I went on a spooky spree with my netgalley the other day and was so excited to see this one. A book about a spooky forest in California? Sign me up! But…

Dr Dupont and her team embark on a journey to get more scientific data on the Alpenglow glacier. This is said to be a career determining opportunity. However, as the group gets further and further into the dense wilderness, they discover a dead body…and their satellite phone dies. They turn around and the body has vanished. Other things go wrong, they no longer have a clear map and the group has never felt more isolated.

Holden stumbles upon a recording device left behind by Dr Dupont and intrigued, he is determined to figure out what happened to her. Holden embarks on a journey to uncover Dr Duponts fate…but he too may be in danger.

I spent this entire book engrossed with the story. I couldn’t put it down. I wanted to find out what was happening, how the pieces all fit together. THEN BAM, the book ended. Just like that. It did not wrap up, loose ends were left handing all over the place, and you’ll have to read book 2 to get any sort of answers. UM WHAT? It does not make me want to read book two, no in fact it makes me want to throw the book across the room. Ugh. I’m frustrated, can you tell. Anyway, if you can wait over a year to find out how a story end – then this book might be for you. I really did enjoy the ride, it was so fun, so engrossing, but just no from me.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher, Compass and Fern for my advanced e-ARC in exchange for this honest review. This one is out on January 16th of next year – get your pre-orders in now!

This was a dark, twisty read that blended scifi, horror, fantasy and mystery. Completely unique and engrossing with plenty of spine-tingling chills all throughout. Grab this one right away on publication date and you'll have your first 5 star read of 2023!

Where to even begin with this review? This book is my newest obsession. I will be telling anyone and everyone I know about this novel. Love sci-fi? It’s for you. Love horror? It’s for you. Love thrillers? It’s for you. Love science? It’s for you. Love mythology and lore? It’s for you. Love wilderness? It’s for you.

You need to prepare to buckle up for a long ride, though, for this is not a short and simple story that unfolds quickly. What you are getting is 3 main stories that unfold somewhat simultaneously (although, time is a relative matter) and then 2 additional stories that begin to intersect with those. Don’t worry about it being too complicated to follow along with or it becoming a jumbled mess like some other books that try to tackle such a feat. This author, in my opinion, has mastered the art of transitional storytelling.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the actual story because I think it’s honestly best to go into this as blind as you possibly can and this is coming from someone who LOVES spoilers. I’m a read the last page first kind of reader and for once in my life, I never had that urge to peek. That should tell you had enraptured with this story I was. I am also really good at predicting where books are headed and trust me when I say, you won’t ever see what’s coming next. It’s just utter perfection, all around.

While it takes place in California, split between a college lab setting and in the wilderness….the feeling it gave me upon first beginning to read it is similar to that of those great horror movies that begin on a space ship and a crew has just woken up and discovered old distress calls from a previous crew and then the mystery of what happened to that crew begins to unfold. It’s a feeling of excitement and dread. Also, if you’re a visual reader, this will play out beautifully in your mind. Everything is so descriptive that I envision each scene perfectly. I will die on the hill that this should be fully funded Hollywood movie.

The only downside to being an early arc reader for this, is knowing how long I will have to wait for book 2 because there are now two points of my life: before Briardark and after Briardark.

A fun mix between T Kingfisher and Blake Crouch.

The story is great, very fun and keeps you hooked from the get go.

Can’t wait for book 2 and to find out what happens next!

[Blurb goes here]

Siena's grant has just been approved, the opportunity of a life time. She's going to Deadswitch wilderness with Cam, Isaac and her ex-boyfriend Emmett. Emmett Works for COTwo, the company sponsoring the expedition. Their goal is to analyze the effects from global warming on the Alpenglow glacier. As their hike begins, so do the strange occurrences: the group finds a body hanging from a tree, a body Cam seems to recognize.

Seven years ago, a group of hikers went missing in this very forest, Cam was part of the search and rescue operations. The story now in the pages of a book she carries: "Without a Trace" by John Lawson. Cam is almost certain that the body before her is from one of the missing hikers. She has committed those faces to memory, from a photograph in the book. It can't be, though, can it? This corpse looks fresh.

The group try and fail at communicating with the proper authorities, their satellite phone not working. Is up to Siena, should they turn back? Should they carry on? Not an hour goes by when they notice: the body is gone. Siena wants to continue...her research paramount. Soon they find themselves seemingly lost, their map no longer aligns with the trail.

Holden works as IT support at Caltech, his job simple enough: he has to inspect used hard drives, and back up whatever information might seem relevant, then wipe them clean. He comes across a corrupted hard drive, only a few files intact. One of the audio files, narrated by a Dr. Siena Dupont, talks about the Deadswitch expedition. The group just found a body...also, one member of the expedition is dead. Holden finds the whole thing interesting, a needed respite from his run of the mill life. When some of the corrupted files seem to fix themselves after a couple of days, laying out more clues, Holden is hooked. He needs to know more...

The story alternates between the main characters, giving flesh and voice to them. It also uses excerpts from John Lawson's book, making it all the more compelling.

S.A Harian does a great job at giving you small clues to the Deadswitch mystery, as if using an eyedropper. He also writes formidable characters, people you'll care about. People you'll root for, and want to see reach their goal, safe and sound.

This is a book I found hard to put down. The richness of the author's descriptions, the full-bodied characters, and a strange story with an eerie and, at times, terrifying atmosphere.

I'll be eagerly waiting for the next installment of Briardark, I wouldn't miss it for the world.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

This book was not to my taste, unfortunately. I found it muddled and more confusing than scary. I did truly want to love it! The premise is appealing, but the relationships between the characters were very puzzling--the situation didn't make much sense, and the story didn't seem to come together. There is some goods stuff here but it really needs one last heavy edit, cutting out a lot of it, to streamline the story. Sorry.

“Meet me int the Briardark, beneath a moon we will embark deeper till we’ve lost our way, until the sky turns bright as day. And then I’ll follow you way down, the moment we’re about to drown, we’ll meet a mother pure and gold, she’ll know our will and save our souls”

Wow! This book is a trip. I was expecting a wilderness expedition gone wrong. Instead we find new worlds, and Armageddon on the horizon.
Synopsis is a group trek into the wilderness to study a glacier, but find weird things on the way. And it gets weirder. Until they are trapped with no where to go.
I was confused at times by how many different perspectives/POV there are. And when you add in all the out of this world stuff, it makes it even more confusing. But I would read this again anytime. There’s adventure, drama, death, idiotic exes, and creepy monsters.
All in all, a great read. I can’t wait for this to come out!

I really enjoyed this book. The cursed location, the creeping dread, the growing madness and despair of the characters. However…

Major Spoiler alert…

Apparently, this book is first in a series, so there isn’t any kind of closure or explanation for what you’ve just read. It just ends with one of the main characters setting off on her own. Not a deal breaker, as it pretty much assured I’ll be looking for the sequel, but I did feel it ended rather abruptly.

I was drawn into reading this book because it seemed to summarise various but usually unconnected interests of mine such as hiking, gaming and, well, cosmic horror. The story itself is hard to summarise beyond the blurb without spoiling it since it read to me more like a journey than a story (thus far anyway, since it’s the first part of a series), somewhat like experiencing a wonderful hike itself. Except scarier, much scarier. That fear of catching yourself off trail, unwillingly thrust into the unknown and of the infinite possibilities ahead of you in that moment is captured well here and I ate up every second of it.

I was almost put off due to the multiple POVs written into it since I sometimes struggle through reading them when I connect more with some characters over others. I need not have worried about that since they’re extremely well written in a way that interconnects fabulously and kept me well engaged in not only the overall development of the story but all the characters themselves. They’re well fleshed out as the author slowly peels back their layers as I spent more time with them, feeling like real people whose safety I should care very much about.

The feeling I was left with after finishing was that I wanted more and that I wasn’t ready to leave yet, so hooking me into reading the upcoming 2nd book definitely worked, but it’s hard to shake off the disappointment of having to wait because I feel like we’re just getting started!

It’s obviously quite a personal passion project and I wish the author success, it’s a great book and you should read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is hands down one of the best books I’ve read this year (71 and counting). The story had absolutely everything I want in a book: shit going wrong in the woods, time discrepancies, cults, multiple timelines that supposedly come together, murder shadows, mental illness discussion that felt portrayed in a positive and informative light, LGBTQ characters; I mean, just everything. Even though it kind of starts off with three different story lines, you never revisit the first one with Avery so it doesn’t end up being confusing. I was trying to piece every thing together in my mind and I can’t figure out what the hell is going on and I LOVE IT. Did I almost throw my kindle against the wall when I realized I have to wait over a year for the next one? Sure. But dang, that gives me something to look forward! I can’t recommend this one enough. 5/5 stars.

I loved the setting this story started with. The way the beginning of the story starts of captured me and dragged me into the story. I didn’t expect that. Especially since I’m new to this genre of books. Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

This book is everything I hoped for. Creepy, chilling, mind bending, a plot that keeps you guessing what's going to happen next. I liked how it switched back and forth between Siena and Holden, as well as a few other characters. It was nice seeing how they were all reacting to the changing forest around them. But WHY did we have to get a cliffhanger?! I know it's going to be part of a series BUT I have SO MANY questions that need answered!!! Also, the whole thing with Isaac and finding the body in the trees disturbed me to my core.

I really enjoyed this, perfect spooky season read and I CAN'T WAIT to snag a physical copy and I can't wait for book 2!!

Science, logic, horror and the concept of time collide in Briardark, the first in a new series by S.A. Harian.

There are three intertwined stories here. The first is the mysterious disappearance of the Deadswitch Five, young women who vanished on a backpacking trip in the Deadswitch Wilderness. One, Avery Mathis, was an influencer and popular YouTube gamer. Curiously, the game that she was currently reviewing involved a woman trying to escape from a village surrounded by impenetrable woods.

The second story is Holden’s. An IT researcher, he is tasked with checking a box of discarded audio files before they are deleted. They tell of a doomed scientific expedition led by Dr. Siena Dupont to Alpenglow Glacier. He tries to contact her university for help but receives only a troubling response.

The journey made by Siena and her team dominate Briardark. Nothing on Alpenglow is as it seems and soon the possiblity of breakthrough scientific discoveries is eclipsed by the desire to escape from the mountain.

Briardark is creepy, chilling and makes you look over your shoulder hoping that nothing is there. Although I didn’t like the ending, it is still a 5 star read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Compass and Fern and S.A. Harian for this ARC.

I'm wavering between 4 and 5 stars on this... was going to give it five but the unfinished ending (this is apparently going to be a series) happens just as you're finally getting some answers and about to resolve some things. I understand wanting a hook for the next book but argh! I can't wait! I need to know what happens with Siena and Holden!

I've been on a kick lately of forest-y/earth-y horror, with this and before it [book:The Dark Between the Trees|60321148], [book:The Sacrifice|60190092], and [book:Mexican Gothic|53152636]. I'm lucky in that they've all been really enjoyable, to be honest, but I think I may like this one best of all.

S.A. Harian is clearly writing what she knows: the book is set on the west coast, partially in Oregon, where she is apparently from. One of the characters is also a YouTuber who plays horror games, like the author. I can't help but wonder if the author is also really into hiking or has experience in geology (or geo<i>morph</i>ology) because she also writes those characters very realistically. And the characters are one of the big draws - they all feel like real and unique individuals, and you really get to know them, even the smaller ones. I'm all about spooky settings and mysterious mysteries but without good characters they hold little weight.

But the author succeeds here too, because the mystery of the Briardark is fascinating and infectious. Like several of the other forest-y horror books I've read recently, this one also involves the concept of liminal spaces. It's a fascinating genre, almost cosmic horror in the confusion and inability to truly understand it... and I love cosmic horror. Without spoiling it, this story goes a step further, which peaks my interest even more.

I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Insidious, relentless, creepy, mind-bending, and chilling.

I’d say these words best describe “Briardark.” The first in a new series by S.A. Harian. I’m not sure how to classify this novel. At some points it’s a horror story, at others, it seems as though it is Science Fiction, then it turns to a survival story, it’s best to say, this novel is quite unlike what I’ve read in the past. The story is gripping, intelligent, and I can’t wait for the second book as we visit Briardark…

A group of women disappear on a backing-packing trip seven years ago in Deadswitch Wilderness. One of those women was a gaming influencer. Now, a group of scientists’ led by Siena enter the wilderness to study a glacier deep in the same wilderness called Alpenglow. One of the expedition members is Cam, who was in the first search for the missing women.

As they are traversing and traveling the wilderness to their destination, they happen upon a body, which looks like one of the missing women? How can that be? The body has not aged? And it’s been seven years? Soon after discovering the body, it disappears?

The expedition team reaches the base camp near the glacier they are studying and find that it’s melted? That’s impossible, right? The team notices that nature, trees, earth, and vegetation seem and feel sentient. It’s as though time and space are altered, and reality undulates.

At the same time, Holden, , who is an IT person listening to some audio files that he came across that involve the study and the wilderness.

As you probably realized, this story jumps between the expedition, mostly Siena, and Holden telling the story. Holden is looking for the group, and Siena is trying to figure it all out and survive.

This story is so much more than a mystery and horror story, the depth of the characters, the atmospheric wilderness, the feel of an insidious element. The story is dark, very dark. However, it is so very well written. I believe this book will appeal to horror, mystery, fantasy, and sci-if fans alike. I’m not a fan of the latter two, but in this book it worked so very well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC. All opinions are my own.

Sometimes gets a little confusing when I don’t know who is speaking. There could be a bit more “Siena said”, etc…
So much brand-name dropping all at once, you’d think the book is being sponsored.

Seven years ago five young women, one a gaming influencer, enter Deadswitch Wilderness for a backpacking trip and disappear. 

Now a group of scientists, Siena, Cameron, Emmett and Isaac, enter the same Deadswitch on a expedition to document and take samples from a glacier, called the Alpenglow. Cam had previously been in the search party for the missing women. 

On the journey up they find a body, it looks like one the missing women but that’s impossible as that was seven years ago and the body hasn’t aged, then the body disappears. 

There is a creeping dread to their journey and when they arrive at their base they find the glacier they’ve come to study has melted in a few days, which is impossible. The natural world around them, the trees, plants and vegetation feel sentient as if they are closing in around them, giving a feeling of claustrophobia. 

Meanwhile, Holden, an IT tech finds audio files from this study and links with a another scientist and his colleague, Angel to find out what happened to them as the files are disturbing, but things are not as they seem.

The chapters alternate between the Expedition and Holden’s group trying to find them as the story plays out. 

It is a really creepy and dark story. I love horror but this was chilling and scary in a really insidious way. The Briardark haunts Deadswitch and influences those that enter it, twisting their perception of time and reality. I loved every minute in this world! 

Honestly read this, it’s out on 16th Jan 2023,  it is horror, sci-fi, thriller, mystery and fantasy all rolled into one beautiful madness. It will scramble your brain but it’s a good scramble. Easy 5 stars!

This book has me questioning my own reality in a terrifying way. I am watching the clock and counting the mountains I have been staring at for 38 years.
I couldn't put this book down and I couldn't' sleep last night and all day I have been staring at stuff trying to make sure sure it looks like it should and maybe the author is a little bit evil.
I will recommend this to everyone, especially people I hate a little bit.

I will never get over this book.

During a career-defining expedition to Alpenglow glacier, Dr Siena Dupont and her team discover a body hanging from the trees. Then, the body mysteriously disappears. The disappearance isn’t the only odd thing going on though. Siena’s map no longer aligns with the trail, the glacier they were supposed to study has melted, and a tunnel within a tree hollow lures Siena to a hidden cabin. Will the team make it through the Deadswitch Wilderness? Or will the wilderness swallow them whole and leave them gone without a trace?

Briardark is dark, haunting and bone chillingly creepy. Using time and space, as well as new dimensions to help keep you on your toes. With multiple points of view, and different timelines, Harian weaves a beautiful web, creating a spooky read that is perfect for a night time read. This is a wonderful use of cover art to really give you a look at just the kind of book you a signing up for. If you are ready for a new dark series that keeps you guessing and hanging on the edge of your seat, add this one to your to read pile!

4.5 stars

This is exactly what I am looking for in a horror novel. It is perfectly creepy, and the setting and plot are just right. I really want more from this author now!