John Durgin does a fine job in recreating a dark fantasy fairy tale of Rapunzel, the young maiden who is locked away by an evil witch in order to steal the maiden's youth and vitality via her long hair. Rapunzel here is Kosa, a Croatian word for "hair", and the evil witch a Croatian hag whose appetite for roasted human child rivals that of any ancient cannibal's.

I enjoyed this story, especially once it got going after the initial set up of meeting Kosa's dad and mum. There were many unexpected moments that the book took, particularly as Durgin doesn't mind sacrificing a character or three to further the plot. I learned early on not to get too attached to any one character, because they might not survive to the next chapter.

In fact, this book could easily have been a Hansel and Gretel retelling as that of Rapunzel. Lots of little kids were cooked and eaten by witchy witches.

My thanks to Netgalley, the fine folks at DarkLit Press, and of course the author John Durgin for an arc of this book for a review. I enjoyed it a lot! Props to all, and by the way, my thoughts in this review are entirely my own.

I’ll start off by saying I loved the fact that this book was a Rapunzel retelling. I always appreciate when authors put their own twists on existing stories and I like how John Durgin put his own twist on it! Another thing I appreciated about the book were the multiple perspectives from different families and people as the years went on. This was a part of the book that kept me engaged and wanting to find out more.

Unfortunately, there were parts of this book I didn’t love. I felt the dialogue and the descriptions were a bit stiff. There were so many mentions of “an open floor plan” and “the boy/the girl”, it made the writing feel a little stilted at times. Additionally, as much as I adored Kosa as a character, there were some inconsistencies of her naivety and how it was portrayed - this took me out of the immersion of the story a little.

All in all, I still enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a creepy retelling of Rapunzel! (:

Another amazing read by John Durgin! I absolutely loved this one. It was dark, eerie, and well written. John does an amazing job creating characters that you both feel for and fear. I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone.

This modern day, twisted, retelling of Rapunzel started out so creapy that I couldn't stop thinking, or talking, about it! The descriptions of the the witch, her familiars and rituals were so descriptive and dark. If I was pregnant, I would not have made it very far into this book.... As it was, I just snuggled my babies a little closer while I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a calm spot to pause for the night.

*slight spoiler alert *

The ONLY thing I didn't really like about the book was that Kosa sometimes was confused by modern things (like a walkie talkie or cell phone), but wasn't at all confused about others (like a gun or a car)... I know it would have been annoying, and probably hard to write, to have her be truly innocent of a lot of modern things. Even though as she would have been since she was locked away her whole life. It wasn't enough to make me dislike the book, I just noticed it a couple of times and it took me out of the story for a minute while I told myself to just ignore it!

What do you get when you combine the tale of Rapunzel with a modern twist and pure abject horror? Indie superstar John Durgin’s Kosa might well be the answer. Rapunzel as written by Jonathan Janz with a twist of Josh Malerman, Kosa begins as the story of a father seeking to do right by his pregnant wife, but in the process manages to anger a very old and very dangerous witch.

After a bloody prologue, the story centers on none other but Kosa herself. The “child” of the wicked witch who positions herself as Mother, Kosa exists herself to serve and empower the witch with her long and lustrous hair. When she slowly realizes her mother’s monstrous nature, Kosa is left to struggle with an uncertain future and the ultimate desire for freedom.

“Kosa” is a dark book, but not without shards of light. Durgin is writing with some of his best work, and it’s delightful to see how his style has evolved for the better since his debut. If there is a flaw, it is only that the dialogue can be a touch clunky at times, but his characterization and prose are on point. Durgin writes gore and builds dread with absolute master strokes.

Durgin is well aware of the tropes he’s using and plays them to maximum effect. Kosa is an unsanitized fairy tale, filled with magic and nightmare in equal measure, but makes it darker and grimmer than even Charles Perrault could imagine. The descriptions remain haunting, the characters are completely on point, and Durgin continues to show his promise as a fantastic voice with his inventive, horrifying works.

Something lurks deep in the woods of New Hampshire and children continue to disappear...

This is a mash-up retelling of Rapunzel (Kosa) and a Baba Yaga-esque character (Marta). Kosa has spent her life locked away in the attic under the watchful eyes of Mother and her familiars. A litany of rules guide everything about the secluded life that Kosa leads and she accepts them, until she doesn't. Mother needs Kosa and their nightly rituals to maintain her very existence, and while Kosa doesn't like what they must do to survive she understands that there is a price to pay to keep her mother alive.

Overall I would rate this book a 3.5. The premise and pace is intriguing to keep you invested, however the dialogue and transitions throughout the story oscillate between underdeveloped and rushed, to drawn out and repetitive. I would have loved to have dove into the background of Marta more in the beginning of the story rather than piecemealed through heart to hearts with Kosa, which seemed like a huge juxtaposition with how Marta treats her throughout the story. There were moments that could have been truly horrifying but ultimately ended up feeling more like a YA novel.

I think this could have been a 5 star read for me had there been a bit more character development and the horror had been a bit less formulaic. It was engaging none the less and if someone enjoys dark fairytale retellings, I would say give it a shot.

Thanks NetGalley and DarkLit Press for the advanced copy in exchange for feedback!

Absolutely loved this horror take on Repunzel’s story. The writing style was a little hard to read and it could’ve been shorter.

I like how the author has a note at the end that this book wouldn't exist without Neil Gaiman. Gaiman also finds a way to put magic into the real world, which makes it more scary and exciting. While this is a dark fairy tale adaptation, this book builds on the story and makes it more adult. Fairy tales are dark by nature, and this story actually makes me look at Rapunzel differently, looking for darker motives.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Alan is in a depression of his own making, no job, addicted to painkillers and all the savings spent. With a pregnant wife at home he decides to break in and steal from an old lady in an isolated mansion but all does not go to plan.

Meanwhile Kosa grows up isolated under the rule of her overpowering mother, she becomes curious about the world but mother needs Kosa and will do anything to keep her closeted and hidden away.

A chilling retelling of Rapunzel but make it a deviant twisted fairytale! This is loaded with tension and atmosphere, it is creepy as hell! A dark tale of power, control and a journey into the haunted world of shadows. Go in blind, it travels to places you do not see coming and is totally compelling. John’s writing has such a beautiful flow to it that you are pulled into the story, invested before you realise and soon become lost in the story, wonderful!

While this was an overall good retelling of a dark fairy tale, I had trouble getting through the writing style with choppy sentences. I am also not a huge fan of fairy tales so that's another reason I struggled through this which is a shame as I've enjoyed other work by this author.

I was hooked from the cover, the cover is terrifying and worked well with the story of the book. I enjoyed getting to figure out what was going on and thought the horror elements were perfectly done. It had everything that I was hoping for from the horror genre and that the characters were wonderfully written. John Durgin has a great writing style and I would love to read the next book from John Durgin.

DNF at 17% the writing is really bad and full of errors. Short choppy sentences without a lot of variation. Needs a lot of work before being ready for readers.

This book goes heavy on the dark fairy tale vibes and I did like that about it. It was a bit Hansel and Gretel and a bit of Rapunzel tied up in a dark fairytale. Lots of hair raising, and munching, moments. Kosa is introduced to us in utero and we go from there. While I've enjoyed John's other books they had a slight YA feel, to me at least, where this one seems to be a bit darker and even though many of the POV sections do come from children it seems more my speed. It's hard to explain what I mean by that, again it's more just the feel of it.
Definitely wish we had a bit more of a backstory on our antagonist, but that is the only thing I felt this could have used. Strongly recommend

A skillfully retold fairy tale that will make your blood run cold and haunt your dreams.As a collector of dark fairy tales this ended up being an ideal read for me. I really enjoyed the authors writing style, it flowed well and was very readable. The action was fast but still left time to build some excellent characters. The conclusion of the story was very satisfying but with the possibility (hopefully) of a continuation of the story.
Thankyou to NetGalley and DarkLit Press for providing me with a copy of this novel free of charge. I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Allen Brock has recently been unemployed due to his recent drug addiction his work has been affected and now with no income he used all the money and he and his wife Tabatha‘s Bank account so while driving around their town he sees an old Victorian nestled in the wood line with the only resident being an elderly lady thinking she’s an easy touch he robbed her house and brings the strange loot back to his apartment. His wife finds a glass sphere in the box and put it on top her baby bump in soon goes into labor while Tabatha is recovering from giving birth to the daughter Elizabeth at the hospital Alan goes to see the newborn baby this is when he sees the elderly lady he robs daughter in the infant and newborn area where his new daughter is. He finds it weird and ask the nurses and doctors about it but no one claims to have seen her. When something else strange happens at the hospital he feels the need to come clean to his wife and she isn’t happy about it at all. They’re broke he’s unemployed and they have a newborn baby when Alan finally brings his wife and baby Elizabeth home for the first time he just wants to talk about what he did and how sorry he is and get used to having a new baby before they enter their apartment it’s trashed and someone has broken in. He tries to convince his wife this has something to do with the elderly lady he robbed and at first she doesn’t believe it but when they find a talisman type ornament in the trashed apartment she’s more open to the idea but when baby Elizabeth wakes them up that night they are not prepared for the elderly lady in her black cat to be in their bedroom, but she is. She wants payback for Alan stealing from her home she says he stole something very precious from her and so she is going to teach him how that feels she wants their baby and she gets it! OK I’m going to stop here because this is just the first five chapters of the book and although the story involves Alan and Tabatha they’re only mentioned briefly here and there in the story as a past tense and if you think that is an OMG opening to a story you’re absolutely right! This book was very good! The whole book is an OMG and I can’t believe that tight book and it even continues in the authors note because it when I read it I was like oh I can’t believe that oh that makes sense! I love horror stories and I absolutely loved this one I don’t know what else to say this is a great book if you like horror with the para-normal, witch’s, their familiar, in a very well done plot then you definitely need to read Kosa by John Durgin. I have read his beach body anthology and some other short story anthologys with him and his stories always stand out I learned about him from another author and so this is a good example of why you should always consider recommendations I truly love this book and I’m so glad I read it it was awesome! I want to thank dark lit press and Net Galley for my free ark copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.s

Author John Durgin describes Kosa as a retelling of Rapunzel. This isn't your mother's fairy tale version. It's a brutal,horrific, violent, bloody fairy tale. The way they couldn't be told when we were growing up.
Young Elizabeth is taken from her parents, as a newborn, by a witch who needs the girl in order to live. The girl, now named Kosa, lives with Marta in a huge, run down mansion in the middle of the woods near a small town.
Rather than going into the actual story, just know that this book contains many horrific images and descriptions in telling its story.
It is well written and it's action is non stop. Just when you think you know where it's going it slaps you hard and you end up veering of in a different direction.
If you like classic horror, witches, cannibalism, body horror, creature stories, family loss horror, and childre in peril then you will love this book. Be warned though, all I included and more are in this book.
A damn good read.

Every review I spotted for this one mentioned Rapunzel, but the similarities feel fairly surface-level. Witch. Girl with hair.

I did enjoy the premise of the witch in the woods and her insidious misdeeds. She was grotesque and despicable in every way possible. I like a truly evil character with absolutely no redeeming qualities.

The story moved along nicely and the atmosphere was crafted well. I enjoyed most of my read.

I do think the blurb for the book gives too much away. The first 20% of the book tells a different story that you know the end of because the blurb tells you something else. It felt like too much time invested in something that blurb ruins for you or like the blurb itself would be best if it told a different story.

My other concern is the ending. So many things aren't explained. What part of Kosa's knowledge is true, if any? What was lies? What was the mysteries source of power anyway? Non-endings aren't my favorite though I do understand their place in storytelling.

I'd certainly read more of Durgin's work. He's excellent at bringing wicked monsters to life.

Really enjoyed this retailing of Rapunzel! There were a few areas I would have liked a bit more detail on but overall it was great and by the time I got to the 2nd act couldn't stop reading!

I’ve been trying to break out of my typical genre and explore more. This sounded like a quick and easy horror read. A twisted retelling of Rapunzel, how could I resist. But I am disappointed to say the least. I was unable to get into the book, I was unable to care about the characters, I was unable to be devoured by the darkness the book presented itself. This was not for me and that is okay. Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for allowing me to read this advanced readers copy!

John Durgin does it again 😀 This book was amazing and so hard to put down. It was a great the mix of fairytale and horror.