Came for the gorgeous cover and temperate rainforest setting (I love the PNW), stayed for the crazy mystery. I spent most of the book trying to decide whether I was looking at a supernatural phenomenon or a natural one, and just how much stock I could put in this protagonist’s narration — you’ll have to read to find out for yourself (shhh!). If “Mexican Gothic” or “The Last of Us” were your vibe, or if you want them to be but want just a little spice in those, this will be a hit for you. It’s got medium heat and one of the most interesting mysteries of the year for me, and was unputdownable because I NEEDED those answers!

Thank you so much to netgalley and Metal Blonde Books for sending this one my way!

Thank you for the opportunity

Icould not put this book down. I'm a fantasy/romantasy girlie, so I wasn't sure how this sci-fi thriller was going to go... but it was so cool and exciting. I truly enjoyed it and need more from this author

4 stars

I did not finish this one, but will give 3 stars as I think if I was a little less boring I would have stuck with it. This book was certainly different, I'm sure it will do really well!

I’m not even sure where to begin this review. I didn’t really know what to expect when I started reading Grave Matter but holy wow did it pull me in!

Grave Matter is such a perfect combination of sci-fi, horror/thriller and romance that I don’t even have the words to express how enthralled I was. I’m not big thriller/horror reader but when one grabs my attention and pulls me in, you know it’s gotta be good.

One of the things I loved about this book, besides the constant questions (I actually LOVE a book that keeps me on my toes!), was how the science worked. Even though I knew it wasn’t really real, the stuff you’ll read in this book is mind boggling in the best way! So cool and yet so messed up.

There is so much to unpack and I’m still reeling from what I read in this book but I know it’s going to stick with me and I’ll be thinking about for a very long time.


If you’re debating this book, just jump right in! It’s absolutely worth it!

Grave matter by Karina Halle is described by the author as being a dark Gothic romance psych thriller.

2.75 ⭐ Main character Sydney attends Madrona Lodge, a facility researching mycology to be able to cure disease. Things at Madrona Lodge are not what they seem, and Sydney starts to doubt the people around her, and at times, herself. The author creates a very & creepy atmosphere and describes the fungi in the book in such a gory way that it makes your skin crawl - if I didn't have a fear of fungus before, I definitely do now 😬

Woven into the plot is Sydney's relationship with her professor and psychologist, Kincaid, who on the surface comes across as a brooding, obsessed stalker - their romance goes from 0-100 in a very short space of time and I would have liked a little more of a slow burn personally. I felt it hard to connect to their relationship and it made the FMC feel younger than she was and quite naive.

The ending of the book I did not see coming but unfortunately because of the lack of connection between the main characters, I wasn't as invested as I should have been.

Overall I do think the plot is unique but I think potentially the author may have tried to incorporate too many sub genres and popular tropes and some of it maybe got a little lost along the way. I encourage readers of dark romance & horror to give this one a go!

Thank you to NetGalley & Karina Halle for the opportunity to read & review this book 📚

I really enjoyed this, but I really feel like it fell flat on the romance aspect. It gave Pet Sematary meets The Troop vibes. There were good spicy scenes, but not enough for me. I really thought there would be more. It was pretty twisty, and a trust no one kind of thing, so it was good in that aspect, but other than that, it just fell flat.

Karina Halle is always an excellent time and Grave Matter is no exception! I didn’t realise how much I needed more fungi Horror in my life, but this is truly outstanding. It is such a creepy subgenre and I can’t get enough.

The author has created something incredibly eerie and disturbing, and yet, it is also seriously sexy. The way she writes about kink is delicious; I adored Syd and Wes. Having this dynamic within a horror/psychological thriller that is delightfully dark and leaves you questioning what is real was so well done.

The foreshadowing was absolute perfection: “Don’t trust any of them. They’re all lying to you.” I can’t talk about this without spoilers, but please do yourself a favour and read this phenomenal book.

I saw this cover and recognized the author name so I decided to blindly apply for this ARC. And wow, I am so glad I did. Although to be fair, I don’t think I could have anticipated anything that happened even if I had read the synopsis.

The premise is a young grad student with a trouble past heading to a remote island after being selected to participate in a highly coveted but highly secretive research project. And of course, once she gets to the island, things are not as they seem.

This book was a bit of a slower start for me but after getting about 30% in, I was hooked. I was so on edge and didn’t know what to think or who to trust.

Overall, this book was such a good mix of horror/thriller/sci-fi/dark romance/dark academia.

5/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶️ (spice quality was like a 4 but quantity 1-2)

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this ARC!

This was a creepy, atmospheric read. Perfect for fall. It started off really slow and it took me a long time to get into it, The story doesn’t really take off until about 75% of the way through, but once it does- it speeds towards the end with lots of reveals and twists and turns. Overall I ended up liking it, but definitely wish it was evenly paced throughout.

What a way to end spooky season! 👏🏻 I love horror and dark romance and this was chefs kiss! I love it when you don’t know where a book is going and it just surprises you constantly. It was perfectly fast paced and kept you hooked this was exactly what I needed. The MMC dear lord can she write a good MMC. My only critique is the last 12% of the book but honestly that’s how most horror sci fi books go. Overall loved this and everyone should read it.

Thank you NetGalley for this book’

The twists and turns in this book gave me whiplash (in a good way) and I found myself speeding through the last few chapters to find out what was really going on!!!! I loved the fungi aspects and the dark academia, the tension between the student/teacher and I’m not usually a huge fan of student/teacher but this was done really really well and I was impressed. This book is dark, eerie, twisty and spicy and I think you’re gonna love it too!!!

Thank you, NetGalley for this arc!

Okay, wtf was that???? This book is unique and original. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. I was fully immersed in the foggy gloomy setting of a secluded part of Vancouver Island.
The ending was so fast-paced and answered question after question that I had while reading the first 3/4 of the book.
This is a book you read to scratch a specific vibe you're going for. It's a fun creepy time.

I've been reading Karina Halle since she first started self publishing in 2012-ish. I enjoyed this book and the strange things that happened in the story intrigued me. I wasn't expecting the plot twist toward the end and honestly, I felt like I didn't understand it very well. I understood the premise of what happened but couldn't follow the timeline and the HOW of it. Perhaps that's just my misunderstanding.

It was definitely darker than some of her previous books, but I enjoyed it. I wish it had been longer to fully flesh out what happened after the plot twist.

Grave Matter
By Karina Halle
4 ⭐️

Grave Matter is the epitome of atmospheric. I cannot gush enough about the feel of this book – uber remote wilderness (obtained in a very sketchy way from the nearby indigenous tribe – that is addressed in the storyline *high five to that*) with the whole point of being there to search through the damp underbrush for fungi. I could hear the muck squish under the interns’ boots. I loved it. The story is interesting with bits of paranormal action, sci-fi – when science goes awol without regulations and very questionable morals, romance, “what!?” secrets to be revealed in the precious last 20%, and beyond.

I found it to be a really fun, creepy read. I eyeballed this one and felt it held my attention well. There were parts of the story I wasn’t loving then the ending righted my ship – I can’t say more. I’m only mentioning it to say that if your raising an eyebrow while reading this, keeeeep reading.

Thank you to NetGalley, Karina Halle, and Metal Blonde Books for this eARC.

4.5 ⭐️

I never thought I would fall in love with fungi horror but Grave Matter has me craving more! There is a little spicy with some BDSM elements. It is definitely a slow-burn with the pace starting off slow and a bit confusing, but by the end, everything falls into place with spore-filled clarity! I also appreciate the neurodiversity represented especially the relatability of a female with ADD.

You know how everyone was like “wtf did I just read” in regards to this book? Yeah, completely valid. I did not see the plot twist coming, which is generally unusual for me. I don’t typically go for the “professor/student” love story but this one was done well, and once you get the plot twist, it made sense.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I inhaled it on my flight while traveling. I like reading books from the author, though the sometimes are a hit or miss for me. Thank you for the arc and opportunity to review.

i couldn’t get into this book , and I wanted to DNF at 52% but it’s for my bookclub so I pushed through .

it did not get better. there’s random spice in places there shouldn’t be.

the characters are so immature for their ages.

the plot was supposed to be suspenseful but it was a “gotcha” plot that was put there with no real explanation or motive. I guessed some of the smaller reveals but overall unsatisfying and made me feel icky

3.5-4 Stars.
I have always enjoyed Karina's books and I knew I would like this one too. The great gothic fantasy, horror atmosphere vibes it gave off was great. The story was super interesting and kept my attention from page one. It kinda started off a bit slow but it definitely picked up and just the whole setting of this story was interesting and learning about all these certain types of "mushrooms and fungi" was different. The mysterious characters too played a huge roll in this one. Definitely a book ill remember.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Metal Blonde Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Grave Matter is the first book I have read by this author, Karina Halle. It follows student Sydney Denik who is starting an internship with the prestigious Madrona Foundation who are doing promising Alzheimer’s research using fungi. This research takes place on a foggy, isolated Vancouver Island. The Island and the Foundation are harboring terrible secrets, special mushrooms, and ghosts.

The book got off to a bit of a slow start, and there is a lot of detail and depth written into the story. I loved all of the science and the gothic vibes, and it left me spellbound and glued to the pages as the story progressed and sucked me in. The characters were very well written. Halle not only did a phenomenal job at creating a narrator who knows she can't trust herself, but she also kept so many pieces in play between the other characters and even the setting. The closer I got to the end, the more I was on the edge of my seat. As more and more secrets and truths were revealed, I got so anxious, and I honestly never saw coming!

The author truly has a way with storytelling. I am a huge fan of dark/horror romance, and this book definitely didn't disappoint. This book was a nice mix of all of my favorite genres: horror, mystery, psychological thriller, romance, even a little sci-fi. Very well done!

I highly recommend checking this book out! It is well worth the read and is good candidate for a book club pick or holiday book exchange! Read it, you won't be disappointed!

I really enjoyed this book! It did feel like it dragged a bit from 60% to 80%, but nothing crazy bad. There were some parts that were legitimately creepy. I enjoyed the overall story and the plot twists I did not see coming! I would recommend this to people who like a bit of horror in their dark romance.


Thank you to netgalley and the author for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review