This book is psychological thriller meets supernatural horror. The setting was atmospheric. It was creepy and scary for the first three quarters of the book and I would’ve given that portion 4 ⭐️ rating. The last quarter of the book got wild and crazy but too many unanswered questions so 3 ⭐️ for the remainder. So 3.5 ⭐️ overall. Maybe the unanswered questions was intentional on the author’s part.

This book was outside of my typically genre, but kept me intrigued nonetheless. A suspenseful plot with an almost classic feel, this book flowed well. I would defineilty recommend to those whoa re fans of this genre.

This book sounded so good, and I was so excited to read it! It had a strong start, and I was initially hooked. However, as the book went on, it went in a very weird direction, and I didn't really enjoy where it went. There was so much promise, but the execution fell a little flat.

Mina has been struggling with the grief of the death of her younger brother when she was a kid. Her fiancé, Oscar, encourages her to return to a grief group to help her heal. At the grief group she meets Sam, who lost his daughter. They quickly bond over their shared grief and their curiosity for what the afterlife holds. Sam is a journalist who has been asked to look into a 13-year-old girl, Alice, who claims that she is being haunted by a witch. Sam sees this as the perfect opportunity to bring Mina into the mix, since she is at the end of her schooling for child psychology. Together they go to meet the girl and her family to see if this haunting is real or if she's suffering from a mental condition. While Sam is generally liked by the family and neighbors, Mina is regarded with suspicion and resistance. The longer that Mina and Sam investigate and the more time that Mina spends with Alice leaves Mina with more questions than answers.

Like I said, this book started off really good. I was really into the first half of it and genuinely found moments super creepy. There was actually one scene that literally gave me chills and that never happens! But the farther into the book I went, the more repetitive it became. The "twist" was unexpected, but not in a good way. I didn't like the direction it went and thought it ruined the overall book. I did, however, think the look into folklore and witchcraft was interesting. I wish the author would have dived deeper into it. The characters were hit and miss. Mina was generally okay, but I didn't really feel any sort of character development with her. I really liked Sam, and I wish that we had gotten more of his character and backstory.

Overall, I was left with more questions than answers and finished the book feeling disappointed. My biggest question - why the hell would anyone want to marry Oscar? That dude SUCKED!!

I do want to say that the writing itself was good. Pearce writes really well, and it really did have me gripped right away. The reviews on this one were mixed, but if you like creepy mysteries than this might be the one for you. Be prepared for trigger warnings.

Rating: 2.5 / 5

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I wanted this book to be a hit scarier specially with the great creepy cover that it has but it just wasn’t for me. I’m sure other readers will love it way more than I did!

I had a hard time getting into this book at the beginning, but I really started to enjoy it about halfway through.
Mina comes to a small town due to a suspected haunting of a young girl, Alice, commissioned by a writer, Sam, to determine if Alice is truly haunted or if it's psychological causes at play. While Mina says she came to see Alice, she also is keeping her brother in mind, who died when they were young saving her life.
As events unfold, Mina and Sam both begin to fall into town superstitions and consider that Alice may actually be haunted, especially as the deaths related to Alice begin to stack up. However, Mina has some suspicions about one of the neighbors that may end up putting her in more danger than she suspects.
Once this story picked up, I really could not put it down!
I needed to know what was going on with Alice and how they were going to help her. I loved getting to know more about all the people in the town and trying to determine what was real and what was a trick of the mind. I did see the plot twist coming though, I wish the ending wrapped up a little better, and it was a bit too much of a slow burn for me. I did still enjoy it though and definitely recommend if you like a psychological thriller!
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review

Okay so this was.... fine, I guess.

I really didn't love it. I didn't hate it, either, though. I went into it blind thinking it would be a standard thriller, but it turns out there's a lot of supernatural stuff in there and that is not my jam. I don't like exorcisms and possessions and things of that nature. It for sure had allllll the creepy stuff one could ask for in a good thriller/horror novel, but this is just not the genre for me. I think maybe someone with more of an affinity for this style of thriller could have probably enjoyed it more, but I also see that the overall rating on this book isn't great, so my low rating might not simply be caused by my own personal bias and because this actually was just an "alright" book.

DNF 30% in. I didn't like the way that the story was being told and I discovered that I don't like creepy kids

Something in the Walls is a chilling folk horror novel set in rural Cornwall. Mina Ellis, a grieving child psychologist, investigates a teenager's alleged possession, uncovering dark village secrets. Pearce masterfully intertwines psychological tension with supernatural elements, creating a suspenseful narrative. While the pacing occasionally lags, the atmospheric setting and emotional depth make it a compelling read. Fans of folk horror and psychological thrillers will find this debut novel captivating.

DNF @22%

This wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Maybe that's my fault for not looking more into it. I didn't care about the paranormal aspect of the book and it felt weird and boring at the same time.

I wanted to like it so I kept on reading it. But I couldn’t stand the main character. I felt like she was suppose to be this frail woman but to me it didn’t come out that way. I listened to the audiobook and followed with the e-book. I did like the premise of the story, and it was sad, unsettling. But I saw everything coming together. The very ending though, I wanted that side of her to be out during the last three chapters. But it was an enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley for the e-book.

Thanks to NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Minotaur Books for this free copy of "Something in the Walls."

In this very chilling and unnerving book, is a child in the little British village of Banathel being tortured by witches? Or does the child need psychological help? Or is the haunting being staged by the parents to help generate money to pay their bills?

Fledgling psychologist Mina and journalist Sam get permission to stay with the family to write a series of articles and help the child with counseling.

But the villagers have a long history with witches and centuries-old traditions and they're eager to cast blame and resistant to change

Do you believe in witchcraft? Possession? Mina has come to diagnose teenager Alice with her friend Sam. Both Mina And Sam have lost loved ones and are haunted by their loss. Alice lives in a town that still believes that the girls can become possessed with witches. A haunting tale with murder and destruction.

*spoilers in this review*

This was an interesting and let’s be honest very creepy modern take on satanic panic and the way a town of people can fall into the carefully laid trap of a man to punish the women around him by just the whispered word of witch. Grotesque and sometimes uncomfortable in nature, as it was intended. I do wish the child psych aspect had been a bit more flushed out, but I may be alone in that regard as I am a therapist who works with adolescents so I just find that aspect personally interesting. My skin definitely crawled with this one, and though I saw the twist quite early on, it may have been the point, as my skin crawled with frustration at the idea of this person “getting away with it.”

I am a big fan of possession stories, ever since reading The Exorcist decades ago. This book had some really creepy scenes and set a very ominous tone from the beginning. What is really happening to Alice? Is she really possessed or is it just her family making her this way? Lots of creepy and disturbing scenes in this book and I really tore through it having to know what was going on!

What let me down was the ending. Sadly I felt like we were left with a lot of questions. I normally dont mind ambiguous or open ended conclusions, but there was really no resolution.

3.5 stars rounded to 3!

I had such high hopes for this book because of the premise of the story. This book was SCARY in the best ways but I also found it lacking in other aspects. There is a scene with **something** crawling out of a chimney that made me actually have to put my kindle down.... Thank you to NetGalley for my copy for review!

Just okay - I see a new wave of thrillers coming up that are soooo predictable. This is one of them :(

Something in the Walls is both unsettling and haunting but I also found it a bit frustrating and struggled to connect with both the story and the characters.

Thank you Daisy Pearce, Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

It took me quite a while to get into Something In The Walls. The writing was really good and I really enjoyed the characters. I will admit it got a bit confusing in places, but kept plugging away till it made sense. I still think about the ending, as I'm still slightly unsure what actually happened. All in all a good compelling read, but I wouldn't say a favorite. That said, I'd definitely try Ms. Pearce's future books!

The first like 50% of this book was SO insanely creepy!!!
I was hooked- the pacing was slow+steady but gave an almost constant sense of creeping dread. The pace does change about halfway through and the story goes in a way I was kinda hoping it wouldn't BUT this was still incredibly tense and sososo bingeable. I read this in a single day and had such a great time!!!