Unfortunately, I had to dnf this at 37%. I typically love this kind of gothic horror, but neither the writing nor the characters grabbed me at any point.

Much of the writing feels too descriptive, where we are essentially reading a shot-by-shot analysis of what is going on, instead of a book where it flows. One specific part near the beginning had the main character talking to two gas station attendants where she gave them her phone number and address, all the while the person she came with is beginning to drive away. It felt drawn out as it was happening, instead of the intended feeling of urgency - much like when you're watching a movie and a scene is long enough that you start thinking about how there's no WAY this character can hold their breath this long.

There were also a few too many characters to try to keep track of, and none were unique enough for me to ever know who was who. Many times, a scene with a character was happening, and I only knew who that character was when the character I THOUGHT it was appeared. In the same way, I felt the location and the plot felt disjointed, where I was never certain why or how the missing character had even met these people, or decided to live in the middle of the woods with them. When we begin the book, it feels like we're dropped into a story without the proper introduction, and by the time I quit reading, I don't fully believe I ever caught up.

I'm unsure how to describe reading this, but it felt like rather than reading the book itself or experiencing things with the characters, I was instead reading the auto-generated description of what was going on. The writing was very flowy and emotive, but ultimately, I think it held back the story rather than enhanced it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing this e-ARC.