I recieved an ARC from Netgalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I loved the author's historical crime fiction series, and the premise of One Eye Open looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try.
First, I still can't figure out the target audience. It felt like YA but not exactly? Maybe like a Goosebumps book for adults?
I think it might be considered novella length, so it was a nice quick read. Fast but evenly paced. Despite not having a lot of time to get to know the characters, they behaved in believable ways. (Juniper's dialogue was a little clunky at times, but otherwise.)
The premise was interesting. I can't say much more about it, because that would ruin it. I think it was supposed to be something of a horror story, and there are some grim elements, but in my opinion, it was more uncomfortable than anything. There were a lot of ethical questions raised and never addressed. Actually, there was a lot that went unexplained or unexplored, and while I understand that the short format doesn't exactly lend itself to lots of backstory and exposition, a little bit would have been nice.
All the action happens in the last few chapters. The big reveal didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but it all happened so fast that it didnt really have much impact.
The tone shifts from almost meditation on grief and loss to a schlocky gory horror. It was jarring, but not in a good way.
I will say, despite not enjoying the ending, I appreciate how the epilogue closely mirrored the prologue. It was a neat bit of writing.

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, but I did like the unusual premise and the care the author took in getting the setting right.

***TW FOR SELFHARM*** Very fast pace, weird in all the good ways. I loved how the story reveals parts of the plot and it all starts to make sense and then THAT plot twist !!!!!!! A short fast read that I really enjoyed and really looking forward to check out more from the author.

Alex Grecian had not been on my radar until I picked this story up on Netgalley (in exchange for an honest review) but I am glad they are now!

This is a quick read that surprised me in some really great ways. After the death of her husband, Laura and her teenage daughter Juniper go to the Danish village where Laura grew up. Laura's mother Charlotte has just passed away, and she needs to tend to their family farm. The village has some major "creepy shenanigans" vibes from the outset, and things get weirder the longer they stay.

I don't want to give too much away, but when the reason for the weirdness comes to light, it is delightful. I was properly grossed out on more than one occasion, and the illustrations were very good and added an extra ick factor during certain scenes. I flew through the last half of the book, and was legitimately blindsided by the ending, which was pretty dang satisfying.

If you are a fan of weird and/or folk horror, I recommend trying this one out!

I grabbed this on netgalley because I was looking for something different to read, and the premise sounded really interesting, but this one fell a little flat for me. I did enjoy parts of it, but I found parts to be a bit confusing and not explained well enough, and I didn't really find it scary at all (although this could be more because I do have a high tolerance when it comes to horror in fiction). I didn't see the twist coming, although maybe I should have, so that was really interesting, and I appreciated that a lot. Overall, this was a quick read that was somewhat enjoyable, and if you are new to horror, this might be a good one to start with, since it is so short.

Good short story, especially for Halloween. Good character development and lots of details. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Great read i think it was a quick short read but it was very good, This girl goes with her mom to live in this house that her mother used to live in before she passed an they own a lot of land. I liked the parts where Juniper started seeing things, talking to her dad who actually passed away, she starts noticing strange things occuring on the farm an house. It was spooky but I read so fast to see what would happen at the end I did enjoy it.
Thank you for letting me read this book!

I was intrigued after reading the description for Alex Grecian’s One Eye Open. I’m not sure if it should be called a long short story or a novella, but whatever you call it I enjoyed the heck out of it. One Eye Open tells the story of Laura Roux who returns to her childhood home in Denmark along with her daughter, Juniper, after the tragic loss of her husband. Juniper quickly learns there is more than meets the eye to the sleepy little farming village, something quite dark and unnatural. The story is creepy and atmospheric, and I absolutely loved the use of Scandinavian folklore.
Thanks to TKO Studios and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an eARC of One Eye Open.

One Eye Open by Alex Grecian reminded me of The Monkey’s Paw by WW Jacobs. Their basic ideas were pretty similar.

Charlotte Jessen dies under mysterious circumstances, killed perhaps by her husband of 42 years, Tor. Her daughter, Laura Roux, returns to her childhood home with her teenage daughter, Juniper, two days after her mother’s funeral. The mother and daughter are recovering from a tragedy. Laura’s husband, Jacob, was killed in a tragic accident while attempting to teach Juniper how to drive.

They are here for good, although Juniper doesn’t know it initially. Laura hopes this will be their new beginning.

But Juniper is not happy with having to move to this small village in Denmark, away from her life in the US. To make things worse, she finds the townsfolk rather odd, every one of them behaving suspiciously.

Then Juniper comes to know of a horrible tradition that has prevailed over centuries. One that arose out of the need to ensure that there are enough hands to reap the harvest that the endless wheat fields in the village are blessed with.

But that’s the thing about tradition. It has to be repeated.



The book is written in the third person limited PoV of Laura, Juniper and Kaspar.

This was my first attempt at reading horror. It was disturbing but so well written that I just kept on reading. Who would have thought something as innocuous as wheat fields could induce a feeling of discomfort and horror? But the author has done it.

He has created the image of an insular community, holding dangerous secrets that have the power to turn against the community.

Most prologues are completely unnecessary, but here, the Prologue hitches us in, creating the right mix of intrigue and dread. Very quickly, we realise that something is terribly wrong.

Nine of the chapters began with beautiful watercolour illustrations that set its characters deeper in our minds. Of course, to be honest, I didn’t need the illustrations. My own imagination was doing a pretty good job of throwing up images to upset me. Having said that, I must say the illustrations were superb and added to the impact created by the book.

The writing was good, and the issues that it discussed, death, grief and loss are such as to resonate with all of us, particularly when the loss has been a sudden one. The accident which caused the death of Jacob was painful to read. We can relate to the pain of the mother and daughter.

Just one mistake, in Chapter 9, Kaspar turned into Konrad.

I couldn’t quite understand the title, One Eye Open. Perhaps it refers to the warning, Sleep with one eye open.

Laura and her daughter Juniper have return to Laura's hometown in Denmark after a family tragedy. In this farming community nothing is as it seems.
This was a enjoyable short story with a underlying creepy aspect.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book for review.

I’m glad to be the first to rate and review this book. Out of nowhere this was surprisingly good. I’ve never read the author, heard of his and his Yard series, but not being a fan of serials, it didn’t much register. This novella certainly changes that, this merits a register.
October perfect and atmospheric, this story takes the readers to Jutland, specifically a small island community off the cost of Denmark. A prodigal daughter returns to her ancestral abode, one that now belongs to her following the death of her mother. The daughter has just had a personal tragedy to reckon with, she’s a recent widow with a teenage daughter of her own in tow.
The community is small, quiet, heavily agricultural, there’s nothing much to do or talk about, but there is a peculiar local custom, a well intended ritual with horrifying potential consequences. One that the young Juniper stumbles upon, one that her mother might have known about all along, the way every local seems to. One that’ll lead to devastating consequences.
The fields have to be harvested, but at what cost? Read and find out, if you dare.
So much to like here, where do I even begin? Great writing, realistic likeable characters, a positively haunting location that serves as a character in and of itself, terrific use of local legends, excellently rendered claustrophobia of a small insular community. All very nicely done.
At the risk of giving away too much and at the risk of being those unimaginative people who compare new works to famous existing ones…this is Dutch Pet Cematary.
Great read. Should have read it at night, but eerie enough in daytime too. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.