book and haven't read it yet, but I am certainly picking it up ASAP!
July 20, 2023
I was excited for this new story from Vincent!
April 16, 2023
If it weren’t the fact that I’ve read this author’s other book and there’s queer rep, I probably wouldn’t have read this based on the synopsis. The synopsis is kinda boring and didn’t do this any justice. This is a YA horror book with some good old possession and creepy ghosts in a small town with secrets they’re desperate to hide. I had the most fun reading when we learned Sweetie’s backstory and she started to take an active role with Bronwyn.
Want to read
April 10, 2023My first time winning a Goodreads giveaway! So many thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me a physical copy of this book.
May 18, 2023
Bronwyn and her family move back to her dad’s hometown of Hillwoods to help care for her dying grandmother.
But Hillwoods has secrets. “We don’t swim here.” As Bronwyn tries to navigate her new HS, she is shunned and avoided by all her classmates, even her cousin Anais. There are urban legends surrounding secret rules, dead spots, ghost buses and a siren in the local lake the demands human sacrifices.
This was YA horror, with all its quiet torment, and angsty silences, awkward relationships and secrets from all the adults.
I struggled with the story because the book opened with the ghost bus and then that story line was dropped. Anais appears to have some sensitivity to spirits and certain places in town give her nosebleeds and migraines, we never learn how or why this happens. There seems like there is a story line about pollution in the lake? But that is not related to the real haunting which is Sweetie. Sweetie appears to have been murdered because of a hate crime, but it is glossed over.
This book is murky at best, but if you like YA horror and read it quickly and don’t look for logical progression, this can be fun jaunt into a scary possession story.
But Hillwoods has secrets. “We don’t swim here.” As Bronwyn tries to navigate her new HS, she is shunned and avoided by all her classmates, even her cousin Anais. There are urban legends surrounding secret rules, dead spots, ghost buses and a siren in the local lake the demands human sacrifices.
This was YA horror, with all its quiet torment, and angsty silences, awkward relationships and secrets from all the adults.
I struggled with the story because the book opened with the ghost bus and then that story line was dropped. Anais appears to have some sensitivity to spirits and certain places in town give her nosebleeds and migraines, we never learn how or why this happens. There seems like there is a story line about pollution in the lake? But that is not related to the real haunting which is Sweetie. Sweetie appears to have been murdered because of a hate crime, but it is glossed over.
This book is murky at best, but if you like YA horror and read it quickly and don’t look for logical progression, this can be fun jaunt into a scary possession story.
June 25, 2023
The potential was there but the writing wasn’t very good
January 30, 2024
First of all, representation: Anais is LGBTQ, both Anais and Bronwyn are Black and Latina, and the author is a non-binary Afro-Latine who uses they/them pronouns in their author bio.
Trigger warnings: racism, racially motivated murder of a teenage Black girl involving acid, stalking, kidnapping, ghosts, mention of past murders, on page supernatural murder & death, hauntings and weird supernatural stuff, dying relatives (Grandmother), family arguments/drama
This is a book I really wanted to like, but ended up having a lot of trouble rating. It wasn’t terrible, but it was poorly executed.
Bronwyn and her parents move to a small town for a year while her grandmother is dying. She’s had several strokes and is “not getting better.” Honestly this is my first issue with the book because it just doesn’t make total sense. Yes, strokes can be debilitating, and there’s always a chance the person will have another more serious stroke and lose more function or die from it. But I’ve never heard of a terminal stroke diagnosis that has a specific one year or less life expectancy. I’m not a doctor but I do read a lot, and have known several people who have had strokes in the past. In my experience, if a stroke is fatal it’s usually right away, or the person falls and hits their head and passes away because of that. I’ve never heard of anyone who has a stroke, recovers enough to talk to people and seem fairly normal, but is “dying in a year.”
It’s possible that Lala, Anais and Bronwyn’s grandmother, didn’t really have a stroke but is somehow affected by the weird paranormal events around the town, which is just a guess on my part, because the book explains NOTHING. It would make more sense than the book plot, so if course that’s not the way the author went with it.
Anyway. Anais, Bronwyn’s cousin, lives in the same town as Lala, with her parents. Having grown up in the town, she knows as much as anyone does about Sweetie, the town’s resident ghost/siren/evil spirit. Anais has a bunch of “rules” she uses to stay safe, but she doesn’t follow most of them very much, like going out after dark and going out alone.
The big rule that everyone seems to know is “we don’t swim here.” The community center with a pool has been closed for years. The high school pool is also closed. And the nearby lake, no one swims in.
How does Anais know her rules will keep her safe? We don’t know. How do all the flickers, deadspots, blind spots, and other weird things work? We don’t know.
What happened with the Ghost Bus, which Anais was obsessed with and then seemed to forget about? No one knows.
Bronwyn, meanwhile, is pretty miserable because she’s a swimmer. She’s supposedly on track to go to the Olympics, but is also somehow so out of shape she has trouble keeping up with her parents on a hike. Granted she’s not a climber or hiker, but she’s supposed to be an athlete and presumably was keeping in shape until she moved.
Speaking of which, I’m not sure why she isn’t doing any kind of conditioning or strength exercises. She should at least be trying to stay in shape while she’s not swimming. And is there really no pool within driving distance that her parents could take her to even once a week or something? I understand having to relocate to be with Lala and help get her house in order, but if these parents really support their daughter as an Olympic hopeful, they probably wouldn’t just make her give up the dream completely and then never even mention it again. All her mom asks is if she’s making friends at school, or if she’s stressed about school. No “we should maybe put our kid in therapy because swimming is her whole life and she’s probably really depressed now.”
Her dad grew up in this town but somehow knows nothing ABOUT the town. He went to a different high school than Anais’s dad (this is never explained either) he doesn’t know about Sweetie, and he’s shocked to find out the lake exists. The lake, that everyone KNOWS WAS POISONED BY A CHEMICAL COMPANY DUMPING CRAP IN.
I’ve lived in a small town. I wasn’t born there, but even I heard most of the old urban legends, unsolved crime stories, and things like that. When nothing new happens, people have to talk about something.
Anais doesn’t want to tell Bronwyn anything about the town and its ghosts or whatever, because apparently once you know the rules you have to follow them.
This almost makes sense until you find out that the people who disappeared in town have all been passing through. Clearly not knowing the rules didn’t keep them safe, so why would it keep Bronwyn safe?
Anais comes off as a really unpleasant, unsympathetic character, because she just expects Bronwyn to not question anything ever, but to follow her vague commands to the letter. Then she gets mad when Bronwyn doesn’t want to listen. Her only other personality trait seems to be getting annoyed by her ex girlfriend, Hanna, hanging around. It’s not clear if Hanna still wants to be together or just wants to be friends. Later Hanna reveals that she didn’t even want to break up with Anais, she just wanted her to see how isolated and obsessed she was with the town’s supernatural stuff. But it seems like that’s been Anais’s thing for years, so I don’t know what else Hanna expected.
Honestly Bronwyn isn’t that appealing of a character either, because she’s just annoyed and frustrated all the time. I understand why, but it’s not a lot of fun to read about.
For a lot of the book I feel like nothing much happens. Bronwyn runs around trying to figure things out and making friends with people who don’t tell her anything. Anais sneaks around trying to keep Bronwyn from finding things out. Both of them end up helping an out of town journalism student named Stevie, who I honestly expected someone to throw in the lake as a sacrifice to Sweetie. Not sure why that doesn’t happen, actually, especially since she annoyed the sheriff.
I assume the sheriff was the one sneaking around Lala’s house, who Bronwyn kept catching sight of. Naturally her parents’ response to this was to call the sheriff. No mention of how there could maybe be some racial tensions there, Black family from the city and white cops in the Midwest… in their dedication, the author thanks some friends who told them what it was like growing up in the area the book is set in. Either they left some things out, or this is something else Bronwyn’s dad never picked up on when he lived there as a kid.
Maybe Bronwyn’s dad is just not that bright? He’s weirdly clueless.
Even Anais’s dad eventually admits to her that he knows all about Sweetie and the lake and stuff.
Except it turns out that no one really knows the truth about Sweetie, not exactly.
The story is that Sweetie died in the lake. But she didn’t. When Bronwyn is sneaking around the totally creepy community center with Stevie, she ends up possessed by Sweetie. Sweetie ends up making Bronwyn act really strangely, which Anais catches onto right away but her own parents don’t. They think she’s sick but never even mention taking her to a doctor.
It turns out that Sweetie died at the community center pool- because a girl who was angry apparently about Sweetie entering a local beauty pageant, showed up at the pool and threw acid on her. I don’t actually want to Google this, but I’m not sure a water bottle filled with acid can kill somebody, unless she just drowned… it’s not exactly clear in the flashbacks/memories Sweetie keeps reliving after possessing Bronwyn. And I mean, I don’t want to read a gruesome murder on detail. But when the gruesome murder is a key plot point, it should at least be clear to readers what happened.
Supposing the acid was that damaging, where did Susan, the pissed off racist girl, get it?
Anyway, racist girl Susan grows up to be racist old lady Susan, who marries racist Michael, and together they own the land next to the lake. Which Bronwyn’s dad also somehow missed the memo on. Are we SURE he’s from this place? Anyway, racist old man threatens Bronwyn’s family with a shotgun and even shoots at them when they don’t leave right away. Bronwyn’s dad is pissed about this, which is completely understandable. But it takes his wife to get him to leave even after this crazy old guy SHOT AT HIS KID. Like yes, dude, you probably should listen to your wife and get the hell away from the crazy gun toting racist.
A lot of people die in this book. Some of them make sense. Sweetie gets revenge on Susan and Michael, the racist couple. Good for her, they had it coming. But she also kills a random dude at the hospice where Lala is, and the high school janitor who used to be a lifeguard at the community pool. I assume he was there working the day Sweetie died, but it’s not really clear. The worst thing I’m sure he did was provide cigarettes to Hanna, Anais’s ex-girlfriend. Helping a teenager get lung cancer is definitely not good, but does it mean he deserves to be supernaturally drowned? Let’s assume he was the lifeguard.
As for the guy at the hospice, I don’t know. Was he the sheriff’s father, who covered up Sweetie’s murder? A couple sentences would have explained this, but we didn’t get them.
Later a high school kid Bronwyn met a couple times is murdered. He was the son of one of her dad’s friends, and Hanna’s best friend- but the author didn’t mention how close he and Hanna were until his funeral. It was weird. I was literally struggling to remember who the kid was. A death among the high school kids would have had a lot more impact if it had been someone the main characters had actually interacted with. Even Hanna’s brother, who only shows up once, would have made more sense if anyone from town needed to die (and I’m not sure they really did.)
The ending of the book felt very rushed and confusing. Molly Grace, who Anais kept telling Bronwyn not to trust, without, of course, saying why, ended up kidnapping her to take her to sacrifice at the lake. Before this there didn’t seem to be a real reason for Anais to distrust Molly Grace other than Molly Grace thinking she was in charge of things and Anais just….not liking that. It would have made more sense if there had been some kind of history of betrayal there, if maybe they had been friends in the past and Molly Grace had actually done something to her. But no.
Apparently Molly Grace thought sacrificing Bronwyn to Sweetie would appease her, but she was stopped by the Sheriff. Not out of the goodness of his heart but because she was speeding. When he found Bronwyn in her car, he took both of them to the lake. It turns out that the Sheriff was the one killing tourists and throwing them in the lake. The bodies used to be eaten by the chemicals in the lake, but when he shot the high school kid, he just floated. Maybe Sweetie didn’t actually want locals sacrificed? Except she let the Sheriff kill Molly Grace’s mom back in the day, along with an out of town guy she’d been hanging around with.
There’s just no logic to the victims the Sheriff picked. It’s not explained why he killed Molly Grace’s mom, or why he picked the high school boy when Stevie the reporter was right there. Bronwyn was with her, but he had no way of knowing that, because Bronwyn snuck out the back of the old community center. So as far as the Sheriff knew he and Stevie were alone. Her disappearance wouldn’t have raised any big suspicions with the townspeople. His argument is that the high school kid was weird and didn’t have any friends. He actually had a group of friends, and a mom. WTF is this guy smoking?
There are more things about this book that don’t make any sense than there are things that do. I have so many questions I can’t even list them all. It’s like this book was trying to be too many things at once- a horror novel, a mystery, a commentary on racism and justice… weirdly, the latter is the only part of the book that almost works. At least the person who actually murdered Sweetie was among the people she killed. Not sure why she wasn’t the first one or the only one though. I guess Susan’s husband was probably involved in the murder too, but the other ones … 🤷♀️
Trigger warnings: racism, racially motivated murder of a teenage Black girl involving acid, stalking, kidnapping, ghosts, mention of past murders, on page supernatural murder & death, hauntings and weird supernatural stuff, dying relatives (Grandmother), family arguments/drama
This is a book I really wanted to like, but ended up having a lot of trouble rating. It wasn’t terrible, but it was poorly executed.
Bronwyn and her parents move to a small town for a year while her grandmother is dying. She’s had several strokes and is “not getting better.” Honestly this is my first issue with the book because it just doesn’t make total sense. Yes, strokes can be debilitating, and there’s always a chance the person will have another more serious stroke and lose more function or die from it. But I’ve never heard of a terminal stroke diagnosis that has a specific one year or less life expectancy. I’m not a doctor but I do read a lot, and have known several people who have had strokes in the past. In my experience, if a stroke is fatal it’s usually right away, or the person falls and hits their head and passes away because of that. I’ve never heard of anyone who has a stroke, recovers enough to talk to people and seem fairly normal, but is “dying in a year.”
It’s possible that Lala, Anais and Bronwyn’s grandmother, didn’t really have a stroke but is somehow affected by the weird paranormal events around the town, which is just a guess on my part, because the book explains NOTHING. It would make more sense than the book plot, so if course that’s not the way the author went with it.
Anyway. Anais, Bronwyn’s cousin, lives in the same town as Lala, with her parents. Having grown up in the town, she knows as much as anyone does about Sweetie, the town’s resident ghost/siren/evil spirit. Anais has a bunch of “rules” she uses to stay safe, but she doesn’t follow most of them very much, like going out after dark and going out alone.
The big rule that everyone seems to know is “we don’t swim here.” The community center with a pool has been closed for years. The high school pool is also closed. And the nearby lake, no one swims in.
How does Anais know her rules will keep her safe? We don’t know. How do all the flickers, deadspots, blind spots, and other weird things work? We don’t know.
What happened with the Ghost Bus, which Anais was obsessed with and then seemed to forget about? No one knows.
Bronwyn, meanwhile, is pretty miserable because she’s a swimmer. She’s supposedly on track to go to the Olympics, but is also somehow so out of shape she has trouble keeping up with her parents on a hike. Granted she’s not a climber or hiker, but she’s supposed to be an athlete and presumably was keeping in shape until she moved.
Speaking of which, I’m not sure why she isn’t doing any kind of conditioning or strength exercises. She should at least be trying to stay in shape while she’s not swimming. And is there really no pool within driving distance that her parents could take her to even once a week or something? I understand having to relocate to be with Lala and help get her house in order, but if these parents really support their daughter as an Olympic hopeful, they probably wouldn’t just make her give up the dream completely and then never even mention it again. All her mom asks is if she’s making friends at school, or if she’s stressed about school. No “we should maybe put our kid in therapy because swimming is her whole life and she’s probably really depressed now.”
Her dad grew up in this town but somehow knows nothing ABOUT the town. He went to a different high school than Anais’s dad (this is never explained either) he doesn’t know about Sweetie, and he’s shocked to find out the lake exists. The lake, that everyone KNOWS WAS POISONED BY A CHEMICAL COMPANY DUMPING CRAP IN.
I’ve lived in a small town. I wasn’t born there, but even I heard most of the old urban legends, unsolved crime stories, and things like that. When nothing new happens, people have to talk about something.
Anais doesn’t want to tell Bronwyn anything about the town and its ghosts or whatever, because apparently once you know the rules you have to follow them.
This almost makes sense until you find out that the people who disappeared in town have all been passing through. Clearly not knowing the rules didn’t keep them safe, so why would it keep Bronwyn safe?
Anais comes off as a really unpleasant, unsympathetic character, because she just expects Bronwyn to not question anything ever, but to follow her vague commands to the letter. Then she gets mad when Bronwyn doesn’t want to listen. Her only other personality trait seems to be getting annoyed by her ex girlfriend, Hanna, hanging around. It’s not clear if Hanna still wants to be together or just wants to be friends. Later Hanna reveals that she didn’t even want to break up with Anais, she just wanted her to see how isolated and obsessed she was with the town’s supernatural stuff. But it seems like that’s been Anais’s thing for years, so I don’t know what else Hanna expected.
Honestly Bronwyn isn’t that appealing of a character either, because she’s just annoyed and frustrated all the time. I understand why, but it’s not a lot of fun to read about.
For a lot of the book I feel like nothing much happens. Bronwyn runs around trying to figure things out and making friends with people who don’t tell her anything. Anais sneaks around trying to keep Bronwyn from finding things out. Both of them end up helping an out of town journalism student named Stevie, who I honestly expected someone to throw in the lake as a sacrifice to Sweetie. Not sure why that doesn’t happen, actually, especially since she annoyed the sheriff.
I assume the sheriff was the one sneaking around Lala’s house, who Bronwyn kept catching sight of. Naturally her parents’ response to this was to call the sheriff. No mention of how there could maybe be some racial tensions there, Black family from the city and white cops in the Midwest… in their dedication, the author thanks some friends who told them what it was like growing up in the area the book is set in. Either they left some things out, or this is something else Bronwyn’s dad never picked up on when he lived there as a kid.
Maybe Bronwyn’s dad is just not that bright? He’s weirdly clueless.
Even Anais’s dad eventually admits to her that he knows all about Sweetie and the lake and stuff.
Except it turns out that no one really knows the truth about Sweetie, not exactly.
The story is that Sweetie died in the lake. But she didn’t. When Bronwyn is sneaking around the totally creepy community center with Stevie, she ends up possessed by Sweetie. Sweetie ends up making Bronwyn act really strangely, which Anais catches onto right away but her own parents don’t. They think she’s sick but never even mention taking her to a doctor.
It turns out that Sweetie died at the community center pool- because a girl who was angry apparently about Sweetie entering a local beauty pageant, showed up at the pool and threw acid on her. I don’t actually want to Google this, but I’m not sure a water bottle filled with acid can kill somebody, unless she just drowned… it’s not exactly clear in the flashbacks/memories Sweetie keeps reliving after possessing Bronwyn. And I mean, I don’t want to read a gruesome murder on detail. But when the gruesome murder is a key plot point, it should at least be clear to readers what happened.
Supposing the acid was that damaging, where did Susan, the pissed off racist girl, get it?
Anyway, racist girl Susan grows up to be racist old lady Susan, who marries racist Michael, and together they own the land next to the lake. Which Bronwyn’s dad also somehow missed the memo on. Are we SURE he’s from this place? Anyway, racist old man threatens Bronwyn’s family with a shotgun and even shoots at them when they don’t leave right away. Bronwyn’s dad is pissed about this, which is completely understandable. But it takes his wife to get him to leave even after this crazy old guy SHOT AT HIS KID. Like yes, dude, you probably should listen to your wife and get the hell away from the crazy gun toting racist.
A lot of people die in this book. Some of them make sense. Sweetie gets revenge on Susan and Michael, the racist couple. Good for her, they had it coming. But she also kills a random dude at the hospice where Lala is, and the high school janitor who used to be a lifeguard at the community pool. I assume he was there working the day Sweetie died, but it’s not really clear. The worst thing I’m sure he did was provide cigarettes to Hanna, Anais’s ex-girlfriend. Helping a teenager get lung cancer is definitely not good, but does it mean he deserves to be supernaturally drowned? Let’s assume he was the lifeguard.
As for the guy at the hospice, I don’t know. Was he the sheriff’s father, who covered up Sweetie’s murder? A couple sentences would have explained this, but we didn’t get them.
Later a high school kid Bronwyn met a couple times is murdered. He was the son of one of her dad’s friends, and Hanna’s best friend- but the author didn’t mention how close he and Hanna were until his funeral. It was weird. I was literally struggling to remember who the kid was. A death among the high school kids would have had a lot more impact if it had been someone the main characters had actually interacted with. Even Hanna’s brother, who only shows up once, would have made more sense if anyone from town needed to die (and I’m not sure they really did.)
The ending of the book felt very rushed and confusing. Molly Grace, who Anais kept telling Bronwyn not to trust, without, of course, saying why, ended up kidnapping her to take her to sacrifice at the lake. Before this there didn’t seem to be a real reason for Anais to distrust Molly Grace other than Molly Grace thinking she was in charge of things and Anais just….not liking that. It would have made more sense if there had been some kind of history of betrayal there, if maybe they had been friends in the past and Molly Grace had actually done something to her. But no.
Apparently Molly Grace thought sacrificing Bronwyn to Sweetie would appease her, but she was stopped by the Sheriff. Not out of the goodness of his heart but because she was speeding. When he found Bronwyn in her car, he took both of them to the lake. It turns out that the Sheriff was the one killing tourists and throwing them in the lake. The bodies used to be eaten by the chemicals in the lake, but when he shot the high school kid, he just floated. Maybe Sweetie didn’t actually want locals sacrificed? Except she let the Sheriff kill Molly Grace’s mom back in the day, along with an out of town guy she’d been hanging around with.
There’s just no logic to the victims the Sheriff picked. It’s not explained why he killed Molly Grace’s mom, or why he picked the high school boy when Stevie the reporter was right there. Bronwyn was with her, but he had no way of knowing that, because Bronwyn snuck out the back of the old community center. So as far as the Sheriff knew he and Stevie were alone. Her disappearance wouldn’t have raised any big suspicions with the townspeople. His argument is that the high school kid was weird and didn’t have any friends. He actually had a group of friends, and a mom. WTF is this guy smoking?
There are more things about this book that don’t make any sense than there are things that do. I have so many questions I can’t even list them all. It’s like this book was trying to be too many things at once- a horror novel, a mystery, a commentary on racism and justice… weirdly, the latter is the only part of the book that almost works. At least the person who actually murdered Sweetie was among the people she killed. Not sure why she wasn’t the first one or the only one though. I guess Susan’s husband was probably involved in the murder too, but the other ones … 🤷♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2025
“If you hear singing when no one is around, run!”
This is my second audiobook from this author and i was definitely here for the story. You have two cousins Anais who has been raised in Hillwoods her whole life and Bronwyn who’s moving here with her parents because of their grandmothers health. The cousins may have been close when they were younger but time and distance has put space between them. Making Bronwyn a true “outsider” in this town and I like how the story is being told from that point.
A town with rules & secrets that they’ve lived by for generations to stay safe is the kind of spooky i like. It’s always the small towns smh. So i was drawn in right away. Keeping secrets can do more harm than good sometimes & for Bronwyn she kind of had to figure things out on her own which was messed up. Made for a good story though. Sweetie has people scared of the water and for good reason. Cutting someone’s life short for your own monstrous pleasure is dirty. It reminded me of back in the day when the white male hotel owner poured acid in the pool while black people were swimming in it to get them to leave. I feel that’s where the author was pulling from. There was some revenge killing going on but also a sense of being set free.
However, i kind of wish we got sweeties pov as well. I think that would have added more to the story. How she viewed people in the after what happened to her while getting g her revenge. Nonetheless it’s a cool story.
This is my second audiobook from this author and i was definitely here for the story. You have two cousins Anais who has been raised in Hillwoods her whole life and Bronwyn who’s moving here with her parents because of their grandmothers health. The cousins may have been close when they were younger but time and distance has put space between them. Making Bronwyn a true “outsider” in this town and I like how the story is being told from that point.
A town with rules & secrets that they’ve lived by for generations to stay safe is the kind of spooky i like. It’s always the small towns smh. So i was drawn in right away. Keeping secrets can do more harm than good sometimes & for Bronwyn she kind of had to figure things out on her own which was messed up. Made for a good story though. Sweetie has people scared of the water and for good reason. Cutting someone’s life short for your own monstrous pleasure is dirty. It reminded me of back in the day when the white male hotel owner poured acid in the pool while black people were swimming in it to get them to leave. I feel that’s where the author was pulling from. There was some revenge killing going on but also a sense of being set free.
However, i kind of wish we got sweeties pov as well. I think that would have added more to the story. How she viewed people in the after what happened to her while getting g her revenge. Nonetheless it’s a cool story.
September 7, 2023
Hillwoods has one rule: we don’t swim here.
🏊🏾♀️
Bronwyn isn’t excited to be moving out to the boonies for a year because her grandmother is in hospice. Arriving in this small town, Bronwyn quickly realizes she can’t do the one thing she loves: swimming. All the pools in town are closed and people keep warning her off swimming at the lake. Even her cousin, Anais, won’t explain why everyone is so weird about water here, but when Bronwyn starts digging into the town’s past and history, she starts to realize why water is such a huge part of the pain in Hillwoods.
🏊🏾♀️
This was a great YA horror book. Fans of Tiffany D. Jackson will love this novel that weaves history in with a paranormal twist. Justice for a Black girl in a small town that seemed to gloss over the killing of a BIPOC teen. I enjoyed the dual POVs between Bronwyn and her cousin. This is a great read for spooky season!
CW: revenge killing, racism, death, drowning, hospitalization, terminal illness, vomit, murder, violence
🏊🏾♀️
Bronwyn isn’t excited to be moving out to the boonies for a year because her grandmother is in hospice. Arriving in this small town, Bronwyn quickly realizes she can’t do the one thing she loves: swimming. All the pools in town are closed and people keep warning her off swimming at the lake. Even her cousin, Anais, won’t explain why everyone is so weird about water here, but when Bronwyn starts digging into the town’s past and history, she starts to realize why water is such a huge part of the pain in Hillwoods.
🏊🏾♀️
This was a great YA horror book. Fans of Tiffany D. Jackson will love this novel that weaves history in with a paranormal twist. Justice for a Black girl in a small town that seemed to gloss over the killing of a BIPOC teen. I enjoyed the dual POVs between Bronwyn and her cousin. This is a great read for spooky season!
CW: revenge killing, racism, death, drowning, hospitalization, terminal illness, vomit, murder, violence
May 18, 2023
I enjoyed this book. If I was allowed half star ratings this would be 3.5 stars. A small town with a past, an “outsider” who doesn’t understand, vengeful ghosts - what’s not to like? I found the story engaging and the audio narrator was great. The atmosphere of the story is its best aspect and is decently creepy. I would have liked to know a bit more about the origins of some of the town’s rituals - some of them make sense to me but not all of them. I would like to read Tirado’s first book too.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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