The synopsis for this book has me so excited but the execution wasn’t there. It was repetitive and it took me a long while to get into this book. It was missing the tension and suspense I was anticipating.

This book drew me in from the start and kept my attention until the very last page. Very supernatural and sci-fi sort of like a Stephen King novel meets Birdbox in a way. Overall it was a good and weird book.

I had to add this book to my “did not finish list”. It was really hard to get into to begin with. It also talks way too much about what’s happening with the dog, and what happened to a dog previous. I made it about 26% of the way through the book before I had to put it down.

This book took a little too long for me to feel much about it. Honestly, in terms of the horror genre, Downpour was just too little, too late for me. The whole story had a lot of promise. It gave off similar vibes to Stephen King’s The Mist, but again, it just wasn’t enough.

Scott, transfixed on his own childhood trauma, refused to leave the home he grew up in. Because of this his marriage suffered, he suffered, and unfortunately his children also suffered. Unable to cope with her husband’s lack of motivation to move forward in life, Scott’s wife, Dana, gave into a moment of infidelity that would destroy whatever was left of Scott’s trust or hope in life. Beginning so show signs of fully giving in, giving up, Scott is completely upended by the sudden presence of a looming rain cloud. Noticing before many others that this cloud will bring only terrible things, Scott’s newfound motivation is to protect his family at all costs. The rain slowly takes his family, one member at a time, when all that is left is him and his four year old daughter, Tallie, surrounded by the horrors that this rain has brought. In a moment of desperation to protect his baby, Scott runs head first into the rain, discovering that the horrors of his past are far worse than what he had even imagined. But none of that matters anymore. Not with the rain.

I wanted to love this book, but it just did not land with me. I found the writing frustratingly repetitive and that the story as a whole moved too slowly. It had some redeeming moments of that promised thrill to get your heart pumping, however those moments felt quickly severed but the unnecessary intrusion of a splinter in Scott’s palm that just would not go away.

This was a really great creepy story! This is a very dark story but it's exceptionally written and I would recommend it! Special Thank You to Christopher Hawkins, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

A down on their luck family has their lives upended by a singular dark cloud that turns out to be more malicious than anticipated. Questions start to arise: What is wrong with that cloud? Why won’t the rain stop? Why are those who were touched by the rain, acting differently?


The first few chapters of this book were reminiscent of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Living on a rural farm trying to get by while working through family drama. Soon we begin to see the father’s past demons infiltrating the present; once again reminding me of another great novel, Ania Ahlborn’s Seed. I was captivated by the father’s inner dialogue and the genuine love each family member had with each other.


Unfortunately, I found the book to be repetitive and slow moving. I was contemplating not finishing the story, but I stuck with it. Around the 60% mark, the story picked up pace. Overall, the story had dark and disturbing moments, but it never felt scary. 


Tremendous thanks to the author, Christopher Hawkins and NetGalley for allowing me to rate and review this book.

A sudden storm appears above an isolated farmhouse in rural Illinois, bringing with it a relentless and unnatural rain, a rain that eats away at everything it touches, a rain that turns people into monsters.

This was a good horror novel. Lots of creepy imagery and a sense of claustrophobia. Well done!

This book is one of the most heartbreaking stories I have read in my life, it is up there with early Stephen King books such as A Long Walk, and Cujo, and The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
It is outstanding, and it is going to stay with me for a while, It is also one of the very few books that I need to take time afterword’s to process it.

The writing is exceptional, with complex and relatable characters that you really feel for, it was tense and emotional and very hard to put down.

If you like to feel like a book has punched you in the gut, then I highly recommend this book.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.*

A quick, fun, thrilling read. Very tense. I highly recommend this for fans of thrillers or light horror.

(Posted to Goodreads)
A huge THANK YOU to NetGalley & Christopher Hawkins for my copy in exchange for this review! My copy was unedited and not finalized, so might differ from the released copy.

Downpour was just an “Okay” read for me. As an initial idea on vibe, I would describe this story as feeling very lowkey Stephen King/Jordan Peele/M. Night Shyamalan though sadly not on par. I was vibing with the introduction, but was almost immediately not vibing with the characters and the plotline sort of tanked from there. I think this highly disconnected me to the story and therefore, despite it being a quick read, it took me almost a month to push through it.

Frankly I think part of the disconnect is how shallow every character is. Scott is supposed to be our deepest, most complicated character. However, I’m not very sure who he is outside of his childhood traumatic experience(s) mentioned, and his current issue(s) with his wife/children. His character felt insufferable at times. While his attitude towards his family is justified to a slight degree, his complexes felt unjustified in relation to the few things we knew about him. Both Scott and Dana felt annoying, but since we live inside Scotts head through this story, we get mostly his POV on everything. I was seriously not buying all their drama despite what Dana might have done to deserve it in his eyes. Though honestly, I didn’t blame her for how she treated him. Scott just feels like a man-child. Scott logic is complaining the kids never listen to him, are scared of what he’s doing/how he’s acting, breaking their trust, etc. and then proceeds to not communicate what’s going on, yell at them to not do things with no explanation, and then call them ungrateful (in his head). If that’s how he was meant to come off, we as the reader needed more “in” on it. It wasn’t clear enough by the writing to know if all the characters were supposed to be unlikeable.

Dana’s believability was by far the worst. This was one of those books where I could tell the writer was a male within the first few pages. I kept waiting for something unnecessarily weird situationally to happen with her character with no real in world contextual reason (usually sexual), and for a moment I thought maybe he wasn’t going to fall into that. But he did by chapter 3. Her reasons for creating Drama in the plot were so unbelievable. I do not believe that a mother as attentive as her would ever give a shit about how old her car was or not being able to decorate a house. How superficial is that rational, that she’d create high stakes drama inside her family and jeopardize her relationships? And why does Scott put her on a pedestal all the same? <spoiler> To add to this, tell me why in a million years, she would decide stripping down to nothing in her yard with her kids just inside the living room (with access to windows) is ever something a mother would do? You have a pre-teen son and a 4 year old daughter. You know they’re right on the other side of the wall, listening to you hash your bullshit drama out with your husband, and your go to is to… strip? So that you can fight more about the rain or so we can get Scotts horny internal dialogue about her, yet again? I think it was supposed to be whatever the rain was doing to her, but once again, we as the readers were left in the dark. We have no concept of what the rain does yet, or how quickly people change. It just made it seem like she was being an idiot.</spoiler> It was pretty wild to read and I think I was actually slack jawed. She felt like a completely unrealistic female character, within the context of every other personal aspect attributed to her. What seemed to matter most was how much Scott missed “the old Dana” and being sexually intimate with her. I could see how, after finishing the book, Dana might make that choice. But I spend a long time still reeling from it. There had to be a better way to make it plot relevant, or make it make sense.

Another thing that factors into this unfounded drama is: No one talks to one another. Scott will be like “Rain is bad”, and Dana will immediately shut him down. “It’s just rain!”. And we do this, for 50% of the book or more. Scott has his internal dialogue reasons for not liking the rain, or complaining about something, etc. He’s piecing it together, and the son Jacob is the first to announce how weird it all is and provide actual content as to why. But even so, later in the book, Jacob is fighting to go outside into it despite everyone clearly seeing and knowing what it does. Jacob, of all people in this scene, should be the absolute last person to want to go out there. What is happening? What’s wrong with these people? Why isn’t Scott speaking up? He could have said “Didn’t you see what happened here? What it’s doing? Don’t you see/understand that X, Y, and Z happened because of it?” He never ever rationalizes why he’s doing anything, then gets butthurt when people are fighting him or scared of him. It just a bunch of yelling without any communication. I’ll admit though, he got very paranoid very quickly over no evidence that the storm was anything more than your typical rainstorm. If I was his family, and with his level of communication, I’d probably want to prove him wrong out of spite too. Side note: As stereotypical as Scott is, he didn’t know where to find batteries & thought about asking his wife where they were. If there’s things in the house guys usually know the location of, its tools and batteries. I just had a small chuckle at how unnecessary it was to add.

I eventually started to skim. There was so much stupidity in the way all the characters behaved and interacted with each other. It was frustrating. It made the plot very weak, and I didn’t care what happened to any of them besides maybe the kids, as innocents. There was also too much circulation in thoughts. Sometimes it would be whole pages of internal thoughts Scott was having about the same things he’d just been ruminating on pages before, but with no course of action or external dialogue. It felt like nothing was happening, and I was just reliving the same things I’d already learned about or the 1 childhood trauma from his past. There was nothing else to give weight to anything. Skimming was very efficient and needed often to progress in the actual plot. Nothing seemed lost by doing so.

The ending was hugely disappointing to me. I liked the revelation we got with Scotts main issue (I didn’t see that coming at all). However it felt like it lost its “oomph” in the specific situation he was in. I was confused during Scott and Jacobs argument. It wasn’t well articulated and there was no clarification who held the blame until Scott’s internal dialoguing later. I just plain didn’t like how it all concluded. It felt like I got 0 payoff for sticking around, and all the stupid arguments had no weight/meaning. <spoiler>Scott could have at least tried to do for himself what he did for Tallie. He could have tried literally anything. Maybe a board from his kitchen table? An old door, to sheild himself from the rain? Why in your right mind, after working so hard to preserve everything, would you knowingly attempt that without coverage or a plan for Tallie? What is a 4 year old going to do without you if she does survive? I think the point is that there was no point. That Scott was a troubled man and he couldn't escape his past, and let it eat him alive? Which is a fine concept. It just didn't work here.</spoiler>

So overall, 3 Stars for me. Some will definitely like it and be able to overlook my complaints with it. For me, character believability is huge and it was so hard for me to believe a lot of their reactions to each other and reasons for behaving how they did. It just wasn't realistic. I know, "it's science fiction it doesn't have to be realistic". Yeah, but it has to be understandable behaviors/sequences and it just wasn't. I am glad to have given it a shot but I am also glad to move on lol.

3.5 stars.

I found the idea of this story really intriguing - a family is trapped in their house by dangerous rain that corrodes and mutates everything it touches, and the rain is beginning to leak into the house.

It's a bit of a slow burn to begin with, and, unfortunately, I have to agree with other reviews here that there was a bit too much repetition at certain parts of the story, bringing the pace to a halt at times and breaking the spell of tension. But, when there are moments of action, it really is gripping.

I enjoyed the twists at the end and didn't guess them ahead of time. They felt like a nice way of rounding out the story and tying up some loose ends. I didn't mind that we never really find out what the rain is exactly, or how it got there or why, since the characters we follow never find out either, but I can definitely understand that that might bother some readers who want a little more conclusive ending.

I'm sure I'll think of this book the next time a rainstorm rolls over my house.

Thank you to Christopher Hawkins, Coronis Publishing, and Netgalley for my ARC of the book.

I love a Cursed Weather story and this one didn't disappoint! The body horror was grotesque (in a good way) and really painted a horrific picture. Hawkins really sat with the horrific and tragic scenes and forced the reader to experience them along with the characters, and the weird ending was perfect.

"Downpour" is an exhilarating and tension-filled rollercoaster of a read. With a family of four trapped in their farmhouse amidst a relentless downpour, the story is an intense, claustrophobic, and fast-paced thrill ride that kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put the book down, as I was gripped by the relentless suspense and the family's struggle to survive in the face of nature's fury. If you're looking for a gripping, page-turner that will keep you glued to your seat, "Downpour" is a must-read.

It's raining hard, coming down in buckets, you might say. But there's something unnatural about this rain. It has the power to change people into things you don't want to meet.

A family of four is trapped in their farmhouse while the rain pounds outside. The tension is nearly unbearable as the father struggles with the realization that he may not be able to save his family. This one is intense, claustrophobic, and well paced. You won't want to put it down.

This was super creepy to read, but I enjoyed the storyline. What if that storm you see in the distance wasn't just rain? The MC is relatable in that its a small town, a family farm, and a man stuck in rut of his ways. His marriage is falling apart, his kids are pulling away, and he is losing the one thing that has been constant in his life. Add onto that, a weird storm has appeared that is eating through metal & wood and turning living things into grotesque versions of themselves. I held my breath to see what would happen and I honestly didn't see the twist at the end. It came out of nowhere, but with a delicacy I didn't expect from the story. Definitely a good read for fans of horror.

A strange rain begins to fall and desintergrate very slowly everything it touches and have strange effects on humans and animals.
Those who get caught in the rain transform into volient outbursts and try to trick others out into the rain.

A man tries to save his family from this strange occurance but is that manageable? Some people would consider this as slow paced but it works to build a sense of atmospheric dread which it achieves by the end.

This was a wild ride. It took me a while to get into and was definitely a slow burn. Christopher Hawkins did a great job building tension and unease, and I think that's why it took me so long to read. I was uncomfortable, particularly as I read a lot of it on a rainy day in Illinois. The last 10% will haunt me for a while, it was dark and gave me a lot to think about.
Although it was short the pacing was a bit slow for me. It was hard to care about the characters and I think that's what made it hard to get into. However it worked to bring the gothic tension out.

This one started out a bit slow, but overall, I enjoyed it! Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it.

Overall, I found the book to be enjoyable. It had an eerie atmosphere to it that led you to constantly question what, exactly, was going on. The slower pace allowed you to start trying to guess where the story was going to go, what exactly was going to happen with the rain as the storm cloud drew nearer and nearer.

I did feel like the story could have been cut shorter a bit. It had a lot of introspection from the MC and a lot of reference to the past. It felt a little bogged down with it at times, but the ending sort of came into play with that.

The ending was not something that I saw coming. There were a few paths I thought the book could take and none of them actually happened.

3,5 stars

I enjoyed this and what made it even better, reading it when it’s cold and torrential rain outside. It made me shiver knowing that I had to let my dog out for a toilet

Thank you to Christopher Hawkins and Netgalley for giving me this e arc