Thanks to NetGalley for an arc of Eventide in exchange of an honest review. 
Genre: YA/Mystery/Horror

I requested this book ages ago and I kind of forget I did because it took around 5 or 6 months for my request to be approved. So, I was kind of surprised and excited to find it on my shelves. 

I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. Like, I liked the first chapters but I just couldn’t keep focused on the story, I felt the plot was a little bit slow-paced and I was definitely not in the mood to read it. However, I’ll give it a chance later on because I hope I like this story!

I was very interested in this book based on the synopsis. Unfortunately, for me, the world building and characters fell flat and did not keep my interest. DNF at 78% after several attempts to give it a fair shot for an honest review. I will not be sharing my thoughts/opinions on this title outside of NetGalley.

Eventide
Author: Sarah Goodman
Genre: YA Historical Fantasy
Rating: ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️ / 5
Reviewed: Maya

[Trigger Warning: death of a baby, death of a parent, mental illness, murder, sex-shaming,]

I went into this book not really knowing much about what it was and having zero expectations, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The writing style is so good, making the story very easy to read and creating the mysterious, page-turning atmosphere. The storyline was well-developed and it was clear that Goodman put a lot of planning into her novel. The blending of the genres was done so seamlessly, and reminded me of my love for historical fiction. The characters, especially Verity, were created so well and I was shocked to learn this book was a debut! The relationship between Verity and her younger sister, Lilah, was so powerful and I really enjoyed Verity’s journey of finding both her original family and discovering that blood does not determine family either. At some points, their sibling relationship seemed a bit too strong (i.e. unrealistic), but it did not affect the novel for me. My only complaint is that the book didn’t last long enough - I just needed a bit more at the beginning and ending, which would have made it 4.5 or even 5 star read. I would recommend this, especially if you want a thrilling mystery set back in the day.

4.5 ⭐

This was a really fun, historical horror read. I loved the feel of the story, reminisant of the movie "the ring" but in a totally different setting and with it's own twists. I highly enjoyed the characters. Verity is an amazing MC and I loved not only watching her grow into her own, but also her sense of adventure, her need to find out what was going on/what happened and her love story. The side characters were just as good. I loved that the romance was there, but it wasn't fully the main focus of the book. I loved the family secrets and the mystery. This is a book that will stay with me and I would enjoy reading again in the future. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

**3.5-stars**

In 1907, Verity Pruitt and her little sister, Lilah, arrive in Wheeler, Arkansas, aboard an orphan train. The girl's mother has passed away and their father, apparently suffering from overwhelming grief, has been committed to an asylum. With no family to take them in, the girls become wards of the state, in spite of the fact that Verity is close to turning eighteen.

When they arrive in Arkansas, it is clear that a family is already waiting for Lilah, but poor Verity will not be going with them. She does still luck out though, as an amazing family is willing to take her in and they live only a couple of miles from Lilah's new home. Of course, Verity's position is more as a farmhand initially, than an adopted child. She's okay with that though, a little hard work never hurt anybody.

As Verity settles in at her new home, enjoying her work on the farm and her new friendships, she discovers that something lurks in the woods surrounding the town. It's unsettling the things she sees as she accidentally ventures into the woods one night. As she works to uncover the truth behind the strange things she has seen and experienced, Verity begins to uncover some truths about her own family instead.

Goodman definitely succeeded at bringing a fun, creepy atmosphere to this historical fiction tale. I really enjoyed the setting and the cast of characters. Some of the plot was a bit too simple for my tastes, as well as slightly campy towards the end, but it was still a quick, enjoyable read!

I definitely recommend this to readers who like the idea of a creepy read, but they don't actually want to be scared.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Tor Teen, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. As a debut, this is impressive. I look forward to reading more from Sarah Goodman. I hope she stays in this lane. It works for her!

I truly love an atmospheric thriller. I just love them. So much.

This is the story of two newly orphaned girls, Verity who is 17, and her sister Lilah who is 11. After their mother passed, their father started to lose his grasp on reality. This ends up with him in an institution and both girls on an orphan train to Arkansas. Once they arrived Lilah was picked out by a wealthy family and Verity decides to do anything in her power to stay near her sister. She meets a wonderful couple who decide to hire her on as a farmhand. While there Verity starts to realize that her family might have connections to the area. 

This story takes place in the early 1900s and the way it is written you can feel that. The location itself, the history of the location, and the forest, and all the superstitions that are surrounding the area is perfect for this story. The build-up from the beginning, where you're dealing with Verity and her loss of family, all the way up to the end where she is starting to put together pieces of her family's connection to the area is fabulously done. 

I enjoyed every single second of this read. From the beginning to the end, the atmosphere, the buildup, the suspense, the anxiety of this read was so well done. Part of the time you are trying to piece together what is true and what is not. The whole time you are doubting where you thought things were going. It is just so wonderfully put together.

If this the way Goodman is going to continue to write stories, I am here for it. It was such a moody read. The way family is interwoven with this story from blood family to found family, I really enjoyed. 

There were some points in this story where some of the characters, because of how the story came together, didn't feel fully flushed out. They didn't have that opportunity. And there was a romance that sort of built up and quickly used as a plot device. The love triangle in this one felt extremely forced. I get why it was done because it did add to some of the anxiety of the story and the control of the story. It is just those two pieces were what made me question if it had to go that far. 

But as a whole, I enjoyed this story. It is a great thriller. I loved seeing it all come together and it is one of those reads that I just could not put down. I kept finding excuses to read more and more and here we are now. 

So do I recommend this read? Yes, I do. Do I want to see more from this author? Yes, I do.

A good debut!

I would like to thank Sarah Goodman, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

SPOILERS

This book was pretty good! It was paced and structured well, and while I didn’t particularly like Verity, she was a strong, independent character whom I certainly cared about and wanted things to work out for. I think what I mostly disliked about her was that apparently every time someone told her to stay out of the woods, she decided it was opposite day. That’s classic TSTL (too stupid to live) protagonist behavior. Other than that, though, she was a decent protag.

I loved that Hetty and Big Tom turned out to be sweeties, and Abel was an okay love interest. I’m not sure I liked Lilah much, but I’m not sure I disliked her, either; it’s hard to know how I felt about her when she was being manipulated up, down, and sideways.

I was tempted to kneel before Della, who never seemed to experience a negative emotion. No, that’s inaccurate; who never let her negative emotions poison her attitude. She was jealous of Verity and Abel, for instance, but she decided she valued their friendship too much to be bitter and angry, so she was happy for them instead. She also seemed fully aware that her dad was a jackass, yet she didn’t seem to hold it against him.

I had mixed emotions regarding Matthew. On the one hand, he had a good heart and wanted nothing but to help those he loved, but he was stymied at every turn. On the other, this entire book—their entire lives—could have been very different if he’d just found a way to speak with Mary after being lambasted by her father, instead of just running off to New York. He’d loved Mary soooooo much, yet turned tail the moment the going got tough? I wish he’d had more of a chance to redeem himself and get his head right; his fate was far from satisfying.

Miss Maeve was a pretty great villain. No—actually, she was excellent. I had major sympathy for her at the same time I hated and feared her. She was entirely a victim of people who were supposed to love her yet hurt her again and again by making decisions for her. Like Verity, I’m not sure I can blame her for going mad and becoming vindictive after she discovered she couldn’t die, that even that choice had been stolen from her. It’s no wonder she became somewhat power hungry. In the end, though, her demise was pretty satisfying, both because she had been defeated and because she had also been released from the cursed life she’d been leading. Yes, she was a very skillfully written antagonist. Probably the strongest element of the book.

I’m not sure how much purpose Jasper and—crap, what’s her name…the bitch who wanted to leave Wheeler so bad…his sister, at any rate—I’m not sure how much purpose they served, they seemed rather superfluous. Jasper more than his sister. Also, what point was there to Abel’s pregnant sister? That thread went no where and did nothing except perhaps demonstrate that Verity might have been a great doctor one day. The little girl ghost also didn’t seem to serve much purpose; I don’t remember her name, either. She helped guide Verity and Matthew to the well in the end, but other than that, her only other job was to be spooky and mysterious. I love me some spooky and mysterious, but not without purpose. Reminds me of a couple of the ghosts in Simone St. James’s Sun Down Motel. If any of the above had purpose that I was ignorant to, apologies and disregard.

Speaking of, Goodman did an okay job injecting the atmosphere with spooky and mysterious. It wasn’t keep-the-lights-on creepy, but she described some unnerving imagery, and I really felt Miss Maeve’s unhinged malice in the second half.

The magic-ish elements, such as the charms and the hollow? Meh. Not super fascinating, but they added some mystical to the spooky and mysterious, which isn’t a bad combination. A lot of it was rather cliche, though—the forbidden wood, the fog, a well (what the hell is it about wells?), a place of concentrated energy, even very loosely basing it all on Irish lore. The trapping charm was somewhat unique, though, at least to me, as was the concept that the charm combined with the well’s magic “sustained” Miss Maeve.

I think I understood the explanations for everything… Well, no, I still have questions. Why did Lizzie put a trapping spell on Mary? Why had she been so afraid of Mary going beyond a 15-mile radius? The reason was probably there and I missed it, because it would be really odd to not explain that—to not explain the one pivotal factor that turned Mary’s tragedy into a plot. Also, didn’t Matthew say something about evil taking two of his children and coming after the other two? Was that him being legit crazy, or again, did I miss something? Was the banker dude somehow responsible for the deaths of Elizabeth and the baby boy? Okay, so sorting fact from fiction is a bit tough, and some of the explanations are weak, but the biggest questions were answered.

Overall, this was a solid piece of work and a decent ghost story. Goodman could perhaps work on giving her leads a touch more charisma, strengthening the whys and hows, and making sure everything and everyone in the story serves a purpose within the plot.

Oh, and how beautiful is that cover art? Love it!

I loved this spooky YA historical fiction mixed with all the elements of a paranormal mystery type vibe that is set in Arkansas in the early 1900’s. 

Though, as much as I enjoyed it, I didn’t much care for the supporting characters. 

3/5 stars.

I liked this book and its eerie atmosphere and good characters. The characters were well-written and I liked them a lot. There was a bit of romance but it definitely wasn't a main focus. The descriptions and the flow of the writing really made this book great. The description and the writing created this eerie atmosphere that sucked me in and was suspenseful at some points. There was mystery and a spooky paranormal vibe to it and was like a YA, historical, fantasy thriller. I really enjoyed this and can't wait for more of this author!

Set in a small town in Arkansas, this story had some spooky mystery vibes and I was interested in seeing where things would go. However, something with the writing style just didn't gel with me - I think it felt like a lot of "telling" and not "showing". While things picked up part way through and I became more invested, it was still just an okay read for me.

3/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book!  Having read the book, I have to say that the cover is amazing and I think it is perfect for it. 

The main character is Verity Pruitt and immediately we find out that she and her little sister, Lilah, are orphans.  With their mother dead and their father going mad, they have been sent on a train to Arkansas with the hopes that they will be adopted.  While this is their situation right now, Verity has plans.  Her goal is for them to get adopted together and stay there just until she is old enough to take her sister back to New York so she can go to school. 

As you can guess, that isn't what happens.  Lilah is quickly adopted and that's when Verity realizes that this was always the plan.  What she also realizes is that if she wants to stay near her sister, she will have to indenture herself as a farm hand...which she does.  I honestly liked the family she was with more and even though she had to work day in and day out, I think she ended up with the better option. 

As the story progresses, it is clear that there is something weird about the town they now live in.  The woods have strange things happening in them, some of the people act a little off, and over a short period of time, Lilah begins to change.  As Verity tries to figure out what is happening and why she and her sister are involved in the weirdness, she and those she loves are put in danger.

I thought Goodman did a great job with building out the characters in this story and pulling me into their world.  From the second they got off the train, I couldn't stop feeling like something was going to go wrong and I wanted things to be ok for Verity.  I thought the way her relationship developed with Abel was done well and when the twist happens, my heart hurt for her.    

Overall, I enjoyed this book and if you're looking for a historical YA with a bit of a gothic feel, you should check this one out.  I'll be looking for more books by Sarah Goodman in the future.

An interesting and quick read. It's just that the development is pretty shallow. And the romantic element seemed unnecessary. We don't really have enough groundwork for magic. Until she goes to see the witch, it's all family secrets and a little superstition. Then we're suddenly thrown into trances, ghosts, and magic.

Started kind of slow but it packed a punch! Eerie and haunting! The characters and storyline were well written and kept you intrigued throughout!

I tried to get into this book. I even checked out some reviews when the story was falling flat for me and I still can't do it.  I am sorry this book is just not for me.

This was the perfect October read to curl up by a fire with. It had the spooky vibes, paranormal elements and mystery thY are what my heart wanted in a read. Definitely recommend this book!

This debut YA novel took on a lot. It's part historical fiction, part paranormal fiction, part ghost story with fantasy elements. 

After their father's mental health fails, Verity and her sister Lilah, who lost their mother nine years ago, are sent out on the Orphan Train. They get to a small town in Arkansas where Lilah is adopted by the local school mistress and 17 year old Verity has to scramble to find a family taking her in. 

As the story of Verity settling into her new situation on a farm bumbles on, secrets about the town and its inhabitants and her own family's past are slowly revealed. 

I liked Verity's character. She's strong and brave even when confronted with eerie situations, magical potions and the ghosts of the past. 

The pacing was a bit slow for my taste and first person POV is not my favourite either. All in all this is a solid debut and I am hoping to read more from Ms Goodman in the future.

This creepy stand-alone YA novel is perfect for curling up with on these cooler, darker days when you want to be creeped out by every little noise your house makes. It’s June of 1907 when Verity and Lilah take the orphan train west. Verity hopes that they will be adopted together, and when they don’t, she takes a job as a farmhand to stay close to her sister. Wheeler, Arkansas is as weird and sinister as the book cover implies, and I loved the small-town mystery plot.

Lilah and Verity find themselves on an orphan train to Arkansas in 1907. Lilah is adopted quickly by Miss Maeve, who is adored by the whole town. Verity goes with an older couple looking for help on their farm. Although happy for Lilah having found a loving home, Verity senses something is not right in the little town of Wheeler. Is it the creepy woods or the sad disappearance of Mary Mayhew almost 20 years before? It's amazing Eventide is the debut novel from Sarah Goodman. I can not wait for further from this author.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this so much! It has such a creepy feel to it. I loved the atmosphere of the town they lived in. Creepy small towns are something I live for! I thought the characters were super well written and the plot was just a mysterious masterpiece. I thought it was dark and creepy in the best way possible. 

It was so fun to piece everything together. It wasn’t easy to piece together, but you still were able to figure out everything before Verity and her sister did!

Overall, I found this book a great spooky read for October! I absolutely could not put it down. 

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Eventide is a young adult historical fantasy thriller by Sarah Goodman. I really enjoyed the creepy atmosphere of this book, and I also enjoyed that it is a standalone novel. Perfect to pick up this fall or winter when you are looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat while reading it. The book starts with our main character and her sister being sent on a orphan train to a small town, and things get weird from there. I loved all the spooky secrets and the small town in the middle of no where setting. It all added to the atmospheric reading experience. Eventide is a book that will satisfy readers looking for a good young adult thriller/suspense story. This one was actually spooky and is perfect for the Halloween season. 

In Eventide we meet our main character, Verity and her younger sister Lilah. When their father goes crazy, her and her sister are orphaned and sent on an "orphan train" to rural Arkansas. There her younger sister quickly gets adopted by 17 year old Verity does not. In an attempt to try and stay close to her sister, Verity picks up work at a nearby farm, and that is when some weird stuff starts happening. A lot of it is centered around the woods that seem to have a mind of their own and a well at the center of the woods. But the people in the town are weird too, and as I was reading I was super excited to figure out just what was going on in this town. I know one thing is for sure, I do NOT want to visit the town of Wheeler. The fantasy/supernatural elements in the book are there but they do not overpower the story. I would say the main focus is on the town itself and Verity peeling back the mystery and secrets it keeps. I liked that the mystery plot progressed rather slowly because it added to the overall spooky tension I felt while reading Eventide. It was really well done! 

Bottom line: Readers that love creepy atmospheric reads set in a small town setting, will devour Eventide. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great and the plot was mysterious, kind of dark and just the right amount of creepy. I am still trying to decide if I liked the ending or not, but I think I have decided that I do like it because it fits with the tone of the story. Once you have read the book, come back here and let me know what you think of the ending and book overall! 

3.5/5 stars