the really amazing thing about horror YA is that there's a lot someone has to make up to fuel their imaginations. it's kind of like getting a glimpse of the inside, knowing that there aren't enough pages or words to really explain the in between and eventual aftermath. it usually kills' a YA book for me, but catherine yu has just become an author whose prose-filled writing not only kept me at the edge of my seat, but looking into the dark of my room after i finished very late at night.

DIREWOOD is a truly haunting, strange story that usually follows all books set in a 90's-gothic-inspired realm. not to mention, being a fan of vampires and the 90's having had dubbed them a lustrous creature many were stuck between falling in love with or running away from, the coven of abandoned wallflower vamps are a perfect combination of STRANGER THINGS meets BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE HERE.

I really wanted to love this book more than I did. Between the description and the cover, I was sure this would be a new favorite. In the end however, it is just meh for me. While the character development is strong and the description of the scenery is vivid so that I am able to clearly see the town, the fog and the church, I found the story to move at a glacial pace. It’s not until the last 20% of the story that I found the pacing to finally pick up and for my attention to be held to a point where I couldn’t put the book down because I had to know what happened next.

As for the horror part of this novel, it wasn’t there for me. On a scale of 1-5 with 5 being absolutely scary read with the lights on, I’d put this at a 1-1.5. While the bug horror was disturbing, I will never look at caterpillars the same way again, nothing was truly terrifying .

Despite the slow pacing , I did like the mental health discussion that came about in the book when Aja comes to realize that while her sister always came off as being happy, she didn’t truly know what her sister thought or felt. This realization was the perfect reminder that we can never know what another person is going through and that even seemingly perfectly happy people aren’t always so.

I also enjoyed the references to some of the key aspects of being a teen in the 90s from Courtney Love and her band to the clothing magazine dELiA*s, a magazine that I can remember browsing despite never buying clothes from them.

Overall this was an interesting debut and I look forward to seeing what the author comes out with next.

90's Gothic Horror with vampires sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately, Direwood was a bit of a miss. The characters lacked depth and never felt fully developed. The pacing felt off, with a lot of explanatory info dumping and inner dialogue for the first three quarters, and nothing but action in the last quarter. I liked the bones of the story, so I may try something by Catherine Yu in the future.

TOO SPOOKY AND GROSS BUGS but honestly really cool vampire mythos; a little too much for me but definitely super cool and well done

TOP 5 REASONS TO READ

1. Gothic Horror
If you love Gothic Horror, especially bug horror, you will love this one. Personally the bug horror aspect freaked me out a bit BUT I enjoyed the rest way too much.

2. Vampires
Who doesn’t love vampires? However, these Vampires are nothing like the hot vampires we’re used to. These vamps are pretty scary and actually deserve the Monster award.

3. Unique story
I haven’t read anything like “Direwood” before, so it is, in my opinion, a unique read. If you’re a fan of 100% horror books that are very unique in the genre, then this might be your next read.

4. Fast-paced
“Direwood” is a quick read, and we all know that I prefer my reads to be fast-paced. This made the book even scarier.

5. Solid Debut
Guess that this one speaks for itself.

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

My Review:

I received an eARC from the publisher via TBR and Beyond Tours in exchange for an honest review and place on this blog tour – thanks!

I have been sitting with having finished this book for about twelve hours now, and I can honestly say I have absolutely no idea what I just read, but I liked it??? Direwood is everything you could want from a 90s set gothic horror: it had gore, a mysterious and morally ambiguous love interest, creepy vampire cult, one reference to dial up internet, I mean what more could you ask for? Honestly, I could see this as its own movie, and I think some aspects of the book might translate better onto a screen than on page.

That being said, it is a quick and fast read, and I think to enjoy this book, you can’t look too closely at plot holes, the same way you might enjoy a bad horror movie. Because, a lot of this book doesn’t make sense, but I don’t think it hinders the main plot, which is centralized on these vampires and Aja needing to save her sister. Are they bothersome? Sure. But I think focusing too much on them will take away from the wild ride that was reading this book and all of its ridiculousness.

One thing this book does really well is the body and bug horror (most often a combination of the two). Yu uses body language and descriptions to cement the gore into the readers mind. As I am writing this I am still shuddering as I think about it. The Bugs in this book (caterpillars, butterflies) are so gross, that if you don’t like bugs I wouldn’t suggest this book for you. It was a bit much, even for me, but it cemented this book’s place in the horror genre.

There are a couple of things that I would have liked to be different in this book. There is a lot of telling, rather than showing, about Aja’s life before the novel begins. It makes it hard to connect with her and understand her motivations at times. One instance of this is her friendship with Mary, whom she quite often references as being fraught and that they are in the middle of an argument (one that is never disclosed to the reader), so its a bit unsatisfying to not have the answers by the end.

All in all, if you’re looking for a horror novel to get you into the mood for spooky season, Direwood is a real contender. It’s very Scream Queens and Scary Movie adjacent, and its body horror is enough to creep out even the most seasoned horror lovers.

Direwood released September 20th, 2022

I did not know what to expect from this book but I wasn’t disappointed! To start off, I’m not a horror fan. I like gothic books but not horror, even if it’s only YA. But this one pleasantly surprised me. Very interesting premise with all the butterflies and I really enjoyed the characters. Didn’t like all of them, of course, but enjoyed them. The whole butterflies theme? OMG, yes! The body horror? I could’ve lived without it but it really works!

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really enjoyed this book a lot it kept me interested the whole time. I can't wait to get the finished copy of this book.

Not my favorite take on the vampire story. It definitely romanticized it all too much for my tastes. It's described as a velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, and I think that description nails it, I just don't believe I like velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror. But I'm glad I figured that out! :)

Extremely boring. I kept waiting for a big reveal or the turning point of this book and it never came. The vampires suddenly appear and there's no real build up, but it's not done in a creepy or shocking way, it just happens. Descriptions are pretty nonexistent and I think that's why there's so much repetitiveness. You are told things a lot but never shown, like that apparently the vampires are hot 🤷‍♀️ Also there's about zero personality for any of the characters. I'm not even sure what genre this was meant to be because it felt like a little of everything and nothing at the same time. There were a couple times it felt like it was right on the cusp of something really good and then it moved on before it could get there. The body horror was pretty creepy but it was not enough to save this for me. I do think there is meant to be an underlying message to the story but overall it was a miss. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OK. This hit BODY horror on the mark. The story line.. meh. There are a lot of plot holes. Like how our MC and the Vampire fall for each other with minimal interaction. I get why she would (compelling) but how does the Vampire decide that she needs to become his bride. At first it didn't bother me, until MC starts making decisions that just doesn't go with the rest of the storyline/mission.

Overall a creepy read, with lots of blood and lots of weird caterpillars that make your skin crawl (literally). Just don't go into it looking for a deep romance plot, This is more a family affair.

Thank you to Page St Publishing, who provided me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a highly atmospheric read that slowly unfolds with increasing levels of horror. The author does an incredible job of spinning an eerie, dream-like vibe designed to unsettle the reader. The body horror is very well described, and the setting, the butterflies and the caterpillars are deliciously creepy. The commentary on the small town's underhanded racism and micro-aggressions was well-handled. As a POC reader myself, it felt authentic.

Perhaps the one thing I struggled with slightly was the character motivations. They seemed to shift and flip, and occasionally seemed inconsistent, although it was hard to know how much of it was because of the circumstances they found themselves in (which were extremely unusual).

All in all, I enjoyed this book, and finished it over a couple of days. A great book for spooky season!

Sadly, Direwood fell flat for me in more ways than one, and I had huge hopes for this book.

There are basically two parts to this book, one in Glen Hills, and one in the vampire's house. The part that takes place in Glen Hills feels very disconnected within itself, and a lot of the things that are mentioned have no meaning beyond the end of the sentence. The transfer into the vampire's abode is even more clunky, and I don't think any of it serves the book well at all.

The vampire's abode is definitely spooky and atmospheric, but our vampires are pretty 2 dimensional with little to no character development nor substance. Additionally, this part of the book gets inanely repetitive, and I found my brain giving the "wrap it up" signal a bunch of times through numerous caterpillar descriptions. We get it!

I will say, I did appreciate the twist with Ricky and Fiona in the basement, but again, so much of it was nonsensical. I do realize that this book is a standalone and only so much can happen within the confines of a book, but at 288 pages, it almost felt too long, as our MC was running in circles from the get go. This probably would have worked well as a short story with the setting just being the vampire's house.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Direwood

Author: Catherine Yu

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: young adult readers, horror, vampires, fantasy, gothic

Publication Date: September 20, 2022

Genre: YA Horror

Age Relevance: 13+ (grief, gore, violence, cursing, kidnapping, death)

Explanation of Above: There is some death, blood gore, vomit gore, and violence in this book, along with grief. There is some slight cursing in the book. Kidnapping is shown in the book.

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Pages: 288

Synopsis: In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.

No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.

Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.

In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.

Review: I thought this was an ok vampire novel. The book revolves around our MC whose sister goes missing and her trying to find the sister when she encounters and make a deal with a vampire who has other motives for our MC. The book had some great moments including the mystery and the horror aspect of the book. It was very gothic feeling and I loved the world building of the book.

However, the book is super short and I feel like that works against the book. The book didn’t have room to fully develop the characters and they just kinda felt empty, including our MC. They remain strangers to the reader by the end of the novel and that’s not something that should be happening in the book. The book also has very fast pacing and I think more pages would have allowed the author to slow it down and work out a lot of those kinks.

Verdict: It was ok!

Thank you Page Street Publishing and TBRandBeyondTours for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Yu's YA gothic horror debut takes place in the 90's, with enticing dark descriptions depicting the strange occurrences in a small town. From blood raining from the sky, to fog that creeps through the woods, this sets up an eerie atmosphere of what is to come.

Aja's internal struggles and anxiety are tested when Fiona goes missing as Aja wants to be the center of attention for once (with Padraic attempting to woo her), yet still risks her life uncovering Padraic's true intentions and secrets while trying to find her. 

Racial microaggressions and isolation are touched upon for an Asian American family in a predominately white town, adding more tension to Aja's familial relationships and friendships. While diving deeper into the story, other characters and introduced with their own challenges of achieving high expectations, slowly building up to terrifying events.

The grotesque body horror and violence sent shivers down my spine, evoking the true disturbing terror of a vampire being manipulative and hypnotic, almost like being in a fever dream. It even makes me more wary about caterpillars and butterflies.

if you're looking for a quick spooky vampire read this Halloween, be sure to check this out!

Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via NetGalley.

DNF @ 46%

This is a case of it’s just not for me. I was first drawn into this book by that cover because it’s so eye catching. And then, I requested it because it sounded really interesting. Unfortunately I just wasn’t into it as much as I’d hoped to be.
I found that the writing style felt a bit off to me, and it didn’t make me want to keep reading. I skimmed a lot, and it was easy to put down the book. Ultimately I realized I’m not invested in the characters or story.
This one might work for others even though it wasn’t for me.

Happy Friday y’all! I’m so excited that it’s pretty much the weekend! And it’s going to be a great weekend because it feels like the fall, and the best way to start the fall is with a vampire book, and coincidentally, I have one to share with y’all! Today’s my stop on the Direwood tour with TBR and Beyond tours and coming into this book, I didn’t know much at all about the book because I didn’t read the summary- I just looked at the cover and the cover is so creepy and cool, so I was very excited. The book was definitely an interesting read!

Direwood 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads:

In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.

No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.

Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.

In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.

Content Warning: body and bug horror, death, on-page violence, and racial microaggressions

Oh man y’all- first off, if you don’t like bugs, definitely do not read this book. There are so many bugs everywhere and I don’t mind bugs but there were definitely times where I gagged. In terms of the rest of the book, I really enjoyed the 1990’s setting and the fact that I felt like I was in the 90’s. The microaggressions were real and very obvious (it’s so hard growing up feeling like the “other”). The plot, while a little slower to pick up and really dive into, was super interesting and I really enjoyed where everything was taken. I haven’t read a good, scary vampire book in a while, so the fact that this one was more vampire horror than vampire romance was such a fun change! As I said though, the pacing was not my favorite, but I did like the characters- Kate was definitely one of my favorites! Overall, I thought that Direwood was a great creepy fall read, and I definitely suggest picking it up now that it’s out! Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound

You had me at velvet-clad vampire.

I loved Padraic, both the name and the aesthetic of him as a character. He's easily my favorite part of the story and whenever he enters a scene it's automatically more interesting. In part due to my own romanticization of this style of vampire, but also because there's a visible shift whenever he graces the page. He's charismatic and intriguing from moment he utters his first words, if somewhat disturbing at times.

He's not the only protagonist here to play of course and that keeps things interesting.

Aja was just okay for me. She's another 'my perfect sister/I'm the outcast' character, which personally I find is far too prevalent in these types of tales. I do realize though, this is sometimes the personal experience of the writer and perhaps instead.. it's far too common a feeling within families, which is sad.

Thematically, I enjoyed the gothic horror elements Yu employed. The red rain and the creepy insects were a great addition to setting the feel of the story. I may never get out of my mind's eye the images of the butterflies.. so it's visually impactful in a long-lasting way.

Though the story is Young Adult Horror, at times it feels younger. Yu has a ton of creative potential and I'd like to see her develop characters a bit more and flex her use of language in future works.

If you're looking for a quick read with some unnerving horror elements, give this one a try.

Thank you so much @netgalley , catherineyuwrites and @tbrbeyondtours for the ARC❤️!

Direwood is a bit different than what I usually read, which is why I was highly excited about it. That and also because I'm MAD about vampires. Aren't they super cool?

I loved the creepy setting, the gradual building up of suspense and navigating through Aja's mindset, how confined she felt in that little town next to her perfectionist sister, a place where she was viewed as an outsider for having Asian roots.

The complexities in relationships always piques my interest in any kinds of books and Direwood was not exceptional. I loved reading about Aja's internal turmoil, how her impression of others were proven false. In her mind, they were living their best lives but reality is what we see with our own eyes might not be true all the time.

On the downside, there were times when the narration felt repetitive and too slow but Catherine's brilliant storytelling undoubtedly makes up for it. As a debut author, she did an amazing job and I would look forward to reading her future novels. Recommended.

If like me, you're a fan of clever gothic descriptions, this book would be a feast for you. Catherine Yu's writing and the atmosphere of Glen Hills set up immediately drew me into the story of Aja as she's lured into a forest by a vampire. All the small town feels, creepy forests, race against vampires and excellent spooky vibes created by the caterpillars, butterflies and blood rain, all signified in the cover. The darkest themes of the novel really shine through and they make Aja's character even more understandable.

My main issue would be that it gets repetitive soon after Aja meets the vampires. There isn't the urgency of escaping danger and the story moves slowly, losing its horrific charm. I'd just recommend it for the horror elements as it's not strongly built on other aspects.