I had so many expectations going into this book, because it sounded creepy and I love a good horror. This book did have so much potential that sadly just seemed to vanish the more I was reading it, which was ultimately a massive let down. Don’t get me wrong, it was still an interesting read, but was not one of my favourites by her as it was also trying to do too many things. It also felt more YA horror than I was expecting, more so with the simplistic writing and the young age of the protagonists.

It was still a good read and I was able to get immersed within the book and stay immersed quite quickly. I weirdly liked the predictability of the story and the common horror tropes within, but it did feel a little too long and could’ve done with being a little shorter.

As much as I wanted to read this book when I was first granted access via NetGalley I never managed to get round to reading it. I have now gone back through and read the Synopsis and found that now this book is just not for me and will not be reviewing. I want to thank the publisher for allowing me to have access to the book but due to my tastes changing in reading this book no longer appeals to me.

I read this book in one sitting, I was immediately drawn in to the world and the small town and truly never knew what to except!! This was a genuinely terrifying book and there were even a few times where I had to shit the book to process things for a moment!!
The characters were very ‘human’ if that makes sense, very three dimensional and like they could actually exist. I felt bad for characters, I did trust characters, I suspected people and I feared for peoples lives. This book is exactly what you want out a spooky book, and I will recommend it to everyone!

This book had the perfect small-town atmospheric setting for creepy things to go down, it very much gave me Stranger Things Hawkins vibes which really helped set the scene. As someone who doesn’t read much horror, I know I can always count on Christina Henry’s writing to really suck me into a story, consistently setting the scene perfectly and delivering the type of atmosphere you want from a horror book

Thank you to the publisher for my eARC copy of this book. Unfortunately I didn’t love this book and therefore didn’t finish, I just didn’t connect with this one. Not for me, sorry.

Chilling and in true Henry fashion, creepy. I absolutely loved this. Perfect for the spooky season. If you love dark creepy tales, this is for you.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was perfectly eerie, although I must admit I had expected it to be a little more creepy, so I was a bit letdown in that area. However, it was still incredibly good as well as easily written, and the pages flew through my hands. Can highly, highly recommend.

I really enjoyed Henry’s previous books. There is just something about her dark retellings that really works for me. So obviously I requested this book when it appeared on Netgalley (and then took forever to actually read it…). And I liked it…

It didn’t get me as much as her other books did though. And yes a big part of that is that it isn’t a retelling. And another major reason would be that I don’t like reading about teenagers… Which are both very personal reasons for why this book wasn’t a hit for me.

I did really like the atmosphere and the gore in this book though. The way these corpses were mutilated was just… wow. Add to that a dark forest, weird visions, old bigots, and a curse… Great. And although it was over 500 pages long I did find myself flying through it. At no point was this book boring or a struggle. That being said, I do feel it could have been a bit shorter (personally I would have liked a Lot less of hormonal teenager stuff in my book).

But there were also some not-personal issues with this book. For one, we are left with quite a few of unanwered questions or just things that don’t quite make sense (why do certain characters remember whilst others don’t, what is up with David’s visions, why does the monster set the town up against ‘the Outsiders’,…). It was incredibly predictable who the next victim was going to be from pretty much the start of the book, and the reveal as to whose body the monster has inhabited, which was so glaringly obvious. And then the whole resolution was very anticlimactic.

To be fair, if this book wasn’t written by Christina Henry I probably wouldn’t have picked it up. So considering this book probably wasn’t going to be for me, I still had a decent time with it. It was an easy read that I flew through, but nothing really special.

What a cracking thrilling horror story. It feels like a young Stephen King has paid us a visit. Slightly gory, but never gratuitously so. The story centres on a town that each year sees one girl murdered in a much prescribed way, but the atrocity is quickly forgotten by most inhabitants. Until the year that changes it all – a man is found in the woods with his heart cut out instead of the usual teenage girl. Is it witchcraft, is it an ancient curse or is it just coincidence and who will figure it out? Brilliant stuff from a must-read author.

Teenager Lauren lives in the town of Smith's Hollow. A year ago, Lauren's father was murdered, his heart taken from his chest.
When the brutally dismembered bodies of two young girls are found, Lauren knows from experience that the police will fail to apprehend the killer.
When Lauren has a vision of a monster with the bodies in the woods, she decides to take action and attempt to find out who the girls were.
As Lauren investigates, she finds herself getting drawn deeper into the dark, forgotten secrets of Smith's Hollow.

I'd been wanting to read a Christina Henry novel for a long time, and while I'm not a big horror fan, I decided to give the novel a go.
Lauren was the main character and I found her to be likeable and relatable. It was interesting to read her relationships and how she reacted in different situations.
The book is told from several points of view and for me there weren't too many. I enjoyed reading about what the various characters thought about what was going on.
I think the character I most felt sorry for was Miranda, Lauren's best friend. They weren't as close as they used to be and Miranda wasn't very close to her parents either.
The setting was atmospheric and the history of the town that the author created was really interesting and unique.
The plot held my attention throughout the book, but I was glad that the pace wasn't any slower, otherwise I think I would have gotten bored. While I did enjoy the plot, I wasn't gripped or overly surprised by anything that happened. There was some gore and I'm glad there wasn't more as I don't love horror.
The writing style was easy to follow and I would read another book by the author.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

A creepy and haunting novel, that will draw you in and keep you turning those pages. A small secluded town were the residents suffer from memory loss and gruesome murder's occur in the woods, who is responsible for these killings. Perfect for fans of creepy ghost stories and horror fiction.

An almost YA feel horror, more gore filled than scary, although it wasn't that horrific. I enjoyed the small town creepy vibe but found it all a little predictable. I did care about most of the characters you're supposed to root for, and liked the inclusion of the police officer's POV chapters which was perhaps one of the things that made the novel feel slightly more adult than teen.

This took me ages to read, I put it down at least twice for a while (to be fair I read it over winter and that's not my most productive book reading time..!) but I'm glad I returned to it to finish. I look forward to reading more of Christina Henry's novels.

(ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley)

Wonderfully eerie book perfect for winter reading. Full of mystery, intrigue and horror for anyone who enjoys a spooky tale.

This is the perfect book for spooky season. Henry expertly plays with your nerves, surprising and enthralling you at every turn. It’s incredibly reminiscent of a spooky tale being told around the fire in the dead of winter, one that’s been passed down through generations.

Straight away, Henry sets the spooky tone of proceedings, along with an exploration of grief, family and friendship, all coated with an 80s gloss. She sets the scene perfectly, with every detail placed just so to draw you in that much further. Pretty soon you can envision all of . This small town hits that sweet spot between suburbia and that underlying current of horror. This is so well executed and it helps the action feel that more terrifying, as it’s blended with reality. There’s always this sense of doom hanging over proceedings, like it’s just a moment away from horror unfolding.

Henry continues the foreboding tone throughout, hinting at supernatural events and powers that make you question what you’ve witnessed over and over again. The ominous atmosphere is cranked right up, making that creeping chill down your spine slowly grow more intense. All this makes for a completely immersive and unsettling reading experience, as any good Gothic tale should do. You can’t help but want to unravel the mystery and unmask the monster. Henry also draws on the long Gothic history of including social commentary and making politically relevant points hit home that much more. This gives it that much power, particularly in its discussion of attitudes to those who are considered outsiders and gendered expectations. It toys with the damsel in distress and virgin sacrifice tropes that so often crop up in horror, constantly upending your expectations. The use of multiple perspectives also allows you to access various viewpoints, many of which are quietly monstrous in their own beliefs and that hidden, seething rage that underpins it is so eerily reminiscent of present day attitudes. Of course, we are also reminded just how monstrous humans can be, with small towns breeding some small minds.

The Ghost Tree is a properly spooky tale, tipping its hat to the long and plentiful history of the Gothic, while also ensuring that it provides a fresh batch of horrors for modern day readers.

I’ve been addicted to Christina Henry's horror retellings of classic tales (Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding good) and this is my first of hers that isn’t a retelling. Despite being set in the summer, it’s a perfect spooky fall read. It’s tense and chilling and proves once again that the author is a master of tension.⁣

This book feels like The Devouring Gray crossed with Stranger Things, but with witches. Interconnected POVs draw out this small town’s deep dark secrets, and you can’t be sure who’s worth trusting, especially since something dark is messing with the town's memory. It’s just got this amazingly chilling vibe all the way through that digs its claws deep into you. It's got me primed for fall and I’m so ready to get my spook on! ⁣
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So if you like small towns with dark secrets; coming of age; witchcraft; and monsters, this is definitely the book for you! ⁣

I can't say that I enjoyed this book. I don't think that this book was for me.

I like Christina Henry's writing style but I just didn't like the story. Or the main character. I've liked Christina Henry's books in the past but this one I just ended up not enjoying. I think that it was probably my dislike of the main character that made me not enjoy this book. If I hadn't read a ARC copy of this book I would have DNFed it.

“Like a little rabbit in the same clearing as a fox, that’s what you thought before. Do you want to be the little rabbit?”

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry is about Lauren and Miranda who have been best friends forever. Every day one would say, “Meet me by the old ghost-tree” and they would have adventures together. But now Miranda only likes boys, and Lauren's father was found in the woods with his heart torn out, and no one was ever caught. So when Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging human remains through the woods, she knows she can't just do nothing.

This atmospheric novel kept me gripped from the first chapter. The moment you learn about the horrendous death of Lauren’s father, an unsettling tale begins to weave with unsuspecting events occurring page after page. The characterisation and the unusual story manage to bring the macabre with the lore that binds the history behind “the ghost tree”.

The complex characters with the horror atmosphere relating to the history of the town of Smiths Hollow is what made this book enjoyable to read. There are several creepy moments throughout where the imagery is vivid and becomes quite dark.

This was an enjoyable read and one I’d absolutely recommend.

This is the first book I’ve read by Henry. The small town of Smiths Hollow had me hooked. The Ghost Tree is a coming of age story that touches on loss and racism with a sprinkling of fantasy.

The narrative is from the point of view of various characters. With a mystery in a small town where everyone knows each other (having grownup and now live in that kind of place I really liked that). The mystery unravels slowly and somewhat predictably. The supernatural part made this story much more enjoyable for me.

A easy read, definitely aimed at older teens to adults.

Thank you to the publishers for this proof.

I am a fan of Christina Henry, so it’s no surprise that I loved this book. The story of two girls. Childhood friends, as they grow one discovers boys and the other, Lauren discovers she has visions. Her father and two girls are found dead in the woods, when Lauren had visions of a monster she know she has to do something. Deliciously dark as always. I love Henry’s writing, deeply unsettling in a way that draws you in. I couldn’t out it down. By far the best author for dark twisted versions of our beloved fairytales.

I am already a huge Christina Henry fan and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Ghost Tree and I wasn’t disappointed. Smith's Hollow is not a place I'd like to visit, as it is filled to the brim with creepy children, grisly murders and some major witchy vibes.

Christina Henry gives us a coming of age story with a young female protagonist in a small town horror setting. In what is meant as a huge compliment this book reminds me of IT by Stephen King once it became clear that people in the town were somehow being forced to ignore or forget, what was happening it was pretty hard not to be reminded of Pennywise and the power he had over the townspeople of Derry. Set in the 1980s, the story revolves around teenage Lauren, this book is an account of monsters, violence, and a curse laid on a provincial town and all its residents.

Lauren is a great lead. She's having to deal with a lot following since her father was found brutally murdered and no one wants to talk about his death or how it happened. Lauren has had to grow up fast and has a level of maturity that is sometimes lacking in books focusing on teen heroes but she never feels like a spoilt or angry teen. Lauren seems to be your typical teenager and has hit that age where she’s afraid that she is being left behind by her best friend in favour of boys and makeup. There were some truly relatable moments (maybe it’s a Lauren thing) like her straining relationship with her oldest friend, and worrying about boys.

Miranda has become more interested in clothes, make-up and boys, and no longer wants to hang out with Lauren at the old ghost tree. Miranda is a bit of a nightmare, she’s selfish, impulsive, obsessive, but she's still very real, and despite being written as a bit of a bitch, for the most part, you do understand her a little and feel sympathy for her at times.


The titular "Ghost Tree" in the forest has always been their place to meet but since Miranda has other interests, Lauren goes alone after the remains of two teenage girls are found in pieces in a neighbour’s yard. Lauren has a vision of a monster dragging them through the woods, she knows that she will have to be the one to do something no matter what anyone else believes. what's unravels is a grim narrative of the secret the residents of this small town have been maintaining unknowingly for years.

I read this book on my Kindle over a weekend and when I finished, I was shocked to learn that it was over four hundred pages long. There's no denying that Henry has beautiful prose. This book is captivating, exciting page-turner, the chapters are short and sweet, unravelling bits of mystery enticing your attention and you cannot put it down. One of the best things about this book is that the characters are so layered and complex and that no one is really all bad and perhaps everyone is just a victim of the events of Smiths Hollow.


I will always champion Christina Henry's writing, in the case of The Ghost Tree I highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for an easy to read, fast paced book that is creepy and gives off the small town secrete vibe.