e-ALC, 10:13:28
Narrated by: Jesse Villinsky
Release Date: May 5, 2026
Published by: MacMillan Audio
Read from: April 26-28, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Blood, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, Addiction, Car Accident, Child Death
For Readers of: Adventure, Audio, Gothic, Horror, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Religious, Religious Diversity, YAMidsommar meets Fear Street in this modern, sea-soaked folk horror debut about fighting to survive and fighting to be yourself.
Seventeen-year-old Lindsay Weinberg has just been kicked out of yet another prep school and exiled to her uncle’s farm in the cold, isolated town of Marbury, Maine. But Uncle Levi is gone, leaving the farmhouse under the strict rule of his new zealously evangelical wife, who runs a reform camp for troubled teens. Up at dawn. Manual labor all day. No phones. No computers. No way out.
When Lindsay meets the twins, Phin and Cass, who live on a nearby island, everything changes. One reckless night, she convinces the others to sneak out for a party. The night is unforgettable—at least, the parts they can remember. The next morning, they wake in their own beds, clutching seashell tokens, hearts pounding, with no memory of how they got home. Except one camper never made it back.
As disappearances mount and dark secrets rise, Lindsay and her friends must unravel the mystery of the island—before The Cove claims them all.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I was hella excited for this book. Y’all know I love me a good YA horror book. But it was nothing like I expected. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. But it was still ok enough.
So the thing that disappointed me was the main character. I know she was a moody ass teenager, but I don’t think it mattered what age she was. She was annoying and she got on my nerves legit the entire book. And she had no growth whatsoever. And the whole religious thing wasn’t great. I can see being proud of your heritage and your religion, but why do you have to put down other people’s as you do it? And like I get it, I know she was torturing her, but this was before she even knew what was happening. It just made her look even worse in my eyes.
As for the plot, it was ok. It just took a little too long to get to the “scary” part. It was gothic, but it wasn’t actually? Like at the very least it’s supposed to be bad vibes and bad juju, but this didn’t have that? Not until the stuff actually happened. But even once things started going, it still didn’t stay creepy. I was more mad than anything because why do you have these kids in here and doing this to them? I spent a lot of time mad at this than scared.
The premise was interesting and the ending was good, but I wasn’t impressed. It needed a bigger creep factor for me. But if you like horror-lite, try it and see what you think about this.
Overall, I give this
