I just finished Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot. This was a very good haunted house story but with a twist. The core of this story is actually very emotional. There are so many elements that make this a great story. It has all the horror elements with some mystery and some romance thrown in there. If you like haunting stories you will like this one!

A queer paranormal psychological horror novel, in the style of showrunner Mike Flannagan, showing the complex real-life terror inherent in grief and mental illness.

This was really good. I loved the atmosphere and the overall plot. Nearly perfect!

Going into this I knew it was going to be literary but I was hoping the YA aspect would make it easier to read. It didn't and the book was heartbreaking

This story delivers on its title, for better or for worse. At face value, this story is an engaging read: I found myself flipping through pages toward the end because I wanted to know how it ended.

But this story is much like its title, like the heartstrings of the house: it is simply spread too thin. The cast of characters is a little larger, and they're introduced at times when you're not entirely sure how prominent or relevant they'll be to the story as a whole. It made keeping track of everyone difficult at times. Flashbacks are dropped intermittently throughout the story, and while they're effective, they're not paced well in the first half of the book (better in the second half, though). Multiple POVs are usually fun for me, and I do think Wimot uses them well here to help build out the characters and history (in the first half) and a sense of anticipation toward the climax. I don't think all of them were necessary, largely because we don't get to spend enough time with a lot of the characters to make those POVs feel lived in enough. (And Wilmot occasionally had a habit of randomly switching POV halfway through a scene or even a paragraph, and I personally find that incredibly irritating.)

I think most of my issue with this book is just that I didn't really connect with the characters. On paper, they're diverse and interesting, and the plethora of issues they deal with (both mental and physical illness, death, grieving, control, body dysphoria, eating disorders, etc) is generally handled with care and thoughtfulness. But everyone just... fell a little flat for me. No one jumped off of the page at me, and not connecting made it hard to be invested in *their* stories, rather than just unraveling the mystery/plot.

And the climax itself just kind of... withered. I found myself wanting the characters to reach a certain point of acceptance, but there was so much resistance that was being touted as the "right" thing to do that by the time they *did* get to that point of acceptance, any sense of satisfaction didn't feel terribly earned. The wind had gone out of the sails, and I didn't feel a sense of catharsis.

All in all, this is a decent book and an interesting read! I didn't connect with the characters, but that doesn't mean someone else won't.

[NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for this title.]

4.5 stars rounded up. I like that this was mysterious and suspenseful while also making complete sense when what was really going on was revealed. It's always nice when the ending of a horror book is well thought out and clearly planned for. I also liked that the characters were very diverse and had a lot of layers and even the 'bad guys' had depth and reasons and weren't all bad or caricatures. The pacing was good for revealing a bit at a time but enough to keep it interesting.

Wow, I enjoyed this book more than I could have thought when I started it. Very fast paced, suspenseful HORROR. I love the Erie sense you feel with each chapter. Well done!

A slow burn, but a good story all in all! The use of "they/them" pronouns is a new one for me but much appreciated! Definitely looking forward to more from this author.

Difficult to read but maybe that's the point read up to a point but didn't continue as concentration was lacking with this.

Withered tells the entwined stories of Ellis, who is recovering from an eating disorder, their mom, and the town they move to. Their house is much more than it seems, as the townspeople warm them from the very first day they move in.

This book had excellent queer representation. It read much more like a YA novel than I was expecting, focusing a lot on Ellis working through issues that plague a lot of teenagers. Overall it was an interesting read.

This book was fantastic. I love this take on a haunted house story, original and brilliant. Couldn’t put it down.

AGA Wilmot puts an interesting spin on the haunted house genre in their forthcoming novel Withered. Be prepared, this one might pull on your... (ahem) ... heart strings!

Eighteen year old Ellis and their mother Robyn are moving back to her old hometown on the tail of their father's untimely passing. The house came cheap and the local teens waste no time explaining to Ellis that it's because the place is haunted. Their mother doesn't believe it, chalking it up to small town chatter. But as Ellis grows closer to Quinn, a pretty girl they quickly develop feelings for, who has also recently lost a family member, they discover there might be more to the rumors than just... rumours.

Neighbors begin to show up, begging Robyn to let their sick and elderly rest on the lawn, claiming "she" will care for them. Others claim to see their dead loved ones hanging around the property. And Ellis begins to notice odd bumps behind the wallpaper that, when pressed, appear to give off heat and throb beneath their fingers. And what of the strange voice they hear claiming "I am not what I seem"...

Withered does a nice job layering in topics of grief, eating disorders, fat shaming, queerness, and mental health, which do not necessarily tie directly into the creepy, haunted housey stuff but does help us invest more deeply into the characters and root for them more loudly as the battle between the living and the dead is brought, literally, to their front porch.

This one is best for readers who are in the mood for something with less scares and more heart.

Love a good haunted house trope! This one hits all the feels with involving mental illness & creating such genuine characters that you feel you know them personally. Great background story & plot, beautifully described throughout. Would definitely read more by this author!

Queer psychological horror that reads like YA. It took me a while to get into it, slow paced with a lot going on. I did like that it explores mental health, eating disorder, and many other important topics. Also this is a first time I read a book that uses them pronouns, which I thought was awesome. It was a bit confusing in the beginning but I eventually eased into the writing. Overall I thought this was ok, average haunted house story. Thank you

This was a wonderfully interesting, unique and intriguing take on YA horror. I really appreciated the nonbinary and eating disorder/mental health representation. It was very easy to slide into the mindset of Ellis, the main character, who’s pronouns are they/them. I found them to be very relatable, believable as a teenager, and the subject of eating disorders was broached with wisdom and care. The plot of the book was unique, smart and I found no huge or glaring plotholes. I easily believed it and got sucked into it. I enjoyed the pacing as well. The only two things I could complain about are that the overall dialogue between all of the characters, as well as the main characters relationship- Quinn & Ellis - is sometimes unbelievable, robotic, and clunky. That being said, it did not suspend my belief or take me out of the story.
The other small gripe I have, which may be my own problem or an issue with formatting to my kindle, is that the grammar was atrocious. Not spelling, but the periods, commas, quotation marks, etc., were not where they were supposed to be. I am assuming it was a format issue. I highlighted a few examples but it was the entire book.

Overall this was a delight and I can easily see this as a blockbuster movie with wonderful representation and vivid imagery. 4.5/5

A nuanced story about grief, queerness and community set in the trappings of a haunted house story, Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot delivers on beautiful descriptors and atmosphere. However, I just kept feeling like this was more YA than Adult and as such I found it read just a smidge juvenile, particularly some of the dialogue.

That being said, this is still a competent haunted house story filled with complicated characters struggling with death and letting go.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book for many reasons. The cast of characters, especially Ellis and Quinn, are a delight to follow. (Wilmot's dialogue is often hilarious, and I love the true-to-real-life level of sarcasm used by most of the teens.) I loved the book's unique take on the haunted house and the small town surrounding it. I loved its rather epic take on Death as force and character, and I particularly loved the way Wilmot weaves together the stories of the ghosts and the living, the past and the present, the natural and the supernatural. This book also deals with mental health issues, like Ellis's experience with anorexia and recovery from anorexia, in a thoughtful and insightful way, making the struggle to get better, to take control of your life, subtly mirror some of the supernatural struggles of the story. Nothing ever feels preachy or heavy-handed here, rather, it works to deepen and sharpen the story. This is horror, sure, but horror with empathy and purpose beyond gore and jump scares.

A psychological supernatural horror, but also a look into gender identity with YA elements. The two sides mirroring each other. It also felt a lot like the ghost/scary movies that were mentioned throughout the book, some grisly details but written for a YA audience.
Very interesting and diverse characters, lgbt representation, eating disorders and grief. It had a lot going on.

Thank you to NetGalley for this book

A very compelling and complex story that explores the hardcore truths about mental illness and disorders . I would recommend this book to YA and horror book lovers but there are a few trigger warnings that should be taken into consideration.

I'm finding it difficult to write a review for Withered because there are two very different stories happening here.

The first is a beautiful portrait of a young, queer, non-binary person (Ellis) who is doing *THE MOST* to overcome their struggles with disordered eating, body dysmorphia, grief, and identity. It's a beautiful love letter to queer kids and adults alike, many of us who have struggled with the same issues over our lives. With their mother, they move to a house that the town folk purport to be haunted, but there is a bigger mystery at play along with larger forces that would see the house destroyed. The parallels between Ellis' personal struggles and the nature of the house make for a very beautiful story.

The second story though, the *NATURE* of the house and that it is not haunted exactly but rather "occupied", is the true tour de force of this book. Without giving spoilers, it really was the story of the house and the battle between it and larger forces that had me hooked and wanting more. It is truly a one-of-a-kind, totally unique take on the "haunted house". I feel that had the author focused on this story specifically, they could have created the best horror novel of the year, maybe one of the best haunted house stories of all time.

As I said, there are two stories here. It was easy to fall in love with the characters. I feel that Ellis' story is perfect for a YA novel on queer identity that many readers would fall in love with and relate strongly to. Whereas the story of the house, on it's own, is such a unique and powerful tale of psychological horror and would bring a huge and brave new voice and authority to the genre.

I always give 5 stars because heck, this author wrote a freaking book and that is no small task. But I am itching to see the story of the house as a stand alone and expanded upon.

I'm having to hard of a time with the formatting of this. I can't concentrate and I don't want to give out a bad review. So I'll just have to read this when it comes out.