What a creepy ride! Child psychologist, Mina is haunted by the death of her brother and readying herself to marry a cold a scientist when she meets Sam, a newspaper reporter who convinces her to help him investigate a young teen with nightmarish problems that might just mean she’s possessed by a witch.

Loved the atmospheric setting, the lyrical language and the horror vibes that gave me goosebumps. The only reason I didn’t give this 5 stars is it got a bit muddled toward the end and left me still feeling a bit confused.

The audiobook narrator also did a fantastic job and nailed the different character voices.

I’d definitely like to check out this author’s other books!

This book offers a refreshingly unique and completely engrossing reading experience. From start to finish, the plot is drenched in thick, foreboding tension that pulls you in and never lets go. The atmosphere is deeply unsettling, creating a sense of unease and paranoia that lingers throughout the story. I found myself on edge, always wondering what would happen next.

While the sense of discomfort and suspense was incredibly effective, I did find several aspects of the plot to be a bit far-fetched. The witchy, horror-laced storyline was intriguing, but the execution didn’t always hit the mark for me. For example, the child psychologist felt more like a detective than a doctor, which broke the immersion for me and made it harder to fully connect with the plot. Though the writing and atmosphere were absolutely captivating, the story itself didn’t fully resonate, as too many elements seemed implausible or didn’t add up.

I definitely appreciated the book for its distinctiveness and the psychological horror elements, but I struggled to connect with the characters and overall storyline as much as other reviewers seem to have.

If you're looking for something completely different, though, and enjoy witchy tales with a hint of horror, this could be the perfect choice. While I might be in the minority with my opinions, I’d definitely encourage you to give it a try and see how it resonates with you!

Thank you Macmillan Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Summary: A novice child psychologist, Mina, takes on the mysterious case of a girl haunted by a supposed witch in a superstitious village, uncovering dark secrets that test her beliefs and resolve.

My review: Something in the Walls is a folk horror novel that weaves superstition and psychological suspense into a chilling tale. While the story kept me on edge and curious throughout, I found it difficult to fully connect with the characters, which lessened the emotional impact for me. Some of the plot points felt implausible. As someone who doesn’t typically read horror, I appreciated the eerie and unsettling atmosphere, it was intriguing.

Genres/Themes: Fiction / Thrillers - Psychological / Horror / Thrillers - Supernatural

[Title] is scheduled for publication on Feb 25 2025, by Macmillan Audio.

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce is a mystery set in the 1980s. There are gothic elements threaded throughout the novel, including the sense of unease, ghostly hauntings, witchcraft, psychological trauma, and folk horror. The novel follows Mina, a child psychologist, who agrees to work with a journalist in interviewing a teenager who some believe to be a medium or witch in a small village. Mina takes the case because she has an interest in the paranormal ever since the death of her younger brother during her childhood. The novel borrows elements from A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul G. Tremblay and the much-written case about the Enfield Poltergeist.

I struggled to get past the first couple of pages in this one. Then I requested the audio and I finished this book in two days time. Narrator did a fantastic job with this one really delivering the eerie vibes throughout.

This was a really great book for the most part! I was fully immersed in the strange happenings. Is Alice possessed/ haunted or does she have a mental illness? This book was creepy and very unsettling. The building dread kept escalating until it stalled. I feel like most of this book had you believing it would lead to one answer and then jumped streams 3/4 of the way through to end up in the other side of the river. It was kind of jolting in terms of piecing things together. I won’t say it was confusing but unexpected and a tad disappointing. It also left for quite a few unanswered questions.

My biggest complaint in the relationship between the MC Mina and her fiancé who wasn’t actually present with her for the majority of the book. Their relationship was brought up several times throughout and I feel it did absolutely nothing for the story itself. Besides that, and the sudden shift in the storyline, I fully enjoyed the folk horror small town cult-y vibes this one was giving. I can appreciate an ending that is open for interpretation and this surely had that.

What to expect ⬇️
🕯️Seances
🐝 Loss of a loved one
🕯️ Witch/ folklore history
🐝 Wasps!
🕯️ Small town
🐝 Mass hysteria
🕯️ Possession/ superstition/ rituals

I Kinda understand the rating being pretty low before release now. I just refuse to do it to myself this year. DNF @80%

╰┈➤ˎˊ˗ Unbearably tense, utterly propulsive, and studded with folklore and horror, Something in the Walls is perfect for anyone who loves Midsommar and The Haunting of Hill House.

🡹🡹 But where? Where was this unbearably tense and utterly propulsive story?? Is it in the room?🡹🤡



We follow our FMC, Mina, a newly certified child psychologist as she takes on a peculiar case of a thirteen-year-old girl who claims to be haunted by a witch.

In an effort to be totally fair - I had the audio arc. You ever have a narrator ruin a book for you? This one was narrated by Ana Clements and she did this very proper, very soft, very annoying shit the whole time.

Sigh.

It threw me off for the entire 80% I read. But lemme not just pile this all on the narrator. Make no mistake I really couldn't get into the story either. Maybe I just can't take 'demon possession' and whatever seriously. For context, the last 'demon possession' book I read, I thought it was dark humor.

I think if this is your typical genre you might enjoy it much more than I so I do recommend. If it's not normally your cup of tea, but you're curious? Maybe borrow from the library or see if it goes on KU first.

Expected Release Date - 02/25/25
Narrated by - Ana Clements

🕷️Atmospheric
🕸️Slow Burn Mystery/Horror
🕷️1980's Setting
🕸️Unreliable Narrator
🕷️Psychological Horror
🕸️Supernatural
🕷️Modern Day Witch Hunt
🕸️Folklore Horror

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (Love you besties!) for the complementary advanced audio copy - all thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Something In The Walls
Daisy Pearce 
4 / 5

Superstition abounds in this mashup of A Headful of Ghosts, The Noonday Witch, Midsommer and Pinata, I had a great time with this folk horror possession story. 

Creepy and thick with mystery, you'll think you know where things are headed before the rug is cleverly pulled. 
I'll be recommending. 

4 / 5

Macmillan Audio ALC
If you're looking for something creepy, this book is *chef's kiss.* It's eerie, unsettling, and frustrating at times - in the best ways. I liked how the uncertainty of is it a haunting or not is played with in the story. Alice started seeing a witch through her walls, and Mina came to debunk her claims but so much more happens here. This is a perfect haunting story that I don't want to tell too many details about because you should go in and let it surprise you.
Ana Clements gave a stellar performance. I could hear the hesitation in Mina's character throughout the story, which added so well to the tension. It was perfect for a horror story.

This book follows a recently graduated child psychologist named Mina who is still grieving the loss of her brother and having second thoughts about her engagement to her fiancé. Mina meets a journalist named Sam at a bereavement group where he proposes that she come with him to help solve a case involving a witch haunting. She agrees to help against her fiancé's wishes and joins Sam. Throughout their investigation, the reader is left unsure of whether or not this is a true haunting or if there is an alternate explanation.

I thought the characters were really well done in this book and I liked Mina a lot. The ending was exciting and the whole book kept me engaged throughout.

This was an extremely atmospheric and unnerving read that has you second guessing what you're reading and what you believe. This book satisfied my craving for a spooky, haunting read and I ended up binge-listening to it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me access to this audiobook. The narrator, Ana Clements, did a fantastic job with this story.

TW: mental illness, death, grief, child death

Something in the Walls is an atmospheric, slow burn mystery/horror book about a young psychologist who investigates the case of a teenage girl who is claimed to be haunted by a witch. Mina is a recent graduate, engaged to an aloof educated man, and still mourning the death of her younger brother from several years prior. In a grief support group, she meets Sam, a journalist who is mourning the loss of his younger daughter. Both feel responsible for their losses, and it propels them to try to help Alice, a girl who lives in a small town and has been “cursed” since she broke the witches’ bottle at an abandoned house.

We’re not entirely sure what is happening and why. Is Alice actually haunted, is she suffering from a mental disorder, is the town suffering mass hysteria? Mina and Sam are invited to stay with Alice’s family amid a terrible heat wave in the late 1980s. Strange things keep occurring and we’re not sure why. The writing and atmosphere are so creepy. This was not a book I enjoyed reading late at night! The story is a little repetitive and slow for the first 2/3, but really picks up at the end. Though I had a suspicion as to what was happening, the last quarter of the book took me by surprise. There is so much action, and by the end, you’re wondering if Mina is even a reliable narrator. I listened to the audiobook, which was perfectly narrated by Ana Clements.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for providing this ebook and audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

Very Strange Indeed…

Mina is a newly graduated Psychology major, specializing in children…but she has little experience…

She is preparing for her upcoming wedding to Oscar, who is very precise and measured….

She meets Sam at a grievance group (she lost her brother several years ago…) and he invites her to meet Alice…who everyone in her town believes is being HAUNTED by a witch.

Mina is on a mission to help Alice and set everyone in the town straight.

BUT, when she gets there she begins to realize that the whole town seems to be just a bit off…???….

And it seems the more she tries to help Alice, the further away she is being pushed….

Oh…and did I mention the CREEPY VIBES from many of the townsfolk?
As well as their trust in people…God only knows why??

Strange, but intriguing. Scary and horrifying at times! And just a bit ‘cult-ish’!

#SomethingInTheWalls by #DaisyPearce and narrated nicely by #AnnaClements.

3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me, rounded up to 4!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook ***** which is DUE TO BE RELEASED ON 2/25/25, so look 👀 for it then!! *****

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Overall this book was good! it caught my attention from the start and I liked that it harkened back to the with trials and how they "tested" to see if someone was a witch. I am disappointed in that I guessed who it was at the very start of the story and I could guess how the story was going to go. There were some parts I was surprised by and was not at all thinking would happen. Absolutely worth the listen and I am so glad i did! The narrator was fantastic and brought this story to life. The tension, the myth, the folklore, all of it was well done!

I requested this book when I was feeling brave and well it turns out I am in fact not very brave! 😂 This was my first book by Daisy Pearce and this did not disappoint! I highly recommend this one if you are a horror reader and if you liked The Haunting of Hill House you will love this one! This is a modern horror title with a good amount of folklore mixed in and the ending is SO GOOD!!! The characters are great and the story line will leave you in suspense but wanting more! The narrator does an excellent job and is very enjoyable to listen to.🎧

Daisy Pearce’s Something in the Walls is a masterful blend of psychological tension, folklore, and horror that grips you from the very first chapter. Following Mina’s journey into the eerie village of Banathel and the haunting mystery surrounding young Alice Webber, the story weaves a chilling atmosphere of superstition, paranoia, and buried secrets.

Ana Clements’ narration is exceptional, bringing the characters to life and heightening the unbearable tension that permeates every scene. This audiobook is a spine-tingling masterpiece that will keep you on edge until its shocking conclusion.

Something sinister is brewing in Banathal; a small village in Britain with a history of superstition and witchcraft. Inexperienced child psychologist, Mina, takes her first job to help a 13-year old girl supposedly haunted by a witch living within her walls. Soon, Mina’s past-filled trauma bubbles up to the surface, making it more intense to support Alice. Secrets of the town start to become uncovered, such as how they deal with the evil that lurks among them, until Mina is in too deep herself.

This book is creepy with supernatural thrilling elements. The ending was not what I expected, in a good way. I enjoyed Daisy Pearce’s writing and ability to build suspense throughout the book.

I enjoyed the narrator of the audio version. The graphic noises added to the suspense and mystery of the book. Great job!!

I was instantly hooked by the cover of this book. It seemed so spooky and foreboding, which gave me intense thriller vibes. I'd say, after listening to this audiobook though, it definitely falls more into the horror category. Pearce's new novel secretes a creepiness tied to witches and ghosts, ping-ponging back and forth between the two in a way that felt a little scattered. I found this little book just a little too odd and slightly disturbing towards the middle and end, however the very last chapter really surprised me in a good way and I felt the author wrapped up the story nicely.

Mina is a young recent college graduate and young child psychologist. While trying to navigate her younger brother's death six years earlier she mees Sam in a group therapy session. Sam recruits Mina to take on the case of Alice, a young girl in who seems to be plagued by some sort of demonic activity. As Mina gets to know Alice and the people in her life, she senses an uneasiness to the town as a whole. Why is everyone hanging up stones to ward off evil spirits? And what kinds of ceremonies are the townspeople participating in? The deeper Mina gets, the more suspicious she becomes. And someone...or something is trying to stop her from uncovering the truth.

BOOK REVIEW: SOMETHING IN THE WALLS

Mina is beginning her career as a child psychologist and travels to a remote village to see if she can help Alice Webber, a thirteen year old girl who has been exhibiting some disturbing behavior and claiming it’s due to a witch haunting her. As Mina tries to determine whether there’s something supernatural going on, she realizes how much the village is wrapped up in superstitious beliefs.

So I went into this book one not knowing it was a horror book 🤣😅 but I thoroughly enjoyed it! SOMETHING IN THE WALLS was super eerie and made me feel uneasy and tense the whole time I was reading it. I really couldn’t figure out exactly which direction things were going in and I was along for the ride! I alternated between physical and audio and binged this one in two days. Loved the writing and the witchy vibes, it reminded me a bit of the Salem Witch Trials a bit which I find fascinating.

I will say this one is not for the faint of heart and was pretty disturbing, so consider yourself warned!

Daisy Pearce's 2025 horror novel immediately hooked me in with this gorgeous cover, but I also was super intrigued by the book's synopsis. SOMETHING IN THE WALLS is being called The Shining meets Midsommar, so I just knew that I needed to prioritize this one! I chose to read the book physically, but I also alternated via audiobook, and I think both options were a full five-star experience for me!

Mina, a newly established child psychologist with little experience, spends her days preparing for her marriage to researcher Oscar while attending a local bereavement group to mourn her late brother. Her routine shifts when she meets journalist Sam Hunter, who proposes she help investigate the case of Alice Webber, a thirteen-year-old girl in the remote village of Banathel claiming to be haunted by a witch. What starts as a promising opportunity turns darker as Alice’s behavior grows more disturbing, and the superstitious town reveals its unsettling beliefs about confronting evil.

SOMETHING IN THE WALLS is a witchy good time, with a town full of secrets! If you liked Camilla Sten's The Lost Village, Midsommar, or Silent Hill (video game or movie), then SOMETHING IN THE WALLS will be right up your alley. This book was incredibly spooky and creepy, which will entertain even the most stubborn thriller or horror reader. I really enjoyed my journey with this book and I think if you go into the book not expecting to be tricked, you'll have more fun with it. I noticed that I kept being sidetracked and having to continue reading this book because I just needed to know what happened! This book will be a staple in my favorite 2025 releases for sure!

Set in the late 1980s, Something in the Walls follows a recently minted child psychologist Mina Ellis who meets Sam Hunter, a journalist, in a bereavement group which she attends to cope with the sudden and tragic death of her brother, Eddie, a few years ago. As she and Sam get acquainted, he tells her about Banathel and a teenage girl called Alice Webber who has been experiencing some strange symptoms. He has a proposition for her; Sam wants Mina to asses Alice and Mina agrees to it and travels to the remote village. That's when her life unravels.

At first glance, this story is unlike any other with witches, possession and exorcism. When I was reading it, it was like watching one of those classic horror films I remember loving a lot in my childhood. It was creepy, intense, and emotional from time to time. But the twist in its last act? That made this book an instant favourite in my eyes. I was literally sobbing my eyes out in the last seven to five chapters.

At its heart, this book is an intimate exploration of grief and guilt. It exposes us to the darker side of superstition and how sensitised we become, sometimes because of constant conditioning by the society. The writing style was fabulous, something gritty and sometimes downright ethereal. As someone who doesn't like first-person narratives much, this book made me like even that. And Mina. Ah, what can I even say about the protagonist? She's so relatable and you can connect with her deeply. Not just her, but the secondary characters like Alice, Lisa Webber, Fern and others are just as impactful.

This book is perfect for somebody who is into witches, female rage, 'good for her' type of stories and stories which are both meaningful and thrilling. Since the book contains some heavy themes, check out the content and trigger warnings before picking it up. The audiobook is a treat unto its own; I loved the cadence of the narrator and the nuances that she used to make the story come alive. Her voice and the little sound effects elevated this audiobook to another level. Will definitely check out more from this narrator!

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio-ARC.

I wanted to like this book about Mina, a newly minted child psychologist, who still mourns her brother’s death from years ago, as she takes on a case of Alice, a teenage girl who claims a witch is haunting her. However, I found it confusing and unengaging. I would have placed it on my "wanted to like, but..." and "did not finish" shelves, but was compelled to read it through for purposes of reviewing this ARC.

This may be for some, but just didn't work for me.