4.5 rating.

I really enjoyed this new book by Autumn. Having read her first book, I can already see the improvement and growth of her writing. This book was so atmospheric, the descriptions and setting were beautifully detailed. I loved Catalina. She was a great main character.

This was adventurous and magical. I loved the lore, how Autumn spun it to create a unique story that took you on a ride that you weren’t quite sure where it’d end up. Which, the ending had a nice twist.

Told in two narratives, one of cursed John who plants poisoned apples and Catalina, a Mexican-American girl living in the 19th century, 'Before the Devil Knows You're Here' is a dark fantasy combining folklore elements with horror. The plot and concept were very unique, and the writing was evocative and beautiful. Unfortunately this book suffers a bit by not fully fleshing out the scenes and transitions and consequently contributing to a sense of confusion. All in all this was a quick read and I am interested to see more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

Before the Devil Know You're Here is a bold weaving of folklore and dark fantasy set against a harsh landscape. Recommended for readers who gravitate toward lush prose and a story deeply embedded in symbolism (I learned so much about apples!). Four stars because the beginning was confusing in moments.

The story is quite unique and not something I’m quite used too, but it still is quite enjoyable. The pace could’ve been a little faster, but all in all, an agreeable read with a great cliffhanger.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this title. Unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to finish this one (stopped at 25%). It’s an excellent premise and I generally enjoy this type of darker fantasy/folklore. However, the pacing is far too slow, and I’m disappointed in the storytelling. There were a few beautifully written lines that I noted but overall it just couldn’t hold my attention.

Adding a star rating since Netgalley requires it but I will not be reviewing this title.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc.

5 stars / 5 stars

Things I loved:
Curses and poisons apples love!!
Immediately was hooked
Love the writing style
Cliff hanger chapters had me on edge
Hauntingly beautiful!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

Journeying from the forests and then through Hell; your heart aches and breaks with every page turn. I was unable to stop reading because it’s so beautifully written! Haunting and lush; with all of the wonderful characters sweeping you up into their world. This was the perfect read for the upcoming spooky season. Now then, who wants an apple?!

"Before the Devil Knows You're Here" is a ya historical fantasy, with gothic and horror tints, written by Autumn Krause.

The story follows young Catalina, who in 1836, lives in Wisconsin with her father and brother, in a dilapidated cabin on the edge of wilderness. Harsh winters have reduced the family to the brink of starvation, and Catalina, already scarred by the death of her mother years earlier, has abandoned her poet's soul to replace it with an unyielding determination to keep her father and brother alive. When three mysterious red apples reveal themselves on the doorstep of their shack and a sudden as fast and brutal illness claims her father, a strange man appears. A man covered in bark from head to toe, leaves growing from his head and sap dripping from his eyes. A mysterious being grabs her brother and then disappears, leaving behind a bird with crimson wings. Catalina cannot let this man, or whatever he is, take her brother. So, after a quick and painful burial of her father, she grabs her parent's knife and follows the bird in search of her only remaining relative. Along the way, Catalina meets a young lumberjack, who has his own reasons for hunting the Man of Sap. The two team up, and as the journey takes them deeper into the woods, they encounter strange beasts and tormented spirits. The more information they discover about the Man of Sap, the more they learn how Catalina's fate is deeply intertwined with his. In an increasingly arduous and dark path marked by unexpected events, crucial choices will have to be made.

Wow!!! I loved this book so much! I started with high expectations, captivated by the dark, gothic premises, and came to the end completely satisfied. I found it a delightfully dark, eerily enchanting and wistfully emotional read. It may not be perfect, in my opinion it has its flaws, but it involved me so much and so I don't care.

The writing, in my opinion, is wonderful! Extremely evocative, lyrical and suggestive, accompanied by the presence of vivid descriptions, totally captivated me. I was struck by the sophistication of the words, the beauty of the narrated scenes, so much so that I was able to imagine the various places. I loved the gothic and dark undertones of the tale, the expertly dosed and never exaggerated horror touches, the feeling of being almost suspended in time. The eeriness flows lightly and beguilingly through the pages, delicate and graceful as a feather, mixing with a deceptive placidity. I found it a very intense prose, rich in feeling and passion, with strong poignant and melancholy notes. I admit that I cried several times because of the author's ability to convey emotion! The pace is quiet, almost sleepy, made brisk by the subtle and sinister darkness that envelops everything like a fog.

The setting is another element that I loved! For the most part, the story takes place in 1836, in Wisconsin, among the wilderness. The cabin in which Catalina and her family live is situated on the edge of the woods, just outside a settlement. It is a lonely arrangement, made even more pronounced by the massive presence of nature and the difficult living conditions. I enjoyed a lot the way the author managed to render well the idea of the period in which the events take place, with very interesting details. And then there is the huge forest, dark and menacing, full of mysterious creatures rustling and crawling in its depths. The journey inside was something darkly fascinating, among strange beasts, tormented spirits and the whole set of rustling, whispering and treacherous creaking.

The plot, with its fascinating interweaving of American tall tales and Faustian elements, won me over! It is a story of family ties, lost loves, good versus evil, courage and regret, told with great power. Everything situation is carefully analyzed, nothing is left to chance. Maybe the final part seemed a bit quick to me, but in the overall emotions it aroused, I honestly don't care.

I loved Catalina, protagonist with her third-person pov. A young woman of Mexican descent, passionate about poetry and herself a poet, she lives with her father and younger brother in a dilapidated cabin on the edge of the woods. Life has not been kind to her, first taking away her beloved mother and then subjecting the rest of her family to miserable harvests and harsh winters that have brought them to the brink of starvation. Catalina abandoned the writing of her poetry to devote herself to the care and survival of her loved ones, intent on not losing anyone else. Yet fate has decided, again, differently for her. Catalina is a determined and courageous girl with great willpower. A lover of poetry and a poet herself, she has given up her passion to devote herself entirely to the survival of her family. Outwardly grumpy and edgy, she is actually afraid of bonding with people and losing them. Behind her standoffish facade lies a deeply sensitive soul marked by suffering and uncertainty. I loved Catalina and lost count of the number of times I cried for her! Seriously, she has been through a lot, and seeing her face repeated blows and pain was very intense. In my opinion this is a wonderful character with a very good evolution. I enjoyed her strong bond with her younger brother and the slightly more contrasted bond with her father. Not to mention all the memories related to her mother.

There is a second first-person pov in the book, namely that of the Man of Sap, which winds its way through the years, showing his story. I can't say anything about it, to avoid spoilers, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and it obviously managed to touch me, as well as frustrate me a lot.

And then there is Paul, the mysterious young lumberjack that Catalina meets along the way! Help, I loved Paul too much! I found him to be a wonderful character who touched me so much.

All in all, I found it a wonderful read with gothic tints, very emotional and atmospheric, which I highly recommend, especially in the fall season.

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I read this book in one sitting & here are my thoughts:

- first of all, for the first 20% of this book, I fully did not realize it was dual perspective (the way it was formatted on my Kindle was a little confusing, in my defense), so I think some important background definitely got jumbled up in my brain & made the plot throughout the book at times go over my head (this is my fault lol) however, this book was so beautiful I don’t even care that I didn’t understand chunks of it, and as soon as it’s released I want to get a physical copy and re-read & annotate it
- it was so lyrical and lush and folkloric and dynamic and very much had me wanting to take a bite out of it
- who knew biblical Apple lore metaphors could be so beautiful & interesting to read about???
- kinda gave Labyrinth meets hell followed with us meets the pomegranate gate at times & I was eating
- essentially, I am stupid & need to re-read this, but from what I retained, I think some of my mutuals will obsess over this

Before the Devil Knows You're Here was such a unique story. I enjoyed the development of the characters and how the writing was very haunting.

Though it took me a while to warm up to the actual story and characters, the imagery is what drew me in, and I'm glad I persisted. This is a magical book (in all kinds of ways), and one I know will stay with me for a long time. I've read other reviewers describe it as hauntingly beautiful, and I couldn't agree more.

Very unique story, good characters and I enjoyed both of their stories running throughout alongside each other. I did find it really slow in parts however this is something I struggle with in a lot of books. Really enjoyable story, just a shame about how long and drawn out some parts are.

I want to thank Netgalley and Autumn Krause for giving me a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is hauntingly beautiful in its own way. First of all, I love the atmosphere and the aesthetic this book is giving me from the very start until the end, it is so descriptive in a way that I can feel the atmosphere of it. I also love the writing style of this book, it is captivating from start to finish. It adds more to my enjoyment in reading this one. The story is fascinating as well, it was bizzare in a good way. Like there are some weird touch to it but the author manage to execute that weirdness in a way that is both fascinating and haunting at the same time.

As for the characters, I love the contrast between Catalina and Paul. They are so balanced for each other that they complimented each other's character. Catalina is a strong and clever main character. Their chemistry is amazingly established the moment they meet. I love the interactions they have with each other. And it's so interesting to see how each of them perceived the problem that they have.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The concept is so unique and keeps me intrigued until the very last page. This book had given me so much realization about life and the ambitions people have. And what limit they can cross in order to achieve them.

I'd first like to thank the Author, NetGalley, and the publisher for sending me this dark and delicious ARC.
I was excited to bite into this book, which includes all the ingredients I love in a magical literary brew.

Autumn Krause's prose are evocative and atmospheric. She knows how to string words into a beautiful tapestry. Both poetic as well as precise, her imagery is lovely, although I admit I found the wording overdramatic at times and would have enjoyed the experience even more if the floweriness was toned down just a touch. This is a personal preference.

The story pulled me in immediately. I enjoyed Catalina's perspective because it had urgency and motivation. The slow-burn romance felt realistic and convincing; I loved Paul, and Catalina's description of him was both relatable and adorable.
There was another point of view character, though, which kept pulling me out of the story because of the 'bird's eye' fashion in which he was telling his side of the tale, which made little sense to me, motivation-wise, at times he felt overly expressive as if sensationalizing his emotional state was meant to elicit strong emotional reactions from me as a reader but only managed to do the opposite and shine a spotlight on other overly flowery descriptions.

Again this might be a matter of taste, but like condiments, I felt this particular seasoning was heavy-handed.

That being said, I thought the ending was lovely and am looking forward to hearing more from the author, who reminds me a lot of V.E. Schaub and Adrienne Young.

I am never looking at apples the same way again. This story was hauntingly beautiful and gorgeously written. The pacing was perfect and I loved the two POVs we got. Every chapter ended in a way that had me wanting to keep reading, to keep going and find out what was going to happen next and how Catalina (amazing perfect I love her so much) was going to achieve her goals. The importance of family and what we would do for them hit me right in the heart. The world was so vividly painted, I felt like as if I was right there, experiencing it all, smelling the temptingly sweet cursed apples. Fantastic story and I'm so excited for this to come out into the world and to get my own copy in my hands!!

Thank you NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I’m literally shook to the core (yes, I know it’s a pun; and yes, it was intentional). I’ve never read anything like Before the Devil Knows You’re Here before in my life. It’s unique in the best of ways. Allegorical. Shocking. Touching.

The writing style is beautiful, and the cliff-hanger chapters literally had me turning pages for hours until I reached the end. It’s dark, yet full of light. Full of despair, yet teeming with hope. Sad, yet hauntingly beautiful.

I literally can’t wait for this book to release so I can display it alongside some of my all-time favorite books. Also—I will never think of apples the same away again. 🍎

CW: a couple uses of the d-word.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an eARC of Before the Devil Knows You’re Here. A positive review was not required, only my honest opinion. All thoughts are expressly my own.

Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. The premise is super interesting—A dark Johnny Appleseed is really cool, but the delivery fell short even in the first chapter. I think my biggest frustration was that everything happened so fast, which meant lots of spoon feeding details to the reader and leaving very little to be curious about. Pa dies and Jose is taken so soon, there’s no time to care about or form any sort of connection to either character. She meets Paul and immediately trusts him, so no tension or risk there. She knows everything she needs to be perfectly recalling stories she previously didn’t pay attention to from memory. Meanwhile, there are sections from John’s POV explaining how he became the Sap Man, which ruins the mystery I would expect in a gothic novel. This forest they wander through is harmless. Nothing about this book is spooky or atmospheric.

**Big thanks to Netgalley, Peachtree Teen, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!**

2/5 ⭐⭐

I am a little confused with this story.
I see such amazing reviews, and I feel like I got the wrong copy.

I chose to read this because it was marketed as “A deliciously dark folk horror” with gothic vibes, which I ADORE, and it caught my eye right away. I don't typically read full descriptions of books, as I love to be surprised. This book indeed did surprise me, but not in a positive way.

The story follows Catalina as she embarks on a quest to find the supernatural being responsible for kidnapping her younger brother. The second storyline delves into the backstory of this being, known as The Man of Sap, revealing the tragic events that shaped him.

It was really my own fault that I did not enjoy this book; I should have paid more attention to what it was about. But even then, I found the writing difficult to understand, and the beginning was quite confusing. Once we got into John's story, the apple stuff made more sense.

Overall, I couldn't finish it. I wish I could have, but it was really not enjoyable for me.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Here has left me stunned. This book was dark, folkloric, and ethereal.

Autumn Krause blended the tales of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan so elegantly. The premise of this story was like nothing I’ve seen before, so I was very excited to see where this story would go. Before the Devil Knows You’re Here did not disappoint. It had me hooked from the first page. The prose was lyrical and painted such a great atmosphere for this story.

The dual POV was a great addition. One following our FMC, Catalina, on her adventure to find the Man of Sap, who takes her brother away. The other following the Man of Sap, John, with the backstory behind his curse. They were blended seamlessly.

While this story mainly focuses on the plot, there is also the prominent theme of grief and loss. This story was heartbreaking, but told with so much care. There is also a beautiful romance that is very much in the background of the tale, but still so very lovely.

Thank you PeachTree Teen and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A nice adaptation of Johnny Applebee's. The author did an excellent job describing the horrors the characters expirenced. The plot was a bit slow moving at times however. I didn't much care for Catalina. She seemed a bit whiny. I would have enjoyed it just as much if they wouldn't have all been reunited at the end. Also seeing as how John's family couldn't hear the apples it would have been nice if they couldn't be affected by their poison as well.