what happens in november? (besides my birthday, of course) if you answered mass deaths in a small town in rural vermont, you are surprisingly correct!!!

TW: suicide, death of a family member, sexual assau!t

wyatt is grieving. every november, a weird amount of deaths occur, plaguing it as an urban legend or a sickness that wipes across the town. except, no one will even talk about it. they all just turn the other cheek and pretend it isn’t happening even though the pile of suicides, murders, accidents isn’t there.

it isn’t until wyatt meets the school’s golden boy, porter, that she starts to realize that she’s been throwing herself in a pit too. but it’s november again, and everyone is on high alert.

this was the perfect book to start off spooky season thrillers for me!! it was just the perfect amount of supernatural without any explanation whatsoever, and the characters were so spooked that I felt myself jumping along with them.

however, the plot itself was super predictable, and I found myself skipping a few filler paragraphs to get through it. I wished the author hadn’t left it so open ended, but that’s just my personal preference.

if you LOVE spooky thrillers, this is definitely a need for you!! pick it up starting 10/5/21

thank you to netgalley and sourcebooks publishing for providing me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars :’)

The Violent Season was an entirely different book than I thought it would be -- but in the best way. I was expecting a horror/thriller plot along the lines of The Purge or Fear Street or something with a curse or mind control/conspiracy/supernatural spooky business. Instead, it was a heartbreaking, haunting story about grief and loss and abuse and loneliness and guilt and finding yourself sucked into the orbit of the wrong person.

This was a fantastic YA debut. I can’t wait to read whatever Sara Walters writes next.

From beginning to end this book did not let me go! This is a dark and twisted fever dream of secrets and small town tragedy.

“We may have been in pieces, but we were more than the sum of them. We had to be. Otherwise, what did we have left but the pain?”

In the small town of Wolf Ridge, Vermont, Wyatt Green is convinced that every November, the people living there go a little crazy. They all collectively suffer from this sickness that makes them bloodthirsty and craving carnage, either directed towards others or internalized and directed towards ones self.

For as long as she can remember, people in the town die from suicide or commit unspeakable crimes against others, leaving behind an insane body count for such a small place.

“All that violence left behind more than bodies, though, something less tangible but possibly more damaging: embers now growing into thick, hot flames deep down in the center of me.”

Wyatt and her best friend Cash Peters are in the thick of it. Both still healing from the deaths of their own mothers, the two cling to each other. But somewhere along their years of friendship, Wyatt started to feel more than platonic feelings toward Cash. When his pleading and pitiful rejection strikes her in the heart, she begins to form a tentative friendship with a boy he hates. A class project pairs Wyatt with Porter Dawes, and as they get closer, she begins to shed that hard, cold she’ll that she grew from years of being attached at the hip to Cash. And Wyatt both despises and is thrilled by it.

With the town in the middle of another November, Wyatt tries to keep a tight hold to her better judgement while still trying to figure out who killed her mother. This town holds a plethora of secrets and they might be closer to Wyatt than she thinks.

This was PHENOMENAL! I found myself completely drawn to both Wyatt and Cash’s relationship and Wyatt and Porter’s relationship. Even when things are going wrong and characters become generally unlikable, I still had this infatuation bubbling inside of me, not ready to give up hope.

For a book titled "The Violent Season" I was surprised by how quiet this book was in it's story. Oh sure, there was violence, horror, talk of death, a gruesome crime scene our main character kept revisiting from her past... But mostly it was the story of a girl coming to grips with her trauma, with her choices, and with the darkness of those she may have trusted most. You're never quite sure you can trust her experiences or her narrative and you're left guessing until the final reveals. Is this town really plagued by a malevolent force once a year, or is it all in our main characters head? Or is it both? I really enjoyed where this ended up.

2.5 stars

I didn’t hate this, but I didn’t love it either. It was a quick read and had a really interesting premise. It was marketed as a horror but I didn’t get a horror vibe when reading this other than the occasional description of a crime scene and the occasional mention of ghosts which were more metaphorical than supernatural.

The writing was very descriptive and really put you into the scenes. Unfortunately, the author chose to reuse a few strange phrases several times through the book and the first use was a little jarring and each subsequent use took me right out of the story. The phrase that stuck out the most was “I wet my lips,” it just threw me every time she used it (which seemed like a lot). It seemed so out of place because the author’s writing was great everywhere else.

The mystery of who killed the main character’s mom seemed obvious to me from the very beginning so as I kept reading, I had assumed/hoped that the big reveal or twist at the end of the book would be about whatever was causing the November sickness. Sadly, the reveal was that the killer was who I thought it was (trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible) and the sickness was just chalked up to “ehh that’s how people are, some are bad.” That was such a let down.

The author did a great job writing characters who were multi-faceted, deep characters. They felt real which is a sign of a good author.

I definitely don’t regret reading this, even if I didn’t love it. I know there will be many people out there that will love this, for me it didn’t reach it’s full potential. With that said, I will definitely look for more books from this author in the future.

I liked the premise of this book and I found it quite interesting for the most part but I started to lose interest towards the end as it became a bit too introspective. The twist wasn't impressive enough for me but I guess as a novel for older teens it was satisfactory.

I received this arc in from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the free copy of The Violent Season!!
This is an majorly deep; super dark novel about the mysterious deaths that happen yearly in a small town. I enjoyed the characters and the small town setting. The lead up to the end was worth the wait. Highly recommend!!

I absolutely can't wait to get this book into the hands of my young adult readers! They will love the unexpected twist as much as I did! This book is a quick read, mostly because you don't want to put it down, that does not disappoint! If you enjoy the edge of your seat thrillers or addictive storylines, this book needs to be at the top of your to-be-read stack! I can not believe this is a debut novel! Sara Walters hits it out of the park in her first at-bat!!! Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK!!!

There were definitely some plot holes that made it easy to see this was a debut but it did a damn good job of keeping me hooked.

So fast paced, dark, gritty and unapologetic this book was pure candy for me.
The writing style was very nice.
Characters were flawed and patched but perfect.

Definitely on the look out for what the author does next!

Review of eBook

It’s an urban legend, the one that says that each November, a hunger takes over the young people of Wolf Ridge. But something is very wrong, for there are far too many deaths in this tiny Vermont town, far more than can be easily explained.

Seventeen-year-old Wyatt Green’s mother was one of the November victims, murdered in her own home. And Wyatt is determined to find the culprit, to prove the existence of the violence that overtakes folks every fall. But when her best friend, Cash, turns against her and a tragic accident almost claims the life of her friend Quinn, Wyatt panics. How can she prove the November sickness is real if no one believes her, if no one listens to her?

Could it be that there is no sickness, after all? And, if there is no sickness, what is the cause for all the deaths in Wolf Ridge?

Dark and claustrophobic, this unfolding narrative is unsettling and disturbing. It’s also compelling and unputdownable. Told from Wyatt’s viewpoint, the young adult story describes the confused and fearful teen searching for answers as she tries to understand her own feelings. Much of the telling of the tale is Wyatt’s introspective wondering, her desperate search for the November sickness that she is certain will explain everything.

Well-drawn characters and a strong sense of place anchor this haunting narrative; Wyatt, however, has a tendency to vacillate between clinging to her immaturity and behaving like an adult, a situation that tends to keep the reader a bit off-kilter. The plot takes a few surprising twists before offering up an unexpected jolt that changes many things, but readers will find this atmospheric tale remains with them long after they’ve turned the final page.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Soucebooks Fire and NetGalley
#TheViolentSeason #NetGalley

Holy smokes, I loved every page of this book. The writing was outstanding and I was truly blown away with the twists and turns. I’m recommending this book to everyone I know ASAP so we can process together. 🤯

I don’t feel I can give this a fair rating since I didn’t get too far into the book (around 45ish percent) before I started skimming it. This definitely was a “it’s not you it’s me” situation. I am not a big fan of reading teenage protagonists so with that in addition to the melodrama and predictable “twists” my interest and attention quickly waned.

The concept was so interesting: an entire town becoming extremely violent and murderous one month out of the year and then having to deal with the fallout once the violent haze evaporates; which then leads to questions of whether or not this violence is actually something that afflicts the people in the town or if the individuals are acting upon their own accord and using the urban legend as an excuse. Unfortunately this was not the experience I had while reading/skimming the book; instead I read a story about a teenager in a sort of love triangle, dealing with the death of her mother and the guilt that surrounds her about it, crushing on her best friend’s "nemesis", as well as the looming threat of the violent season, add in some (very predictable) twists and confessions. The tone was an issue for me, it was a bit too whiney teen for me, even though Wyatt had every reason to ruminate on her negative and emotional feelings but it just came across as annoying.

Overall, I think the concept was much more interesting than what was produced, but again I’m not sure if I wasn’t impressed because the writing style wasn’t the best or because it had elements that I personally didn’t like.

ARC given by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

3 & 1/2-4 Stars!!
The premise of this book was that the small Vermont town the main character (Wyatt) lived in had a sickness every November that made people do bad things (murder, suicide) Most of the town believes it's just an urban legend, but not Wyatt, which is understandable because Wyatt is trying to make sense of her mother's senseless murder which happened less then a year ago.

The book starts good but about half way threw it kind of veers of course of the sickness/urban legend. Don't want to give away any spoilers but if you looking for a thriller/ murder mystery you will probably like this. It is well written and the characters are flawed but relatable.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher.

This was a great ya thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat till the last page I can’t wait to get a physical copy on October!

I have such mixed feelings about this book. Firstly, I do want to say the author has a gift with words. The way she describes things is so evocative and there's a lot of emotional punch in the writing. I would often stop and find myself re-reading a sentence here and there because of how haunting some of her descriptions were. Very well done.

However, there were two big issues for me in reading this book. One, it felt like the whole theme of the sickness/violent season was just totally abandoned about 2/3 of the way through the book. It was the very reason I was intrigued to pick up the story in the first place and it wasn't utilized in a satisfying way. There were so many loose threads that it made the ending feel hollow. Two, I spotted the "twist" a mile off and that's always disappointing.

This is more of a 3.25-3.5 read for me. Based on the first half of the book it would have been higher, but the ending was somehow both bleak and yet lackluster. I think the author has a real gift for words and I would read more by her in the future. But sadly, this story left me wanting.

I read this book in a day; I couldn't put it down. I was invested from the start in the characters and wanted to see what happened. You feel terrible for Wyatt losing her mother and wonder if there really is a sickness making people do bad things. The human insight in this book is incredible.

I'm not sure how to start reviewing this book. At first, Wyatt's need for Cash was a little cringey but throughout the book it begins to make more sense. Once again, I wish there was more to the ending. More of an explanation given for what happened to Wyatt's mother and what happened with Porter and Cash in the first place anyways. Enjoyable book but nothing too memorable. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings for sexual assault, suicide, self harm, and a very toxic co-dependent relationship.
The Violent Season is about a town with a mysterious increase in violent incidents in Novembers and a teen girl trying to solve her mother's murder. It paints an enthralling toxic story that's hard to look away from. The first person narration makes you feel just as trapped and mentally unwell as Wyatt as she tries to make sense of her mother's death, her emotional abusive relationship with her boyfriend and the extreme violence happening in her town. A very atmospheric read that I would only recommend to those that feel comfortable reading a very dark book because it's trauma after trauma. It does leave some loose ends and questions I wish had been answered, but answers enough to have a satisfying ending.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this thrilling arc!

The book is quick and fast-paced, with easy-to-read writing! I truly enjoyed this book, and I became more more interested in the story and the characters the further I got. I did notice some plot holes here and there, but Sara Walters made a really good job of keeping me hooked and excited for the story. Also, didn’t expect the plot twist at the end!

I enjoyed Wyatts’ perspective. However, I do think she fluctuates a little too much between an adult and an immature teenager for my liking. This is absolutely a solid debut, and I’m definitely gonna read another story from Sara Walters in the future.

Please be aware of the trigger warnings: mental health, sexual assault, violence, grief and death

I finished the last 2/3 of this in one sitting, eager to find out What Happens Next. Not my usual genre, but the description sucked me in, and it's oh so perfect as the weather is finally turning colder. An impressive debut novel.
Rounded up from 3.5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC!