I literally said WTF at several points throughout the book. It was so tense and I really had no idea where this book was going. I was confused but in a good way, I didn't mind being confused. This book had me on the edge of my seat and I could not put it down. I needed to know where it was going. I really enjoyed it and would rate it 4 stars.

Grave Matter is the perfect Horror Romance for the spooky season. Halle's story is full of gothic scenes, inventive science, and charismatic characters harbouring unnerving secrets. I finished this book on Halloween, and I was sufficiently terrified and intrigued as I raced to turn the pages.
Vancouver Island is a fitting setting for Halle to set her novel. Sydney flies to Canada after receiving her acceptance for a summer work placement at the Madrona Foundation, where they claim to be working on a cure for Alzheimer's using the discovery of Amanito excandesco. The residents are required give in their phones and cut off all access to technology, and must learn to traverse the vast nature around them on this beautiful but spooky island inlet.

The novel's biggest strength is its thrilling plot. Halle is the master of pacing, mystery, and plot twists! I found myself truly shocked as the plot unfolded and I was very impressed how Halle dropped little hints along the way. I could also tell that Halle did a lot of prior research to nail the science-fiction aspects of Grave Matter.

However, the romance didn’t always work for me, especially at the beginning. The relationship between Sydney and her love interest felt quite creepy at times (perhaps fitting for a Horror novel). That said, plot developments further near the end made the romance work a little better for me.

Furthermore, I really enjoyed Sydney's fellow peers and the friendships she makes on the island. Halle creates a memorable and vivid cast of ambitious, brilliant scientists. Although, the reader must try to discern what characters can be trusted, and which ones are hiding bad intentions.

Overall, Grave Matter is masterfully plotted, wonderfully atmospheric, and addictive. I truly enjoyed joining Sydney as she discovers the secrets of the Madrona Foundation.

Shutter Island meets The Last of Us but make it a twisted academic romance.

Not my usual genre (horror/thriller) but kept me engaged and intrigued. The beginning was a bit slow, but the big reveals at the end were great. Hot sexy scenes were a bonus!

I read this book in a matter of days. It wasn't exactly what I like but I enjoyed it. thank you so much netgalley. it was good.

This cover is so beautiful and I went into the book blind. This wasn't completely my type of book. But it wasn't bad. Thank you netgalley.

Thank you for the arc NetGalley.
I loved this book.
Sidney is a student going to do exclusive fungi research on a remote peninsula but things keep getting crazier.
She’s seeing things, getting way too close to her psychologist/professor and the forest is playing tricks on her.
I didn’t figure out the twist, it was shocking. Perfect Halloween read.

Wow, what an incredible read. Karina Halle, I might just be your newest #1 fan. This book is led by Sydney, who embarks on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity interning at the Madrona Foundation and it is not what it seems. The minute this book starts we have Sydeny's friend vanish into thin air after spending the whole flight talking to her, and dare I say it only gets weirder. Turning in all her tech and deserted in an eerie lodge and lab on Vancouver Island, Sydney starts falling down a crazed spiral of hallucinations, but are they really hallucinations? I was constantly questioning what was real versus a lie, and whose dirty secrets were going to spill out next. Dr. Kincaid, Sydeny's teacher and psychiatrist, is the only one who believes her stories, yet has so many secrets of his own. Never in a million years could I have predicted the twists and turns in this book. This was a perfect read for spooky season. Karina truly portrayed mental illness and grief so well through Sydney and crafted such an original and enthralling story. Dark romance, dark academia, science, and a crazy thrilling plot twist! I highly recommend this read. My one note is the use of the word "hella" by Sydeny... that was a massive pet peeve for me, but I got over it pretty quickly! After this insane experience, I will definitely be reading more from Karina!

This book was amazing! I truly was sucked in quickly, and left dizzy from the twists and turns. Wes and Syd's dynamic was 🤌 and I was there for it. I love Karina's s style of writing and am thrilled to have gotten this ARC!

I have only read a few of Karina Halle's works in the past. Some are more hits than others, but this book has definitely been a hit for me. I don't typically read a ton of books that have the element of horror in them (mainly because I don't know where to start in this genre), but the elements of the paranormal and romance all come together to make this a perfectly unnerving and engrossing read. I will definitely be kindly, but aggressively, reminding everyone to add this to their TBR come next spooky season.

It ends stronger than it began, which I appreciate because there's nothing WORSE than a book you're enjoying fizzling out. It was packed with action and puzzle pieces coming together and a very unconventional ending (I'm trying to be vague to not spoil anything ok???). My main complaints are I felt like the author tries really hard to keep us off the trail of the plot twist, which worked for me BTW, but all at times I felt confused like OK WTH IS GOING ON???? But I guess that's just showbiz, baby. Secondly, the NDAs being singed was a huge focus of the plot and why the characters couldn't seek help, but NDAs don't count when it comes to illegal activity???

Overall, this book was crazy in a fun and unsettling way and I'm super thankful to NetGalley for letting me read a copy. Kind of wished there would be another book, but I will definitely read whatever Karina puts out in this genre in the future.

Ok I didn’t LOVE this book but I didn’t hate it either. This was a dark academia, paranormal, sci-fi romance. Right off the bat I found the story quite slow and hard to get into. Nothing was really drawing me in. I found I also wasn’t super invested in Syndey and Wes’ ?relationship either. It was just lacking something where it seemed like it was just a few sex scenes throughout most of the book but I wanted more depth to it. I did however absolutely love the last 25% of the book. It was hard to put down, tied everything together and explained everyone’s strange behaviours. Even just writing this now I’m sitting back thinking of scenes I forgot about and realized “ohhhh, so that’s why he was acting like that!”. I love when the puzzle pieces come together like that. It was an interesting concept but the pacing was just a bit off for me and ended up taking me longer than usual to get through because I just didn’t feel quite invested enough.

This book also reminded me very much of another book I just finished not long ago, Nocticadia. Very similar concepts!

Going in, I thought it was going
to be dark and twisted, it was, but
it was so much more. Loved the
isolation & gothicness of it all. It
definitely threw me off, I wasn't
expecting all the things that ended up unraveling. The chemistry between
Wes and Syd was undeniable. I know
it's a standalone, but I would love to
see these characters again, especially
after that ending.
Loved every second of it.

This kind of felt like Pen Pal to me in a way, that’s all I’m going to say without giving out any spoilers. However, this book was slowwwww & took forever to figure out what the hell was actually going on. The beginning was interesting & drew me in, but then it slowed down & became a bit dull. All the crazy & weird stuff going on, felt a bit far fetched & odd. Even after the twist was revealed it still felt out of place, I mean it did answer a few questions I had but in the end I just feel like this story could have been executed so much better than it was. This unique story had such potential but it was a bit of a let down. I’m glad I didn’t end up DNF’ing this book so I could find out what the hell was really going on, but this was still such an underwhelming story.

I would say give this one a shot because it could be for you, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. This was a very Sci-Fi forward horror/thriller(?) with smut, spice & a bit of romance thrown in.

Absolutely LOVED!

This is everything I look for in a book! It has spice, horror, mystery, seclusion, spice, mushrooms, ghosts, secret labs, undead animals, spice, and a whole lot of holy $#!! what was that all about?!?!

I’d like to start by saying this is the first Karina Halle book I’ve ever read, and I’m actually astonished with myself that it’s taken this long to pick up any of her work.

Grave Matter is dark, suspenseful, unsettlingly mysterious and will have you questioning your own sanity throughout. There were so many spine chilling moments in this, the psychological thriller elements were done perfectly and I throughly had the heebie jeebies.

We meet Sydney denik, an aspiring mycologist who (unfortunately) just lost her scholarship at Stanford due to an incident that spiralled completely out of her control. She’s given a second opportunity to put things right for herself when she’s invited to Vancouver island to join the Madrona foundation. A foundation that is dedicated to curing terminal illnesses through fungai testing that they’ve got access to, thanks to leasing indigenous land.

All Sydney wants to do is commit herself to research, she’s captivated by her interactions with Dr Everly, yet at the same time she becomes enamoured with another person. Dr Kincaid, a mysterious psychologist professor that she starts to feel some magnetic pull towards with no reasoning as to why.

Oh and not only is this place very secluded there’s no contact to the outside world. No phone or internet access. Just students and signing NDAs and a whole lot of questionably weird stuff going on….

This honestly gave me Shutter Island vibes and I loved that it made me think of something movie like. The execution of the twists reaaallly got me in this one, I’m usually really good at sussing them out, or at least feeling like the answers almost within my grasp - but I kept second guessing myself in this read and I looooved that.

This read kept me on edge from start to finish, and it’s the perfect book for spooky season..

This was so good!! Psychological horror, very spicy scenes, and lots of fungi puns. Really enjoyed this and got genuinely creeped out. I did not anticipate the ending plot twist at all. Such a fantastic spooky read.

Do you care to do a little experiment with me?

I'll start with saying, read this book, it is amazing. The setting (foggy PNW with a spooky forest) was just perfect. The information about fungi is just whimsical. The creepy animals really freaked me out at times. I actually enjoyed those parts of the story. The spice was great (3/5). The romance was okay, but I feel the plot definitely overtook the romance.

I don’t trust her. I don’t trust my mind. I don’t trust this place.

I've been back and forth on the rating on this book all day since I finished it. I decided on a 4.5, because that's my personal rating. I do feel like it should be a 5 star read to many others.

4🌟

I should note that this is not my usual genre, so that may color my review. I do try to go outside of my comfort zone every once in awhile, and since this is a gothic horror/romance, I figured that 2 of those things intrigued me enough to give this book a chance.

Right off the bat, I did not like the romance very much to start. But it redeemed itself eventually - still not really my cup of tea but also not what I thought it was going to be and I loved being surprised.

The horror aspect was excellent and SO very well done. The isolating locale, the growing paranoia and dread, the lies tied up in other lies. And the fungus! The body horror! The things that lurk in the forest! Ghosts, apparitions, things that go bump in the night - this book really had it all. I ended up being so impressed by the story and where it went, I really was not expecting the ending at all.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book!!

Grave Matter is a gripping exploration of ambition, madness, and the unknown, anchored by the compelling journey of its protagonist, Sydney Denik. As an aspiring mycologist, Sydney's quest for knowledge leads her to the Madrona Foundation, where the promise of groundbreaking Alzheimer’s research beckons her away from her troubled past. However, this prestigious opportunity comes with dark undertones that transform her academic aspirations into a chilling battle for survival.
From the moment Sydney arrives at the isolated lodge on Vancouver Island, the atmosphere is thick with suspense and mystery. Halle skillfully crafts an eerie setting that is almost a character in itself, with the fog-shrouded landscape and the weighty silence of the forest creating a sense of foreboding. It draws you into this haunting world, where the line between reality and the supernatural blurs.
One of the standout elements of this book is its exploration of the themes of sanity and perception. As Sydney grows increasingly aware of the strangeness around her—disappearances, ghostly occurrences, and bizarre events—it becomes a question of whether she is losing her mind or if something sinister is indeed afoot. Halle expertly navigates this psychological labyrinth.
Halle masterfully balances the horror elements with psychological intrigue, weaving in aspects of body horror that resonate deeply, especially with her protagonist's field of mycology. The combination of the academic setting with supernatural elements makes for a unique and compelling narrative that continuously surprises.
Overall, this book is a haunting and atmospheric tale that artfully blends horror with psychological depth. Sydney Denik's journey is one of self-discovery, courage, and the relentless pursuit of truth. This is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and dark contemporary fiction.

First and foremost thank you to NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for sending me this for free! I honestly really liked it. It’s not my usual style, it was very scientific, and then ending had me like “wwwhhhhaaaaaat” but I loved it. Something about Sydney and Wes and their little love story and the creepiness of the setting really was perfect. Such a good Halloween read! I would recommend this to lovers of dark romance, and those who like a little thriller with their romance!

This shiitake was AMAZING!

This had that eerie, creepy, what the hell is going on type vive the whole way with an explosive ending. The spice was spicy and the mystery was compelling. It did not go the way I thought it did. Also, my son has ADHD and many lines and thoughts Sydney had made me think about exactly how he gets too. It's just nice to know someone out there understands him and goes through the same things sometimes.

I also now want to sail through Vancouver so thanks for that add to my bucket list.

I received a complimentary copy via NetGalley however my thoughts are my own and I'm about to go out and by all the editions of this.