I love a good isolation story! A group of friends get stranded on a remote island where our lead owns a rental property. After reports of spooky happenings, she heads there to check it out and it’s a wild ride from there on! I’ve never read this author before but definitely will again. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Interesting premise with an interesting twist…or at least it had that potential. There were so many holes, inconsistencies, contradictions and simply so many tangents. The relationships and personal interactions were implausible. Actions were ridiculously stupid. Internal monologue of the main character was wishy-washy and annoying. Overall, very amateurish.

Oh my goodness, this book. This book!! It was a take-off-as-fast-as-you-can, smash-you-in-the-mouth horror thriller that I read in less than 12 hours! A beautiful, private island. Old friends coming together. Weird, ritualistic setups around the island. And a twist that was pretty mind-blowing! Goretastic, creepy, and downright wtf is happening. I LOVED this book so much! I cannot wait to read more by Kelley Armstrong!

Laney, a writer, rents her vacation home on a private island to help her finances but her current renters find bloody closet and weird stuff at this rental and complain to Laney. Now Laney is at the island with her niece, Madison to investigate and clean up and little does she know what kind of craziness is waiting for her in this estranged island. Her ex-husband Kit also arrives with his sister to help them and more people arrive who are clearly not welcomed. Now we have 6 people stuck on an island without any contact with the outside world and weirder and weirder things keep occurring which reminded me of the scenes in “Evil dead” in the forest.

I definitely felt the need to stop reading it at night due to all the horror vibes but I expected an even more dramatic ending compared to the climax in this one. The whole intrigue was about someone or something that wasn't allowing these people to leave the island but what could it be? For squeamish readers, please consider it as a warning as there are corpses, gory stuff that would be absolutely squeamish without a doubt. Madison was my favorite character as a smart teenager, and she was really great. It also included some drama between these characters due to some scandalous incidents in their past which unraveled in front of Madison during terrible circumstances. I have never read this author before, but I would be interested to pick up one of her novels again.

This book was so different from what I expected but in the best way. Starts out like more of a mystery/thriller but quickly gets to the horror of the story. Both the main story and the side stories between characters had me captivated and I quickly got to a point where I couldn't put the book down.

Laney rentals out a remote home on a private island following her divorce. But when she gets repeated reports of dark and mysterious things happening on the island she decides to take a trip out to the island to investigate.

A creepy, atmospheric thriller that kept me interested all the way through!

Laney has been renting out her home in order to keep it, even though the idea of strangers coming and going leaves her unsettled. But as renters come and go, things start happening. Items go missing, bones are found, and stories aren’t adding up.

I couldn’t put it dow until I knew how it ended. A super quick read that I truly enjoyed!

This is an Agatha Christie meets Stephen King meets Alfred Hitchcock type of book. There's mystery, there's secrets, plant of supernatural, and there's lots of horror. It would make a great spooky movie. I'm guessing it will some day.

Soooo creepy. Not the story to read while in a condo in the woods. Good author and she continues to up her game with the changes in genre.

I was really excited by the premise of this story and it being a combination horror/thriller/mystery. As I started reading, I was instantly invested in the lead character dynamic and backstories involving love, loss, and heartbreak. Could this be that rare book that hits all my favorite genres? Sadly no. Things fell apart almost the moment that everyone stepped foot on the island.

There are a couple of !BIG SECRETS! between characters that are dangled in front of you repeatedly with no explanation during the first few chapters. I found that annoying rather than suspenseful, especially when things were finally revealed. But because we don’t understand the connection between characters right off the bat, it is totally unclear why some of these people would show up on the island at all other than to further the story. In fact, I still don’t understand why a couple of them did.

This dubious character connection and a couple of strange plot turns totally detracted from my favorite character in the story, the island itself. I thought that whole angle was great and enjoyed going back through earlier details to make sense of things once I knew more toward the end. I wish She had played more of a role earlier.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for this fun and exciting horror/thriller!
This was such a great book! The story centers on Laney, who is renting her vacation home on a small island. After guests flee she goes to the home to investigate and discovers terror and secrets.
I loves how off-kilter the book was. It was very exciting and fun to read! There was supernatural elements and it was at times really creepy. It's the perfect horror to read this summer/fall! I can't wait to read more by the author! I highly recommend this book!

Not what I was expecting, but it ticked a LOT of my wheelhouse boxes (and added more!)

✅ Bi protagonist
✅ Woodsy/pine tree setting
✅ Supernatural shenanigans
✅ Witchy shit

I don’t usually go for a mystery, but an actual mystery can technically be solved by the reader with the clues laid bare. This one made up for it with some twisty twists at the end.

I got quite a surprise when I read this book. I missed the first line of the description where it was a *horror* book. I was expecting it to be suspense, and I believed that until almost half way through the book. .

The story takes place during the pandemic, and Laney, like many other people, is not doing too well financially. To make ends meet and to maintain her beloved inherited island with a vacation home in one of the Great Lakes, she rents it out. She is also in the final stages of a divorce.

Her last renters left unexpectedly, and Laney and her niece go to the island to make sure that it is cleaned up and ready for the next group. She discovers one surprise after another on her property, and each one is worse. I thought the worst was when she discovered a hand sticking out from the ground but that was just the beginning.

Then longtime friends show up to support her - her ex-husband and his sister, and other people from their middle/high school days. By the time they discover that they desperately need to get off that island, they are trapped. Something does not want them to leave.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

I received an ARC of this novel from the author and publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I ... cannot believe how terrifyingly good this was. I've liked Kelley Armstrong's books since I was a teen (the darkest powers, anyone?) and as an adult, I have continued to read everything she publishes. I was, admittedly, a little surprised to see her writing a horror - not because I doubted her, but because I am used to the paranormal/mystery genre from her, and was not sure how exactly she would tackle this.

I shouldn't have been surprised. She went at this story like a dog with a bone. There was a rabid ferocity to the story, something that felt deeply symbolic of the overall horror of the book.

A quick breakdown: Laney has a home on Hemlock Island, and after she gets a call about some spooky stuff occurring, she and her niece, and their makeshift Scooby Crew, go to investigate. I won't tell you much more, because I spent 70% of the book being so genuinely baffled and terrified, and I wouldn't want you to miss out on that exact same feeling. It was actually scary at certain points, and so confusing - but in the best way possible. You spend most of the book trying to figure out what in the holy heck could possibly be happening, and still, despite, or maybe because of, that confusion, I was having a blast.

I loved this story. If you are squeamish, I'd consider looking up any trigger warnings. There is significant gore here, but nothing gross just for the sake of being gross.

Thank you Netgalley, and thank you Kelley Armstrong!

I didn’t really enjoy this one. I was expecting something with more of a creeping sense of dread than the slasher-style murders in the first 80%. And then the “big reveal” that the villain was an ancient nature spirit just…didn’t do it for me. The dialogue felt clunky, as did the insertion of social commentary in a way that felt almost like an op-ed or a news article about rape culture instead of an actual conversation.

This story is not at all what I expected. Oh I knew it was Horror but it totally blew me away. Just like watching one of those scary movies that make you jump at every tire this story is super creepy and shocking. When this author ventures into a new genre boy does she go all out.

Laney owns Hemlock Island a remote secluded place with no internet or phone reception. The perfect getaway or is it. When she gets a call that something has happened she heads out there to check it out with her ex and niece.

“Kid who is probably smarter than all of us combined?”

Things start going wrong almost immediately. Crazy things that can’t be explained.

Outside, dark clouds hover a looming threat over the lake, and I almost laugh at that. You think we’re afraid of a storm? Right now, that’s the least of our concerns.

Hold onto your hat because this is one terrifying ride.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are my own.

I found it very easy to get into this book. I will say though I wasn't expecting how the book ended. There were some twists, but it felt awkward. There were elements of paranormal, mystery and horror. Which I love. But I'm not sure if I loved how it was arranged? I am happy that the author was able to fill in loopholes with the ending. I think one of the downsides this novel does struggle with is the characters dialogue felt very young adult.

I always find it hard to review horror/mystery thriller books because I don't want to give anything away. Anything at all.
Hemlock Island is creepy, claustrophobic, and very, very twisty. There are some unexpected elements and some general weirdness just to round things out. I had no trouble getting in to the story and feeling the spooky vibes.
As for the writing, I will always try Kelley Armstrong. Most of the time her books are a hit for me, occasionally they miss. With respect to Hemlock Island, I really got in to the story, even if I was a little frustrated in places.
Overall, I liked the book, and will check out more horror offerings in the future from Armstrong.

After a recent divorce, Laney is renting out her isolated mansion on a private island to vacationers in order to pay the expenses. When her most recent renter calls Laney to tell her that there is blood and nail marks in the closet before running away, Laney and her niece Madison flee to the island to see what's going on. There she meets her ex-husband Kit and his sister/Laney's former best friend Jayla, who were also summoned. Also her former friend Sadie and her brother Garrett show up, and then I wonder why so many people can come to a private island at a drop of a hat.

Things become *interesting* as soon as the group arrives. They find a severed hand, and soon after Laney finds the body that had been attached to the hand. Soon it's evident that they are dealing with either a serial killer or a supernatural entity. On top of that, you have secrets that are revealed when all these former friends are back together again.

This novel is very creepy, and it would make a great horror movie. It's very atmospheric to be in a mansion on a private island during a storm.

I have never read this author before, and I will pick up one of her novels again.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I will read anything Kelley Armstrong writes, and she's done it again with this book. The mystery really drew me in and I just couldn't put it down!

I couldn’t put this book down at first but at little more than halfway through it started to feel repetitive and a little drawn out. Fast forward to the ending and what started out as a wonderful plot became too far fetched for me.