Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC to review. I really wanted to get into this, but I could not, so unfortunately I did not finish it.

I was really into the premise of this novel, however, I found it to be predictable and the ending fell short for me. I’d normally go more in-depth but, for me, this is not a novel that’s sticking in my mind.

This folk-horror follows 2 groups of people as they find themselves in a mysterious forest. In 1643, a group of soldiers are ambushed and the survivors flee into the nearby Moresby Wood. A few of the soldiers know of the wood's rumored history filled with witchcraft and unnatural creatures. Of the group of survivors, only 2 survive to tell the tale of what happened in Moresby Wood. In current day, a group of 5 researchers enter Moresby Wood in search of evidence to what happened to that group of soldiers. They bring maps, GPS units, mobile phones, and other equipment in order to be prepared for their journey. Only, they aren't prepared for what the wood has in store for them.

The setting and lore was the real key of this story for me and I thought both were fantastic. I was expecting this read to be more of a creeping gradual horror but we know almost immediately that something isn't right in Moresby Wood and I absolutely loved it. I did find some of the supernatural scenes to be a little vague and I wasn't entirely sure what was going on but that made sense because the characters had no real idea what was going on. I also loved how both sets of characters - 1693 and present day - were sharing theories/rumors/ghost stories about what is going on in the wood. There was a nice mix of the supernatural threats with some realistic environmental hardships that really built up well over the course of the book. I thought I knew where the lore was going, but I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. On NetGalley, the description said this book was perfect for fans of The Ritual and The Descent. I can see elements of both those movies in this story but I feel like it is much closer to The Ritual with the eerie forest, tense friend group, and unique supernatural-ish element.

I really enjoyed the dual timeline aspect but I do wish the book was a little longer in order to more fully flesh out both sides of the story. The story is split pretty much 50/50 between the soldiers in 1643 and the researchers in present day. The events in the two timelines somewhat mirror each other, which leads to a really fun dynamic for the reader. I also thought it was interesting to see the differences between the 1693 story and what the present day characters know based on historical texts. I was pretty equally interested in both timelines which is always a good sign. I also liked how the two timelines, while very similar, did have their own individual elements that highlighted the tense situation the characters were in.

Where this book lost me a bit was with all the characters. I found this to be a pretty short read at around 300 pages and since it was split pretty evenly between the two timelines, there just wasn't a lot of room for all the characters and relationships. I'm more of a character-focused reader which is why I think I like these isolated mystery/horror reads so much. I was really excited to see how this setting impacted the characters and their interactions. And while we did get those scenes, they weren't as impactful to read because I didn't feel like the initial character relationships were sufficiently fleshed out. I knew the ranks and surface relationships between the characters, but I wanted more depth. I felt this way about the character groups in both timelines. I really think if this book was just a little longer and there was more time setting up the group dynamic before things start going off the rails then I would have really been able to sink into the story more.

I wasn't the biggest fan of the narration style of this read. The story was told from a 3rd person POV that alternated being closer to one character and then farther away so the reader could get information from other characters. It wasn't technically headhopping, but it gave me that same feeling while reading of not being completely settled in the narration. I did read an ARC so this could potentially be fixed in the final copy but I think this would come down to personal preference. For me, the narration choices to be more removed from our main-ish character just meant that I had a harder time settling into the story and with these characters.

Overall, I really liked the premise and setting of this read, but I wanted some tweaks in order to be more connected to the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion publishing for the ARC.

Expected publication date is October 11, 2022.

This story had the perfect gothic premise to deliver an exceptional story. I loved the idea - but the delivery was lacking. It could be a timing thing - not the right place or time for me - but the ending really failed, there were too many loose ends, and I had a lot of questions.

I don’t know about you but if I ever go into a forest the temptation to stray off the past is strong. The idea of going into the woods where humans may never have walked always appeals. There are parts of the United Kingdom where the forest easily measure their time in centuries and possibly millennia. Who knows what lurks within. The dark woods are a staple part of fantasy and horror and in Fiona Barnett’s very atmospheric horror tale The Dark Between The Trees we have a disturbing tale of two groups lost in the same strange forest but centuries apart

Morseby Wood has a long dark history. Folk tales tell of witches and monsters; in 1643 it saw a group of Roundhead shoulders enter and only two survived to tell their tale and ever since its known as a isolated place now bordered off from the world for occasional military activity. In the present -day Dr Alice Christopher has at long last achieved her ambition of being allowed access to prove her theories and her group of five women enter the woods to soon find Morseby is as strange and deadly as the legends say.

This is a really impressive horror tale. and I was very impressed how Barnett weave’s two tales linked yet separated by nearly 400 years. We move from Alice’s expedition to the night the Roundheads led by seasoned soldier Captain Davies are suddenly attacked out of nowhere and the survivors of the battle flee into Moresby Wood. Barnett runs between the two tales and unsettlingly we notice the parallels in each’s journey – paths that seem to change; trees that vanish and then we notice Davies’ men starts to decrease in number. This cleverly builds up tension that the same thing is going to happen to Alice’s team. Barnett has a fine way of making the Woods appear a dangerous and malevolent place in either storyline. When true horror strikes its usually very swift and devastating which adds to the feeling anything and anyone can meet their fate at any moment which builds up the tension greatly.

Character-wise I liked the contrasts between the all-male army and the all-women specialists sent to explore the territory. Both groups are professionals and just get on with things…initially but weirdly it’s the older group who are more accepting that something dangerous lurks in the woods and their folk tales are true. Barnett makes both groups start to feel the pressure and Davies finds his captainship questioned just as Alice is but in contrast Alice wants to explore more. I think I’d had liked a little more chance to get to know both teams prior to the Wood making their appearance just to understand their dynamics better and how the stresses of the woods start to make the groups fracture. There is one quite passive character in the shape of Dr Christopher’s assistant Nuria who I’d had liked to understand their decisions a little bit earlier as to the casual reader like me I’d be hightailing it out of there pretty pronto (yes Reader I am easily scared on occasion).

What though really struck me is that Barnett does not make this tale explain itself. Its final acts are eerie, strange, and mythic and while some answers are given others are not. The best supernatural horror is often about good people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The universe will step on them not out of malice but simply because they’re the ants in the way of bigger creatures. In these woods it’s a malevolent force known as The Corrigal but even when we see it more questions arise that will not be answered. That lack of answers just makes it even more unsettling to read.

The Dark Between The Trees is a deeply enjoyable horror tale and one perfect for this time of year. A reminder to look where you go and beware forests at night or daytime. Highly recommended and I look forward to watching out for what Barnett has in store for us next!

3⭐️

A crew of five women seek out to find evidence of the remains of soldiers that mysteriously disappeared in the unnatural Moresby Wood three centuries prior. The women are relying on the two survivors who made it out in order to find where the others may have gone. The book is split between what happens on both expeditions of the women scholars and the seventeen soldiers. It’s essentially the same story being told in tandem 300 years apart, which does make sense because the forest itself it essentially timeless. It was hard to get into this book for me. The pacing is kind of slow and makes the book boring, and yet at the same time there are so many different characters that I found it hard to keep up and know who was who.

The Dark Between The Trees took an unexpected turn, but I can't really say I took much out of my experience with it. While it offers an interesting cast of characters and conflict, it ultimately is a little too straight forward. Bounded by its alternating timeline - The Dark Between The Trees never reaches its full potential in terms of eeriness and scare. I still found some enjoyment in the modern timeline but I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied by the final page.

Thank you Netgalley for the Arc!
Folk horror is a special sub-genre that I've always loved.
This book was very enjoyable. It had a great ominous atmosphere, an awesome darkness.
I'm not huge on different timeline stories, so that i enjoyed less, but regardless it was still very enjoyable for me. Definitely recommend.

3.5 upped to 4
There's a lot of potential, a creepy atmosphere, a lot of questions. There's a dual timeline that made me turn pages as fast as I can and a lot of surprising twists.
The author delivers a growing sense of dread and i loved the forest and it's wild atmosphere.
It was great up to 90%, the final part was anticlimax and I was left with a lot of questions.
A good mix of folk horror and paranormal I would love to read another book to answer to the questions.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

My thanks to Rebellion Solaris for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Dark Between The Trees’ by Fiona Barnett.

I am always drawn to fiction that features trees and woods, especially when steeped in folklore. Fiona Barnett’s debut novel certainly made good use of the idea that woods are places where worlds can overlap. She also uses this motif to examine how close to the surface of consciousness primordial dread can reside.

In 1643 a small group of Parliamentarian soldiers are ambushed in an isolated area of Northern England and flee into Moresby Forest, believed by the locals to be an unnatural place, the realm of witchcraft and shadows, where the devil is said to go walking by moonlight.

Seventeen men enter and only two are seen again. They share alarming accounts of shifting landscapes, of trees that appear and disappear and something else that stalks the woods - something dark and hungry.

In the present five women are heading into the woods led by Dr Alice Christopher, a historian who has dedicated her academic career to uncovering the secrets of Moresby Forest. They are armed with the latest technology in order to discover once and for all what happened to the soldiers.

We learn that local superstitions have remained through the centuries and that the Army has fenced the majority of the forest off due to a ‘dangerous microclimate’. Even National Parks employees refuse to enter, dubbing it the Black Hole.

Still with all these modern gadgets and Dr Alice’s no nonsense attitude what could possibly go wrong? Given the folk horror genre, quite a lot actually. No further details to avoid spoilers.

The narrative switches between 1643 and the present as Fiona Barnett slowly builds up the tension and the otherness of the forest that inevitably leads to an increasing sense of its wrongness in both times.

Overall, I found ‘The Dark Between the Trees’ a genuinely creepy and claustrophobic work of folk horror. It is a novel that I may well reread in order to appreciate its multiple layers.

I certainly will be interested in looking out for Fiona Barnett’s future projects whether she returns to explore further mysteries of Moresby or other tales.

On a side note, the cover art was perfection.

In 1643 England, a group of soldiers is ambushed and takes cover in a forest infamous for tales of witchcraft and unexplained phenomena. Only two of the group make it out alive, bringing with them a strange and disturbing account of their lost comrades. In the present day, a research team of five women enters the wood to attempt to finally find answers to the fate of the missing soldiers, but when their GPS goes wonky and their maps are unexplainably incorrect, can they avoid becoming part of the legend?

Pros:
- It's an ancient monster in a primordial forest. Can't get much better than that in horror.
- It's told in shifting chapters between the present day and 1643, and some interesting things are done with time and the two groups of characters.
- It's a fairly quick read once it gets going.

Cons:
- Nothing is really given the time to settle in and unsettle. Things happen and then perspectives shift back and forth between characters and time periods, and they are forgotten or quickly moved on from.
- Too many vanilla or stock characters create a lack of empathy with them.

Three stars. The narrative here rushes towards the inevitable conclusion so quickly that the shifting character perspectives become blended together, as few of them are able to differentiate and stand out.

FFO: The Ritual, camping, time theories.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Rebellion and Netgalley*

I neither loved or hated A Dark Between the trees, the story left me with feelings of complete indifference.

This is a duel timeline story bouncing between the year 1643 and present day. You'll follow Dr. Alice Christopher and a team of four other women as they explore the infamous Moresby Forest. Intermingled with their exploration are chapters following the forests residents from 300 years in the past. Through both prospective you will come to learn that the forest has a sinister past, danger lurks around every tree.

If there's one thing that got me excited in these pages it was the atmosphere. The author does an incredible job making the forest an evocative location. The forest was painted vividly through words and you could feel an eerie sense of foreboding. That being said, I felt little to know connection with these characters and eventually the story became a slog.

I received a digital ARC from Rebellion Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

More 3.5 - I really enjoyed the mystery and history and folklore feel of the forest and the cross over of the time periods. Always a win for me when we can see how something that happens in the past has relevance to the present.

The characters didn't really have any growth, but the story isn't about the people it's about the Woods and the creature that may or may not live there.

The reason for the 3.5, I found it really slow at some parts and the flipping between the time periods a couple of the chapters felt like filler and didn't have much to move the story forward. Felt like we could have got to the point a bit quicker is what I am saying.

For me 3 stars isn't bad it means it was in my opinion it was average or good. I was intrigued enough to finish the book and I enjoyed parts of it and other parts I felt lacked.

Disturbing and Shocking

The Dark Between the Trees is based on excellent and original ideas. There were a lot of scary moments throughout which kept me reading all the way to the end.

But, it wasn't a completely satisfying experience. Sadly, none of the characters were appealing enough to me as written to feel more about their fates except dull and hopeless grief. The multiple timelines, narrators, and threats were more hinted at than fully-realized and made it just too much to become invested in.

Sometimes, leaving the reader hanging has literary value. In this case, with too many things left unresolved (or possibly just misunderstood), I just wanted to kick myself for failing to toss the book aside early on as I was tempted to do.

Thank you very much to Fiona Barnett for the opportunity to read your book. You're a good writer and I believe this story has greater potential. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free advance reader's copy. I've written this review without being under any obligation to do so.

Truly unnerving. One of the best horror books I've read in years. It melds the current trend for Folk Horror, were the trees ARE the monsters, time travel and Greek tragedy.
Claustrophobic and creepy, you'll feel every page or this disorientating terror.

*Thank you for this chance to review this book*


I found that this story was a very good Halloween read. It definitely had promise and I was expecting so much.

The ending wasn’t something that was my favorite, however I know that there will be many who enjoy this creepy little book.

It was a reminder of many of my favorite horror movies in book format.

Thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for the early read. I was so close to giving this five stars and then I got to the last chapter... I am, for the most part, very picky about what I request on NetGalley because between life and work it can take some time to finish a read, and a pile of unfinished requests stresses me out. When I chose The Dark Between The Trees I was very specifically looking for archeological horror, as that's what I was in the mood for and this looked like it might satisfy that craving. This isn't quite that, but it was still a very good horror story.

With chapters alternating between past and present, The Dark Between The Trees tells the story of two specific groups who venture into Moresby Wood and (kind of) what befalls (some of) them. The description on NetGalley reads, "An unforgettable, surrealist gothic folk-thriller for fans of [book:The Ritual|10239382] and The Descent," and while the that first comparison is very (very, very) on-the-mark, the second is not. I would personally compare it more closely to The Blair Witch Project and, honestly, [book:Annihilation|17934530] - I don't want to spoil why Annihilation works as a comparison, but there are several similar story beats.

Fiona Barnett does a great job at setting the scene and building the atmosphere, occasionally going on almost stream-of-consciousness tangents in walls of text that really build on the wild, unknowing, confusing nature of what it happening to everyone in Moresby Wood. It goes and goes, rarely providing moments to breath, and then out of the blue it just stops. Just ends. I think she was going for something mysterious, maybe Lovecraftian, but after reading the whole book the ending just felt more like a copout than anything. It was so abrupt after what is essentially a descent into madness. Honestly, a better ending would have been the second to last chapter.

Overall though a very enjoyable spooky woods read, perfect for the autumn season.

An atmospheric and surrealistic tale about academia and a creature in the woods. I wanted to like this book more. From its description, it had everything going for it that I love in gothic horror and I will say that Barnett definitely delivered in terms of setting and tone. However, I didn't enjoy how the story was told from multiple perspectives finding it slowed the pace down and, in the long run, gave away enough plot points to make the ending disappointing. I will definitely try Fiona Barnett again, though, as there's a great deal about her writing that I did like.

An interesting dark read but I really struggled to get into it. It had some interesting ideas and some horrific elements but overall it fell a little short for me. However don't take my word for it! I could just be having an off week so please give it a try if you like your stories a little strange, with some gothic horror elements!

I love it when a book opens with immediacy, and 'The Dark between the Trees' by Fiona Barnett is snappy in its first words. The novel runs two parties’ narratives parallel in a dual timeline, as they enter Moresby Wood; one group of male characters in 1643, and one group of female characters in the present day.

Unfortunately, the relationships between the women at the opening of the novel lack clarity and in fact, well into the story, the five characters remain fairly obfuscated, which prevented me from carrying that immediacy through with me as the chapters began to shape the narrative. The same, sadly, can be said for Captain Davies' men in 1643. The two sets of characters that Barnett presents side-by-side in the novel ultimately, failed to engage me throughout. The two timeframes between which Barnett alternates rapidly didn’t give me long enough with either group to become absorbed in their storyline.

Early acceleration of tension and suspense is done with accomplished authorial skill; the book is well written, the language is crisp, the descriptions well-judged and the premise decently researched. Nonetheless, there just isn't enough to 'plump for' in ‘The Dark between the Trees’. There is attention to detail given in scene-setting sections but, regrettably, the novel dips with quite a sheer drop after the bright pace of the opening falls away. The middle languishes in a slump, and the only comment that I can make about the central two-quarters is that I began wondering whether the novel should have been a short story.

After the middle-section slump, Barnett works on a series of repeated motifs and signs across the two timelines, which is enchanting at the time, but ultimately unrewarding, as the repetition fails to amount to much. I was ready for this to be a gripping supernatural horror, but the plot and the narrative are as unresolved as the historical mystery. There is the promise of climax; there is a lot of suggestion and build-up, which was enjoyable to a certain extent, in itself.

I wanted to read either one, or the other, of the two storylines here. The novel doesn't sustain the same interest across both, and it is this puffing-up of the book by doubling the narrative that makes the middle section lacklustre through repetition and lack of action. The group of characters in the present is ostensibly trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the 1643 group, but I would have been happier just reading a short story or novella about the group of female researchers solving the historical mystery (or not!), without the distraction of a narrative from the viewpoint of the soldiers as their expedition unfolded.

I am sad to conclude that 'The Dark Between the Trees' would have been a brilliant, remarkable read, had it been half the length. As it is, it was too tame and drawn-out for me. There was very little satisfaction to be had here.