This was an odd book, one that left me feeling very unsettled and uncomfortable. Ada and her father are healers, but not healers in the traditional sense. They come from the ground, the earth, and the way that they heal is by using that ground to make people whole again by burying them in it for as long as prescribed. This was not an enjoyable read, but an interesting one.

Gorgeous and mesmerizing, Follow Me To Ground is a short book that packs a hell of a punch.
Although the story's setting is never stated, it reads to me like central or southern Appalachia, as seen through a lens somewhere between Weird Fiction and Magical Realism.

I tore through this book, and then had to think about it for a long time. One's own immediate reactions cannot be trusted here, with characters and motivations so complex that they require deeper reflection. Is Ada good, bad, or neither? Is she a reliable narrator? Beyond the pure enjoyment of its great writing, I don't think any two readers will have the same experience of this book -- and that is a beautiful thing.

DNF this one as it did not hold my interest. Would come back to it from time to time but eventually decided to stop.

This was...weird, in a way that settles under your skin and gives you goosebumps. I'm not quite sure what to make of this book, which clearly longs to be dissected for metaphor and allusion, but ultimately doesn't seem to be quite certain what point, precisely, it is trying to make. I enjoyed the creepy undertones, the hints at disturbing relationship dynamics, and the elements of body horror, and the book is a quick, enjoyable read, but I just don't know that I really...got it? I didn't dislike it, but I feel like it needed to be a bit more concrete in its conclusions. On the plus side, the writing is fantastic; I mean, it is absolutely visceral, and it grips you and pulls you into the story in a way that the plot and characters never manage.

Oddly, this reminded me a lot of The Library at Mount Char, only with more of an experimental, literary bent.

This is definitely a me problem rather than this book problem. I might give it a re-read one day and change this review/rating but for right now this is it. This book is written as magical realism which is either hit or miss with me. It's a weird little book, with some shocking moments, but for the most part I found myself uninterested, often putting it down to read something else. Perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood for a book written in this particular style. The cover was stunning, and I will definitely give the author a second try later on.

Ugh. I have tried so many times to get through this book, but I just can't do it. I always put it down and never come back. I really wanted to like it, but unfortunately I don't and won't be recommending it to my readers. =/

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for sending me this arc. I will be reviewing this book.properly in the near future with an honest teview.

Ada and her father have the power to heal illness. They live in isolation on the edge of a village where they help sick locals—or “Cures”—by opening their damaged bodies or temporarily burying them in the reviving, dangerous Ground nearby. Ada is mostly uninterested in the Cures, until she meets a man named Samson, with whom she strikes up an affair, much to the displeasure of her father and Samson’s widowed, pregnant sister. Divided between her old way of life and new possibilities with her lover, Ava eventually comes to a decision that will change Samson, the town, and the Ground itself forever.
This book is very good, but it's not one of the greatest on my list. That being said, it's far from lackluster and readers that enjoy fiction with just the right dash of fantasy, will probably like this one.

I have tried to read this one on several occasions now, and each time, I am just dumbfounded. What in the actual world is going on this book?! This is a DNF for me. It may be a short read, but I just can't wrap my head around the craziness that is taking place.

This book is weird, dark, and evocative. It gives the impression of being a long-forgotten Grimm's fairy tale, but modernized for our new sensibilities. The writing style is lyrical, and every word has been carefully chosen to produce an image in the reader's mind. At times it's unsettling, but it is also compelling. Whenever I had the chance to pick it up, I didn't want to put it back down. It was definitely more literary than I was expecting, but it wasn't overly weighty. It's a fairly short read, and well worth every second.

When I finished this book I wasn’t sure if it was weirdly intriguing or intriguingly weird. But either way I so enjoyed this feminist tale using a myth-like scenario to explore the female body, sexuality, and desire.

I will be recommending this book to others and I look forward to reading more by Sue Rainsford in the future.

*This book was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own and do not reflect the views of the publisher or the author

Quick Takes: In this story of magical realism with a touch of body horror, Ada and her father have magical abilities which they used to heal illnesses by physically breaking open the bodies of the Cures or burying them in the ground outside their home. Ada cares little for The Cures until she falls in love with Samson. There are various point of views that discuss Ada and her father’s activities with Ada and Samson’s affair at its center.

What I Loved: I listened to this one on audio and the narration is fantastic. Going into this book I knew full well that it was full of body horror and it lived up to that promise. There were definitely plenty of squeamish moments and I was fascinated by how the magic system worked and grotesque and visceral many of the scenes were. Honestly, as someone who loves body horror, it was what restrained me from giving this one a lower rating.

What I Didn’t Love: I listened to a podcast recently that talked about weird fiction and the whole time I was listening to it I couldn’t help but think how much I love those kinds of books. But then I read books like this that seemed to fit the category and it just doesn’t land for me for whatever reason. I just wasn’t invested in the characters and I don’t know if it was because of the journalistic style narration, with individuals commenting on situations like they are being interviewed.

What if you are a teenager, but not really a teenager. You have been alive for centuries and you and your father are healers. I’d almost classify them as witchdoctors. As a reader it was a struggle for me to read about characters with so little depth, but in this fantasy, Ada and her father are removed from many of the features of human personality. Ada is in love, but how does she deal with being in love with a human. I am too much of a realist to fully appreciate this book that to me almost seemed a horror story. But like all good books, it gave me a lot to think about as to choices we must all make in our lives.

Review of Follow Me To Ground

The story focuses on a girl named Ada and her father who are healers. They heal in an usually way, by opening up their patients, called Cures, taking out their ill organs, draining the sickness out and the sickness goes elsewhere. During the healing process, the Cures are put into Ground, which is also where Ada and her father come from. At some point, Ada falls for a regular human and she discusses the ways he makes her feel as a girl becoming more in touch with her womanhood, physically and emotionally. Events occur that have her faced with a decision to choose her lover or continue her path as a healer. It was slow for me to get into reading but as I kept reading, I wanted to know more of what was going to become of Ada. I received a copy as an e-galley/ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so incredibly bizarre but I couldn't put it down. Well done, I'm really glad I gave it a try.

Follow Me to Ground is quite possibly the most bizarre book I have ever read! Its weird and disturbing yet I was totally intrigued by it. I'm honestly not sure what I just read! Ada and her Father are healers in a remote village - people come to them to be cured. They put them to sleep- temporarily enter their body and they may pull out your organs and sing your ailment away. They might even bury you in the ground for a few days before you are healed. It is certainly a unique, original storyline and I liked the writing style and the cover is so amazingly beautiful. I started reading and it just absolutely sucked me in and I couldn't quit reading.

This book was all kinds of weird and disturbing but in a way that was super intriguing. Ada and her father are healers, not quite human but that have taken on human forms. In order to heal, they have the ability to literally open people up or reach into them to remove the sickness (lots of people have described this as super gross, but I found the descriptions tame). The story is told from Ada's point of view, alternating with very short interludes of people from the town describing experiences with Ada and her father. Throughout the book, Ada is striving to be human and in the process falls in love or lust for a human man, Samson. She has to decide whether to abandon Samson or try to heal him, and either choice will change the course of her life forever. Regardless of the path she chooses, this is not a traditional love story...

There is not strictly a plot, but instead a series of stories that move chronologically. Rainsford's prose is lyrical and and sparse, leaving much to the imagination. By the end of the book, some questions are answered but others are purposefully left vague and open to the reader's interpretation. I loved the world that Rainsford created, twisting a fairytale-like premise with something darker. I would not describe the story as pure fantasy but rather a form of magical realism. It worked well as a novella but I also didn't want to leave the weird world that she has created. I read this in one day because I couldn't put it down. I look forward to reading more of Rainsford's writing.

I really wanted to love this one. I read the synopsis and thought this one is right up my alley but I ended up getting lost in all the details. I will say that the book cover is absolutely gorgeous.

This certainly is a strange little book... I am not even sure where to begin with reviewing it, to be honest! I think that this would be a great book to discuss with a book club or other discussion group. It's certainly fascinating and different from anything that I have read before! The main character, Ada, and her father live in the outskirts of a town near a special sort of Ground where they use its powers on the mortal folk of the town to the heal their ills. But Ada and her father are not mere mortal folk...

This book has a sort of a fairy tale-like feel to it, but it's very, very different with a lot to unpack, especially in the ending. It's very well-written and I love the imagery that Rainsford uses. I could see this being a book to re-visit over the years, as I think with each reading, a reader may gain different insight. And I definitely think that there is a lot for readers to discuss here, from the odd relationships, the magical natures of Ada and her father and of course, that ending!

There was a time when I was really into magical realism like this woven into literary fiction, so this made me feel a bit nostalgic. I read this in just about one-sitting and can't wait to talk about it with fellow readers!

3 1/2 stars.

So...my first reaction at completing this book was "WTF did I just read?". I had to go back and reread the last 10 or so pages because my mind was at such a loss. The reread didn't help all that much...I'm still so terribly conflicted and confused.

I have never read anything quite like Follow Me to Ground. This book is creepy, dark, and weird. Seriously weird. But I was REALLY liking it for a good majority of the narrative (partially because of the creepy oddball factor). The layout was equally strange and unique with writing that was both very atmospheric and at the same time limited in scope, making it feel like I had blinders on as a reader. Still...the narrative is flowing and beautiful in it's own dark way.

Follow Me to Ground is a case where the ending unwound quite a bit of enjoyment for me. The book was on track for at least a 4 star rating, if not a 4.5 until the last little bit. I enjoyed the darkness, felt substantially disturbed by the actions in the plot, and liked the writing, but the ending just left me so confused and feeling like I ended on something of a cliffhanger. Regardless...I will admit that it is sticking with me hard and I am looking forward to seeing what Rainsford has in store for her next novel, due out later this year.