I was drawn into the mystery of Curses and Other Buried Things almost immediately. A generational curse set in the swamp created an incredible setting and I could not get into the heart of what was going on.

I was hoping for something a bit darker and was expecting a lot less romance. I also started to get a bit annoyed with Susanna. She kept secrets for no reason but expected total honesty from everyone else around her. Her actions ended up causing a lot more problems than they solved.

I did enjoy George's writing but struggled with the pacing and miscommunication. I would definitely be interested in reading more from her.

3.25 rounded down to 3. While this book had many great things, pacing and more questions than answers throughout brought this book down.

Suzana Prather is cursed, just like a first born women in her lineage before her. Knowing she has a countdown keeps her from getting close to anyone. When a presence from the past strolls confidently back into her life, can she resist temptation? And what will she discover about the curse via prophetic dreams of the past?

Let's get real, Suzana Prather was a hard character to like. The curse was to blame for everything and basically gave her a free pass to treat those around her like trash. She only saw interactions for what they could give her, foregoing any meaningful connections that didn't offer her something in return. She strung along one of her best friends and a former flame from the past throughout the entire book which made it impossible to root for her to find happiness. Add in that just when you believe this book is truly about mental illness or even manifesting your destiny....BAM! Out of nowhere there came a supernatural element in the last like 20 pages.

However, said strung along mates made this book the more than 2 stars it deserved. Godwin is an absolute saint and also protected himself and told Suzana that he was over her BS. You gotta hand it to him, even if in the end he falls back into it, that he deserved every happiness and someone who was willing to love him wildly. JC was a bit cringy at times, especially with the fact he has a girlfriend yet still openly pines for Suzana. But his unwillingness to take "go away" is charming, especially since Suzana never actually comes out and says for him to go away or she doesn't want to be with him until far too much has happened. Still, JC is likeable and funny; the necessary element to Suzana and her BS that makes it palatable.

In short, the pages you spend alone with Suzana are filled with self pity and drag on, while the ones spent with others make you truly hate Suzana for how she treats others. 3.25 rounded down to 3 is all I can give Curses and Other Buried Things. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love the premise and message behind this book. One of the biggest things I've learned in life is to not believe lies. When you embrace lies you tell yourself they hold you bondage. Or you essentially curse yourself.
I'm not giving anything away, but I love the swamp stories of the Suzannas in this story. The dreams. The curse. It's a fantastic story. If you haven't read this author you should!

This book was addictive — full of suspense and mystery that had me on edge the whole time. I couldn’t stop turning the pages, always needing to know what was really going on. It’s one of those stories that pulls you in slowly, then won’t let you go. And beyond all the twists and tension, there’s something deeper that makes it really stick with you. If you love dark, gripping reads that keep you thinking long after you finish, this one’s a must

This one fell flat. I couldn’t really get into it. I didn’t resonate with the characters very well and I just found myself a little bored

i couldn't put this book down!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this work!

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

I would probably say this novel is more 2.5 stars.
The premise was quite interesting and then the fact that this novel is based off of the author's own family history is lovely. The story was intriguing enough as I read a long, however, at times I just felt bored and like nothing was really happening. I did like the way this was written with back and forth points of view from modern Susana to past Susana. Maybe I missed it because I was bored, but it never really made sense where the hex/curse came from and the resolution of everything was a bit ridiculous and SUPER cheesy. By the time I got to the end I was just more relieved that it was over than felt satisfied with the resolution. Very meh book.

I was hesitant going into this book, I didn't know how it was going to go. Many books seem to have so much fluff in them, with no original plot, this wasn't the case with this book. It was amazing!

This 5-star-read is packed with the Southern charm, magic, intensity, vivid emotionality, strong women, magical realism and - curses.
Susana Prather believes she is going to die. There is this generational curse, right? Women from her family have been cursed and she starts to show the signs - sleepwalking, waking up drenched, feeling the call of the swamp...and her dreams are vivid. She might be watching the history of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn. The one with the hard life and the cruel experiences. The one with two men in love with her. The one who might be the cause for the curse. And young Susana does not want to die, even if she feels that the death is inevitable. So she tries to live. And her zest for the living in the fullest might break the real curse - the generational trauma, the pain that is hidden in secrets, the hard burden of hurt, hate, silence and just pain.

This is a beautiful, fulfilling, in a good way hurting read. The topic is so real and as the authoress says, she knows from her experience and her family history all too well what she is writing about. There is much pain present in this life. Racism, cruselty, violence, sexual violence. If there is a way out, it might be the way that Susana is exploring. Realization, compassion, forgiveness. Healing. Freedom.

Brutal, honest, beautiful. A recommended read.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This took me a little bit to get into but I enjoyed it overall! Definitely a slow burn. I liked the creepy/spooky feel at times, especially as it didn't overwhelm. I would read more by this author.

I did not enjoy this one as much as Caroline’s first two books but still a lot of good stuff! The writing itself is lovely, but connecting to the characters is SO hard. I struggled with the names and the fact that I did not feel like there was a lot of emotional investment in many of the characters.

A wonderful dark contemporary/ historical YA read. Susana has grown up knowing the women in her family are cursed, waiting for her turn to be taken by the swamp. The night she turns eighteen, the curse sinks its teeth into her, but she's not going down without a fight. Is she truly doomed, or can she finally break free from the bonds rooted in generational trauma?

This one was addicting. I'm a sucker for southern fiction, and the creepy curse premise really drew me in. I loved the dual timeline. Most of the story focused on modern day Susana, with occasional flashbacks to her ancestor in the 1800s when the curse was born. Both timelines were engaging. And the ending was amazing. Love the fact that the author based much of the story on her own family's history.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

thought-provoking story with spooky vibes while sstill maintaining wholesome qualities, this books takes you to the southern swamp with its beautifully written imagery and metaphors.
Absolutely loved this parallel tale and the characters that learned so much about themselves! A must read!

Curses and Other Buried Things by Caroline George is a haunting young adult novel that explores family secrets and the legacy of curses. Susana, the protagonist, grapples with sleepwalking and visions as she uncovers a generations-old mystery tied to her family and the swamp behind their house.

This Southern Gothic tale tackles themes of generational trauma and mental health alongside a touch of the supernatural. Fans of novels like Wilder Girls and Dark and Shallow Lies will likely enjoy the suspense and Southern atmosphere.

If you're looking for a coming-of-age story with a twist of the paranormal, Curses and Other Buried Things is worth checking out.

A gripping examination of family dynamics, love, and unforeseen connections. The characters are well developed and their passionate journeys resonate deeply. The dual timeline keeps the reader engaged.
Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Deep, complex, rich. Just a few words that come to mind when I think of Caroline George’s writing.

This book was a wonderful example of those descriptors with a complex dual/time plot, angsty romance, and a culturally significant setting. The combination created a moody-vibe alongside a vital theme that we can choose how we handle generational trauma and aren’t locked into the roles we’re born into.

My rating: 4.5*

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a good book, and I say this as someone who does not read a lot of YA. The book is rich, emotive and atmospheric. I always like dual timeline novels and seeing the pieces fit together.

A teen girl must try to break decades of a family curse to avoid a deadly fate.

I really wanted to like this one more, but I struggled to be intrigued. It wasn’t spooky enough I think for me based on the description. But that might just be a writing style preference, and others might enjoy this more!

"Free people free other people."

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Susana Prather is cursed. Or at least, that's what her family and the rest of their small town has always believed. The women of her family have been for as far back as the family tree can show them, all the way back to Suzanna Yawn, who the curse seemed to begin with. But with so little information to go off of and so little information being shared with Susana by her family and the people in town, it's up to Susana to try and figure her own way out of the hold of the curse before it can take her. Too bad the curse makes itself known and the clock starts ticking down on the morning she turns eighteen when she wakes up in her bed, still drenched with swamp water. But it didn't take her. Not yet. Looking back on her family's past might be difficult with so little help from her grandparents who raised her after her mother was lost to the curse after she was born, but she has no choice if she wants to make it past eighteen and to have the chance to figure out what she wants and who she really is. And who knows. Maybe along the way, she'll learn how to stop relying on the curse to help her keep the people who love her at arm's length, too.

The narrative of Curses and Other Buried Things switches back and forth between two timelines--Susana's day to day struggles to try and solve the curse while also living her life as much as possible, and the memories she has a night when the swamp calls to her of her ancestor Suzanna Yawn's life, played out tragedy by tragedy, and honestly, I'm not sure I've ever found a book that switches back and forth through timelines that does it better than this. The frequency of Suzanna Yawn scenes is used so brilliantly to show the strength of the the curse's hold on Susana and how successful or unsuccessful her attempts have been to keep herself away from the swamp at night. The characters were beautifully written, their struggles were all so real and held such weight to the story, the romance was heart wrenching and and heartwarming at the same time, despite the curse forcing the repetition of a love triangle in both timelines, and the *writing*. I think I could wax poetic about how *gorgeous* Caroline George's writing is for the rest of time, ad nauseum.

Despite thinking from the description of the book that it was going to be a bit more horror/thriller centric, I didn't find myself feeling let down by the fact that it wasn't that at all. This book was so fun and so heartbreaking and such a wild ride from start to finish, and it was hands down one of my favorite reads of 2023. Between the deep connection I felt to Susana not only for her struggles to rewrite so many lifetimes' worth of generational trauma, but also for the way she interacts with her hometown and the people around her, as a girl who also grew up both in Georgia and later in another swampy southern town.

Honestly, I'd recommend this book to just about anyone, and I can't wait for the next time I pick it up and get to go on this journey with Susana again. Just be ready for tears. Especially when you read the author's note at the end, which I'm not going to spoil here because it meant *so much to me* to read it after finishing the book.

Below are some content warnings to keep in mind going in, also. (Some of these were included specifically by Caroline George in her author's note.) Stay safe out there, everybody, and make sure you're in the right headspace to read, if necessary.

Suicide, suicidal ideation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual impropriety, financial/social standards, abandonment, unexpressed grief, wartime shell shock, neglect, racism, racism toward indigenous peoples, lynching, description of death and corpses, teenage abuse of drugs and alcohol, generational trauma, grief, loss, death of a parent, death of a sibling, death of a partner.

This felt a little slow for my personal taste. I did appreciate the clean content and beautiful prose. But the story itself wasn’t paced well