Though the concept was cool, the execution didn’t work for me. For such a short book, there were a lot of superflous information that just cluttered the story. The characters weren’t engaging. The way they were written seemed a lot more contemporary then they would’ve been when the story took place. I kept forgetting the story was set in the 90s. Everything seemed over the top.

Unfortunately it didn’t work for me.

Black nail polish and scary movies are some of the things Audre Weaver loves most, but she’s not allowed to say that in the new little backwoods town of Pennsylvania she’s just moved to. Not because she’s ashamed, but because she might get burnt at the stake for it. The townspeople are convinced a group of satanists hide out in the woods and that Audre is on the path to join them. All but Elle, the preacher’s daughter, and Audre’s unbidden crush. Being around Elle is like a breath of fresh air—that suddenly gets cut too short, leaving Audre gasping when Elle goes missing.

Could it have been the satanists who took her? The whole town seems convinced that’s what happened—and worse, that Audre’s family are part of the cult and had something to do with it. Incensed, Audre strikes out to find out what really happened to Elle. Come hell or high water, she will bring her home and clear her family’s name too.
•
•
•
Wow what a fantastic ride! I might be saying that because I’m biased against Christians, and horror thrillers about religious cults are a big weakness of mine, but I mean it when I say I loved this and feel everyone would love it too. Audre is a fantastic MC and the premise was visceral, creepy, and so realistic I felt like I was part of Audre’s investigation. I really loved her obsession with horror movies, her family, her and Elle, David and Natalia, and especially how well Griffis captured the Satanic Panic! I nearly ate this one up in one sitting too. Well with an ending like that, how could I not?! This one is definitely one to watch out for. if you see it, don’t hesitate to read it!!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! All opinions are my own.

Likes:
- To say that a sapphic satanic panic horror thriller caught my attention would be an understatement.
- Audre’s entire family is wonderful, they have such a healthy, supportive dynamic that really carried parts of the narrative.
- I enjoyed Audre’s running comparisons to classic horror film tropes. It helped support the creepy tone of the book and allowed for some satisfying social commentary.
- Similar to Audre and her family, Audre’s budding friendship with David was quite wholesome. He’s gay and Puerto Rican so they bond over being queer in a very Christian town, and they speak Spanish with each other which no one else understands, leading to some funny scenes.

Dislikes:
- I wish we could have gotten a little more exposition at the beginning about the town that Audre and her family are living in and why they’re living there; I think it would have helped establish the tone more.
- If you’re expecting the book to be heavily 90s coded, you might be disappointed. The novel was inspired by the Evangelical Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 90s, but the references within the book are mostly limited to a couple mentions of landlines and old stereos.
- Maybe this is just me, but I would have appreciated a touch more sapphic angst.

TLDR: Worth reading if you like getting angry about hypocritical, fire and brimstone-style Christianity. Also ACAB.

When I heard that this was a sapphic horror story set in Central PA, I was so here for this book and it did not disappoint! The characters felt so real, and being from Central PA myself, I could relate to a lot of this book, especially the religious aspects. I also appreciated that, even though it is a horror, it wasn't super scary so I didn't get any nightmares! I highly recommend this book.

The Satanic Panic meets Fear Street with horror movie vibes, this book had me hooked from the start. I instantly fell in love with Audre’s character and her family so much. They gave me Addam’s Family vibes and I was so here for it. It was creepy and atmospheric and would be a perfect read for fall. This books starts out of the gate with Satanic Panic vibes and doesn’t let go until the end. The number of times I was screaming at characters because of it was too many to count. I did guess what happened to Elle and it did feel like it dragged at times and was repetitive, but I still really enjoyed it overall. The last 10 chapters felt like a horror movie and I was so very much here for it. I also enjoyed the historic information at the end that talked about the Satanic Panic and what the author referenced in the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for anyone who loves horror movies and the Satanic Panic.

This book was like the Satanic Panic meets any 80's/90's slasher meets your personal cocktail of religious trauma and I loved it. It was fast paced and the characters were relatable even though they were from a different era. With the current environment of things in the United States, books like these feel more prevalent than ever. Gigi Griffis wrote something that truly had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Each character, even the side characters, felt fleshed out and well considered, and the turmoil of "the preacher's daughter" was so real and accurate that it surprised me.

The Wicked Unseen is a decent novel during the height of Satanic Panic. Audre and her family have moved to a small town where her mother has a new job as an undertaker. This alone in a very very religious town marks them as strange not to mention that Audra's father while doing research on the occult was once a member of The Church Of Satan.
When the Preachers young daughter Elle goes missing the church blames Satanists practising in the woods. Audra's family is looked at with suspicion. This book is good but very controversial.

I want to thank #Netgalley for the chance to read an eArc of #TheeWickedUnseen in exchange fr an honest review.

Religious horror creeps me out because these things have happened in real life. People can be so easily led into a cult-like mentality and if your religious leader is telling you that you'll go to hell if you don't follow him, people fall in line. In an isolated rural town in the 90's, it's even easier to see how being an outsider could literally get you killed.

This was fast paced and wasted no time jumping into the mystery. With a girl missing, possible Satanists in the woods, and the police set on pinning the crime on the new family, things just keep ramping up until everything explodes in an edge of your seat finale.

I had a great time reading this and the author's note at the end shows that though this is fiction, many of the events actually happened.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Underlined and NetGalley for the copy.

This was a wild book. I had my suspicions about two characters as the villain and one was right. The scariest part of the whole story is that these are things that can truly happen. Probably have truly happened because of the obsession some can get with religion and it driving them to hurt the people they love. The scariest horror stories are the ones based in reality and that is what makes this a 5 star read for me. I just reviewed The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis. #TheWickedUnseen #NetGalley

The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis

Audre is a city kid who moves to a rural town with her family and finds herself struggling to fit in. She meets a girl named Elle and is immediately smitten with her. But when Elle goes missing and Audre's family becomes entangled in a secret satanic cult she is determined to clear her family and get to the bottom of what happened to her friend in the woods. The more she digs, the creepier it becomes when the town's secret obsession with evil begins to unfold.

I realized early on that I was not the right fit for this book, but decided to follow through and give it a chance. To be honest Gigi Griffis succeeded in creating a very unlikable character in Audre. I couldn't deal with all of her opinions and attitude making everything into a hot topic. I found myself angry throughout the whole book and would have been my first DNF if I wasn't feeling obligated to finish. I wouldn't call it a thriller, more of a rant about every controversial subject she could fit in this book. Just not for me.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this for an honest review.

I feel very lucky that I got to read the arc of The Wicked Unseen!

To be honest, I tried to read this book slowly, but it was impossible. It was too good not to blast through it!

I've never read anything about the Satanic Panic, but so much of this book was scarily relatable. Audre is this uniquely cool character who loves black nail polish and her parents. She speaks Spanish even though she's not Hispanic and has a collection of Ouija boards!

She moves to this ultra conservative town and starts crushing on the preacher's daughter Elle. It seems that the crush is mutual, but Elle's church family is scary. They do that thing where their sermons are very pointed and obviously about Elle, which was the moment I'd realized this had happened to more people than I thought!

Things go downhill for Audre real quick after she freaks out at the church's hell house. She and Elle have a fight, and even though they make up, Elle goes missing immediately after. But even with that terrible timing, Audre would have been everyone's first suspect anyway because she's just too different from them, and they'd already passed judgment on her.

While Audre tries everything she can to save Elle, the entire town is more interested in saving Audre's eternal soul, which is just too suspicious! This book had me guess who the real villain or villains were! I cannot recommend it enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The preacher's daughter goes missing near Halloween in a small town. Who else to blame but the new alternative, non-religious family in town? The Wicked Unseen is less about horror in the traditional boogeyman sense and more about the horrors we perpetuate on each other in the name of righteousness.

If you go in expecting a traditional scary horror book you might be disappointed, but if the horrors of the real world scare you more than fiction you'll love it!

If you want a queer, campy, 90's satanic panic story, this book is it!

Crossposted to goodreads at: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5571612620

This is the BEST, funnest horror - I love Gigi Griffis and love her books, and I think that this will be an amazing one. Especially considering the subject matter is a rare one for me to read about - like, satanic panic on the other side of things~

3.5/5 ⭐
Audre isn't stoked to be moving from Brooklyn to rural Pennsylvania. Things get better when she meets Elle at a bonfire. Soon though, Elle goes missing and the satanic panic terrorizing the town takes hold even more. Audre and her new friend David investigate.

I thought this was going to be more mystery than it was. It was more about the community and satanic panic than it was truly finding clues, etc. I thought the finding out what happened to Elle was a bit anticlimactic, but there was some action after that that picked up the pace more. Overall, a solid YA book but less mystery than you might expect.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3⭐️

This takes place during the height of satanic panic. A teen girl Elle goes missing and it appears the law enforcement has decided it was a cut of satanists before having any proof.

This book was just ok for me but I did overall enjoy it. There is a lot of clever dialogue snuck into this book, to highlight the injustice or racism in that community. Such as there is a wood scene where Audre is giving a lot of crap to the police and her friend David is not. But she is a white girl so they just warn her while cuffing David a Puerto Rican boy, Not even caring if he fell he could get hurt.

Then there is the micro aggressions by people of faith. Using the term "agree to disagree" as a way to ignore their ignorance.

This is a short fast read. Would be a good fall read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Childrens for this advance reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

Have you ever wondered about the Satanic Panic? Well The Wicked Unseen is a fantastic book that takes the reader on a haunting ride with Audre as she tries to find out what happened to Elle. I seriously couldn't put this book down. Highly recommended!

THE WICKED UNSEEN is an intriguing, fast-paced thriller set in 1996 with spooky vibes and loveable characters that had me ready to riot if they didn't make it to the end. I loved the deconstruction of horror tropes and especially how the author subverted our expectations with the 'final girl'. I had no idea how bad the Satanic Panic was in the 90s and this book opened my eyes to how people were easily riled up and manipulated into condemning rock music and certain cartoons as being the devil's work! Its incorporation in the story raises the stakes as Audre not only deals with trying to find the missing Elle, but also fending off accusations and attacks from townsfolk convinced her family is responsible just because they're not conservative Christians.

The writing is especially clever, and the characters are well-developed and thoughtful. It would be easy to reduce the evangelical players into caricatures, but the author keeps them believable and balanced. And even though this is a thriller-mystery, there was a good amount of humor too, which I thoroughly appreciated. I’m a fan of well-placed snark, and nobody is better at it than teenagers, especially one as intelligent and self-assured as the main character, Audre. I was rooting for her every step of the way. All in all, this was a fun and fast read, with a totally unexpected ending you won’t see coming!

In Gigi Griffith’s The Wicked Unseen, 16-year-old city girl Audre moves to a rural town where Satanic panic is alive and well. When a local girl goes missing, Audre knows something isn’t right. This book is a fun mix of Fear Street and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. Teen sleuths and classic horror.

This was sort of entertaining, but I couldn't connect to it much deeper than that. The idea was super cool--I definitely was hooked by the promise of cult stuff--but ultimately the way this was written made it hard to really get sucked into, and I never really cared for the characters. I think that the dialogue didn't really serve the story, or flesh out the characters, in a meaningful way. I know the author mentions that she really enjoys unlikeable female characters, but I almost feel that Audre was so unlikeable in a way that, again, doesn't serve the story at all. And making her "unlikeable" doesn't make her more believable, just harder to relate to. I think maybe the author meant she likes female characters that are flawed, nuanced beings, but she just went too far into that characterization.

Overall, the story was a relatively quick read with an interesting idea that ultimately didn't really pan out in the writing. The characters and the writing style were my two biggest issue with this work. While I generally would read more from this author, I probably wouldn't if any of the characters were marketed as "unlikeable", hah.

Nice and creepy, but unfortunately not without its faults. I couldn't always truly connect with the writing and the characters. Still, I liked the book and would recommend it to certain readers.