Quiet Village’s book blurb led me to believe this was a paranormal horror story with a bit of romance squeezed into it. In reality the romance plays a much larger role in the book which is fine with me. I stand on the squeamish side of the scale when it comes to horror so I enjoyed the emphasis being spread around.
Due to a family tragedy Collie Noonan packs up her ten year old niece Sasha and leaves London to settle into village life. But a quiet life is not what she finds in the village of Hyam. Something not of this world is stalking Collie , Sasha and Sasha’s school teacher Emily.
There is no build up of suspense as to who is the stalker as the information is easy to piece together early in the novel. The actual suspense is when will they attack and why is the town so weird to all three of them. I will not lie that I was very frightened throughout the story but remember I am lightweight when it comes to horror.
I am not a fan of the internal dialogues Collie, Sasha and Emily had throughout the novel. It felt to me that writer Eden Darry was taking the easy way out to further
the storyline. When the internal dialogue became crucial to the story it had less impact due to its over use.
There were a few other issues I had with the storyline pertaining to Sasha’s response to the family tragedy. She seemed just too well adjusted and handled things better than her Aunt.
The thing I really enjoyed was the budding romance between Collie and Emily. It was paced and timed perfectly with plausible reasons why it should not happen. The tug and pull back was very realistic.
Overall I found the novel entertaining with likeable characters and I am willing to overlook my minor issues . Some books are just meant to scare and entertain you. Getting too bogged down on realistic issues not being up to snuff is a fool’s errand. After all how do we know what is realistic in Hyam with a snarling, limb tearing beast hidden in their woods.
3⭐️ but a fun read if you take it as it is.

Thank you to Net Galley for sending me a free Arc for my honest opinion.

Must romance fiction be dumb? Is insulting one’s intelligence a prerequisite to the genre? I don’t normally read this sort of thing, this was more of an experiment that turned out to be a confirmation of my theory that lamentably the answer to those questions might be a resounding yes.
I watched a documentary program about romance genre once, which actually heavily featured this publisher and these types of happily ever after slices of cheesy life and apparently there’s a huge market for it, but the appeal eludes me.
You’d think a creature feature with lesbians in it would have at least some redeeming qualities, but no. It’s at best a flat recital of a number of trite clichés, featuring cardboard characters unincumbered by either dimensions or development and ridiculously unrealistic (who lives/thinks/acts like this) scenarios. Yes, even for a creature feature, in fact the creature is more realistic than these pressed paper cutouts.
So, does this sound familiar? People from a large city relocate to a tiny village where the unfriendly villagers might be hiding a deadly secret? If it doesn’t…you might very well love this book. If it does, just wait, it gets dumber from there.
Collie’s beloved twin sister gets brutally murdered by an abusive ex, leaving her ten year old daughter alone. Now Collie has a kid (though because the characters here are written without so much as a basic grasp on psychology, the kid is perfectly well adjusted and ready to play matchmaker for her aunt, among other things, none of those traumatized orphans in this story)
to take care off and their first act is to leave London for the boonies. And they do this by essentially letting the kid do the internet version of spinning the globe and putting a finger down. Because that’s just the kind of thing Collie does.
And so they end up in a creepy village.
And then there’s Emily, who has more of a reason for being in the creepy village, she is investigating her beloved brother’s disappearance. She’s been at it for a while with nothing to show for it and meanwhile is making her living as a teacher in a local school with a creepy (of course she would be) giant of a woman in charge.
Collie and Emily meet. Sparks do that thing they do. And from there on there’s a laughably drawn out will they/won’t they situation going on. Except that of course you know exactly how it’s going to play out, because all roads lead to the happily ever after thing that is actually a requirement for these books.
Yes, there’s also a creature lurking in the woods, but who can pay attention to that with all the heavy panting the ladies are doing in each other’s direction.
And of course, each of them has a gay bff, one’s even trans, because why not. There are even more potential love interests right there in the village, because that’s what small creepy insular villages are known for, burgeoning gay life. And of course everyone gets along so nicely and the perfectly well adjusted kid adores them all. Will they defeat the evil creature? Will love conquer all? Well, not like there was ever a choice.
I’m sure I’m going to be a dissenting minority here, because one of the main things that romance documentary taught is that the fans of this genre have pretty low standards and will defend what they love vociferously, irrespective of obviously low quality of the material.
If you like your fiction unoriginal, predictable and unrealistic, your love stories covered in cheap cheese and your scares muffled…this banality might be right up your alley. It was readable, objectively. Technically readable and not offensively terrible, just, you know, dumb. And also too long for what it was. Maybe as a novella it would have just been a laughably silly distraction, but at a novel length, its shortcomings are difficult to ignore. Pass. Thanks Netgalley.

Collie's sister was mysteriously murdered and she is left to care for her 10 year old niece. She inexplicably decided to let Lana choose their new home and Lana chooses a small town, a village really in Hyam.
The villagers are close knit and seemingly rude to the new neighbors.

As Collie becomes interested in her niece's teacher Emily, strange things take place in and around the home.
It's a supernatural tale sure to cause goosebumps among those who enjoyed a gothic feel.

My one complaint is that the descriptions and writing was a bit simplistic. It was hard to me to really dive into the story. and connect with what was happening. Still, a good supernatural tale and worth reading. Thank you NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Quiet Village Review

Thank you so much Netgalley, Bold Strokes Books, and Eden Darry for this Arc, in exchange for an honest review!

Creepy scarecrow cult? Sign me up! I really love books that have that small village vibe to it and this was was very creepy. There were some times my heart was literally racing! Quiet Village was a 4/5 ⭐️ for me. I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. I would definitely consider this to be a bit of fantasy as well (brothers grim like). One thing that bothered me was the romance. I am not a romance reading girl, so I’m not exactly sure how it’s supposed to go. I felt like half of the book was just adjectives like hot, gorgeous, attractive, good looking, beautiful. We get it, the characters like/ are attracted to each other. I also thought that the last scene was really unnecessary. This book will definitely be a hard one to forget!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Quiet Village follows Collie and her niece Lana as they move to a small village where things just seem slightly off. The villagers seem to hiding something dark. They meet a fellow outsider Emily who investigating the disappearance of her brother a year prior.

Quiet Village is much what you expect after reading the synopsis. It's a paranormal horror book set in a small English town. The mood of the book really worked for me because I love a small town hiding its secrets in stories. I really liked some of the side characters, particularly Tony and Hamish. I loved seeing a group of queer people form friendships and families with each other.

The story overall never captured me. I never really connected with the characters. I felt like the mystery played its hand way too early for the book to be able to set up tension for me. I knew where the story was going to end after a few chapters and it never really surprised me in any way. I wish there was more mystery going on and that there was more interactions with the villagers. I felt like the mystery and horror aspects got put on a back burner for the romance going on between Collie and Emily. I liked their relationship for the most part but I went in wanting a horror story and got much more of a romance.

Overall 3/5 it was a decent book but I can't see myself reading it again.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.


Collie is devastating when her sister is murder and she has to care for her niece Lana who ten that’s she adore. Collie decides to give them a peace of mind by moving somewhere quiet and let’s Lana pick where. They move into a small village and settle in and they realize something isn’t right with the village and feels something or someone is watching them.

Emily is the local teacher who is also new to the village but she there to find out what happens to her brother and why he just disappeared especially with the emails she got from him saying this village is hiding something.

Emily Collie and Lana team up to find out what going on but their lives is in danger when they try to deep into the village.

This was a good I love paranormal/horror stories that have you on the edge of seat trying find out what’s going on right along with the characters. I could totally see this as a Netflix movie.

Quiet Village is spine tingling and moody. After the death of her sister Collie Noonan takes on raising her beloved ten year old niece Lana. Feeling the need to get out of London they rent a house in a small and not very friendly village. With the rustling of the bushes and the feeling of being watched they know this isn't the place for them. Their nearest neighbor is Emily Lassiter. She is new to the village and also Lana's school teacher. But she is there to look into the disappearance of her brother.

I don't usually read paranormal/horror as a genre but was instantly caught up in the story. I'm also not fond of kids in danger but Lana was great with a keen eye for observing others. Collie and Emily seem genuine in watching out for each other. This gave me just the right amount chills and I can't recommend it enough. And I don't want to see a scarecrow any time soon. Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Bold Strokes Books, NetGalley and Author for the chance to read Quiet Village.

This was a interesting read.

Here we have Collie, and her sister was just murdered. So now she takes in her one and only 10 year old niece Lana who she absolutely adores.
Wanting to get Lana away from it all she lets her pick anyplace she wants to live and move to.
Lana does some searching and discovers a small village on the outskirts of Suffolk, in Hyam.
But as they get settled into their environment nothing is as it seems. And everyone there is beyond weird acting.

Collie meets a new local Emily who just moved there also and she teaches at the local school.
But Emily is there on a mission and no one knows the truth as to why Emily is there. She is there to discover what really happened to her brother who just outta no where up and disappeared.
He told her in a few emails that something weird was happening there and something or someone was watching him.
Well Emily will stop at nothing to discover the truth and find what really happened to her brother!

Soon Collie and Lana feel like something is watching them from the woods and something big coming for them all!.

This book I really enjoyed reading and was alot of fun!
I loved the characters like alot! I really liked getting to know them.
The writing was great and kept me interested and intrigued.
A soaring, sweeping, satisfying novel that kept me up late for several nights.

Thanks again NetGalley, Publisher and Author for the chance to read and review this amazing book!