Thank you to NetGalley and Solaris for letting me enjoy this early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

I think this book has a great premise, interesting set up and I read it fairly quickly but for some reason, it didn’t hook me fully. The dual POV’s went back and forth through time and that may have something to do with it. There was also not one (or even two) distinct narrator(s) so that made it hard to connect with anyone in particular.

I found the idea of this book really interesting and the opening chapters are certainly engaging. However. I felt the story dragged a bit and I lost interest at some points. OK but if I'm completely honest I would struggle to know how to recommend it. Some of the reviews from other readers make interesting points and have inspired me to revisit parts of the book!

The Dark Between the Trees is billed as a deep woods horror for fans of the Ritual and the Decent - but sadly the only real comparison between this book and those projects is the setting.
Barnett serves up an intriguing premise about a mythical beast known as Corrigal that stalks a remote, English wood killing those who enter but falls flat in what ends up being a rather suspenseless telling of the story.
The story is told across two timelines - from the POV of a group of ninetieth century soldiers who cross paths with this dark presence while fleeing a battle - and of a group of modern day amateur historians seeking to learn the soldiers fate.
Unfortunately the characters are undercooked and the narrative drags when it has all the right ingredients of a thrilling tale here. A strong idea let down by execution.

“ The wood was a liar, but beneath that was buried something true, and fascinating, and the wood was telling her what it was, if only she could tune into it properly, or decipher it.”

The Dark Between the Trees tells the tale of soldiers who went missing in the darkness of Moresby Wood while following a group of women who set out to discover what happened to those soldiers so many years ago.

This book started slow, picked up, gained speed, and then took us to a confusing place. I enjoyed this book for the most part- I rooted for Harper, read furiously as Alice and Sue engaged in a battle of wills, and hoped desperately that someone would get out alive.

However, the ending just didn’t deliver in the way I hoped- and for some who like cosmic horror, this might be your jam. It wasn’t BAD or anything… it just wasn’t satisfying.

This story is incredibly atmospheric and I often felt right there with our characters- though I think it was (surprisingly) easier to connect with the soldiers than the present day women. They just weren’t as fleshed out and felt a bit more hollow, which was a disappointment.

If you enjoy a confusing, cosmic story with a haunting atmosphere- this might be just what you’re looking for. It’s a solid, 3.5 stars for me. Rounded down to 3 for NetGalley purposes.

It’s hard not to get strong "Annihilation" vibes as this book begins, what with a party of five women, each with different professional skillsets, entering a mysterious forest where things are not what they seem. To some extent that comparison continues as you go deeper into the book, even though this quickly turns toward gothic-folk horror and not cosmic sci-fi. Unfortunately, the comparison doesn’t do this novel too many favors, because this often feels like it is treading a similar forest path without discovering too many new treasures.

I really enjoyed this story, itself. The setup, the decision to tell multiple storylines/timelines simultaneously by switching back and forth between chapters, and even the ending, which may not be satisfying to everyone, but I felt was really fitting for this journey. However, I found myself repeatedly underwhelmed by the actual writing, as well as the character development, for both characters in both the contemporary and historical storylines. The characters all felt like they were defined by one trait, and that is fine for the considerable secondary characters, but I really wanted more for the primary four-ish characters. In the back half of the book there seems to be a sudden exposition dump giving more character explanation and motivation for one character in particular, but it felt like too little too late, and even with what was given it didn’t feel convincing, but instead somewhat expected. I would have been able to overlook somewhat flat characters if the writing was more compelling, but unfortunately it did not draw me in. It was plotted well enough, for the story it wanted to tell. But the writing just felt disjointed, moving back and forth between characters in a given chapter in a way that felt somewhat slipshod. The writing wasn’t offensive, and I will say that you could make an argument that the writing was trying to recreate the emotional experience of being lost and in disarray, paralleling the characters. But in the end, I just wanted the actual writing itself to be stronger, and the characters to be more robust, because I didn’t feel like I had any emotional connection to what anyone was doing, and nothing about the prose or the style was pulling me deeper in, leading down the paths to the heart of the wood, as it were.

The story itself is strong, and enjoyable, if not entirely new or groundbreaking. For story alone I would give it four stars. But the writing style feeling like it needed to be more focused and the characters all feeling somewhat underwritten unfortunately drops me down to three.

I want to thank NetGalley and Rebellion, Solaris, who provided a complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Finally, Dr. Alice Christopher has gotten permission and a crew together to explore the Moresby Wood, an area plagued by superstition and old legends. She plans to follow the trail of a group of soldiers from the 1700s who all disappeared in the wood, all but one deserter. But the deeper in they go, the more strangeness happens... and through flashbacks to the group of soldiers, it's clear that something is stalking them through the wood.

I knew this was a book I'd be into when I saw the comparison to [book:The Ritual|10239382]. The contrast between the group women in present times versus the group of men in the past worked well, and since they ended up not following the exact path of the soldiers there wasn't always a direct correlation of soldiers experiencing something and then the present-day people experiencing the same thing. The wood itself was its own character, and the imagery was surreal in a subtle way that made it even more disturbing. I would have enjoyed just a little more conclusion at the end but overall this was the perfect kind of read to usher in the fall season.

I was very excited for this one, but it seems the hype didn't quite lived the expectations.

For me the book was so dragged it was very difficult to want to even finish it, sadly it did have a good idea to come into but it didn't went all out for any reason, it could have been maybe the way it was written or that it's feel more like a normal madness think that you just stop looking for the shadows that were supposed to be there.

There is so much here to love - this book is just spectacularly atmospheric, and I envy the readers who will get to enjoy it during “spooky season” (such a perfect book for an October release). The author does an amazing job of capturing the woods, a “thin place” if ever there was one, and the alternating storylines were so effective. I was mesmerized by the woods - I could almost feel the mist and hear snapping branches. And I love the way that a very old legend is woven through, even as the narrators acknowledge that there is no single story, no single way of seeing the woods or understanding what happens there. This book reminded me of a darker Susanna Kearsley - high praise from me. This novel is set in a time and place that are not very familiar to me, and I was completely immersed.

But…there were two main issues that kept this from being a 4 or even 4 1/2 star read for me. First, the characters felt too thin. I didn’t need to like Alice, but I did need to understand her. It didn’t ring true, to me, that she’d abandon her good sense and her companions simply because she was bitter about a lack of grants or departmental politics. Second, I felt a bit shortchanged by the ending (Nuria’s ending).

All in all, though, I really enjoyed reading this book - I read it quickly, over just a few days. Thank you so much for the chance to read and review it.

Really enjoyed "The Dark Between the Trees" by Fiona Barnett. The sense of place was set really well, and you felt the claustrophobia, the disorientation and confusion. Set in two time periods, each chapter mirrored the one after and even though they were set hundreds of years apart, each set of characters experienced the same sense of dwindling hope of getting out of there alive. Brilliantly written!

I really loved the premise for this novel, and found the writing really week done ... But it just had a hard time holding my attention. I found it a bit dry in parts and needed to keep reminding myself to continue.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Sadly I didn't really enjoy this book amd I actually dnf'd it around the half way mark.
I just wasn't a big fan of the writing and I didn't really care about the characters.
All in all this book just wasn't for me.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book reminded me of the film "The Ritual" a little, which is why I just had to pick it up. Forests and horror stories about mysterious ancient monsters that might or might not exist are just the absolute best fit for each other, and I was very excited for "The Dark Between the Trees" and was hoping to actually be scared and have a sleepless night or two.

The atmosphere is this book's big strength. Moresby Forest, the strange woods the story takes place in, is fascinating and creepy. Noone really wants to go there - not just because there are ancient myths about a monster roaming it, but also because neither GPS nor simple compasses or any kind of technology seem to work once you cross its borders. It's a wild land, unconquered by humankind.
The writing is great, instantly pulling you in. There are two timelines - the first one tells the story of a group of soldiers in the 17th century that disappeared forever in the woods, the second one follows five researchers and park rangers trying to find out what actually happened to these men. I really liked the different perspectives that were wonderfully interwoven with each other, although I do think that the soldiers' perspective reads a little modern for its setting.
The mystery of what happened to the soldiers and what's happening now to the researchers is an intriguing one, and I was ready to give this a high rating - until the ending happened. Or, well, the last few chapters, I guess. The book doesn't seem to care all too much about its characters, doesn't ever allow us to get close to them, and certain things happening to them off screen later on didn't add to this feeling of detachement. The ending itself doesn't fully wrap up the story and leaves us with a lot of loose ends. While open endings can be amazing, this just feels underwhelming.
All in all, this is a good and very atmospheric story with an ending that disappointed me, but I'd still recommend reading it if creepy woods and ancient monsters are your thing.

In 1643 following an ambush, Captain Davies leads his men into Moresby Wood to recoup and recover. Not all his army made it and there are many injuries. Some of the soldiers are reluctant to enter the woods as they've heard all the folk stories of the Corrigal a mystical creature, and the Moresby family.
In present day Dr Alice Christopher a historian who has always been fascinated by the tales of Moresby Wood lead 4 other women to discover what could possibly have happened to the soldiers. But very soon they discover that things are not always as they seem and the forest wants to claim them too.
This was very atmospheric, the chapters alternate between the present and the past seamlessly. You really feel the sense of dread from both era's as the trees seem to close in on the protagonists and take them on their way.
3.5 rounded up to 4
Thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion publishers for this advanced copy, I'm under no obligation to leave my review

The Dark Between The Trees, Fiona Barnett's debut novel, had such potential. It's told through alternating chapters set in two different time periods. In the present day, two historians plus three local experts gain permission to explore Moresby Woods, which is normally out of bounds to the general public, retracing the steps of a group of Parliamentarian soldiers who fled into the woods in the seventeenth century after being ambushed. Only two of them ever emerged, telling a story of a monster that matches local legends of the Corrigan and of the witchcraft that lurks within the wood. The second strand, set in 1643, follows the soldiers themselves. Both groups soon find that the woods are not what they seem; paths seem to rearrange themselves to direct them towards certain places, landmarks shift and go missing. But is the Corrigan the biggest threat here, or does something even darker lurk within the woods?

Despite the strong ideas, The Dark Between The Trees fell very flat for me. The writing didn't work on either a macro or a micro level. Structurally speaking, the book just fails to gain momentum, and while I'm often a fan of an open ending, I felt that it ended before it really explored the potential of a lot of the ideas it introduced, like the 'second wood'. There was no sense of tension or fear as both groups recognise they're trapped in the wood, despite similarities to The Blair Witch Project. However, I think the real problem was the writing. Both strands flip back and forth between the heads of various point-of-view characters in a very uncontrolled way. This is just about OK in the present-day strand, where the characters are more clearly differentiated, but became very confusing in the seventeenth-century strand, where I struggled to tell the soldiers apart. I suspect there was also a problem with psychic distance; we're always at arms length from the characters, never very far away or very close in. This robbed the book of any sense of immediacy. Finally, although I have no problem with writers choosing to modernise historical dialogue, I felt Barnett took it too far with the soldiers, because there's no real sense of an early modern mindset at all (at one point, a character talks about the division between his 'personal' and 'professional' roles). 2.5 stars.

The Dark Between the Trees by Fiona Barnett is an enjoyable read for those who like slow-burning horror stories that are not the scariest. I did enjoy the descriptions and the world created by Barnett and the variety of characters that lived past and present. There is always something intriguing about monsters lurking in the woods that ensnares me, making it inevitable that I will eventually read the story. For me, the present characters wanting to leave the woods and thinking they could just go no problem despite a tree next to them disappearing overnight, equipment failing, and changing environment bothered me as it made them dumb, and I was ready for them to get picked off one by one. But that makes the story. I recommend this book to those intrigued by what may be lurking in the woods and who enjoy light horror.

SYNOPSIS: This story is told from two different perspectives— and time periods.

One perspective is told from present day by a scientist named Dr. Alice Christopher, a PhD who has dedicated her career studying the Moresby Wood (in England)— the myths, legends, and stories. Though the stories are strange, it is the one about the missing soldiers that is most intriguing to Dr. Christopher; seventeen soldiers enter Morsbey Woods, and only two come out. What is even more perplexing is that the soldiers spoke of shifting landscapes, disappearing trees, and a monster.

After years of trying, Dr. Christopher finally acquires the financial backing (and approval) to fund a research trip for her and four other women to enter the forest and find out what happened to the group of soldiers. The mission seems pretty straight forward— until it isn’t; technology stops working, maps are proven in accurate, lies are told, and alliances are tested.

The second perspective takes place in 1643 and is told from the perspective of the soldiers who entered the Moresby Wood on their march north during a time of war. Shortly after entering the woods, the soldiers are ambushed, and the group flees deeper into the woods. The group suffers from a great number of serious injuries… and casualties. Some of the men who are from the area begin speaking of stories about the woods— how it’s unnatural, haunted, a realm of witchcraft, and even of a creature so horrid (The Corrigal), they dare not speak it’s name. Soldiers begin deserting their posts, disappear, dying from injuries, and internal conflict begins to rise.

NO SPOILER REVIEW: I found myself sucked into this novel, wanting to know what happened next. The author did a great job withholding information and kept the suspense building. This book is not scary in the “jump scare” sense, nor is it exceptionally gory, but it does have a spooky factor by not really describing (until close to the end) what is happening. The author also does a great job building the ambience and “personality” of the woods. I found it easy to picture the many moods of the forest, and it’s sinister/foreboding nature. Though the author split the book between two time periods, they enhanced each other well— you more or less learned about a section from the soldiers, and then experienced a similar area in the present day. The story ended differently than I was expecting, but still made sense; there isn’t any true closure to the story, which I kind of liked.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

(Review and aesthetic photo will be shared on IG soon— @slowerlowerliving)

This has an interesting plot and I love the urban legend factor. The writing is good but I’m the beginning I had a hard time with the amount of characters- couldn’t keep track of who was who.

3.5 rounded up to 4.

1643: A small group of soldiers are ambushed in an isolated part of Northern England and their only hope for survival is to flee into the nearby Moresby Wood... an unnatural place, the realm of witchcraft and shadows, where the devil is said to go walking by moonlight...
Seventeen men enter the wood. Only two are ever seen again, and the stories they tell of what happened make no sense. Stories of shifting landscapes, of trees that appear and disappear at will... and of something else. Something dark. Something hungry.

Today: Five women are headed into Moresby Wood to discover, once and for all, what happened to that unfortunate group of soldiers. Led by Dr Alice Christopher, and armed with metal detectors, GPS units, mobile phones and the most recent map of the area (which is nearly 50 years old), Dr Christopher's group enters the wood ready for anything.
Or so they think.

I really enjoyed this dual-timeline story and thought that both storylines were well written, tense and depicted interesting and relatable characters. Both storylines were well paced and the switch between them after each chapter was a clever way of revealing important plot points; also having to make connections and discover links yourself was entertaining.

Nevertheless, I have to be honest that the ending is what made me drop my rating. I felt after all I had invested in the book and the characters that the ending was a little far fetched, seriously confusing and ultimately didn’t really answer any of my burning questions which was very disappointing. A shame because the rest of the book was great.

Although the story is based on an enticing idea I didn't love the story. It was very predictable and for a thriller/horror book seriously lacked in both darkness and twists. It's not to mention the underwhelming ending and it's many loose ends.
To be fair although this was only 200 pages long (on my Kobo e-reader), when I got to the last chapters I didn't even care about the characters anymore and just wanted to be over and done with it.

One thing the author did very well though is switching point of views/narration during the chapters. It was really smooth. I also really liked reading how the characters tried to cope with the situation of being lost in an everchanging, cold, foggy, scary forest. I thought however that the supernatural elements were just "there". The story is obviously built around it and yet it doesn't bring much? Generally, the supernatural is used to highlight some difficulty the characters are experiencing in their "normal lives" I don't really know what it was for here, nor were the rules it obeys very clear.

This was okay, but not something I'd personally recommend.

Whatever happens in Moresby Wood, stays in Moresby Wood. Or whoever. After centuries of legends and ghost stories and many disappearances, the Wood was closed. Now, a team of women gets permission to enter, to search for the remains of a group of soldiers that went missing in the XVII century. The story goes back and forth between the soldiers and the women. Two of the women are rangers to keep the group safe, but the obsession of the main researcher, a historian, ends up getting them lost. Though it may not be anyone’s fault, the woods are just changing. The parallels between both groups start showing, even if they all deal with them very differently. The novel is suspenseful and atmospheric. I don’t usually enjoy too much weirdness, but this is not the case here. It reminded me of the stories of Algernon Blackwood, especially The Willows. I didn’t know how it would end and I was pleasantly surprised at the final resolution. I liked the modern story a little better, maybe because the soldiers were so unrelatable to me. I connected with some of the women, even if I didn’t like their leader (I don’t think we’re supposed to). Although the main character is the Wood itself, described in such detail that it’s almost possible to feel the chill in the air. Enjoyable and creepy.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Rebellion, Solaris!