A great book that is a coming of age story set late, with some absolutely disgusting scenes and details that lend it a proper fairy-tale resonance. I'll never look at eels the same way again. Not that I ever looked at eels much before.

A coming of age journey suffused with folk horror.

Merryn has turned her back on her rural Cornish ties and has settled in Manchester but the memorial of her teenage girlfriend calls her back to the remote parts. The story focusses on the complexities of teen relationships but there is a menacing presence of something far more sinister in the Cornish moors. There is a foreboding sense of unease throughout this book as the threat of the Cornish myths and legends haunt the present.

Steeped in folklore and tensely atmospheric, I think this will be a popular one for fans of folk horror and gothic thrillers. I was enthralled when it came to the Cornish myths but I felt the pace dip when the focus returned to the protagonist reminiscing on her volatile romance with her exgirlfriend. The momentum was lost for me and I never quite got immersed. This doesn’t take away from the haunting atmosphere, the vivid settings and the poignant navigation of grief. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from the author.

📖 MEET ME AT THE SURFACE BY JODIE MATTHEWS 📖
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I’ve followed Jodie Matthews for a long time on Bookstagram and loved her taste in books, so I was really keen to read her debut novel which is set in Cornwall and entwined with myth and legend. Right up my street!
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Merryn has returned home to her small Cornish town for the memorial of her ex- girlfriend/love of her life, Claud. But there’s something not right. Her aunt is conducting strange rituals, her mother seems desperate to share a secret and no one seems to know anything about the memorial. Then she finds the notebook filled with folklore about the mysterious Pedri. But why is Claud’s name in there?
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This is one of those all consuming books which completely casts you in its spell. It’s a story of grief, obsession and belonging and is both haunting and suspenseful. I adored the myth and folklore, claustrophobic atmosphere and vivid sense of place. A stunning debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Jodie writes next!

I thought I'd like this but I didn't expect to love it and devour it like I did. It felt so earthy and evocative and Matthews has a natural talent writing about the land she knows so well. I've spent a lot of time with Cornwall and I felt I could feel the soul and smell the air. It was a fantastic and one of a kind read. Matthews is a talent to watch, can't wait to see what else ghe author writes.

Unfortunately this one missed the mark. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but it just didn’t draw me in. On paper, it is everything I love in a book, but the reality of it didn’t match up. I think the thing I found most off-putting was the unpleasant descriptions. I don’t really want to read detailed descriptions of skinning eels, thanks.

The characters also didn’t really capture my attention. It seemed their only interesting points were the relationships to each other. I didn’t get much of a sense of who they were as people. Claud and Merryn’s relationship was very toxic, which is okay when it’s done well, but all I saw in this was Claud’s absolute cruelty towards Merryn.

This just wasn’t what I wanted from this book.

Great debut.
It’s dark and Gothic with a chaotic mix of toxic and messy female relationships with descriptions and lines that just sink into your bones and make you feel cold to your very fingertips.
Really enjoyed it.
You can feel the darkness of the Cornish moors, the isolation of the tiny village, I felt the constant uneasiness of being alone in the dark - there’s grief, there’s history, there’s folklore, right up my street.

This story is weaved through and through with folk tales, myth and legend. It's creepy and unsettling throughout, while also somehow managing to make the moors seem so wild and magical that you would consider going there on holiday (despite the subject matter). The story burns slowly, as you think you know what's going on but can never be entirely sure until you reach the very end. The wrapping-up in the final chapter felt a little hasty for me, but the story kept me intrigued. It reminded me very much of the books I used to enjoy as a literature student.

A gothic story with a promise of folk horror and twisty plot. Well plotted and featuring interesting characters
A bit slow at time but it kept me reading
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to read this book as an eArc! I loved the promise of folk horror and oh, such a pretty cover! The atmosphere is really haunting, at times it has kinda southern gothic vibes, even though I know it is set in Cornwall.
Sadly, it is still a dnf for me. The folklore snippets rather confused me (and not in a good way) and I just couldn't get warm with the prose. It's just that there isn't a single happy thing happening or told or whatever (at least not in the first 30%), so I just felt uncomfortable while reading instead of enjoying it.
Maybe I can pick it up again when I'm more in the mood for such a book.

I read it to the end and I wanted to love it. There was some great descriptive writing but it just wasn’t for me. I felt confused by huge swathes of it and maybe I was just the wrong audience.

A strange and beautiful book, it pulls you in and almost suffocates you in its deep gothic denseness. You know ,like Merryn, that something is wrong about this place, these people. It is deliciously dark.

sadly this is a did not finish so I will not publicly review. I was unable to get into the writing style it was not for me

Book Review
Title: Meet Me at the Surface
Author: Jodie Matthews
Rating: 4/5


The cover of this book ……its amazing and drew me right into it.
Meet Me At The Surface was full of grief, secrets, folklore, love, and beauty all set in the mystical Cornish Moors. The writing is brilliant in this book, and I got very emotionally invested but at the same time reading it made me feel a little uneasy.

There are flashbacks but they are done is such a way that it didn’t get confusing which is a great credit to the author. The author has kept this whole book in a constant feeling of unease throughout it and this had me wanting to read more. It was an amazing book by an amazing author.

Shannon

I was very much drawn in by the beautiful front cover and the premise of this novel.
Set in a small traditional Cornish village, way off the beaten track, the women of Merryn's family have always been regarded as strong willed and somewhat odd. The women have no need of men, and indeed menfolk seem to disappear from them. When Merryn returns from her first year at university in Manchester the strangeness of her family is all the more striking as her normally sensible aunt leaves eels and lard on the window sills and her less with it mother appears to be lying to her about her friend.
This is an atmospheric read, the strange old farmhouse and the moors playing their part in the oddness of the characters who live there. The relationships between Merryn and her mother and aunt are not easy and nor are her friendships with Claud and Chris. Folklore and mystery weave their way through this tale although at times it was a bit repetitive and too many flashbacks to keep the story moving forward.
It was an interesting and atmospheric read that didn't quite settle for me. With thanks to Netgalley and 4th Estate and William Collins for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I think "Meet Me at the Surface" by Jodie Matthews deserves a second read or at least time for reflection. It's a difficult but worthwhile read. Merryn returns back home for her girlfriend's memorial. She discovers a notebook full of stories about Cornish folklore but it is something more than that but what? You never quite know what is real, what is imagination and where the stories overlap the reality. Some real folk horror moments in it and definitely worth waiting for.

A carefully written atmospheric novel. A very uneasy read, with tragedy and lost love interwoven with folklore, myth and superstition.

A small village in the depths of Cornwall, Blisand has always had its opinions on the women of Trewarnen. Strong willed and “different” the women have no need for men, they are self sufficient and and use the old ways to their advantage. When Merryn returns to the farm after a “normal” year in Manchester, the strangeness of the behaviour of both her sensible aunt and her not so with it mother becomes a concern.

With an undercurrent of mystery this is an interesting read, though a mixed bag for me. The relationship between Claud and Merryn was painful at times, and the grief shown by Merryn was surprising considering how cruel Claud was. That’s love! The story also seemed to, at times, lack direction and wandered, with the flashbacks causing the plot to falter somewhat. Not an easy read.

Definitely a talented writer, who has researched her subject well, just missed the mark to be really great for me.

Thank you NetGalley and 4th Estate.

“I will meet you in the ground, my love, between the roots and the sand and the silt. I will hold you near and beside, my love, together our bones shall meet.”

Meet Me at the Surface is a beautiful and haunting exploration of Cornish folklore and deeply embedded generational secrets. It follows Merryn as we flick between the past of her childhood growing up on the Bodmin Moor and the present as Merryn returns from Manchester for her ex-girlfriend’s memorial service. It soon becomes apparent to both Merryn and us as the readers that something isn’t adding up, as Merryn's aunt and mother become even more secretive and strange, the locals ramp up their "hunts" in the Moor and Merryn discovers a mysterious handwritten journal containing folklore somehow linked to Claud, her ex.

Honestly this book is magical and I can’t believe it’s a debut. It delves into grief, complicated mother/daughter relationships and volatile first love in such compelling ways and is really well written; Jodie Matthews writes with such vivid imagery that you will be transported right to the stunning Cornish landscape with Merryn. If you liked Our Wives Under The Sea, this is definitely a book for you (it actually resonated with me so much more than Our Wives did!) I am very grateful to 4th Estate and Net Galley for the ARC of Meet Me at the Surface and I will most definitely be buying a copy when it is released in a months’ time (15.02.2024!)

A beautiful and literary tale that feels like folklore crafted and forged from the depths of Cornwall itself. This book was a slow mover for me but I loved getting lost in the landscape of the Moor and the vastness of our main character, Merryn's, childhood. As we flick between the past and present there is this heavy feeling that both Merryn and us as a reader are missing something. Nothing makes this more clear than the beautiful folklore chapters that pop up time and time again through the narrative. Like a puzzle to solve you stumble around trying to piece everything together as you have this feeling that it could be too late.

This book is a perfect study of grief, complicated relationships, the intensity of young love, and the idea of not fitting in. I enjoyed watching this story slowly unfold taking in the beautiful writing and the beautiful imagery of the Cornish moors. You do truly feel like you are there standing at that farmhouse with Merryn and her mother and aunt. The writing was so visceral and real and I loved the different ways Matthews writing connected to nature and the area itself. Such a beautiful and magical read!

Gothic fiction, folklore, and toxic, messy female relationships are all my catnip, so it's no surprise I loved this title. It's definitely not a light or easy read--it's lonely, slimy and claustrophobic; deeply interior and with very little forward momentum--but I loved it all the more for that. It's a book that asks to you sink into it and drown a little; a book that grasps you with cold, damp teeth. This is a tremendous debut which I highly recommended for when you're in the mood for a touch of Cornish Gothic and never want to think about eels the same way again.

Many thanks to Fourth Estate for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Haunting is absolutely the right word for this book. Atmospheric. Visceral. Tangible. This book oozes uneasiness, it makes you feel like you need to be looking over your shoulder at every given moment. The grief Merryn crowds the book like a fog, and you feel her confusion as she tries to piece together the mysteries that collide around her so strongly. This is not a gentle read or a particularly easy one, but it's an absolute work of art. Highly recommend for fans of folklore and gothic fiction, this blends traits of the genre so beautifully.