Thank you, HarperCollins Children's Books, Kyrie McCauley, and NetGalley, for the ARC.

I loved this book. I thought it would be more horror, but it was more of a thriller. I had no idea what was happening. I did not like Wren, but she grew on me. The plot is creepy if you do not like that kind of thing. I did not think I would like it, but I did.

The writing is excellent, and I had yet to learn what would happen next. Marin and Evie are very likable. Thea and Wren started creepy, but they were not. It reminded me of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

I recommend reading this book.

5 Stars

This was such an interesting and spooky book! The first half of this book had this kind of dark gothic feel of a story. I was trying to figure out what was going on with the two young kids and was expecting at any moment they would turn into demon children.

This story follows Marin, she is brought into the house of her mom's old childhood friend after she was unexpectedly passes away in a freak train crash. As part of her living in the house she is to be a nanny of the two young girls Wren and Theo. Of course one is a bit of a monster and plays some really cruel pranks on Marin. Trying to scare away from the house. The oldest daughter Evie shows up after dropping out of boarding school.

Evie and Marin quickly become friends. Spooky stuff starts happening. Evie sees things out in the woods and is terrified to enter the estates cemetery. All these half dead animals just start popping up everywhere and Marin suspects that possibly one of the girls is doing more than just pranks.

The second half of this book was so much fun. The first half was an easy read, but I really got sucked in for the last 50%. It's incredibly spook and atmospheric. McCauley does a great job describing the scenes and making the reader have a sense of overall dread in a good way. I did not see the twists coming at all in this book and it was a wonderful surprise.

I do highly recommend this to fans of gothic horror and haunted houses. It was a fast read and I easily finished it in two days. I will be keeping my eye out for more books from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Book for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posing my review to my Instagram page the.floofs.booknook and retail sites on or close to publication.

I like how the story reminded me a lot of the bly manor. Was a little slow with a story that had haunted castle vibes. It also reminded me a lot of the movie the haunting which I loved. Loved the characters as well. Great story.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Huge Haunting of Bly manor vibes and I loved it. I found myself in my own head questioning what I thought of all the happening/pranks. Was it a haunting or mischievous kids? The pace of this book was perfect and kept me from wanting to put it down. I felt like there were no lulls in the plot and everything flowed perfectly.

I felt like the premise was a really good. I liked it overall but the story itself was a bit dry. I would definitely give the author another shot. But not my favorite.

One of the best books I've read so far this year. There were times that I had to set the book down and just stare in shock at the wildly inventory twist and turns. Gothic creepiness was perfect. Will definitely recommend and read more from this author!

A Haunting Surprise

I went into this book with zero expectations and the reading Gods blessed me. I am awestruck by the haunting beauty of this story. The love story swirling through the ghostly, paranormal setting tied together all the elements of this work.

Thank you Harper Collins, Kyrie McCauley, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love.

This book was so good! It took me a little bit to get into it, im not going to lie but, it was well worth it. It had everything I wanted from love, to horror, and just plain spookiness. 4/5 stars for me!

Having recently lost her mother, Marin Blythe finds herself in a surprising situation: moving into Alice Lovelace’s estate to nanny for her over the summer. Alice is an acclaimed horror author and childhood friend of Marin’s mother though they became estranged long ago. Marin finds the two young girls to be a bit peculiar: Thea holds funerals for her dolls and buries them in an old cemetery while Wren like pranks that border on being cruel. Marin tries to become comfortable in the old home, but strange and dangerous occurrences begin to happen with increasing frequency. She frantically attempts to uncover the family’s secrets before dangers escalate beyond her control.

This work's biggest strength was the realistic and engaging characters. They were well developed with some good depth. I wanted a bit more from Marin, though, and felt that she was a little bit boring as a protagonist. Things were constantly happening to her and around her, and I was disappointed in her lack of agency. I did like the secondary characters and felt that Evie was probably the strongest. The romance was enjoyable and added a bit of loveliness to this otherwise darker read. I also enjoyed how unique the story and the reveals were. It wasn’t until about two-thirds of the way through the book that real information began to come to light, and once these things were slowly incorporated into the story, my enjoyment of it increased.

While I did enjoy this read, I think it could use a little bit of editing and reworking to strengthen it. The language was a little repetitive (one example is the author using almost the same simile twice) and simplistic. And unfortunately, the atmosphere just wasn’t there. The story is set in an old family estate on cliffs overlooking a churning ocean; there are two cemeteries, an out-of-control greenhouse, and creepy little girls. But despite these elements, the author’s writing style was not conducive to painting an engaging setting, immersive atmosphere, or any real suspense. This detracted from my enjoyment of the work. There was also no real explanation of the magic that existed – it was just there. I would have preferred a little bit of background on it, especially since there were old diaries involved.

Overall, this was an easy YA work of magical realism that I don’t regret reading. My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to read this work, which will be published May 16th, 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

When I say this book didn’t disappoint. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. This was one of my highly anticipated books of the year, I can’t wait to see what this author brings into the world next

The main character was flat and boring, the plot dragged, and the writing told far more than it showed. Also the only POC character was the help???

Atmosphere was great and I was engaged enough by the mystery, so 3.5 stars.

This was a super good and atmospheric story! I connected right away to the main character and loved watching everything unfold with her new job!

To begin with, the cover is absolutely gorgeous! I love how it tells a story all on it's own.
All the Dead Lie Down is a well written gothic YA story based in coastal Maine. The story reminds me very much of Bly Manor on Netflix, and that was the main draw for me. The main character, Marin, nannies a couple of girls at Lovelace Manor. There, she experiences haunting situations, difficult charges and a sweet romance. The story keeps you guessing until the very end.

Thank you Harper Collins, Kyrie McCauley, and Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Marin is grieving the loss of her mom, when Alice, her mom’s childhood friend, invites her to what seems to be the perfect escape — a nanny position watching Alice’s girls in their sprawling seaside estate. But the young girls are troubled and more than a handful, and no one seems to want to explain Alice’s frighteningly intense mood swings. Without much warning, Alice’s eldest daughter Evie makes a surprise appearance at home, who Marin finds herself increasingly drawn to. Love and fear and fantasy converge for Marin, as she quickly learns there’s far more to Alice’s invitation than she signed up for.

Although the ending is a little uneven — the mad-dash nature of events changes the tone of the book from deliciously thrilling, lingering borderline horror vibes to something else entirely — I was completely immersed in this gorgeously written story. Spooky, sly and sensual, ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN is utterly unputdownable.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would love to write a full review. However, Harper Collins has yet to reach a fair deal with members of the Harper Collins union, who have been on strike for more than fifty days. Out of respect for the union, I will not be providing a full review at this time. Feedback will be edited once the union receives a fair contract.

The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of salt and Sorrows in this young adult sapphic gothic romance about a girl who becomes the nanny of two girls in a strange family filled with darks secrets and death. Marin Blythe needs a change of scenery after her mother’s death. She is surprised to receive an invitation from Alice Lovelace, an acclaimed horror author and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers Marin a job: become the nanny to her children in exchange for room and board. Marin soon finds herself arriving at the steps of the Lovelace House, in coastal Maine. Marin discovers that the young girls are strange... with their pranks escalating constantly to near attempts of murdering her. It also doesn’t help that she begins to find strange things around the estate and her room, from dead animals to blood trails. The girls include: Thea, who hosts funerals for her dolls and Wren who does everything in her power to try and drive Marin away including trying to feed her belladonna berries.Then Alice’s oldest daughter Evie makes a surprise return from school and Marin finds herself completely drawn in by Evie. Evie is mysterious and has etheral grace, and there is a connection between them but Marin can’t help but notice that Evie is hiding something from her. Marin soon finds herself spiraling down a path to try and solve the mysterious of Lovelace House and Evie, as well as figuring out what is truly happening around her from the dead animals to the strange behavior of the family. This one was a strange read for me, at first I found myself really interested but then I felt myself drifting further and further into disinterest. While the story has a beautiful gothic atmosphere the mystery itself and romance was not that great and the thing that threw me off the most was that it felt like it was suppose to be a gothic or something older but then would drop in modern day language and things that took out from the vibe. Overall, I can definitely see the influence of The Haunting of Bly Manor on the story and I think fans of gothic romance would have a fun time with it.
*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book is beautiful and haunting, and the writing is atmospheric. I support this author, but not the publishing house due to the Harper Collins Strike. Please visit the HCPUNION Instagram for more information about the strike and how you can help those employees.

All The Dead Lie Down is a beautifully written haunting tale about a girl named Marin who is invited to nanny for an old friend of her mother’s after her mother’s tragic death. The friend happens to be Marin’s favorite horror novelist, Alice Lovelace, and the mansion is said to be haunted. Marin is in charge of the two younger girls, Wren and Thea, and things start to go awry right off the bat.

This book has all the spooky things - old cemeteries, crypts, monsters in the woods, necromancy, lots of dead things, and tons of twists and turns. It’s definitely a page turner and the reveals at the end were really surprising. There’s a sapphic romance between Marin and Evie, the oldest sister, which is really sweet, and I also loved the found family aspect. This is the perfect winter read and I would recommend it if you want a horror that isn’t too over the top scary.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After the unexpected death of her mother Cordelia, Marin is offered a live-in nanny position with her mother’s childhood friend, Alice Lovelace. Alice Lovelace also just so happens to be an incredible horror novelist; Marin is a huge fan and has read all of her books. Alice has three daughters, two younger girls Thea and Wren, who Marin is responsible for watching over, and an older daughter named Evie who is around Marin’s age.

Things get creepy as soon as Marin arrives. Nothing is really as it seems and there’s definitely some secrets that are just waiting to be revealed. This story is a lot of fun, and it was so thrilling to bear witness to the twists and turns that blow your mind with each page. Evie and Marin’s adventures are creepy and fun - I really enjoyed the way their relationship unfolds, it’s very sweet.

Something I really enjoy is when authors associate smells/scents with their characters. Kyrie McCauley does a great job of making sure we can smell what’s going on in every scene, even when the aromas aren’t so pleasant. I appreciate the detail that went into making sure the readers could smell the hint of cinnamon every time we spent time with Evie. Marin becomes so intoxicated with it.

I had a lot of fun reading this book and connecting with these characters. As someone who nannies myself, I fantasized about scenarios where I was a live-in nanny for my favorite author.

The ending definitely blew me away - I was hooked from the start!

I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy psychological thrillers, necromancy, and unexpected romance. If you like peeling back the layers of an onion to discover more secrets - then this is definitely a novel you must read! It’s definitely YOUNG-ADULT and would probably be most enjoyed by teens, but that didn’t stop this 32-year-old lady from loving it.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review!