Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. The start of it was very good but I lost interest. When I read the synopsis I was very intrigued and excited, but it just wasn’t the book for me. Thank you for letting me read this!

Thank you NetGalley and BHC Press for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review! I wanted to love this book. So bad. Described as "one of the most unique horror books ever written," the story is certainly a good idea--if you can understand the writing and actually follow what's going on, that is.

Whiteland is compared to "Imaginary Friend by Steven Chbosky and aficionados of Sam Raimi’s cult classic movies The Evil Dead and Drag me to Hell," but it's more of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (creepy movie version) meets Alice in Wonderland in the snow. It's not scary and only a bit creepy. My problems are less with the story than with the writing, however:

This book reads like no third party outside of the author's social circle ever honestly critiqued it; like it was run through a word processor for grammatical errors but never through a reader's honest gaze to point out weird language, plot holes, and other issues. The writing includes very strange quirks like too many phrases/fragments, dialogue broken by description through a whole paragraph so that the reader has to reread whole paragraphs to follow a conversation, referring to the parents by their first names rather than Mom and Dad so that I was wholly confused for the whole beginning as to who was who, and broken/nonlinear setting descriptions that left me lost trying to picture the story in my mind's eye. The timing is off and unclear which is especially not helpful because time is "off" in Whiteland vs "the outside." The author uses way too many pop culture references that aren't explained and feel out of place and distracting. Because the author is English and I'm American, some of the ways she used words was confusing and I wasn't sure if it was cultural or just the author's style because I've read countless modern and classic British books without feeling so confused by the language. The author uses way too many metaphors using tangible things for intangible feelings but in such a way that I often wasn't sure if something actually happened or if it was indeed a metaphor. Like, fear feeling like being punched in the chest and bleeding, but it wasn't clear whether or not she DID indeed get punched in the chest because of the scene. Does that make sense? It was very weird.

In fact, there's so much description of all the wrong things that the book should have been 150 pages shorter. There's endless description for the fear the protagonist feels but hardly any about what the characters look like. I couldn't picture the village at all. Teenagers are at one point described as "women" and an older woman is described as a "girl," which isn't wrong necessarily but combine that mis-description with all the other strange writing quirks I've mentioned and one can understand how this was very hard to understand.

I liked the characters enough, but the main characters of Callum and Kira seemed like the same person. Their dialogue is cheesy and forced. The sarcasm wasn't written well enough for the reader to easily follow the banter. The plot is fun, but it definitely reads like it's trying too hard to be Alice in Wonderland: cranky characters, which way do we go?, birds, other birds?, weird lights, suddenly wolves, horses, a mist monster that's way too much like the smoke monster from LOST, religious fish. Unfortunately, it was trying way too hard and ultimately was not successful. There were a few symbols that are never explained. Characters that are never properly introduced.

I wanted to stop reading this book at so many points because the writing is poor and strange, but the story is genuinely interesting and I had to see how it wrapped up. The ending? I have no idea what happened. I do not understand the ending at all. I think it's supposed to be a big cliffhanger for the next book, but I don't actually know what was going on. A new-ish character is kind of introduced. The second-to-last scene is not at all wrapped up. I think some of the characters died? One of them was lost, was that character found? Confused!!!!!!

I loathe writing negative reviews. This book really needs more work and has so much potential. It's such a bummer to see that my opinions are echoed in so many other reviews. I hope the author and publisher consider working more on this book before publishing. It's such a shame and waste if not. I usually rate books 1 star when I really dislike them, find something offensive and unhelpful to our culture like gore-porn or something, and think the book should never see the light of day. Whiteland gets 2 stars because it's really a great idea; I don't hate it, it just needs a lot of work. But I don't recommend it.

The premise sounded fantastic. Unfortunately I was unable to finish this book. The writing style did not sit well with me, and although it picked up a little I just wasn’t engaged enough in the story to continue.

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of Intrigue and I was so gripped. I really enjoyed something a bit different because I usually like a romance novel.

This book is exciting and keeps you involved right from the beginning.

Whiteland is a brilliant book and I think the concept of it is so interesting, nothing like I've read before.

The twoing and froing between Kira and Callum is quite amusing in parts and I was looking forward to seeing what was going to happen with them

When Kira is in her dreams I feel like I'm there in her dreams with her, its so we'll written.

I really enjoyed the references to Game of Thrones and Lord of the rings.

Lastly I loved at the end of the book at you find out Whiteland is based where the author lives. It sounds both spooky and beautiful.

I unfortunately could not get into this book and managed only a few chapters before I gave up. The writing style just wasn't for me, or maybe I'm not in the mood for something of its kind. There is an almost a surreal feel to it, like a fever dream and I'm sure someone else will most likely love this book. I will attempt to read it again at a later date.

I really enjoyed the beginning, I loved the beginning. But, after the first start I had a harder time enjoying the book. The book was still a good read but the author did a lot of repetition. A good amount could have been taken off the book and still have the story.
Kira is on a holiday with her family, when her sister disappears twice so Kira teams up with Callum to find her. The people or characters that they meet on their adventure remind me of a mixture of the grims brothers fairy tales and narnia kind of characters. I think that this is a new ground for me because while I have read Stephen King books but I really haven’t read anything Fantasy Horror. I love the creepy eerie feelings, while I do have a lot of hope for the trilogy I think this book has a lot of potential and I am definitely looking forward to finishing the next installment in this series.

I thank NetGalley for offering me the opportunity to read this before it’s release date. However, I have to DNF it at 30%. The overall concept of the the story is incredible and I really wish I could have continued. There’s something about this writing style that was just not sitting well with me. It appeared to be trying to be poetic or snarky. But, the constant bamboozoling of thrown in random sayings kept completely pulling me out. For example, there’s a point where one character is seeing one thing and another seeing something else. The one not seeing the thing says, “stupid monkey. Stupid stupid monkey”. There was absolutely not context for this. The character has never once referred to themselves as a monkey or referenced a monkey. It was just too distracting and had no relevance to the story. I do like that fact that I could tell the author is a huge fantasy genre fan. There were several references to books and movies and that was incredible. If there wasn’t random saying and concepts lined every paragraph or two this would have been hands down a winner, to me.

I struggled with this one because it started off really well and grabbed my attention but then became too repetitive and bogged down with details that didn’t seem necessary. I know there are people out there who like that kind of detail, but it wasn’t for me. That’s ok though because this author is definitely talented and has great potential.

I was intrigued by the opening of this book - a young woman lost in the woods stumbles upon a spooky occurrence...however, the novel then stumbled as much as the protagonist with a fantastical spin that really was not for me. An 'okay' novel, one I finished but felt a little bit of a slog.

i want to thank netgalley for letting me review this book. but man this was not for me. i did not like this read at all. the writing for me was very dragged on type. it was really hard to get into it t all. i felt no connection to the characters either. this review is hard for me to write with how much i sadly did not care for this read.

I fell in love with this book, slowly and then all at once.

The setting, the writing style (so flowy, hell, even the chapter names rhyme), the characters, the mythology...

Kira is on holiday with her family and all is well...except it isn't. Her sister Romy goes missing (twice), so naturally, Kira teams up with the adorably funny Callum to find her. That doesn't go as planned. Where it does go, however, is definitely not what I expected.

The spookiness is perfect till around 30 something %, after that it gets a bit slow but picks right back up near half of the book and oh boy, it delivers. It delivers strong. At that point I honestly couldn't put it down. It was sooooo good.

The people and the creatures Kira and Callum meet on the way are proper fairytale material and I'm definitely going to look some of those things up.

And the ending, LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT SHALL WE? What a cruel way to leave the reader hanging, I love it. I was about ready to throw my phone away when I got to the acknowledgements and saw it was part of a trilogy. PHEW, PHONE SAVED. I'll eagerly be awaiting the continuation of this magical story.

So why four stars and not five?

The previously mentioned slowness and some scenes could've done with a little less description. Almost perfect but not quite.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

The first chapter is creepy and ethereal, setting up the horror fantasy Whiteland by Rosie Cranie-Higgs to be a haunting story with a chilly aesthetic. Unfortunately, what ended up happening was not haunting or even spooky.

Described as being a mix between The Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell, Whiteland -insofar as I could surmise in the first ten chapters- is nothing like these cult classics. The first chapter, in which we meet sister Romy, does well to set a tone. The writing of Rosie Cranie-Higgs is fluid, Romy's character comes across as troubled, and the cold of the snowy Swiss Mountains penetrates the reader.

In chapter 2, things derail, and the fluidity of Cranie-Higgs' writing becomes not only stilted but downright confusing. Here we meet Kira, the seemingly more sane sister to Romy, and a woman named Anna. It turns out that Anna is their mother, though the way it's currently written that doesn't become evident for another two paragraphs. The confusion between who is feeling what, and who's habits are who's starts there.

What follows is a slogging journey through the tedium Romy is always throwing upon her family. Running away is a habit of Romy's, who often leaves with pills and alcohol, secreting away to someplace, but for what exact purpose, the reader does not know. Is she depressed? Is she an addict? Or is she just testing the limits of her adolescence?

Instead of taking responsibility for their one daughter, the parents, Anna and Matthew, send Kira out to track her and bring her home. On several previous occasions, this has involved Kira stumbling upon a drunk, unconscious sister, with hints of overdoses and emergency visits. The overall lack of interest, along with the genuine indifference over the return of their frostbitten, near-to-death daughter Romy, paints the parents' reactions as downright abominable. The book quite suddenly plummets into the unbelievable.

Between the impractical character development (or lack thereof) and the inundation of allusions, Whiteland becomes troublesome to read. Over-stylization obstructs the narrative and the reader, who has to digest the onslaught of Rosie Cranie-Higgs' constant vocabularic showing off.

A wintry horror story featuring Scandinavian folklore? I wanted to love this so badly but I couldn't.

I couldn't even get halfway through the book. I DNFed this pretty early. Which is a tragedy, because that summary hooked me in and the first chapter took my breath away. Cranie-Higgs' prose is a delight! But then the first chapter kept going on... and on... and on... and I was desperate for it to end.

The succeeding chapters don't have the same charm either. The author has a tendency to overwrite herself into circles until she loses all sense of urgency. She spends pages on an unnecessary description that could be squished into one paragraph.

And we have our characters who I truly couldn't connect with. The dialogue feels super weird. They're calm when they should be panicking. They spend so much time talking and dragging their feet when they're faced with a dangerous, life or death situation. I really don't get it.

- Kira and her family are on Holiday in a small snowy town.
The night before their departure her sister Romy wanders out in the snow at night. Romy is discovered by Callum (ski instructor) who brings her into the hotel to her families surprise. Romy should have froze to death!
Romy awoke as someone else, Kira knows it.
One by one, Kiras family dissappears
Kira sets out with the aid of Callum to find out what could be possibly happened to Romy and where her family went. They soon find more than they expected. -
.
3.5/5 .... only because it seemed extremely long in order to tell what we now know about 'White Land'.
However, with that being said I believe it was extremely long in order to set the tone for the following 2 books in this trilogy.
I anticipate they'll be better than this book!
I've read a few reviewers who put the book away at about 40% or so into it, it gets better. At least for me the story did.
.
.
In the sequels I hope to see Callum return and have learned things about White Land that Kira and Romy haven't. As well as his character developing and taking things a little more serious.
I'd like to know more about Lena, her back story and how/why she travels to the Outside as well as WL. And her connection to Callums mum.

I was given an ARC for free in exchange for my honest review.

Kira was about to sum up her vacation with her family in the winter slopes when something strange happens. Her sister, Romy, wanders off one night. Romy was always a trouble maker in the family but when she returns, she is different. She is someone else.

Kira delves into a mystery to find out what happened to her sister and what is wrong with this entire town.
This story line blended classic mystery with a tinge of horror, so it is not easily comparable to another book. I found the concept invigorating and the first few chapters had me at the edge of my seat. I wish it had stuck to only Kira's point of view though, so we would only experience the drama through her eyes. Rather, at times, it took on an omniscient approach to really stir up the mystery. In that regard, there is a large portion in the middle of the book that has no answers but only more questions.

Overall, I thought the concept was unique and Kira a likable character.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for this ARC. Sadly I didn't enjoy it and had to force myself to finish it. It started interesting enough but the story wandered back and forth without any real conclusion. It was very wordy without actually giving insights or descriptions.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this book. I enjoyed this story very much and thought it was a brilliant debut novel. I love supermarket myth type stories. I hope this author writes more.

Stretching her mouth to an inhuman gape, the woman starts to scream.




The beginning of the book was really creepy and I loved it. But, for me the story just fizzled out and became a chore to read.

I really hope others love it and you should decide for yourself at any rate.

*Thank you to Netgalley and BHC Press for a digital copy of this book.

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

I received an e-ARC through NetGalley.

Rated 2.5/5 rounded down.

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. It felt as though I read two different books; the first half of this was a strange supernatural horror-ish story, the second half was a fairy tale about sacrifice. The main reason I'm not rating this higher is this inconsistent feel of the style. It reminded me of the book Hekla's Children, which is another book I very much enjoyed, but which read as two very different types of stories.

The best part of this was definitely the language; poetic and compelling and fitting with the fairy tale vibes. Although some of the pop-culture references felt unnecessary and forced, overall I enjoyed the writing a lot.

The less good was the inconsistency in POV and the attempts at twists that weren't very surprising. There was really no need to throw in random little chapters from a minor character's POV here and there. And I've seen other reviewers say the ending was unexpected, but I just felt as though we didn't read the same book.

I admit to being a bit disappointed on the whole. But if you're looking for a new adult dark fairy tale, this may well be the book for you.