A DNF for me. I don’t know why this was not a book for me. Other readers have raved about it so please make your own minds up! Perhaps I was not in the right frame of mind for the genre?!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Looking at feedback, this book seems to have people split down the middle. They like it or they don’t.
I fall on the side of liking it, a folk-y horror novel, what’s not to love?
I understand why this may not appeal to others, but I’d tell anyone to pick it up and at least give it a try.
Thank you for the arc.

The setting of this book is rich in folk lore and some superstition! Some timeline jumps that happen can be a little confusing at times but once you get into the book and get settled in, I feel like the jumps turn into a good flow and you're able to relax. I think this book was a really unique and original concept written really well and with passion. I recommend diving right into this one and not reading too many reviews beforehand!

This book will have you thinking about it for MONTHS! It will be on my forever reread books! I absolutely LOVED this book and I would HIGHLY recommend this book for my horror junkies!

Bridget Jones meets Wicker Man, but WAY less fun than it sounds.
This is basically chick lit. Flimsy, uninspired 90's chick lit. Even worse, it's flimsy chick lit written by a guy. Also, I'm willing to go out on a limb here, a guy who doesn't really know or think a lot about women and certainly shows no interest in applying himself to the female perspective, so we're treated to the company of a man-mad, thirty-something airhead girl-woman who is either drinking, thinking about sex, or ordering new panties on the internet, which she'll then wear straight from the box without washing them first. In between she frets about the state of her finances (all those panties! And the booze), but that's about it. To paraphrase Spinal Tap, it's a fine line between stupid and misogynist, and I'm not 100% sure the author knows when he's crossing it.

Also, did I mention the fucking? I don't know what it is with this author, but everyone in this novel is seriously preoccupied with getting it on. There's the local librarian, a fairly nasty old codger we're presumably supposed to find lovable, whose main feature is the perma-bulge in his pants. Fun! Not icky at all. (Apparently it has never crossed Mr Barnett's mind that the idea of being alone in a library with a man sporting an erection might not exactly register as humorous for women; that this is, in fact, a highly transgressive act of aggression does not come into play at all, I'm guessing because the author as usual thinks and writes and tells his story as a man, even though he purports to do so from a woman's POV.) Sophie is basically in a state of constant arousal as well, humping not only her friend Catherine but also the local meadow (don't ask) and other pieces of vegetation. Cute! Catherine herself is a teacher who spends most of her downtime bonking her male students (it's the way of the land, people; also, the boys love it). Erm... not quite as cute.
Still, this doesn't even qualify as erotica, as the writing is just... dumb. I mean if you absolutely have to write about female desire, it might help to try and imagine what that might actually FEEL like; instead, the scenes where things go all hot and steamy read EXACTLY like you would expect them to read if they were written by some dude unclear on the concept of female lust. I mean, take the scene where MC Sophie's sad state of underfuckedness leads to "insistent chattering between her legs" when that hot guy FINALLY looks her way. Vagina dentata? Or just a reminder to see her OB/GYN? When Sophie manages to get the guy in the sack at last, the encounter plays out like this: "Sophie surrendered to him completely, and let him consume her, and she fell asleep when they had finished, sated and satisfied". Welcome to the 1950s, ladies.

Plot-wise, this doesn't feel like a horror novel at all, it's chick lit with a side of teen detective... like Nancy Drew with a libido and a drinking problem, but no working brain cells. There's heavy helpings of idiot plot and plot holes galore, and of course there's a plot twist as well, and if you look at any of it too closely it just collapses.

Seriously, this book is just plain dumb. It's not even entertainingly dumb, or zany, or irreverent, or anything like that. It's stupid, and aggravatingly so. I mean, what else can you say about a so-called horror novel whose main antagonist, some ancient local entity, is described by the characters as, "a horrible rotter ... . He's evil. More evil than Adolf."?
Using the 20th century's most notorious mass murderer, a person responsible for millions of dead and world-wide destruction and suffering, as a fun (and totally, totally ludicrous) descriptor? Thanks, but no thanks.

What a creepy banger of a book. The story wasn't very surprising, but it was a fun ride. One of the reveals I hadn't guessed but the others were how I thought it was gonna go. Definitely want to read more by this author!

While I love folk horror, I couldn't get past the stereotypical female main character. Men should not write women actually

A fantastic, atmospheric folk horror with lots of twists and fantastic characters. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

Rating: 3 stars!

A twisty, dual-timeline(?) horror novel. The entire premise from this book is unlike anything I have ever read before. I wanted the "horror" side to be a little more dramatic, but the overall book was so interesting!!

Thank you NetGalley and Canelo an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC of “Withered Hill”. I absolutely absolutely adored this book!! While it is categorized as ‘horror’ genre, I wouldn’t say it’s terrifying. I think it was equal parts mind provoking, science fiction, folklore, with a bit of disturbing scenes sprinkled throughout. I can’t even describe really what this is about without giving anything away. I think it’s best to go into this one blind. All I knew was it had a similar feel to it as the movie Midsommer which is one of my favorite horror films. I would say it definitely gives off those same vibes. Enjoyed it from start to finish!

This book gives folk horror vibes and I'm totally here for it. The author uses the plot device of switching timelines but it totally works as it builds creepy suspense. I couldn't stop reading.

Deliciously creepy folk horror. Midsommar vibes. I enjoyed this a lot and would love to read more books in a similar vein by this author. Withered Hill follows Sophie, shiftless and selfish, both in her life in London and after she's found herself trapped in a very strange village, full of people who center their lives around their connection to nature and the circle of life through a cycle of pagan rituals, much of which seems frightening and barbaric to Sophie. I felt dread growing as the end of Sophie's time in Withered Hill grew near, because I was sure it couldn't go well for her, but I didn't have any clue just how things would go and was pleased with the surprise. I would recommend this to anyone looking to be creeped out.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a really strange, unsettling book. I wasn't really sure what was going on for most of it and found the time changes kind of confusing at times. The ending was definitely unsettling, even though I'm still not exactly sure what I read. It's not a typical thriller kind of book. It's more of a creepy, moody, slow burn kind of read.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This is a folk horror and the book is filled with secrets, mystery, horror, rituals, cryptic riddles and messages. Narrated in a present and past timelines. A year ago, Sophie ended up in a village of Withered Hill with no memories and strange happening. A job was offered to her by a stranger but next day she woke up naked and with no memories. Withered Hill description was eerie, cryptic and mysterious. The people were so horrifying. I bet you won’t be able to decide who is good and who is not. Neither you will be able to figure out what’s going on until the end. The folk horror part is spot on and the story is quite gripping and unsettling. I wasn’t expecting that ending.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher.

I have tried to read this twice and while I think the writing is good, I’m just not sure folk horror is for me. Maybe it’s just not the right time for me and this genre . DNF at 11%

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Canelo for sending me this ARC!

This book follows Sophie Walker as she stumbles into a village called Withered Hill. As she stumbles into this unknown village, she loses all memory of who she as before. However, we know that she was not using her life to its full potential. She spent her days drinking, eating, and sleeping her way through life. While in this new village, she realizes that she is a prisoner and must learn why she is there in order to "leave." But everything is not as it seems and there are multiple forces, including herself, fightining to gain control of her life.

This book has dual timelines then converge at the end. I found this book a little hard to follow at first and confusing. I know that is how the author intended. We, as readers, stay just as confused as the MC which adds to the dread and eerie feeling that you can't shake. I thought the premise of the book was very unique. I was engaged most of the time, but I felt that I could see the ending coming the way that it did. I would rate this 3.75 stars.

A clash of folklore, horror and girls on the lash

Take everything grotesque about laddish girls about town dramas, add in a splash of inscrutable rural horror, and you have this twisty thriller that is not at all what it seems.

Sophie lives a drunken, uncontrolled freewheel of a life, suddenly thrust into a position of responsibility at her city job. At the same time, an amnesiac Sophie wakes up in a rural idyll, where the outside world is prescribed and everything about her mysterious past is hidden. As these two versions of Sophie run headlong to the point where they intersect, the reader is left to join the dots, to see how chaotic Sophie ends up with no memory of her past and unable to escape from her countryside prison, where strange creatures wander the woods, and where the locals preform dark and bloody rituals.

The twist is, of course, the answer, and I won't spoil it here, but it's going to make a great film.

Four shivery stars.

This is classified as a folk horror novel. I think that is an apt description, to a point. The overall folklore used here was unfamiliar to me. Upon research it appears to be based in England. Therefore, I suppose I have to concede that the use of Pagan symbols (the pentacle) and holidays (Yule, Beltane, Lammas, etc.) is possibly appropriate. I didn’t personally like it, and feel it might have been better to have this folk story introduce more of its own symbology or lore. Nevertheless it was a decent read.

For the plot, we follow the story in an odd, non-chronological order. Going forward from days before our MC ends up in the town, and going backwards from near her final time in town. At some point the narrative flips around. Thankfully it’s easy to follow at all times and felt very nature in the set-up. I enjoyed the way the narrative swapped at times as it revealed secrets (or kept them) in a way that provided atmosphere and suspense.

Withered Hill is not a love story. It has many elements and shows relationships but is careful to never be a true love story. For which I was thankful. And the twisty ending is both logical, clever, and doesn’t cheapen the story or characters around it. Withered Hill is the kind of horror story that anyone new to folk horror will love. Those of us who’ve read enough (or a lot) of this type of story may find similarities and be able to predict some elements. For me that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this novel as it’s just different enough.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Withered Hill brings to life the fear of old and small towns with secrets to hide, taking our nightmares far beyond the confines of our bedroom closets, under our beds into the woods at night. Owd Hob is a children’s nightmare personified yet this novel is hardly about him, as his merely an instrument of change in otherwise unsavoury way to make humanity realize the error of it’s ways. Really enjoyed this masterpiece horror novel about Sophie Wickham who is replaced by her look alike and dies a gruesome death.

A nice read, especially if you are into folk horror. It's creepy and dark and I loved it! Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.