I usually like horror reads and I do like the authors alternate take on fairy tale retellings, but The Ghost Tree was a little lackluster. I found the worldbuilding she created to be adequate and the mystery to be uneventful. The characters were mediocre and leaning towards “I couldn’t care what happens to you”. Overall, The Ghost Tree was a very unexcitable and non terrifying horror read.

It was so nice to see a coming of age story with a female protagonist! This was a quick read because I was invested in the main character’s journey and couldn’t put it down. There were some twists that I didn’t see coming, as well as some that I did. The final full reveal was well done.

An interesting title from Christina Henry; I suppose it fits into the horror category. It felt a little teenaged to me, some aspects of the story felt a little juvenile. Not my favorite but certainly not bad.

Something is very wrong in Smiths Hollow. The story begins a year after Lauren's father was murdered. Now the torn-apart bodies of two teen girls have been found in a backyard that connects with the very same forest.

Alex Lopez and his family have only recently moved to Smiths Hollow after he was hired on to the miniscule local police force. It was Alex and his partner who were the first to be called to the scene of the murdered teenagers. He was both shocked and appalled at the horrific violence. 

The first order of business was to try to identify the girls. Next up, they needed to determine who murdered and mutilated them, and WHY?

As the story unfolds, secrets are revealed and a conspiracy seems to be taking place in Smiths Hollow.

The bodycount continues to rise, and it becomes more and more apparent that something very sinister is taking place in the small town.

This is the perfect book to pick up today since it is Halloween and spooky stories are the order of the day.

In addition to the main plot, there are several subplots including one that speaks to a major problem facing the current populace of the United States - that of racism - both overt, and systemic.

I enjoyed reading THE GHOST TREE and I recommend it to those who like a bit of spookiness alongside their mysteries. Like I said, this a perfect book to begin reading on this Halloween night.

I rate THE GHOST TREE as 4 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.

FAVORITE QUOTE:

"Yes, there was something very wrong in Smiths Hollow. And Alex needed to find out what it was before it disappeared from his memory, too. Before he forgot about the girls who'd called to him in dead voices. Before whoever - or whatever - cut those girls to pieces did it again."

The Ghost Tree is, first of all, not a ghost story. It has no ghosts to speak of, but it does have witches and curses and a mysterious dark power that terrorizes the town of Smiths Hollow.
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The book started out slow but picked up speed fairly fast, and the mystery element kept me reading. There's a fair bit of blood and gore here, but I'd still call this soft horror. It won't give you nightmares but still a more than decent story.
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The book isn't listed specifically as YA, but it definitely is, full of teen angst and body drama and relationship issues. As long as you can look past that (and good news, there's less of it as the story progresses), this is a good little supernatural thriller.

Fans of Stranger Things will love this horror novel set in the 80s. It would be a good crossover for adults and older YA

If you’re looking for a creepy book this October you have found it. This book is told in multiple points of use. And it’s a rather spooky/entertaining read.

I went in to this book completely blind I loved the cover thought it was rather perfect for this time of year so I read it. I recommend that you do the same. I don’t read a review don’t look at them just go and read the book.

I truly enjoyed this novel and was really impressed with its ability to transport the reader into the 80's and take them on a journey through a literary horror concept that was intriguing and didn't hold back. I loved that, while there were some elements of the novel that have been seen before, this book truly felt like a fresh take and a new adventure to experience.

This novel had great character development, with multiple viewpoints that really added life and body to the story. While it made for a slower read, it was easy to digest and understand. I felt like I could totally picture the community and its residents wholly in my mind and loved how true to the era the author kept the book from start to finish.

The only downside for me was that I figured out the mystery somewhat early on but, for some reason, I was having such an enjoyable time reading this book that it didn't really annoy me at all. I simply wanted to see how everything ended up playing out in the end and was quite pleased with how it did.

This was a bit of coming-of-age mixed with ominous small town curse vibes. And with small towns, we get the annoying old woman of a bigot, layers of secrets that span generations, teenagers coming into their own and, of course, the town fair!

As a city girl, I always imagine I'll somehow end up in the country one day married to a strapping man in a small town where everyone knows each other, for better or worse and just happily sitting on the porch of my little house just content as can be.... and then I read a lot of horror and thriller novels and I'm pretty sure I'm just not safe living anywhere - and most definitely not in a small town. Smiths Hollow already sounds like it could be a creepy town.... and it most certainly is.

While what is happening to the girls of Smiths Hollow is pretty gruesome, I never found any part of the book to be scary in the least. Now, there are definite foreboding and ominous moments, but overall I felt like this was much tamer than I had expected it to be. That being said, I enjoy this type of story. You can't help but fall in love with David. Never have I ever met such a calm and patient kid. And I truly loved the backstory that we get in Part II which is where we as readers start to understand what the hell is going on in town. Blessed be.

Definitely a fun read for Spooky season so grab this one as your aperitif for Halloween. If you like stories/movies like The Lottery and Population 436 or the Scarecrow episode of Supernatural, this should satiate your creepy needs.

I'm a huge fan of this author! This is my first work by her that's not a dark retelling. For me, this was a bit of coming-of-age mixed with ominous small town curse vibes. And with small towns, we get the annoying old woman of a bigot, layers of secrets that span generations, teenagers coming into their own and, of course, the town fair!

As a city girl, I always imagine I'll somehow end up in the country one day married to a strapping man in a small town where everyone knows each other, for better or worse and just happily sitting on the porch of my little house just content as can be.... and then I read a lot of horror and thriller novels and I'm pretty sure I'm just not safe living anywhere - and most definitely not in a small town. 😉 Smiths Hollow already sounds like it could be a creepy town.... and it most certainly is.

While what is happening to the girls of Smiths Hollow is pretty gruesome, I never found any part of the book to be scary in the least. Now, there are definite foreboding and ominous moments, but overall I felt like this was much tamer than I had expected it to be. That being said, I absolutely LOVE this type of story. You can't help but fall in love with David. Never have I ever met such a calm and patient kid. And I truly loved the backstory that we get in Part II which is where we as readers start to understand what the hell is going on in town. Blessed be.

Definitely a fun read for Spooky season so grab this one as your aperitif for Halloween. If you like stories/movies like The Lottery and Population 436 or the Scarecrow episode of Supernatural, this should satiate your creepy needs.

Though perhaps not as gripping as THE GIRL IN RED, Henry's storytelling is a compelling and immersive as always in THE GHOST TREE.

I enjoyed this cursed small town story set in the 80s. Spooky with deep secrets and a very selective memory, I loved the different perspectives that the story offered and the fast pace of it.

In The Ghost Tree, our protagonist is a 15 year old girl, Lauren. Her father passed away in the winter and in the summer of 1985, she is struggling at home and with friendships – the classic life of a teenager!

Apart from Lauren, there are a number of other characters in the book – a police officer and his family, an old lady who lives across from them and holds some very serious racist views. We also meet Miranda, Lauren’s best friend who has an evolving interest in boys. The mayor of the town and Lauren’s mom and brother, David (sweetest person in the book!!!), are an integral part of the story. This sounds like a lot of characters, right?

Here’s one of the best things about The Ghost Tree – with the multiple points of views, it’s like watching a movie. While something shows up in one character’s side, we learn more about the timing and significance of the event when the next chapter begins. We rotate through the character’s perspectives one by one and I really liked how they were connected. I felt like I got to know so many people in the town and that is part of what a small town book should do, in my mind. The reader should feel like they know the community.

I learned a lot about the town and the key players in this through the characters. The town’s connection to witches is explained in the second part of the book and I felt that it justified the annual events quite well, giving the town a much older feel too. There is a lot of pain and grief hidden away in the town, things that no one is supposed to remember.

See full review on Armed with A Book.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing me a complimentary review copy via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry is set in the 1980s and follows the small town of Smith's Hollow and the aftermath of the murder of two girls near the woods. Lauren is 14 years old and has always felt connected to the woods and in particular the 'ghost tree' that had been struck by lightning, even though it is where her father was found murdered the previous year with his heart missing. The story follows many of the town's residents as they come to terms with the new murders and how the monster in the woods might not be content to stay in the woods any longer. The characters in this book are so well developed that they felt like people you knew which is sometimes hard to achieve in a book with at least 6+ different narrators. This book felt like a new twist on a more Stephen King style of horror that had a much more feminist twist and focus. While I haven't read much King, I never liked his portrayal of women in the little of his that I have read and Christina Henry gave Stephen King vibes while also showing strong and well developed female characters that weren't just there as objects. I really enjoyed this book and it will definitely be a book I recommend to a multitude of readers, not just those interested in horror. Henry's writing style is interesting and made a somewhat long book seem to fly by. Some parts felt a little slow and unnecessary but while reading I didn't really notice as I was so invested in the town and the various characters.

I will recommend this book to any reader and I will definitely check out any more of Henry's horror books - and possibly a sequel? The ending did leave an opening for a continuation of the story and these characters. This will be an easy handsell right now as it fits perfectly in with the October/Halloween spooky stories that people want to read at this time of year.

The Ghost Tree is such a wonderful witchy read perfect for the upcoming Halloween season. A small town is shaken by the gruesome deaths of two girls that nobody seems to know. Lauren is still dealing with the death of her father the year before, yet the people in the town seem disinterested in investigating these crimes. There’s something wrong in this small town and its dark woods.

The story is told from multiple perspectives which is effective in building the mystery and structuring character relationships. Many of the characters were one dimensional and either very innocent or disgustingly bad. There is no in-between and I really wish that there would have been more depth to some of these characters, they seemed like caricatures of common horror movie tropes. The setting takes place and in the 80s and the story is very intent of reminding the reader of that constantly with an abundance of pop culture references that became tiring very quickly. The 80s are fitting for the story, however, the major story beats remind me of the type of Halloween stories I grew up watching or reading in the 80s and early 90s.

The pacing and the town setting are good, and I felt excited the more that the mysteries of the town were unveiled. There are some genuinely chilling and gruesome moments in the story that made me pause. There was a surprising amount of sex and gore in this novel for a book where the main characters are rising high school freshmen. Overall a good page-turner that will delight readers who enjoy 80s horror flicks.

I own all of Christina Henry’s books but this is the first I’ve read from her.
I was not disappointed, I really enjoyed The Ghost Tree.
It was creepy, atmospheric, there were small town secrets set in the 80s. There were some witchy elements and talk of curses.
It has made me so excited to pick up more from her, all her book premises sound so intriguing.
This was definitely a great pick for the upcoming spooky season!

It's been a year since Lauren's father was found dead in the woods near Smith's Hollow and things have not been easy. Lauren and her mother don't get along and her younger brother, always reserved, seems to know things that he can't possibly know.

But when two girls are found dead just a few houses from Lauren's, things go from bad to worse. Lauren sees something in the woods, a monster she thinks is all her own imagination. But she soon finds that she's able to follow the monster's trail. More surprising, though, is the town's history of dead girls. A history only a select few seem to be able to recall at all. Lauren doesn't want to believe it, but she can't deny the things she and her brother have seen of late. But can she solve the mystery before Smith's Hollow loses more young women?

Fall is certainly in the air and while I crave horror year round, this time of year makes the craving all but impossible to deny! Plus, I can always make room in my reading for an 80's-based horror :)

And that's exactly what Christina Henry's latest is!

Smith's Hollow is a small town with a main street, an annual fall fair, and a chili factory that provides most of the jobs. But people are happy there. In fact, even those who do move away always return. They have everything they need. And, if they can't find something in Smith's Hollow, they can always head over to the new mall in the next town over.

Things pretty much kick off with two horribly mutilated bodies. David, Lauren's brother, tells his mom that their neighbor is screaming. But they're all the way in town doing their shopping when he says this. Sure enough, they return home to find that the bodies of two unknown teenage girls have been found in that very neighbor's yard.

But strangely, the fervor you'd expect as a result of such a case is missing. The newest cop on the force notices it. Even an out of town reporter notices. And it certain gets Lauren's attention.

Lauren misses her father. She has a strained relationship with her mother. And even her best friend is drifting away from her. All she really wants to do is spend time in the woods the way she and her friend used to. This in spite of the fact that her own father was found dead in those very woods. And yet, Lauren has always felt comfortable there. And yet, those woods are also where she finds her first clue about the town's dark history.

This book is so 80s! And I love it!

Lauren disappears regularly into the woods, rides her bike down to the arcade, basically roams the way kids did when I was young. Which works great because it's only in this roaming that she's able to dig into the mystery none of the adults seem all that concerned about.

As mentioned above, she and her mother have a pretty bad relationship. This was hard to read at times, considering the grief they're both feeling. Henry does a wonderful job with these characters and really getting the reader inside their heads (and hearts!).

The Ghost Tree is certainly a break from Henry's most recent works, plays on Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc. It's gory and fun, everything I want in horror!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun and spooky read for the season. Reminded me a bit of Stephen King’s The Outsider, but a much quicker and less heavy read. The plot was chilling and I enjoyed the young protagonist’s POV. Well done!

Lauren DiMucci lives in Smith’s Hollow with her mother, Karen, and little brother, David. Odd things have been happening in the town for a long, long time. Like her father had been found near the ghost tree a year before, his heart torn out. And yet, Lauren feels peaceful and comfortable in the woods near the ghost tree, unlike everyone else. Her best friend, Miranda has been going a different direction than her and getting boy crazy. Meanwhile, Lauren is not interested in boys and rides her bike everywhere, well almost not interested, until an older boy shows interest in her and she realizes she might be interested in him as more than a longtime friend. But then she learns of a neighbor, the widow Mrs. Schneider, who discovers bloody parts of two dead girls. This is just the beginning of terrible murders like this, that people seem to forget, except a new policeman, Alejandro “Alex” Lopez, who begins to research through files in the basement no one ever goes to.

A Y.A. horror novel that isn’t just about a normal serial killer, but a monster, curse, and witches, seemed like a modern day fairy tale and was interesting and dark. But unlike fairytales of the past, we have complex human problems of teenagers and adults, with a special little boy who seems to know what is happening. So, if you enjoy fairytales, the paranormal, magic, and scary monsters, and don’t mind some teenage angst thrown in, The Ghost Tree will fill the bill for a great autumn read.

Memory can be a cruel thing, but it’s also the only way to right the wrongs of the past and try to heal old wounds. A sprawling tale of murder, magic, and grief set in 1985, Christina Henry’s new horror novel The Ghost Tree exposes the greed, hate, and cowardice that lie at the heart of so many towns in America. It also holds out hope for a better future. The book tries to tie together several disparate storylines and themes, and though I’m not sure it all holds together in the end, it’s an intriguing look at the evil that lies underneath the surface of your average American town.

Smiths Hollow, a prosperous small town just outside of Chicago, is an odd place. There’s no crime there…except for the grisly murders of teen girls that seem to happen with troubling regularity. The townspeople don’t take much notice of the murders, though, and they keep going about their lives without any worries so long as the local economy stays good. Though the book is rarely overtly political, it certainly has a lot to say about how much people are willing to ignore in order to uphold the status quo (as long as the status quo benefits them personally, of course). It’s no coincidence that young women are deemed the most disposable, especially young “troublemakers” who do things like disagree with their parents or explore their sexuality.

The most pointed political statements usually regard the way that Officer Lopez, a Chicago transplant new to the Smiths Hollow police force, and his family are treated by a town that’s 95% white. At one point they’re even threatened by a group of “concerned citizens” wielding tiki torches, which of course immediately reminds the reader of the white nationalists who terrorized Charlottesville while holding the exact same symbol of suburban racism. It’s a calculated narrative choice that ties our current political climate in with the bigotry that the Lopez family face in 1985, which is inextricably linked with the town’s founding many generations ago. Smiths Hollow is not a place that looks kindly on “outsiders,” especially those that ask too many questions about the town’s bloody and brutal history.

It’s difficult to summarize the plot without giving too much away, because the story is an intricate and sometimes messy web of secrets and forgotten sins. It moves quickly, propelling the reader forward to find out what happens next despite the fact that there are few surprises to be found. The Ghost Tree is a tale of generational guilt, the evil effects of greed, and the lengths that people will go to in order to avoid grief or shame. It’s also an eerie and bloody story about mysterious killers and the secrets that you can never keep buried. While it’s an enjoyable read, it can’t quite reach the horrific heights it aims for or find a way to tie all its thematic interests together into a cohesive statement.

3.5 Stars
The Ghost Tree a creepy story with some magical elements, but I think this was more a coming of age story than a scary one. It felt like a Brothers Grimm sort of scary fairy tale with a curse, witches, and several gory murders. The town of Smiths Hollow doesn’t seem to register these murders for longer than a day or two.

The story is told from several points of view: Lauren an almost fifteen-year-old whose father was murdered less than a year back; a grisly murder with his heart cut out in the woods bordering the town. Yet, Lauren isn’t afraid in these woods and still longs for the days when her and her best friend Madison would meet and play at the Old Ghost Tree. Lauren and her friend Madison on in the between stage of adult and young teen, and with that transition these two best friends are growing apart. Madison’s focus is boys, hair and makeup, a pretty unlikeable, selfish character as she spent most of the book annoyed with Lauren for not going along with her plans. Lauren for her part has had enough of Madison’s bossiness.

However, Lauren’s growing concern over her relationship with her best friend takes a back seat when two girls are found murdered, an event that has magical repercussions for Lauren and her little brother David.

I liked Lauren’s burgeoning romance with Jake and her relationship with her little brother, David. Lauren’s mother also had a POV and she was unlikeable until the very end IMO. There’s a few more POVs, one I didn’t really care for: Mrs. Schneider a hateful bigot of an old lady, and then one I did like a lot: Officer Alex Lopez, a newer resident to Smiths Hollow, there with his family for a better life away from the city. He’s not as affected by the curse as the old-time residents of Smiths Hollow and therefore latches onto the mystery of the murdered girls.

I loved Christina Henry’s The Girl in Red and so I was excited to pick up The Ghost Tree. The Ghost Tree was an entirely different kind of story. It gave me a Stranger Things kind of vibe, maybe because that series is very centered on teenagers in the ’80 (same here) with weird things going on. It was an entertaining read, but I didn’t love it as much as TGiR. The story dragged for me in a few places, and I was wondering a few times where the story was going. Still, I enjoyed the story overall, and I think it would make a good creepy read for the coming Fall/Halloween season.