Oh, I was wrapped into this book - set in a small town on the Cornish moors, Merryn has returned home, from Manchester, to attend a memorial service for Claud, her girlfriend who’d passed away the year before. Her family have always been one to tell tales of the cornish folklore, and the weight of that immediately returns. Her aunt is pasting the windows shut, the local towns people are out traipsing the moors every night, and no-one will explain to Merryn what’s actually going on…

There is a constant unease to this book which I loved. It’s that feeling that things are just slightly off kilter which only gets stronger as the novel progresses. The feeling of having to return home after breaking away, of having secrets hidden from you, the all encompassing feeling of grief, and the centuries long history of local folklore that’s entrenched within the people. It’s almost claustrophobic, like sinking into a mud bath, but in the best way.

This truly is a book about folklore, and it does not shy away from that, intertwining it with complex family relations, a partially hidden sapphic relationship, grief, mental illness, and love. I throughly enjoyed my time with it - a brilliant debut novel.

Thank you to the publishers, and Netgalley, for the copy to review.

Unsettling and eerie, this novel illustrates the loneliness of a childhood on a remote Cornish farm through the return of a young woman and her grief at the loss of her ex-(not-quite)girlfriend. Very reminiscent of Sarah Moss' Ghost Wall, the book mixes folklore with reality until the reader is not quite sure what is true and whether the haunting is a descent into madness or reality

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this.

I have mixed feelings on this book. I really enjoyed the Cornish folklore and magic parts of the book but I just didn’t feel there was enough of that in the book and I had expected more. These parts of the book were excellent, genuinely menacing and disturbing and woven so perfectly into the landscapes described in the story. Absolutely fantastic. I also loved the Cornish landscape in general, so atmospheric and unique.

However much of the book was more about relationships and grief, our main character has gone home to Cornwall from where she lives in Manchester after the death of her best friend from when she was a child/teenager. Much of the book flashes back to her memories of her friend. I felt conflicted about this relationship as it was often quite toxic, our main character frequently is treated cruelly by her friend.

Much of the book is the protagonist reflecting and reminiscing on her past. If you enjoy this style of writing then this is an excellent example of it. The author does have a really nice writing style with good pacing, dialogue, atmosphere and intrigue. Certainly a talented writer. It’s not necessarily my preference to have so much reflection rather than advancing the present storyline but I know some readers will love this.

A well written novel from a talented author but it just didn’t land for me personally as it felt a little too bleak and I would have preferred to delve more into the folklore storyline.

I loved the atmosphere and unease the author creates, and as a fan of novels with a Cornish setting I particularly enjoyed the focus on the moors rather than the coastline.

Theres something a bit other worldy about this book.
I was never sure where it was going, the cornish names, the folklore... it was a book that I never relaxed into, in fact at times it left me feeling a little uneasy.
It was all the better for it.
I think this is going to be a winner.

Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.
Beautifully written and full of folklore this was an engrossing read from start to finish

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc