I’ll start this review by saying this is an incredible debut, and I’ll follow this author anywhere she wants to take me in her next book.

Hollow’s End is a small town that draws hoards of tourists for its wildly successful, centuries-old farms. Without these farms, the town would die. And that’s exactly what happens when a quicksilver mercury blight poisons the crops, then the livestock, and moves on to the townsfolk. If you’re thinking zombies, you’re not exactly wrong. The animals and people crave flesh, but disappear into the forest at night – which is lucky for the noninfected folks. Wren and Derek are members of two of the four founding families and are frantically trying to save their loved ones, farms, and town. Time is of the essence since Wren is now infected and showing symptoms.

I loved the pacing of this story. There’s no slow unfolding of details – the reader is immediately thrown into the action and feels Wren’s desperation. I initially didn’t like her much. She makes some selfish demands of others and plenty of mistakes, but to her credit she owns it later on. The buildup oozes tension. She and Derek would start to make headway in finding a solution only to be slapped down by one obstacle after another. Death is only inches away in several scenes. Stakes are tremendous, and they discover dark secrets abound in these founding families.

What We Harvest is a fantastic blend of horror, thriller, and dark fantasy with a little alchemy to give it some added flavor. I devoured (in a non-zombie-like way) this book in less than twenty-four hours. This is an author to watch, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Horror books and I have a love/hate relationship, and I'm slowly coming to realize they just may not be for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-galley.

My thoughts on this book range from "this is a bit slow," to "okay, that's kind of cool," so my review is going to be all over the place. I wasn't quite sure what I was reading in the first few chapters and a lot confused me due to the fact that details are sprinkled in throughout the book without info-dumping (which is good!) but being dropped into the action so quickly jarred me a bit. I felt like I was missing the entire first quarter of the book.

I enjoyed the characters a lot; they were all unique and engaging. Wren, as our heroine, is both flawed and fierce in her love for her family, but stubborn in that she cannot let go of the past. The romance was believable and, to be honest, was the best part of the story. Wren's grief clouded her vision and she pushed Derek away. But it turned out, he was the first to be there for her when things got messy and that is just *chef's kiss*.

As much as zombie dogs make me sad, they also delight my black heart.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the premise and the writing but the explanations on the blight, plot organization, and the easy ending had me scratching my head. BUT fans of eerie, dark stories will enjoy this.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve only recently gotten into horror and What We Harvest is going to stick with me for a long, long time. Incredibly tense and eerie with probably TOO good descriptions, I read this hook on the edge of my seat.

Wren was such a relatable character thrust into a zombie outbreak more or less and following her through the story felt just right. Her care for her family and friends (and Teddy!) shone through so vividly it hurt as she fought tooth and literally nail for their and her survival.

If I had to describe it in two words, gorgeously gory would do the trick!

What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat is a young adult horror novel. The story in What We Harvest is one that is a zombie-esque tale with a “virus” called the Blight turning people into walking monsters in a fictional town called Hollow’s End.

Wren has been raised in Hollow’s End on her family’s farm where their miracle crops grow. Only Wren’s family knows the secret behind the crops, the magical stone at the middle of the farm. The stone however is full of a silver sludge that seems to have escaped and is now consuming the crops and townsfolk around Wren’s farm.

What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat was an eerily fantastic story that pulled me in right away. The situations turned tense immediately as the story slowly amped up the danger around the characters. The thing for me that had my rating at three and a half stars was I wasn’t overly enthused on how things went after thinking most of it was creepy and compelling, getting to the end was sort of a let down to me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Holy. Crap. I was not prepared for how magically wonderful this story was! It's an imaginative creeptastic nightmare come to life (with hints of fantasy and mystery). I absolutely LOVED it. The authors writing style is beyond brilliant and I absolutely need to read more of her work.

It was a SUPER quick read (I couldn't put it down) which is a good thing. The characters are likeable and the secrets, twists, and turns are interesting and keep you reading The author's take on zombie-like creatures created by a blight is wonderful, and I want more of it!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys YA, fantasy, thriller, or mystery, because its got a good mix of them all.

First Thoughts:
First off, I thought this book had a great eerie tone to it from the start. Fraistat kept me engaged with her talented cinematic writing style. It was very easy to get a clear picture on the setting and characters. There were certain points that felt a bit too repetitive. Though, it didn't distract me from the story line. Off the bat we are given a great plot line, mystery, a beautiful (and I mean beautiful) setting, as well as haunting secrets that make you eager to jump into.

Writing: 4/5
Fraistat has an amazing cinematic writing style. This is what hooked me in the most. Some parts had me so enthralled. There was a part in the last 1/4 of the book, deep in the haunted woods amongst a certain pond that I was actually mind blown on how she portrayed the scene. I was in awe of how beautiful and haunting she was able to describe certain details and happenings in the book. Her take on the zombie aspect - a genre in which I feel has died in a time where we are overloaded with high fantasy novels - was possibly not the most well thought out when it came to the how's but incredibly well done in the why. I was thoroughly creeped out whenever we came across the blighted (zombies).

Plot: 3/5
It's not the plot that fell short for me but the organization of the plot that I felt lacked most. The book takes place in a very small town that relies heavily on four different founding farms and the amazing crops they yield. One year, the farms that have always been bountiful all start to wither, die, and poison the town. I felt like there was a lack of definite objective. Of course you can get the point - save the parents, save the farm, stay alive, etc. However our main character has no compass. She was just kind of mentioning things as she went on with our story instead of being driven to complete these tasks. It's a zombie novel, you are going to have several objectives going on at the same time but they should be clear and outlined, merging together in the end.

Which brings me back around to the feeling of plot disorganization.
*Spoilers ahead so please don't read if you're not willing to have info on the story*
*
*
I would've liked to see the scene where Wren finds her mother in the first 1/4 of the book, so she could've been clued in to the journals and the missing geode. Which would have given her and Derek an objective to move forward with, putting pieces of this blight infection and the founding families dirty secrets together throughout next 2/4 of the book. Instead we are given all of this in the late 50% and more like 3/4 of the way done. About 50% in we could've received the menacing reason behind the blight's consumption, the founding families involvement, and then got the governments interference. Honestly, the government aspect was almost completely unnecessary. I would've been content with just a - "yeah they sent out fliers, then they abandoned us." The conversation that they had with Mrs. P should have came right after the finding of the journals or during their very first conversation, making it one of the last missing pieces - again, in the first 1/2 of the book. Then, by the last 1/2 we could have been just a wild, intense ride of Wren trying to scramble to get all the missing pieces, save everyone and fight against the blight. Building done, timer set, and racing against the clock.
*
*
*Spoilers over*

Everything about the plot was amazing besides the organization. I don't even blame the author entirely for this. She had all the right pieces, they just could've been organized better. Her editor should have found these slight blemishes and helped her along better in my opinion. That being said, the plot organization, while slightly frustrating, did not ruin the book or keep me from devouring the book. I did. I devoured this book. If it wasn't for me having to work and function, I would've finished it in one sitting.

Characters: 3/5
We have two "main" characters. Wren is our MC, the daughter of one founding farm - the rainbow wheat farm. Derek is the ex boyfriend Wren dumped months prior to the blight poisoning and the son of another founding farm, the silver melons. Then the rest of the time we have fill in from Derek's family and Wren's dog, Teddy. Side note - I love when pets have a place in books. Teddy was probably my favorite character. While reading, I kept thinking of my dog and how 1. I'd be absolutely devastated if I lost him to a zombie inducing state and 2. I would be exactly like Wren, not willing to hurt or let go of him.

Wren is going to be my main focus here. I liked that she wasn't incredibly daring or confident. It made for a more realistic scenario. She is only 16 and has never in her life had reason to predict this zombie scenario. I can understand the insecurity of her decision making I just wish it hadn't been so prompted. Actions always speak louder than words. As we get her direct perspective, all her thoughts and feelings are projected to us. I could've done without all her "why's". "Why did I do this? Why didn't I do that?" Again, it's a very unexpected zombie situation. She should've been more about accepting these decisions as she went, learning from them or stating what she could've done differently. You can be indecisive and insecure and still be adaptive. Tell me why you should've made a different decision. Tell me why you couldn't help but do what you did. This produces more character arc. We love to see growth in characters!

Romance: 2.5/5
The romance is an ex-to-lovers romance. After being pushed together to survive the blight, they start coming to terms with the why's of their breakup and the feelings that re-spark due to the impending doom that faces them. They are both 16 so the romance is very sweet and innocent. It's exactly the kind of romance I'd expect in a small town setting.

Overall: 3/5
This book was a great debut. Fraisat's writing style shows so much potential for the years to come. I would read her next book, without a doubt. I look forward to seeing her grow and flourish in this bookish world.

Wren has always known that there was something different about the town of Hollow’s End, and that even though she doesn’t know exactly what it is, it’s something spectacular. Growing up on a wheat farm where the crops are bountiful and so healthy and vibrant they literally shimmer, Wren and her family and the other farmers in town have always felt fortunate and lucky to have the land and its bountiful harvest.

Then tragedy hit. Blight has overtaken the fields and is taking over, ruining the livelihood of almost everyone Wren knows. The fields aren’t the only thing that is haunting Hollow’s End, and as Wren searches for answers, she is losing everything she loves. Even her dog Teddy has changed into something she doesn’t recognize and fears, and now Wren is afraid that the blight that is poisoning her family’s wheat is connected to the strange sickness that her dog and now her parents have succumbed to.

Wren certainly seems wise beyond her years, but that’s not enough to protect her from the creatures that haunt the woods and only come out at night. Despite trying to be careful, Wren begins to show symptoms of the sickness that her parents and her dog were infected with, something connected to the blight that lurks in the soil that once seemed to hold magic. Wren isn’t one to give up easily though, and will fight until the bitter end.

What We Harvest is a book full of imagination and a fair share of horrors that seem impossible and yet somewhat realistic at the same time. I enjoyed reading it and though there were a few parts that I had to read a couple of times to grasp what was happening, the end product is satisfying and addictive — I couldn’t put this book down until I knew what happened to Wren and the rest of the inhabitants of Hollow’s End!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Random House Children’s

I really enjoyed the writing style. If this book had been written maybe 10 years ago it would be super popular and loved because this is what we were reading then.

Now, I get what it's trying to do but I ultimately wasn't interested enough. It lagged near the middle of the story. I wanted more explanations of the blight. The characters could've been expanded on.
The ending was too easy.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
What We Harvest is an evocative, atmospheric horror story, capturing everything I’m growing to love about the genre. I love horror rooted in a setting’s history, and this one delivers on that to a tee. The sense of darkness within this town, creeping from beneath the picturesque surface is conveyed to perfection. It’s well-paced and sucks you in right away.
Wren is an interesting lead. She’s flawed, and makes mistakes, but she’s still easy to relate to. Her relationship with her family is complex and even heart wrenching.
I also like that the romance is a bit different than some I’ve seen in YA, with Derek being Wren’s ex-boyfriend. While it’s more of a B-plot, the romance is still well-executed. I liked that they had solid reasons behind their breakup, and the tension is still obviously there between them.
This book is compelling on almost every level, from writing to world building to plot and character. If you like zombie-esque horror and are looking for a slightly different take on it, I’d recommend picking this up.

I loved this book so much! It's a slow start, but the premise is worth the build-up. The characters are likable, with Wren being strong and determined to save her family's crops throughout the story. I love how the crops for the town are all unique and fantastical. Such an amazing read!

I really enjoyed this debut novel by Ann Fraistat! For me it was a solid 4 star read! Also a HUGE thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's Books for this arc copy of the book!

Let me start with saying that I loved the pacing of the story, it was really quick and easy to read and it kept me engaged the entire time!

I absolutely loved the plot of these magical/out of this world crops and then this blight coming out of the woods and turning the crops bad. I also loved the twist of the blight starting to infect the inhabitants of the town. I will admit the author did an amazing job of making the blight super creepy, especially with how it affects the people living in the town who are exposed to it! I will give no spoilers, but it definitely creeped me out! I also loved how the author doesn't explain right away what the blight does, but slowly let's the reader discover it over the course of the book.

I also really enjoyed the characters! The main characters were incredibly well done and I enjoyed them a lot. One thing I loved about the characters Wren and Derek were that, even though they are 16 in the story, they definitely didn't act like it! This was incredibly refreshing because as an older YA reader I find it especially annoying when characters act incredibly immature for their age in high stakes situations. So I think the author did a great job with this!

I also really appreciated that the author exposed the background of the blight throughout the story. I appreciated that it wasn't all just exposed at one pinnacle moment, but that it was spread out throught the story while still being shrouded in secrecy as the main characters invested everything as it went on. Now there is the pinnacle moment where everything is explained, but it was done really well and wasn't an overload of information at once.

Also this is a stand-alone book meaning everything was solved by the end of the story and that is incredibly nice!

Overall, a great debut by the author and I definitely think people who enjoy horror and supernatural books will enjoy this one!

I don't think I need to say much more than: I devoured this book in three hours, and it's a perfect mix of horror, creepy vibes, and disaster kids making the best kind of terrible decisions.

From the gorgeous cover to the lush prose, this book is quite an experience. I love the plant-blight-makes-zombies conceit, as well as the unique twists on zombies Fraistat introduces, though it was a bit hard reading about the airborne aspects of the blight when we're still in the middle of the (unending) COVID pandemic. That being said, there was so much to love here, and our main character's tenacity and heart easily carried me through the story (to say nothing of the sweet zombie dog, who was also heart-wrenching to read about but also very sweet in their own way...).

What We Harvest was an absolutely fantastic book that had elements of family and friendship, magic, and creepy horror. It was the exact amount of horror I can handle too! 🤣 This was an outstanding debut from Ann Fraistat!

Wren lives in Hollow’s End, an old town set in the backdrop of present day. The town has four farms run by four founding families, and each one has its own special element that helps drive revenue and tourism for the town and families. Something has gone wrong in Hollow’s End though. A blight is taking over the crops, sucking the life right out of them, but it’s more than just the crops. People and animals have begun to go missing, and now they are showing up again, but they are shells of the humans they once were, and they are dangerous.

This was a fast-paced story that dropped the reader right into the action. It had a great balance of backstory and present-day story that had me furiously turning the pages to see what happened. I enjoyed the creepy-crawly aspect of the blight and the way it controls the humans and animals. One outstanding thing for me in this story though, was the character relationships. I really enjoyed the personalities and the interactions with each of them. Even Wren and her pet dog have a beautiful relationship.

Overall, I loved this book, and I found myself completely immersed in the story. I would highly recommend this for readers that enjoy a little bit of magic, a creepy setting in a YA story, and a whole lot of great writing!

Now this was a great story!! It had a new take on zombies, magic, a hint of romance, and I just could not put it down!! I loved every page and I am so happy to have a finished copy of it now. This book gave me all the feels and creepy feelings with a side of animal love that I could not stop loving.

Not for me, no.

I don’t know why I decided to pick up a YA novel. I liked the premise so I wanted to give it a try. I didn’t realize it’s about zombies on top of being a young adult book. Overall this isn’t my kind of book. The MC made bad decisions and I just couldn’t get into it. It was also fairly repetitive.

Thoughts

I don't know what I was expecting here, but I was surprised almost immediately--in a good way! This book is wild from the very beginning but not in an outlandish way. It all makes perfect (and horrifying) sense, just as any good horror story should.

Pros
Brand New Zombie Apocalypse: There was a brief splash of time after we were overwhelmed with vampires where zombies dominated the market. Zombies were everything--and they were quickly boring. There's only so much you can do with armies of the lumbering undead. This book, however, makes zombies fresh and new. An exciting mix of elements comes into play here, from magical crops to a potentially alchemical backstory. The creeping blight that affects not just crops but also the townspeople adds a new creep factor to the slow-rotting, nocturnal, and grotesque zombies featured here.

Puppy Love: Who doesn't love a story where the sweet puppy doesn't have a devastatingly graphic end? Teddy might be a zombie dog, but she is loved and loveable. It's great to see the dog-person bond so clearly displayed here, and anyone would be lucky to have a sweet dog like Teddy wagging alongside them.

Whimsical Americana: This book truly embraces its Americana vibe and adds fun notes of whimsy to that aesthetic. Ann Fraistat does a great job of fore-fronting small-town America, with a cast of likeable townies and farmers' kids. The small legacy farms mixed with some alchemical weirdness adds to the charm of Hollow's End.


Cons
Romance Heavy: I can get kind of nitpicky about romance, and that's definitely the case here. I will say, however, that I didn't mind this couple. I didn't mind their fated-to-be-together, kids-next-door, small-town romance. I thought it was cute, and that's saying something. I'm not usually a fan. Even though I did enjoy this romance, there were times when the plot itself got a bit mired down by the relationship at hand. I just wish the romance had always stayed a part of the characters and their development instead of butting into the actual plot and obscuring the end goal.

Gore: I mean, it's a zombie book, so of course you'd expect some gore. This book really does go there, though, and it's not just fantasy gore. The main character herself experiences some brutally bloody situations. Teeth get ripped out. Skin tears. Blood splatters the pages. I didn't mind it, but I do think that others should be warned.

Alchemical Whimsy: I liked the idea of alchemy being behind the whimsical Americana of this setting. Obviously, I liked the idea. I mentioned it in the pros. I really did enjoy the idea of blood and sacrifice--of some secret and horrible history--being behind the beauty of today as well. But this book took a sharp turn into highly-supernatural territory, and that diminished my enjoyment. That sort of sudden turn is a classic horror-story move, of course, along with towing the line of the natural and the supernatural. Here, the turn was just a bit too quick.

Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
8/10

Fans of the high-price old-style Americana of Rory Power's Burn Our Bodies Down will appreciate the brutal sacrifice of this new small town. Those looking for a fresh take on zombies like the one found in Em Gardner's Contaminated will appreciate these nocturnal, rotting foes.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

Ann Fraistat debuts with her young adult horror, What We Harvest. Wren has grown up in Rainbow Fields, with miraculous wheat of many colors. Her family, along with three other founding families have impossible cash crops that simply shouldn't be. Scientists have asked for the secret around the crops for years and have been denied. Now, all of the legacy of the farms are in danger. A blight has begun spreading through the fields. It started in the plants, moved to the animals, and now there are people missing. Wren is determined to stop the blight, but how can she do that when she is trying to avoid being infected herself?

What We Harvest is a fast-paced read with a lot of Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost vibes. I would actually love to see a film adaptation of What We Harvest because Fraistat was so successful at describing the visuals, both lovely and grotesque. I thought that the pacing of the novel was appropriate, particularly considering the target audience. This novel was very action-packed and plot-led. If I had any complaint, it would be that character development was somewhat shallow, but that did not matter in achieving what the story set out to do.

My favorite part of the story was undeniably Teddy, but I also loved how the blight manifested and the explanations we were given for the blight. The Fraistat managed to balance the somewhat scary and the lighter feelings of always having hope and never doubting Wren's success in the end.

Overall, I found What We Harvest to be a very respectable and enjoyable debut and I was happy to have the opportunity to read this book early.

Fast paced, atmospheric and chilling. A different take on zombies that I really enjoyed. It's more gory than scary, but I was invested quickly, and the lush, eerie descriptions of the zombies propelled the story. An excellent horror stand-alone, and I can't wait to see what Fraistat comes up with next.

Couldn't put down this fast paced horror. Wren is an instantly likable, fallible protagonist who tries her best to save everyone from the blight that's turning living creatures into zombie like monsters. What We Harvest is part love story and part horror wrapped in a mystery!