An enjoyable YA horror fantasy. A move to a new home in Black Stone brings Ellis new challenges to an already complex life. Because as far as the locals are concerned the house has a past, a haunted past. And a haunted future. As Ellis tries to settle, and find friendship, Black Stone may be the place she needs to be, or maybe equally the person that Black Stone needs! Thank you to ECW Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Withered is not a traditional haunted house story. The author did a great job of making a new and fun story out of a debatably overdone topic. With that being said, this book reads as YA, both in the writing style and the character voices. By no means would I ever classify this as an adult horror.

It does some things well and other things not so well.

Pros:
This is a multi-POV story that only had 1 well-developed POV. Ellis is 18 years old and is the main character of the story. Ellis is nonbinary, asexual, and is recovering from an ED. A lot is going on with this character but it all feels authentic and none of these things are used to further the horror plot. It feels like a really good/ safe representation of these things (note - I don’t identify as any of these identities nor have I experienced an ED so it’s not my place to declare this good representation but it did not appear as problematic to me).

Ellis’s mother is supportive and understanding and the relationship Ellis has with Robyn is refreshing. It’s always refreshing to see a positive family dynamic in a horror story. There is a lot of diversity in this book and I appreciate the author for doing that.

Quinn may be my favorite character. She is funny, full of wit, and her raw emotion really connected with me. Her partnership with Ellis was so trusting and intentional. I applaud the author for this display of true connection. The dialogue was amazing, I laughed so many times.

The emotion is real. I cried some for sure.

Ellis’s relationship with their therapist. It’s not included much but the time you do get to see them interact, its a great representation.

The ending was realistic.

Cons:
Again, this reads like YA. All of the main characters could easily be in high school and nothing would change. They are written in a way that makes them come across as adolescents.


For the other POVs…. useless. They were forced, a device to move the story forward rather than to add value. Honestly just lazy writing. Random character POVs would pop up 1-2 times out of nowhere and we’re just supposed to accept that.

The sporadic placement of these chapters was interesting. It took away from the story to be navigating the random POV chapter and mid-chapter jumps and random time jumps. Half the time, the POVs seemed to only be there to give an eery vibe to Ellis’s house. These POVs also impacted the pacing.

I kinda touched on this before but I’m stating it again because it was painful. Things felt unnecessarily out of order and I absolutely hate when books change POV in the middle of the chapter. There were so many parts of this book that dragged and I think if the author put more effort into making Ellis’s POV (+1) work in delivering this information to the reader, it could have really helped the flow of the story. Instead, you get a random midchapter insert from characters that mean nothing. It does not add any razzle or dazzle to the story. I honestly put the book down so many times because of this. If you don’t mind this, maybe you’ll have a better experience than I but I’ll say it again. It’s just lazy writing.

The declaration of love after like a month 💀

Overall, I didn’t hate the book. I don’t foresee myself picking up another book by Wilmot but I’m not mad that I read the book.

The house on Cherry Lane has a reputation for being an evil house; cursing those who dare to live there. Because of this, twenty-five years ago, Tara Sweet tried to kill the house before it brought further damage to her family and town. Since then, she has been a resident at a long-term mental health facility.

The house on Cherry Lane also has a reputation for being occupied by something that cannot be explained; something more benevolent. Something that has kept the death rate of Black Stone abnormally low, while the surrounding towns have unnaturally high death rates (“It’s our protection, not our condemnation”). How can one house garner two such divergent opinions?

Ellis is a teen who moves into the house on Cherry Lane with their mother, Robyn, after the death of their father. Robyn grew up in Black Stone, and is familiar with the history of the house and its relationship with the townsfolk. However, this doesn’t stop her from moving there without telling Ellis about her own history with the house. This is an odd decision considering the fragility of Ellis’ mental health. They are still grieving the death of their father, suffers from anorexia, and is coming to terms with their sexual identity. Robyn’s job keeps her away from the house which puts pressure on Ellis to deal with finding their way in a new town where everyone has an opinion on their house and, consequently, Ellis. With the help of a few Black Stonians, Ellis confronts the house and their own mental health.

The haunted house trope works well when mental health is one of the horror themes. A home is thought to be a domestic ideal where one can feel safe, happy, and at peace. However, when the space becomes sinister, there is no safety, happiness, or peace. The haunted house trope—usually a feminist theme—works well with LGBQT+ themes. Trauma is manifested in the house, and often, when the issues of the protagonist are brought out into the open, the house becomes less sinister (maybe even a kindred spirit).

Ellis becomes obsessed with finding answers to who the house really is: evil or benevolent. Can they resolve this puzzle and find safety, happiness, and peace?

The lack of maternal care (Robyn comes across as a friendly acquaintance, not a mother)--considering the upheaval to Ellis’s life—seemed to me to be a way for the writer to keep her out of the story. She is there to make a connection to the town. To drive the disconnect between the two, Ellis calls her Robyn, not mom. Also, the use of the them/their pronouns was overused and—at times—confusing; especially at times when Ellis is involved with another character. The writing style often made it hard to discern if the they/them was for Ellis or both of them. This could have been easily avoided if Ellis was identified just as Ellis.

I enjoyed this book, and found Ellis to be a very believable and sympathetic character. The explanation about the house and its paranormal development was novel to me, fitting into the themes of mental heath and grief perfectly.

I would like to thank ECW Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Really enjoyed this book and I can't wait to pick up other books by the author. Really creepy, but equally wonderful and fast paced.

Withered is a story about a haunted house; although it may seem like an unoriginal concept, it has an interesting twist that sets it apart from other similar stories.

The writing in Withered is good, but it reads more like a young adult (YA) novel than an adult horror story. As a result, it wasn't as scary as I expected. Additionally, the story's pacing was a little uneven in some places.

The story is told from multiple points of view (POVs), which works well in creating an eerie atmosphere. However, I found some POVs more engaging than others. The main character's POV was the most enjoyable.

The characters in Withered are well-crafted, but they seem younger than their actual age. The main character is the most interesting and well-developed in the story.

Despite its flaws, I still had an enjoyable time reading Withered, and I think it would make a great movie.

If you're a fan of mild horror and looking for a quick and easy read, then Withered is worth checking out. However, I would advise readers to review the trigger warnings beforehand, as there are potentially triggering themes such as anorexia, the death of a parent, eating disorders, and body dysmorphia.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers of ECW Press for providing me with a digital review copy (eARC). These are my honest and unbiased thoughts, and I am sharing them voluntarily.

This was my first time reading Wilmot's work, and I found it a fast-paced, enjoyable read. Haunted house stories can fall into the trap of being a little generic, or beholden to classics of the genre, which Withered manages to avoid. With unique imagery and an interesting rivalry at the centre of the haunting, this novel is one that will almost certainly pull at your heartstrings.

Following the passing of their father, a troubled teen named Ellis is uprooted from their existing life to move to their mother's hometown. A cheap house and a job offer were too much for her to pass up, but upon arriving in Black Stone, Ellis is confronted by the town's seemingly widespread belief that their new home is haunted. As they attempt to find the truth about the rumours, Ellis has to juggle attempts to make progress on their own issues along with their burgeoning feelings for Quinn, a local photographer.

This book is heavy on representation, and for lack of a better word, it's always handled in a 'safe' way. Whether it's Ellis using they/them pronouns, a character's asexuality, or mental health and ED, these aspects of the story are handled tastefully and are not used negatively to add to the horror these characters suffer. There are elements to be wary of if you have triggers, particularly around recovery from an eating disorder and around long term illness & family loss, but these are never used to shock the reader.

The reason that Withered is rounded down to 3* for me, rather than up to 4*, is a focus on romance and an almost YA-style emerging in places throughout the book. These are no less well written, and certainly not a negative observation, but they are generally not to my taste in horror. 

Overall, I thought Withered was a very good novel, with moments that approach real greatness. In particular, I loved some of the imagery around the haunting itself, and the characters involved in an intense battle of wills around it. Wilmot seems to have put a lot of themself into this story, to great effect, and with this book will cement themself as an author to look out for in the future.

A pretty solid horror book here! The atmosphere, setting and plot are really well done and compelling. There's a lot of different representation elements in here too that are awesome. The beginning is a bit slow and some time the plot gets to be a bit too much for the writing and things get a little muddled, but still the story holds your attention. The dialogue also falters a couple times throughout. Still I enjoyed the story and its themes and the questions it raises.

Gosh. I so wanted to like this one, and while I'm thankful to the publisher, author, and Netgalley, this one wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley and to the publishers for giving me this ARC in exchange for honest review!


DNF pretty early on, this isn’t what I was hoping it would be and I just lost interest

I received this book from both NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for a fair review.

A haunted house story with an interesting twist, Withered is a rather heart-moving horror.

The best thing about this novel is the interesting take on the haunted house concept. While I’ve seen and read all variations of hauntings, this one is quite different, and the mystery behind it was compelling; I think it would make a really cool movie. If you like horror that is less about scares and more about the mystery, you will likely enjoy this one.

Though I was reading it at night in the dark, I wasn’t scared of the book. There are some eerie parts, but for the most part it’s more creepy than scary. For people who like horror but don’t like to be that scared, I think this is a good one. For those who want intense horror, it might not reach that level, but I enjoyed it.

The book has a really great concept, and the setting is fully realized and easy to picture. The exciting scenes were well-described. The book also contained one of my favourite tropes. I thought that aspect, tied to the haunting element, was an interesting take and made the motivations behind the haunting make perfect sense, as well as pulling on your heartstrings (that was a joke that you’ll only get if you’ve read the book).

Unfortunately for me, I found the pacing and jumping between points of view took away from the story. While I appreciated the queer elements and Ellis’ journey with their recovery from anorexia, there was too much focus on their relationship with Quinn, so there was less space for horror. While I definitely think it’s important to have characters in horror that are detailed and realistic, I could have done with less dating/interpersonal stuff (I also prefer a romance that builds and culminates in the climax vs characters starting to date right away), and more haunting, as it didn’t feel like Ellis was ever scared in their house, and a lot of the discover of the haunting’s elements came from a third party telling Ellis the backstory.

There were also a few sections where we got the POV of other characters. While I normally love multi-POV, this also affected the scare value, as rather than seeing the haunting through Ellis’ eyes and experiencing it vicariously, we’re seeing it from a few steps back. These multi-POV scenes could have been reduced to maybe one or two (or left them to the end), simply to broaden out the house’s mystery more, which would have left more space for Ellis’ fear or at least curiosity of the house to grow. I suppose I just found a lot of the elements competed rather than complemented one another.

Still, though, it’s a very enjoyable, fun, sometimes emotional, slightly different take on a haunting. If you’re looking for horror with LGBTQ elements at the forefront, this would be a great one.

I had high hopes for the plot based on the premise, but ultimately, the pacing of this book was way too slow for me to hold my interest. I did end up finishing the book, but this left me just wanting a little more--not sure of what, but just "more."

I do think that some readers will really be all over this book! I think it might just be more of a case of right book, wrong reader for me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I would recommend ‘Withered’ for a young adult foray into horror. It’s like ‘Kids on Bikes’ except with ghosts and they’re 18. It was a refreshing take on the haunted house genre, on how we write queer representation, and on how we show eating disorders. It’s not often in media that we find someone in the healing process rather than the ED itself being the monster under the bed.

A.G.A. Wilmont absolutely nailed the characters, but without that fear of the unknown, the horror aspect fell a little flat for me.

An occupied house like no other. I really enjoyed the paranormal aspect of this novel, the way death and grief are explored within this is very clever. The small town setting really suited the story and the sweet romance certainly fit into the small town romance genre. This at times took away from the paranormal aspects and there was more of a psychological undercurrent of weirdness, which I did appreciate.
The main character has an interesting background mental health wise and this gave them a distinct voice. I would say though that on reading I felt it was more YA and the decisions for me did not suit those of an 18 year old.
I think the book is original and would be great on screen. I certainly would recommend trying this for those who like psychological horror.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

‘Withered’ follows 18-year-old Ellis and their mum as they move into a house in a small town. Throughout the book, Ellis gets to know those around them, including…the house itself..?

The representation in this book feels incredibly safe; I'm not sure any other word can quite explain what I mean. The non-binary representation felt authentic and not at all forced, and the same goes for the fat representation. The relationship between the main character and their therapist was spot on, illustrating an incredible example of true acceptance and solid rapport. Not to mention the safe and understanding parental relationship(s).

Despite being a horror book, I felt comfortable and safe while reading it, and I truly hope that others can have the same experience. Thank you to the author for creating this sense of safety in such an intentional way.

I will say at this stage that our main character is in the process of recovery from an eating disorder, which they do reflect upon often. Be gentle with yourself if this could be a trigger for you. As always, be sure to check all content warnings.

Another thing I loved about this book was the authentic dialogue, which genuinely felt like listening to a real conversation.

This book truly played the movie in my head. The suspense, the depth of the story, and the truly horrifying moments had my eyes glued to the page, all leading to a perfectly beautiful and appropriate ending.

If this book sounds like your vibe, I highly recommend giving it a go. I'd particularly recommend it to lovers of queer horror and anyone interested in a non-traditional haunted house story.

Withered by A. G. A. Wilmot is a haunted house story and so much more. Some deeply creepy and scary moments balanced with the just as scary realities of being the new kid in a small town. Ellis, our main character, is fighting with their own demons and ghosts, albeit real world ones like grief and eating disorders. Wilmot takes the supernatural elements of the house and weaves these together skillfully to create an emotional and engaging story.

This is what living in a small town is like. Everybody knows everything, or at least thinks they do and always feels the need to let you know about it. I loved this setting and these characters. It’s obvious a lot of love went into crafting this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for providing me with this ARC.

While I wanted to love Withered, which has beautiful non-binary, queer representation, it fell a bit short for me as a reader. Through a unique haunted house story, the author really explored some heavy themes of grief, disordered eating, mental health, body dysmorphia, and other traumas with care, but ultimately, I was left me a bit bored through some of the multiple perspectives, which I felt I rushed through reading to get back to Ellis’ perspective. I think I would have enjoyed it more without the other perspectives of I’m being honest. This has been a problem for me in other books that use multiple perspectives to share the overarching story, and while it can be done well, it feels like a difficult style to get just right.

I think this book definitely has an audience that will love it. It has a lovely queer romance at its center and is again a very unique take on the haunted house story.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and ECW press for this advanced copy.

“Well, if you were losing your mind, wouldn’t it be better to have a little company?”

“Withered,” by A. G. A. Wilmot

Ellis and her mother move to the town of Black Stone after her father’s death and her struggle with an eating disorder. The town is small and slightly eerie, and she quickly finds out by the locals that their new home is haunted. Ellis meets a girl there, Quinn, who she hopes will become something more than friendship, but she also has reservations about that house. When strange things start happening, Ellis starts to think maybe the town is right.

This book is a good coming-of-age ghost story that has a ton of mental illness, eating disorder, and family trauma that the characters work through. The book wasn’t boring, and I really like the main character, she felt very relatable. The ghost story felt spooky, and I anticipated the scenes. I liked reading it, 3 out of 5 stars.

-Ghosts
-Eating Disorder
-Bullying
-F/F

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

My Rating 4.5/5

A beautiful and tragic horror story with grief, loss, acceptance, love, and more.

Haunted house is one of my all-time favorite horror tropes and Wilmot did it wonderfully. I do wish there were more scenes with the sentient house, but the parts that were included were great. I loved the imagery of Annaliese and her heart strings and the love and resilience that she showed.

I don't come across many queer books where the MC is not only non-binary but also ace and I loved it. Also, the parallels between having an eating disorder and body dysmorphia and being trans was beautifully done. I loved these characters.

Would definitely recommend do my queer paranormal/mystery loving folks out there. I love that cover art too, would buy a physical copy just for that reason alone.

Thank you NetGalley, A.G.A Wilmot, and ECQ Press for the advance copy. This is my honest review.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Horror

Withered is a queer paranormal horror novel that follows a small family of mother and daughter who move to the small town of Black Stone after the death of the father. However, there is a catch with the cheap price they paid to buy the house in that town. All the locals claim that the house is haunted. The family will then have to decide how to deal with all this, whether it is true or just rumors.

A haunted house is one of my favorite horror tropes in the genre, so this was the main thing that attracted me to the story. The nice thing about this horror tale is that it tackles several important themes, like mental illness and all its complexities, grief, and trauma. I appreciate the LGBTQ representation in this book, but I must say that using the pronoun “they” for Ellis (one of the main narrators) was a bit confusing, and it took time for me to get used to it.

The atmospheric setting of the town and its eerie backdrop are the main highlights of Withered. I think the author did a fantastic job in that area. The pacing, though, was slow for my taste compared to other books in the same genre. The multiple POVs were another aspect that I was not a fan of here. I’m not sure if all the POVs were necessary to the plot.

In conclusion, Withered attempted to incorporate heavy themes and LGBTQ elements into the horror and mystery genres. The result is satisfactory, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Thank you, AGA Wilmot and Netgalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for so many reasons. This was my introduction to the author's works, and based on this I will be looking into them further!

This book is delightfully complex, well-written, and has extremely well-rounded characters. On its surface, it is a story of a haunted house that is consuming and collecting the souls of those who reside within its walls. But wait, dive on in and discover just how deep the story goes

The underlying themes of love, grief and guilt really added to the 'haunted house' trope and turned it into something inspiring. The thought of a mother, so overwhelmed with love for her child, refusing Death its due and creating a tie that remained beyond her physical body was so.....inspiring to me, as the mother of a young child. I could not imagine myself in her position and it really resonated with me, how far she was willing to go.

Definitely will be recommending this book!