Thanks to Netgalley, Tori Bovalino, and the publisher for an advanced review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I generally like Bovalino's work (and folk horror in general), but this one didn't grab me like I was hoping it would. While it definitely hits on the folk and romance sides of things, the horror was surprisingly minimal. I liked the pretty obvious Labyrinth references (stolen child, polychromatic eyes in the not-Goblin King, etc) and the general setting did a pretty good job of showing how a magical forest would work. I didn't like our main character in the slightest bit, or the town she came from. Her POV made it difficult to feel consistently invested.

Cover is great, and I can definitely see myself putting this into teen patrons' hands if they are looking for a somewhat-spooky romance, but it wasn't as much for me as I was hoping.

3.5 rounded to 4.

➸ 4.25 ⭐️

Tis the year of cottagecore horror-y books and I'm here for it.

'Labyrinth' meets folk horror in this wonderfully dark and twisted tale of belonging and what it means to be good.
My Throat an Open Grave is about facing your fears and overcoming religious trauma. It's about a girl who can't quite be "good enough" in the eyes of the small town that's been condemning her for years.

Our MC Leah was complex and well fleshed out, she's becoming more and more relatable with every chapter, gods how my heart broke for her.

"I'm Red Riding Hood, lost to temptation, screaming forever in the belly of the wolf. The princes don't come for the ruined, the unchaste, the soiled girls they only care for princesses. They don't come for girls like me."

I loved the dynamic between her and the Lord of the Wood. He was such an interesting character and exactly what Leah needed I only wish we'd gotten his POV.

The last 100 pages were super interesting and everything came together, one of the plot twists really destroyed me emotionally.

"You came for me."
"I would always come for you," he promises. "I waited for you."

MTaOG was such an atmospheric and creepy read, perfect for the spooky season. Leah's story is one that'll stay with me.

eternal gratitude to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC
all quotes are from an advance copy and may differ in the final publication

A fabulous YA folk horror novel full of atmosphere, gore, and heart.

My Throat is an Open Grave follows Leah, a high school student balancing her job and taking care of her baby brother, Owen. Leah lives in a small town in Pennsylvania, a town that fears the Lord of the Wood. According to their legends, the Lord will steal babies and girls and they’re never seen or heard from again. Owen is stolen by the Lord of the Wood and Leah must venture into the dangerous forest to save him and herself along the way.

I love stories like this one, with forests creeping of lore, myth, and magic that blend horror elements so beautifully to create the most engaging and haunting read. And the religious element elevated the story so well. I loved reading about Leah and her troubles as she goes to save her brother and the complicated relationship she has with him, her family, and her town. She had such a good character arc of growth and accepting that her town and the expectations they put on girls and women is wrong and toxic.

This is such a fast-paced book with incredible descriptions and spooky, unnerving vibes while also having this mythical quality as we learn more about the Lord and the Woods. The plot was really engaging and I liked the twists the author chose as some were expected to me but some were not and I really enjoyed that.

I would definitely recommend picking this up if you like YA horror, folk vibes, gore, and romance.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my e-ARC of My Throat an Open Grave!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
🌲 are looking for a dark and atmospheric read
🧝🏻 loved the movie Labyrinth
💕 want a YA romance
👥 enjoy cult-driven novels

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn’t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she’ll disappear like so many other girls before her.

But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won’t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that’s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon.

Filled with shame and the weight of the town’s judgment, Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn’t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back―for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write.

It’s a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she’s been taught to fear.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was a really different and interesting read. Apparently it is heavily based on the movie Labyrinth, which I haven’t seen since I was fairly young. It starts out strong, but ultimately loses me about halfway through the story as the MC, Leah, seems to start falling for the Lord of the Woods, which just isn’t the direction I thought the book was headed in whatsoever. However, I loved the woods and how everything worked in this “realm” where time doesn’t operate in the same way. When Leah was essentially a ghost, was probably one of my favorite scenes. Overall, definitely pick this one up if you’re a fan of YA reads with a dark atmosphere!

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I loved the main characters and enjoyed the fable-like plotting of the story. This is the very classic bare-bones story of: person 1 is kidnapped; person 2 must go on a journey to rescue person 1; person 2 must strike a bargain/complete a task to release person 1. I love stories that remind me of fairytales and make me feel immersed in a magic world, and this book delivered on those points.

I also really loved the main character Leah’s voice and character development. She is struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and possibly OCD due to religious trauma. Even though I have very different life experiences to her, I felt much the same when I was her age. Reading her internal monologue about never feeling good enough, feeling like a burden, etc. rang very true to me as someone who has also struggled with mental illness.

The world-building reminds me of a classic fairytale, where things just are the way they are without much explanation. At times I wish the world’s lore had been fleshed out a little more. I also wish the love story had been developed a little more — in my opinion, the book could’ve been 50-75 pages longer.

Labyrinth retelling with more horror tones. If you're a fan of the 80's movie, then you will appreciate this book. A solid read, I found the characters the best part of this story. Yes, they're flawed, but that's what makes them relatable. That's what draws you in.

Full disclosure-- I had to rewatch the movie after reading this book.

The perfect culmination of horror and Labyrinth! The prose is beautiful and the story is so gripping I was hard pressed to put it down!

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino (she/her)
Genre: young adult, folk horror, urban fantasy, romance (subplot)
Rating: 4.5 stars
ARC review

Thank you NetGalley and Page Street YA for my ARC of this book! This is my honest review and all opinions are my own.

“I am a mangled thing. I am soiled black with sin.”

In a small Appalachian town, lives Leah Jones and her baby brother, Owen. One night after an exhausting work shift and trying to get the baby to sleep; he just won't stop screaming. She wishes him away to the Lord of the Wood. The screaming stops and all that is left is a still warm cradle and a bundle of sticks. Leah is forced to search for her brother and return him to the town. After the Lord of the Wood finds her, they make a deal: if she can write a song for him in one month, she and her brother can leave. But things are not as they seem, she feels safer here, far away from the choking expectations of the town and its inhabitants. Ghosts of her hometown are unearthed and Leah has to find out the truth, no matter if it leads to her death.

When I requested this book on NetGalley, I’ll be honest, I was expecting a YA romance that is inspired by the movie Labyrinth. I was expecting something fun, light, and easy to read with a splash of folklore. MY THROAT AN OPEN GRAVE was nowhere near any of that, and I loved it because of it.

MY THROAT AN OPEN GRAVE was about small towns, purity culture, religious trauma, how angry the dead can be, Lady Macbeth Syndrome, and the “otherness” that comes with finding faults in those ideals. When I finished reading it, I just sat on my bed at 2:26 am crying for no reason I could identify besides the fact that I felt seen. Have I ever gone into the woods to find my baby brother and bring him home? No. Did I have to write a song to bring him back? No. Have I ever found solace in water? No. But I have lived in two very small towns, seen what religion when placed in the wrong hands can do, how lost you feel, and been coached on “violations” before marriage in a school gymnasium. I remember the stale air, how quietly we went into the locker room to change for our gym class, not a single one of us saying a word. That is what this book is about. How oppressive that need to be perfect is at that moment. How after so many years, you are just done.

One of the major things I loved about this book were the metaphors and symbolism of water. Leah takes solace in the water, she loves it and feels pure and whole when in it. She is constantly bathing herself and trying to wash away her past. I interpreted a lot of this to be Bovalino’s exploration of Lady Macbeth Syndrome, and I will say that it was done beautifully. I loved every hidden metaphor, every long bath scene. Even when the water is used as a weapon against the main character time and time again.

“I’ve always felt best in water. Like I’m come undone. Clean.”

Another thing in this novel that surprised me was the folklore. While it is a main part of the novel, it is not in the way you would think. While Leah is in Winston, the Lord of the Wood is this terrifying creature coming to take babies away. He is used as the town’s main weapon of defense in keeping its inhabitants in line. “Do what you are supposed to, or the Lord of the Wood will come for your children.” In a way it reminds me a lot of Krampus and the constant threat of him against young children. However, when Leah does her own deconstruction, the folklore takes more of an important role. It helps her and guides her to the truth time and time again.

MY THROAT AN OPEN GRAVE is going to be a novel that I will be referencing multiple times in reviews to come. In more ways than one, it reminded me of The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White and the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christen Andersen. MY THROAT AN OPEN GRAVE caused that deep pang to shoot from my gut straight to my heart moments before a character says something. Just knowing what they are going to say before they do and knowing you can do nothing to stop it. That is the experience I will remember most about reading this book.

I highly recommend this book (if that was not apparent already by the very incomprehensible essay style review) and will not stop thinking about this haunting story for a very long time. I will most likely be getting a physical copy just to have, to sleep with it under my pillow, and annotated to my heart's content. I am also hoping to read the rest of Bovalino’s published works after finishing this one. If they cause even a fraction of the reaction I had to reading this novel, I know I will love them as well.

Please note that quotes used are from an advanced reader copy and may be subject to change in the final copy of the book.

MY THROAT AN OPEN GRAVE will be released on February 20th.

CW: blood, death, animal death (deer), body horror, suicidal ideation, religious trauma, purity culture, pregnancy, death of a family member (in the past)

My gods, Tori Bovalino's writing is beautiful. The cover, title, and premise of the book hooked me before I'd even read the first page. My Throat an Open Grave is a wonderfully dark and twisted tale of belonging and what it means to be good. Leah, the main character, feels so real. Tori Bovalino did a fantastic job of creating a relatable, real character with flaws that made me love her even more. This novel has helped me see a part of myself that I didn't realize I'd buried years ago.

Thank you to Titan Books, Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for the arc.

My Throat and Open Grave is an eerily whimsical ya fantasy novel that is reminiscent of Labyrinth without the weird 40 year old dude hitting on a 15 year old thing.

I must admit, at first I wasn’t impressed by the book. It read like most YA fantasy novels where the main character “isn’t like other girls” and for some reason has the power to change everything…. Until the first twist happens. Her brother Owen has gone missing, and it is because she begged the Lord of the Wood to take him away.

The twists in this book layer what is familiar with ya tropes and twists them in a new and raw way that leaves a brilliant sense of originality to the story as a whole. I read this in one sitting, and the ending was honestly quite honest. Sometimes we aren’t meant to be what the world designs us to be, that there are better futures for us. We just have to look for them first.

Overall, a very enjoyable read that will be liked by the masses I’m sure.

I was drawn in by the stunning cover and was absolutely not disappointed! The atmospheric tension and suspense, the yearning trickles of romance, and an ending I absolutely didn't see coming made for a fantastic reading experience.

I'm sorry I did not liked it...

I don't know if that was the writing that lost me or the story, but I couldn't keep following the story... I did not finished the book...

My Throat an Open Grave was one of my most anticipated reads for 2024. The writing was beautiful, and the book certainly delivered the dark, ominous atmosphere that was promised. It's the type of story that's perfect for a cold winter night, curled up with a cup of tea. Unfortunately, as beautiful as the story was, I did feel that the plot dragged on at times. The opening chapters felt particularly slow, with the pace picking up shortly after that. I would still recommend the book to readers for Bovalino's beautiful writing alone even though it wasn't my favorite read.

My Throat an Open Grave by Tori Bovalino is a young adult fantasy horror that follows Leah, a young woman who who is working to help make ends meet after dropping out of high school. In the mysterious town she lives in, babies are often taken by the elusive Lord of the Wood and never seen again. When Leah’s brother becomes the most recent baby taken, Leah has to cross into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to try and get him back and make it home alive.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing and atmosphere were engaging and I liked Leah as a character. This book has a lot of heavy topics including religion and feeling ostracized from a community that were handled in a way I wasn’t expecting. There is a bit of a romance in this story but it isn’t too over the top and is definitely not the main focus.

I wish this author would write an adult novel and delve further into certain themes. I feel like the young adult genre just doesn’t allow for that as much as adult books do so that made this book not the perfect read for me but very enjoyable nonetheless.

I saw this book pitched as a Labyrinth retelling and while there were a few nods on it, it isn’t really a retelling so don’t go into it expecting Labyrinth again.

My Throat an Open Grave is a book that immediately grabbed my attention with that cover. It’s absolutely stunning.

I’ve not read from this author before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was really interested in the story from the beginning. I flew through the first 35% but then the middle did drag a little for me.

absolutely losing my mind over this book. the religious guilt/trauma and small town you can never escape was written so well. I loved!!! the dynamic of the LoW and Leah, yes it felt like a typical YA fantasy but that’s exactly what I loved. It had the premise of what reminded me of early 2010s YA romances but with far more mutual respect and no toxicity. it was a short read but it was well paced, the world building felt realized and the character arcs were tied together and wrapped up well in the end.

thank you to NetGalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Tori Bovalino has crafted a sharp, wrenching, and atmospheric story here. She skillfully balances the (fairly light) horror aspects with impactful and relevant themes. My Throat an Open Grave was a lot shorter than I'd expected it to be, but honestly that's just another indication of how impressive this book is.

There were probably one or two too many side characters that could have been left out to give the others more space, but that's really it. A lot of the themes really hit home, and the ending was very satisfying. 4/5.

i love a good retelling and horror theme? awesome! I really enjoyed the thiller horror genre and i think it was definitely a strong book

This delightfully gothic tale tells a sweet coming of age story of a girl in a overbearing and speculative Christian town.

Exploring the grief and social alienation/shame that it’s often accompanied by teen pregnancy in a small town.

With the mystery of how each girl who the town has fostered into sacred sacrifices, were murdered in their return home. The MC Leah is no longer just trapped with the Lord of the Woods desperate to find who she is and who she could be with him. She is now dead set on preventing her own murder.

An absolutely wonderful read that I can’t wait to hit the shelves.

This dark fantasy Labyrinth retelling centres on guilt-ridden teenager Leah Jones as she follows her kidnapped baby brother into the eerie realm of the Lord of the Wood.

To me, it's a great example of the recently popular 'subtle horror' genre. While it lacks the keep-you-up-at-night scares, it uses magic realism to delve into the horrors of real life trauma, exemplifying how scary that can be to work through.

It's written in gorgeous gothic prose – a kind of haunting lyricism that beautifies ghostly, growing things and softens the sharp edges of bones. It's heavy with metaphor, alluding to the various symbolisms of blood and the stark dichotomy of dark and light, good and evil, which Leah believes are her only two choices.

At its heart, it deals with religious trauma and the damage the distortion of Biblical teaching can cause, especially for young girls. The book makes clear that the brutal, awful ways Leah is treated do not align with the teachings of the faith her community claims to have. As a Christian I beg anyone who reads this to note that the book condemns and villainises those who manipulate God's word for their own sadistic ends, but does not speak against the true saving power of faith or the Christian belief system itself.

It's only a short book (I read it in two days) but it still manages to leave space for character growth, mystery and gentle romance. I recommend it to those looking for YA books in the subtle horror genre (just check the trigger warnings first).