This book honestly scared me, which is saying something. Delightfully spooky, and done right. The characters were believable and the writing was great.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

This was a suitably creepy thriller focusing on a group of four girls living in Moon Basin - a mining town famous for the paranormal activity surrounding it. I thought that the relationship between the girls was really lovely and the way they cared deeply for each other came through very strongly in the narrative. The atmosphere was really tense and this just kept ramping up as the plot progressed. I did find the ending a little bit abrupt, but overall, this was a great read and I will definitely keep an eye out for what the author does next.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

To Break a Covenant was a chilling and gripping story. I loved the summery setting. I feel like it made the story even more creepy because such eerie things were happening The 4 main characters are so real-feeling.

This book is an awesome supernatural story! It was spooky and atmospheric, and the plot was very well developed. I think this book was definitely creepier than your average YA horror, which I was hoping for.

I loved the main characters of this story so much! I really enjoyed watching them bond and grow closer over the course of the book. There is also great queer representation, which is always a plus for me!

I took a star off my final rating because I did not love how the book ended. I felt like there were too many unanswered questions that left me a bit unsatisfied.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. To Break a Covenant was one of the creepiest books I have read in along time. What is happening in the mine and the town surrounding the mine? What happens to people who go into the mines? Why do people keep disappearing? The atmospheric claustrophobia can be felt in the writing and the four girls must save themselves and the town because no one will help them (major bonus, no guy is coming to save them in the 3rd act). This is unputdownable.

A dusty thriller with found footage about a haunted mine and an unbreakable bond of friendship between three girls.

This was the perfect fall Halloween read! It's about a small town that is famous for being haunted. This book is super creepy.

After an explosion rocks the coal mining town and forces its residents to relocate outside the range of a continual rain of ash, spooky things keep a steady stream of paranormal investigators and tourists coming to the otherwise sleepy town of Moon Basin. Anyone who ventures too close to the ‘old town’ or God forbid, into the mine itself, begins to act strange or even disappear entirely. ⁣
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Our main characters are Clem and Nina- best friends who have grown up in Moon Basin- as well as two more recent transplants, Lisey and Piper (whose dad is here temporarily to look into the safety of the mine) and they were my favorite part of the novel. Such an accurate and important portrayal of female friendship and Sapphic attraction! ⁣
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If the 4 unique, strong, brave, well developed female characters weren’t enough for you, TBAC also has some of the best spooky atmosphere I’ve ever read. The author develops it slowly over time- as if a fog is rolling in that makes every hair on the back of your neck stand on edge. ⁣
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I loved this book, and recommend it to fans of Wilder Girls, Sadie, or Sawkill Girls! 4.5 stars!

This book is definitely a perfect book for our upcoming spooky season. Ames seems to catch the atmosphere of her story so perfectly within these pages and it conjures up so many feelings one would have if they were watching a classic spooky movie. There was so much mystery, character development, and tenseness packed into just around 300 pages but it was sooo well done. Each of the girls’s personalities stood out starkly against one another and we were truly able to see how each girl fit into their tightly knit group. The mining town setting was the perfect backdrop for the strange ordeals these friends go through. It you have been feening for some horror definitely pick this up!

Book Review

Title: To Break A Covenant by Alison Ames

Genre: Young Adult, Horror

Rating: 4 Stars

When I saw To Break A Covenant being compared to Wilder Girls I was apprehensive about reading it as I didn’t really like Wilder Girls but I decided to give it a go. Check the trigger warnings before reading this book as a dark horror they are very accurate to the content of the book. I have to say that To Break a Covenant was creepy, mysterious, gory, everything you want in a horror book even a young adult one and it was beautifully written to boot. The basic premise of the book is we are following a group of girls as they investigate the paranormal things happening in their own specifically an old mine. I actually manage to read the book in a single sitting as I was so gripped from the opening page which very rarely happens with me personally as a reader.

One thing I have to applaud Ames for doing is not making the paranormal elements the heart of the novel, the heart of the novel and what drives the story forward is the relationship between the four main characters, Clem, Nina, Lisey and Piper. These girls are what make you fall in love with To Break a Covenant and the paranormal and horror elements are just an added bonus. These girls are the kind of girls that would die for each other and this makes the story even more compelling to read. There is also a sapphic romance in this book which was wonderful and really made the friends to lovers trope shin in ways I haven’t experienced before. The world and the paranormal activity make everything ten times creepier to read and reading it at night like I did is guaranteed to make you feel very strange.

The book is written in a present day perspective but I really loved the snippets from previous investigations into the mine mainly in the form of clips from shows, podcast and reports which make the novel feel like a mixed media book which made it a lot easier and quicker to read. Ames is brilliant at building a sense of unease through and the gore factor really made it entertaining for a horror fan like myself. The only thing that I actively disliked about the book was the ending purely because it is an open endings. While I appreciate open endings at time I generally don’t like them as I like my novels to feel settled and finished which this one didn’t. I also wasn’t thrilled about the explanations we were given so the ending felt flat compared to the rest of the novel. However, I can’t wait to see what Ames comes out with next as this was the creepiest book I’ve read in years.

I absolutely love stories like this with paranormal, small-town vibes and this book has that in spades! A fantastically written, wonderfully spooky story of a town with a dark history. A terrible mine accident that left the town haunted. A mine that is still burning years after the accident, raining ash into the town and giving the townsfolk nightmares. I think the plot was written amazingly well and loved the way that media footage was included as a way to provide more history about the town and to paint the bigger picture as to what was going on in this crazy, strange place. It’s a very creepy book that will make your spine tingle and have you on the edge of your seat.

I really enjoyed the friendship group in this book. They are a closely bonded group of weird and wonderful… all very different from each other but as close as sisters, willing to do whatever it takes for each other. I really liked the way that their beliefs surrounding the town hauntings were all so different from each other and the way that those beliefs shifted and changed throughout the chapters. All four were characters you could really love and get behind. Lisey was by far the most interesting as a girl who is a little bit odd… she trains crows, believes in omens and hauntings and as the one who is generally the weirdest that sort of makes her my favourite by default.

This is a very fast-paced book and I genuinely read it all in less than 24 hours. I just couldn’t stop reading. I loved the way the town was developed with all the history and “ghost-busting” videos just added that little bit extra for me as well. I also adored the characters and the way they were all introduced and the way their friendship was portrayed. They are a super fierce bunch of girls and it was such a rollercoaster ride really… but like, a ride in the dark? Because it was so spooky!

I had so much fun reading this story and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes strong female characters & friendships, haunted towns and general paranormal craziness. This would make for the perfect addition to anyone’s TBR for the upcoming spooky season! I am not 100% sure how sold I was on the ending… it was a solid ending with no cliff-hanger but wasn’t what I was expecting or hoping for. Not a bad ending but not one that blew me away either so that is probably my only real criticism. The fact that this was a debut absolutely blew me away. I am keen to see what the author writes in the future and would be happy to dive into more of her books!

Disclaimer: I received an e-arc and an arc of this book. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: To Break a Covenant

Author: Alison Ames

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: Lesbian MC, Queer side character, F/f romance

Rating: 4/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, horror, paranormal, friends to lovers romance

Genre: YA Paranormal Horror

Publication Date: September 21, 2021

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Pages: 306

Recommended Age: 14+ (Death, Gore, Violence, Animal Gore, Animal Death, Language, Child abuse and neglect, Child murder, Suicide TW)

Explanation of CWs: Lots of death and gore and lots of animal death and gore. Child abuse and neglect mentioned. Child murder mentioned once. Suicide is mentioned a handful of times and shown once.

Synopsis: Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.

Clem and Nina form a perfect loop—best friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.

Review: I really liked this book overall! I loved the plot and the story. The characters were well developed and lovable. The world building was decent. And it just reads as one of those campfire tales you listen to at camp before a masked murderer starts killing everyone.

The only issue I really had with the book is that the monster wasn't well defined and wasn't well explained. I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed.

Verdict: A perfect ghost story! Highly recommend!

4 Stars

This was my first time reading a YA book in the genre of Horror. I have never read any books or watched anything that has a horror element to it. I decided to take a risk on this book because once I read the synopsis I was hooked. Let me say that I was not disappointed.

From page one, you get this creepy and unsettling atmosphere from the town of Moon Basin. From the strange occurrences of pets disappearing, ghost shows showing up every few years, and stories of the mine that lingers near old town.

It creates a nail-biting, dark atmosphere making you want to get away from them as soon as possible. You get submerged in the town of Moon Basin, and in a way, that narration draws you towards it.

Books sometimes lack friendships that readers can fall in love with, and sometimes characters can fall flat in those situations. But in this book, It wasn’t a problem. All of the girls in the group had their personalities and quirks that made them who they were.


They had a ride-and-die friendship, where nothing could tear them apart. When things started to get rough, they never abandoned one another. In the end, they came back together. It was absolutely enjoyable to read, and what friendships should be like.

Within each chapter, there would be interviews between Ghost Hunters from various shows and the residents of Moon Basin. This was such a clever way for the author to add more world-building to the town of Moon Basin avoiding the dreaded info-dumping that occurs in many books.

Through these interviews, we were able to see how other residents viewed these paranormal experiences and how they affected their day-to-day lives. We saw how these experiences didn’t just affect residents of Moon Basin, but the ghost hunters as well.

It showed how many residents had no idea what was going on; they were in fear of their lives. Many tried to cope with the activity, but it was hard to once the darkness got ahold of you.

I’m not going to go into too much detail because I may spoil it, but there is LGBTQ+ representation in this book! This is always great to see because people can feel represented in literature and be recognized.

The author does a fantastic job of not letting this overtake the story but to help to advance the characters’ arc and the overall storytelling. Sometimes having the romance aspect take over the story can lead to a slow-moving plot, but this did not occur here!

Writing a good book that readers will enjoy is a hard task. But one of the things I’ve noticed is that readers like to be kept on the edge of their seats and spawn a slew of theories of what will happen next.

I questioned why these abnormal occurrences were happening in Moon Basin and what they were fueled by. Even when I finished the book, I still had more questions that I wanted to be answered. What makes a good book is when the author leaves lingering thoughts in your brain. It gets you talking about a book and sharing it with others.

A big thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours as well as the author and publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book!

The mine might be haunted. People shouldn’t go in because they don’t come out. And if you do? It calls you back.

If you liked the film The Descent, you should read this ASAP. Very eerie, very atmospheric.

This is a non spoiler review, because you as reader need to read this book. Also, I feel sometimes I have in the past gave away to much of the plot line. This has diminished the pleasure for would be readers.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This was one of the best invented urban gothic books I have had a chance to read this year! A horror intense filled spooky read, that really took me by surprise!

Moon Basin is a haunted paranormal hotspot, after a tragedy engulfed the town. Leaving the original coal town of Moon Basin completely abandoned.

The residence duplicate as much from the original town and relocate to a close proximity to the original town. Why the relocation of town you ask?

Strange occurrences happen to anyone that lived in the original part of town and those who are paranormal thrill seekers who venture back in there. People suffer from mental breaks and horrific deaths. A fact of life for those growing up in and around this sinister area!

For Clem and her best friend Nina, who have grew up within the creepier than hell town. Their friendship is everything, the girls are completely inseparable. Add a move in by the name of Lisey, who is a peculiar person in touch with her second senses. Then add Piper a temporary resident, who’s father has been hired to investigate and come up with a solution to make the old coal mine safe again.

The books compelling element that holds this book all together is these four fierce girls. Their friendship is what I absolutely loved reading about. Each one completely unique, but together they make up a unified force. They complement each other, which in turn gives the storyline great dynamics. They face incredible obstacles together, staying strong in the bonds of friendship.

Now let’s talk about the authors narration concerning the setting. Everything, I mean everything slowly takes the reader through a nail biting, creep yourself out atmosphere. You become submerged in the ominous coal town of Moon Basin.

You feel just enough of a presence to raise the tiny hairs on the back of your neck. while flipping through the pages. The writing is incredible and loved reading every minute of it!

A perfect book to start your spooky season off.

I Don’t take my word for it… read it for your own conclusions!

hmmm this book is one of those 'its not you its me" kind of books. i really liked the paranormal element. the spooky descriptions and tense atmospheric moments stayed strong throughout. but it didn't keep me engrossed in the story or the supposed mystery element.

→ 4.5 STARS

The perfect atmospheric, sinister read for the spooky season. To Break a Covenant is a YA horror that follows the haunting of Moon Basin after a mine explosion and the four girls that find themselves targeted by the mine and the horrifying secrets it holds. Described as a 'chilling, feminist thriller', I jumped at the chance to take part in the blog tour for this book cause I can't resist anything eerie and mysterious. Being a debut I had no idea what to expect from this author but rest assured, this is a sinister read that will have you constantly watching your back.

I loved all of the different elements that this book contained when it comes to the characters and relationships. We've got a wlw romance (it's childhood friends which makes it even better), a strong sense of queer identity and a fantastic group of friends that gives me The Craft vibes but without the certifiable one. Clem, Nina, Lisey and Piper are ride or die, each with distinctive personalities who I absolutely loved dearly. It's rare when you find a group of friends in YA fiction that you can just tell are deeply loyal to each other whilst still having normal arguments and clashes as well and it made the book so much more then your normal horror story.

Clem as a main character is an authentic voice and I feel she was the right one out of the group to follow through this story. She has the strength and fortitude that makes her the backbone of her group whilst still handling her normal teenage problems of figuring out her future and coming to terms with her feelings for her best friend.

The horror element is incredibly strong though, I didn't really know what to expect but the creepiness of the small town and the mysteriousness of the mine grows and grows until you're held in it's grasp without even realising. The horror is subtle, similar to Blair Witch or maybe It Follows, where you have that disturbing feeling without the overload of gore and jump scares. Certain scenes will definitely have you on edge. The town of Moon Basin itself feels haunted, the residents all know something isn't right but it's the whole 'ignore it and it will go away' situation. Ames really nails that community feel of small town horror though.

The inclusion of transcripts from ghost hunting shows that have previously visited the town was such a clever idea. I'm a huge fan of mixed media, podcast elements and such and having these interviews and dialogue from residents talking about the history of the mine and the town really helped heighten the tenseness and gives you an insight into it's past.

This book deserves to have so much more hype around it. I want to be friends with this group of girls so badly, that's how much I loved them! I just want to protect them and keep them safe from all the bad things. I loved the sinister atmosphere of this book, certain scenes gave me goose bumps and definitely spooked me a little. In the end this was the ideal book to creep me out and then just completely break my heart. Perfect for fans of Sawkill Girls and Sadie. I can't wait to see what Alison Ames puts out next!

FIRST IMPRESSION:

The first thing that caught my eye about 'To Break a Covenant' was the sapphic romance that I saw early reviewers talking about. YA horror and a sapphic romance to boot? How can I say no to that combo? You don’t usually see me reviewing horror on this blog because I frankly am too chicken to read much of the genre. But this book and its blurb just compelled me to sign up for this tour somehow and oh boy! I am glad I did!

THE STORY:

The story is set in Moon Basin, a mining town that is famous for its supernatural happenings since the mine blew up in an explosion, taking all the miners inside with it. Technically, everyone moved to the borders of Old Moon Basin since the explosion because there is ash raining down and a whole host of weird stuff happening in the abandoned town, so the protagonists live in New Moon Basin. No one has entered the mine since then and come out the same, and now no one literally ever goes in.

Clem is our main protagonist, who lives right next to whip-smart Nina. They have been best friends since they met in the cemetery on the day they buried Clem’s father. A few years later they met Lisey, who seems to have a sixth sense and a budding friendship with crows, and took her under their wing, making them an inseparable trio.

Piper moves into town when Moon Basin recruits her dad, Charles, to check the possibility of the mine collapsing. By chance, Piper meets the girls and they all hit it off, spending their days together and being literally the sweetest bunch of girlfriends ever! But then Piper’s dad offers to take them down to see the mines one day and they come out shaken. Things start happening; strange, creepy things with no sane explanations that start happening all over town. Soon the girls start to suspect that something is wrong and decide it’s up to them to investigate.

THE CHARACTERS:

The four girls, Clem, Nina, Lisey and Piper, absolutely stole my heart! They were such innocent girls trying to live their normal lives in the town that is anything but normal, and it is hard not to want to protect them from everything that keeps happening to them. I was also glad to see that each of the four girls had their own distinct personalities though they spent most of their time together throughout the story.

Besides the protagonist and her three friends, the story really did not focus on the secondary characters. Though it seemed odd at first this really gave me the feeling that these four girls were truly on their own and had to get by on their own wits. Just more reason for me to love them and root for them really.

THE WRITING:

I loved how the author conveyed the chilling, unsettling vibes of the story through her writing. I was constantly on edge while reading even during the first few pages of the book! The atmospheric writing really nailed the overall chilling mood of this story, and I would go so far as to say it is one of the book’s strongest aspects too!

One of the most disquieting aspects of the story was the mixed-media format the author chose to go with. The book is scattered throughout with scripts of deleted or unused footage of ghost hunters and paranormal sleuths who have come snooping around Moon Basin. I was dreading these snippets honestly because I found them super creepy!

THE PLOT:

Surprisingly, I did not find the plot that complicated. I could pretty much guess what was going on based on the current events going on in the story as well as the deleted or unused footage scripts that were scattered throughout the book.

However, this did not take away from the strengths of the story for me. I guess it could be because of the constant wariness that kept me fearing for the girls’ safety. I really liked the pace of the story as well, it was very measured and ominous but without major plot twists for me. I never thought the absence of plot twists would appeal to me but in this case, it really did!

I also feel like I should say that the romance in the book was soft and budding. Clem is a lesbian and Nina is bisexual, if I am not mistaken, and the romance was honestly very slow, but I felt that kept it real because focusing on a relationship in the middle of everything else these girls go through would be just plain weird.

THE WORLD-BUILDING:

Moon Basin and its history and myths were absolutely terrifying. I have always been afraid of any show that is about ghost hunting or anything faintly supernatural, so Moon Basin with its utter definition of a ghost hunter’s dream town is a scary concept for me.

But the author did a great job at bringing this cursed town to life and the ordeals its people have lived through up to this point. I ended up Googling to check if there was actually a real place called Moon Basin because the possibility of there being a place with such a horrifying history scared me. So, I think it’s safe to say that this small town horror really nailed it!

FINAL VERDICT:

Reading 'To Break a Covenant' by Alison Ames took me into a terrifying world of small-town horrors and four young girls trying to survive the odds stacked against them in this debut novel. The chilling writing and the terrifying world-building surprised me with its excellence since this is the author’s debut, and now I can’t wait to read more of what Alison Ames has in store for us!

I found To Break A Covenant written by Alison Ames a great supernatural, YA horror story, as it has all of the things that a good horror story has: spooky atmosphere, a strange threat of some form and a town struggling with it all. But it brought something different to the table and that was beautifully written friendship with great LGBTQIA representation. If you are looking for a spooky read, this is definitely the one for you.

The plot development was really good and it definitely kept you hooked as you wanted to know more about the mine. The characters were all loveable in different ways that made you feel for them because of what they were going through and the friendships between our four main characters was beautifully built from the start to the end. I did find the pacing to be slow in places, especially more at the beginning, but once it picked up it did not stop.

The way that To Break A Covenant built atmosphere and creepiness was really great and as a horror fan I really loved it. The language used to help covey that was really good in my opinion. I also loved the way that the author showed the history of the mine through the use of paranormal files between the chapters to help the readers understand the history.

Overall, a brilliant creepy supernatural young adult story that has great LGBTQIA+ representation, its one to read during this spooky season! Thank you to Netgalley, Alison Ames and TBRandBeyond for giving me a copy to review.