e-ARC, 304 pages
Release Date: September 21, 2021
Published by: Quill Tree Books
Read from: September 29 – October 1, 2021
Stand-alone
Source: Edelweiss (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Murder, Bodies drained of blood
For Readers Interested In: Paranormal, Vampires, Horror, Historical, YASixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.
Summer 1958—a string of murders plagues the Midwest. The victims are found in their cars and in their homes—even in their beds—their bodies drained, but with no blood anywhere.
September 19- the Carlson family is slaughtered in their Minnesota farmhouse, and the case gets its first lead: 15-year-old Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene. She is covered in blood from head to toe, and at first she’s mistaken for a survivor. But not a drop of the blood is hers.
Michael Jensen, son of the local sheriff, yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town. He never imagined that the biggest story in the country would fall into his lap, or that he would be pulled into the investigation, when Marie decides that he is the only one she will confess to.
As Marie recounts her version of the story, it falls to Michael to find the truth: What really happened the night that the Carlsons were killed? And how did one girl wind up in the middle of all these bodies?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have not been quiet about my dislike for anything under the historical genre since I’ve made this blog, so when I saw this I was like “Ehhhh.” But still, when I saw it was in the same vein of Anna Dressed in Blood, I gave in. And I’m glad I didn’t go with my first mind.
It’s the summer of 1958 and a string of murders have plagued the Midwest. The victims are all different and have all been found in different places, all with their bodies drained of blood. In September they get their first lead, a girl named Marie Catherine Hale is found at the scene with blood all over her. She seems like a survivor, but as it turns out… None of the blood is hers. Michael Jensen, the sheriff’s son wants to be a journalist and Marie decided she wouldn’t talk to anyone but him. But as she tells him what happened, Michael wonders how what she’s saying can really be the truth.
Ok so first off, let’s talk about the world building. It completely non-existant lol But I think that’s what I loved about it? I’m not a fan of anything historical, so not really going into detail on how this is set in the past was good for me. I know that most people won’t care for this, but it really worked for me.
As for the plot, I LOVED the disjointedness of this. It was written like Michael was recounting all the things that happened and when you finally make it to the last chapter, that’s when it’s “current.” It sounds really weird, but it actually came out really easy to follow and kinda cool if I do say so myself.
I also had an issue with the plot too tho. It was very repetitive. Yes she kept dropping hints and there was the one crazy man that kept everything moving, but for the most part, it was all the same. *SPOILER* It was always “I’ll tell him what happened, she tells him, they debunk it, she gets upset. *SPOILER* It was always the same thing. It wasn’t until the ending that there was some difference than the other chapters. And by then, I felt like it was too little too late. But even still, I think it was just the right amount of crazy happenings to make me forget about the repetitiveness.
What I didn’t care for was the ending. After all of that, the ending was anti-climatic. Like there’s a bomb that drops, but then that’s it. I hate those types of endings. Like why give me that if you’re not going to do anything with it? I felt like this was just wasted. And it sucked because I was hooked and really obsessing over how things would end when it finally got to it. I really was expecting the ending to be as intense as the rest of the book. And since it wasn’t, it was really depressing.
After finishing this book I went to go and read some reviews on it and I felt so weirded out lol I’m the only one who really liked this. Everyone was saying they didn’t like it like they did her other books….. But on the flip side I didn’t like ANY of her other ones besides Anna lol So Idk what this says about me? Is it me? Am I the drama?
Overall, I give this
