I am yet again reminded as to why I dislike contemporary... especially ones that promise an aspect of magical realism and don't deliver. If you were intrigued by the whole existence of the "violent season", like I was, well.... I've got some bad news for you. It's repeatedly mentioned as a theory by Wyatt and we are even teased that it might actually be real but in the end nothing comes of it.
As for Wyatt herself, I really couldn't stand her. She spent 99% of the book being unlikable (in an "not like other girls" way) and then did a complete 180 in the epilogue like wtf. Like I just mentioned, she had a "not like others girls" complex because all that other girls do, according to her, is talk about boys and be self-absorbed. Another reason I'm not a fan of contemporary: the manic pixy dream girl main characters with lots of internalized misogyny.
Anyway, this book just wasn't for me. The audiobook narrator did a really good job at making Wyatt sound just a whiny as she was written though.

The Violent Season
Sara Walters
Wyatt hates the month of November. She believes the people of Wolf Ridge have a sickness; in the month of November, they crave violence. Wyatt’s mother was murdered last November. Wyatt’s boyfriend, Cash, hurts her but she can’t seem to stay away from him. When a school project pairs her with Porter, she begins to see Cash in a different manner. Porter and Wyatt’s project has to do with a scene from the Great Gadsby. They form an ambitious plan of a party/dance but something tragic happens. Do the town people of Wolf Ridge become raving, blood thirsty monsters each November or is there a different explanation.
The Violent Season grabbed my attention at the beginning and held it to the end. I felt sorry for Wyatt and her father. Cash frightened me; the relationship between Cash and Wyatt is unhealthy and dangerous. Porter was a very likable character. Wyatt was headed down a bad road; she allowed Cash to manipulate and harm her. Wolf Ridge almost takes on a life of its own. Wyatt’s father is a schoolteacher. He is very easy going. He seems too easy going to me.

The Violent Season
By @saradoesthings
Published by @sourcebooksfire 10/5/21
Audio book @dreamscape_media
10/12/21
Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for my ALC🎧

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Holy Hell... It was hard to believe this was a YA thriller.
🔪🔪Best debut YA Thriller of 2021🔪🔪

Every November, the people in Wolf Ridge are overwhelmed with a hunger for violence--at least that's the town rumor. Last fall Wyatt Green's mother was brutally murdered, convincing Wyatt that this yearning isn't morbid urban legend. but rather a palpable force infecting her neighbors. For 15 years every November murder and unexpected deaths , deaths made to look like suicide or drownings happen.
November is the killing season

This year, Wyatt fears the call of violence has spread to her best friend Cash--who also happens to be the guy she can't stop wanting no matter how much he hurts her. At the same time, she's drawn to Cash's nemesis Porter, now that they're partners on an ambitious project for lit class. When Wyatt pulls away from Cash, and spends more time with Porter, she learns secrets about both of them she can't forget

You will like this if:
1. You like the suspense of a potential serial killer.👺
2. You like a main character who may or may not see ghosts 👻
3. You see everyone in the story as a potential suspect ..🔪
Fans of Criminal Minds meets Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale will binge this book in one day.

The synopsis doesnt do this justice, it's like one of those addictive docuseries on Netflix , a train wreck , mass murder ..even at the end you know we dont know all the truth. Sara Walter's was skilled at writing about how someone's mind can splinter after a trauma, and how no one can ever be unchanged. I couldn't stop listening, the narrator had this raspy voice that made you sit at the edge.of.your chair, and keep on till the very end.
.
TW : sexual assault/ overwhelming grief/murder/ bullying / drug abuse

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🔊Song Pairing: Bulletproof - Godsmack

💭What I thought would happen:

I thought it would likely get very bloody…

📖What actually happens:

A small town in Vermont suffers from a joint cabin fever in the month of November OR there is a violent size to the heroine of the story, Wyatt.

The book moves back and forth questioning whether there is perhaps something in the water or whether specific characters are simply mad. A minefield of destruction.

Wyatt is desperate to find out what happened to her mother who was slaughtered a mere year ago. Through her attempt to get the police more involved she finds herself in a toxic love triangle (but truly what love triangle isn’t toxic…).

🗯Thoughts:

I have been many excellent reviews for this book so the excitement to read/listen was high. The title and cover are excellent and grasped my attention immediately.

While I liked the idea of the book, the execution was lacking. I had the “twist” figured out within the first chapter. So the shock factor had my heart at a breezy 60 bpm.

The ending felt quite rushed and left me scratching me head feeling like well okay that’s happened, I suppose it’s finished and let’s move on.

Overall, would say it’s perfect for spooky season but did not thrill me in the way I enjoy.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review,

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the advanced eARC of "The Violent Season". This was soooo good! Loved the suspense and the twist of the ending! It made me want to know how it was going to end and it did not disappoint!

Every November, the residents of Wolf Ridge experience unexplainable violence. Murder and suicide plague the town. Last year, it was Wyatt’s mother. This year, she fears it will affect more of her loved ones. She is determined to find answers and stop this “sickness” before more lives are lost. Throw in a best friend she just can’t seem to quit and his nemesis seeming to pop up everywhere, Wyatt faces many difficult decisions while still trying to navigate the end of her high school career.

I listened to this audiobook while driving, cleaning, working, and showering. I couldn’t stop! I loved the exploration of mental health and trauma and how young people cope with these experiences. As I do with most teenage characters, I found myself frustrated with their decision making. However, I was still rooting for them every step of the way.

I’m often difficult to please when comes to audiobooks. I’m picky about narrators and don’t like when they are boring or doing too much. The narrator was perfect and was able to tell the story without distracting me from the idea that it was being read to me.

I received this audiobook free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had much higher hopes for this book. I was listening to the audiobook so it went by quick but it was boring. I didn't find the twist to be shocking at all it was kind of down played it seemed. I didnt. Like any of the characters so I could really care less what happened to them. I wouldn’t recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this Advanced Reader Copy, in exchange for my honest review.

The Violent Seasons is a solid debut by Sara Walters. This book is a YA book that contains the darkness and angst that sometimes accompanies the teenage years. I appreciated that there was a warning at the beginning of the book re: potential triggers (Suicide, Domestic Violence.)

The story centers around Wyatt. And the town that she lives in, which she sees as having a sickness, where every November people in the town become more violent. She equates the deaths of several people close to her to the penchant for violence. Wyatt feels like violence is taking over her best friend and that boy who she has unrequited love for, Cash. But there are secrets that she soon becomes aware of.

The book is a fast read, with well-rounded characters. It is part mystery, part coming of age novel. The book was a bit dark but overall a good read.

Wow. This book was so enthralling! I enjoyed the concept of a sickness causing people to kill others or take their own lives. This book was INTENSE and that is saying a lot because I don’t usually feel as creeped out or disconcerted by books as this made me.

There is a lot of graphic descriptions of suicide so I just wanna add a trigger warning for potential readers.

A solid 3.5⭐

Every November the small town of Wolf Ridge experiences an increase in violent acts and crimes. Wyatt believes there is a sickness in her town that manifests at that time of year. Last year it took her mother. Who will she lose this year? Will she survive this violent season?

Then tone of the book reminded me of stories I have read from Mindy McGinnis, such as "The Female of the Species". As well as a little of the Fear Street lore of a curse on the town causing murder and death.

Overall I thought it was a good read. But I wish it would have went deeper into why things were happening in the town.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook for review.

The town of wolf ridge becomes a dangerous place, filled with violence every November but no one knows why, no one knows when it started.

The story follows Wyatt and her friend Cash, drawn together after the deaths of both of their mothers. Wyatt is desperately in love with Cash, never being anything more than friends with him.

Wyatt believes that the town has a ‘sickness,’ she thinks that everything bad that happens in this town is linked to November and makes people violent. She thinks that this year it has plagued Cash, Wyatt believes that his violence towards her is only a symptom of November.

When Wyatt gets partnered in class with Porter, a classmate who Cash hates, she desperately tries to resist his charms. In a turn of fate, Porter shows her that it’s okay to be herself, that she isn’t crazy for what she thinks. She realizes that the way Chase has been treating her isn’t okay, Porter helps her realize that not everyone is evil.

As Porter and Wyatt start to get closer, Wyatt slowly starts uncovering more and more truth about Cash and more truth about what really happened to her mother.

This book is full of very heavy subjects; Abuse, murder, suicide, sexual assault and self harm. I would definitely recommend looking up trigger warnings before reading. I really enjoyed this book, it felt more like a new adult book than a YA book in my opinion. The writing was really great especially as a debut author and it tackled the subject of grief and loss really well, the love triangle that took place had me very hooked and overall I give it 4/5 stars. Thank you to dreamscape media and Sara Walters for allowing me to listen to this audiobook arc.

I loved the idea of this book, but just didn’t really get too into it. I kept wanting more from it!!

Thank you Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for my first audiobook.

This YA thriller was a quick easy-to-read writing! I did think this was a bit mature and dark for a YA book but strangely enjoyed it. The author was really good at setting a dark, depressing mood setting. This story follows main character Wyatt and follows her toxic relationship. She lives in a town that is filled with a "sickness" that causes them to kill. In the end, I didn't expect the plot twist.

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

The town of Wolf Ridge becomes a dangerous place every November. The deaths and death count rises every year at that time and strangely, no one seems to comment on it Wyatt’s mother was a victim and she is consumed with the idea that bad things happen every November. Worse yet, her true love Cash is surely bad for her and he is very angry that she is spending time with the very wealthy Porter for a class project. Wyatt juggles her feelings for both boys as she tries to get to the bottom of the curse of Wolf Ridge and her mother's murder.

This is a YA book. There are lots and lots of feelings. I was impressed with how many ways Sara Walters could communicate Wyatt's heartache for Cash and the grief and sadness she felt over the death of her mother. This Is not so much a horror book but the mystery of Wolf Ridge and Wyatt's mother's murder do provide tension throughout the book. I did not guess the ending, it was actually a shocking twist!

There are mentions of suicide, depression, self harm in this book -it is not for everyone. But if you like YA books with a little edge, The Violent Season is for you! thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair review

The entire team while I was reading this, the only thing I could think of was that the story seemed to give the same vibes as the show 'Panic' on Amazon Prime. It just gave similar vibes and I think that made it so I enjoyed the small town vibes more.

Also the premise just sounded so cool - but I will say that it was kind of easy to guess where the plot was going. That wasn't necessarily a detriment, I think it allowed us to connect with Wyatt despite how obvious the answers were. We were able to sink into that depression and really dark place with her without having the distraction of trying to figure out answers. I also just really loved Wyatt's character, the really dark and gritty character were really working for her. One thing I will say I didn't wholly love about Wyatt was her needing to say she was "with sharp edges, cuss words, cigarettes, diamond tough" every other paragraph in the same chapter. Like at first, I really liked her getting realize the different sides to herself but then it just became repetitive and taking away from the story.

Overall, I just really enjoyed the story. It was dark and violent and really set the mood for a Spooky Season this October.

Some TW/CW for this book: sexual assault, nonconsensual sex on page, death of a loved one, revenge porn, emotional manipulation

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks for giving the opportunity to read the e-ARC & were also amazing enough to send the audiobook my way! Y'all know how much I love a good audiobook :)

This was a very quick read - I listened to the audiobook on 2x and listened to it in a day. I really loved it! The premise was so intriguing - is the town suffering from some unnatural sickness that leads to violence? Or are people just broken and cruel no matter the zip code? I loved the complex relationships in the story and thought the characters were well-developed. It left me with a mild book hangover which is the hallmark of a great story. Definitely recommended, especially if you are looking for something a little spooky and twisted this fall.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I received a free Audio copy of this book from Dreamscape Media and NetGallery for an honest review.

4.25.

I really liked this book. I’ll start with the story first and then talk briefly about the Audiobook as a separate thing.

This story is much more than how it was described. In many ways, this book is described as a thriller, maybe even a bit spooky and while it was dark, it didn’t read to me that way. For me, this was a book about grief, lose, and betrayal. It’s about dangerous love and how that can affect an entire community. I am unsure if those looking for a tight thriller or horror ya will be satisfied, but I loved this book because it was more than I expected.

The Audiobook was well paced and the narrator was wonderful. I could easily distinguish between the characters and I had a hard time putting it down.

3.25 stars

I will give Walters this: she definitely has a gift for writing prose. There were quite a few moments where I had to nod along with the audiobook narrator because the lyrical language found its way into my heart. She does a wonderful job of bringing the incredibly complex protagonist to life through her firm grip on the character's voice.

However, there were also quite a few moments where I found myself thinking that this story was really two separate books that were being smashed together. While The Violent Season was marketed as a thriller, I found that all of the mystery/thriller aspects took a back seat to the twisted love triangle. I have enjoyed thrillers with a romance subplot before, but the thriller aspects of The Violent Season felt like tiny crumbs dispersed throughout a dark romance. Yet again, I found myself burned by a book blurb that went overboard in selling the story's content.

Overall, I enjoyed The Violent Season, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if my expectations had been set up to align with the book's actual content.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for a fair and honest review!

WOW!! This small tiny town had more going on in it then a major city!! I received an audio copy of this book. Every November this town becomes a mystery of very disturbing events. It is a month where you either survive, or you are killed. The way some characters walk around like it is normal- fits with these disturbing events. I was captivated by the narrator and if you like thrillers this is the book for you!

I received a ARC of The Violent Season in exchange for an honest review.

This story follows Wyatt Green around the anniversary of her mother’s brutal murder in the town of Wolf Ridge. She’s on a mission to prove that the urban legend that the Wolf Ridge residents gets plagued with a sickness that turn them violent every November is true.

The cover of this one pulled me in and the premise sold me. I just knew I had to get my hands on this one. Unfortunately, this one didn’t match what I was expecting. I was thinking it’d be a Purge style fast paced novel with a touch of romance. In reality, it was just slow paced and sad. Additionally, Wyatt’s constant reference of being “sharp edges” and “cuss words and cigarettes” was distracting. It was equivalent to when you get a new car then all of a sudden you see it everywhere. If I took a shot every time that description or a similar one was said, I’d have, at minimum, a buzz by the time I reached The End.

With all that said, this book was middle of the road for me. Not bad at all just nothing I would be dying to read again. .