This book had a great creepy vibe! This is one of the best haunty/witchy books I have read lately. It keeps you guessing what is real or not. The narrator of the audio does a great job too! And the twist totally took me by surprise!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy of this audiobook for review purposes.

This was a quick listen and read, (yes I read it and listened to it) that went by supper quickly. I overall enjoyed this book, and was pretty entertained by it, however I do have a couple of thoughts that my brain has latched on to.

While I did in general enjoy this book, I feel like it was two separate ideas put together. You have the front part of the book, that is this thriller with a journalist and new psychologist trying to figure out if this girl is really seeing this witch/ possessed or if it is a psychiatric disorder. There's this mystery element to it, while also being like deeply emotionally because both the journalist and the Psychologist have a level of wanting the girl to beagle to communicate with the dead. You meet this whole community, quirks and all, and you have a sense of where it's all going. And then you have this almost occult fever dream side/ idea. * SPOILERS AHEAD * this whole town being down for this ritualistic torture, of girls for years, when seemingly it all steams from this one guy who really just comes off a creepy creepy dude who is working towards becoming a serial killer.
The two ideas could really really work together if they were more blended together. They do work in a way now, but they also feel so separate from each other, and leave the reader with so many more questions than answers. Like how and why did all the things in the beginning half of the book happen, like the maple syrup pour down the wall, was that staged? Maybee if there was more answers at the end the two ideas wouldnt feel so separate. Also I had to suspend quite a bit of disbelief to let go and just be like yeah the whole town no questions asked is okay with it all. Like did they think it was just a show? Do they all deeply believe this witch was possessing people, and that it all of a sudden moved from this girl to the psychologist? The two kids that were killed are we supposed to believe the old man killed them? Are we supposed to believe the witch was partially real? Did the family stage some things?
I’m okay with books not wrapping up in a neat little bow, and being left with questions, but I feel as if I have too many questions, and as if I don’t know what way the book was trying to make me lean.

Overall I thought the writing was done really well, and the characters that we got to know felt real. I cared about the characters and what happened to them, I felt sympathy for the journalist and honestly the girl and her family and everything they were going through. It’s always a good thing when I want to continue seeing characters on the page, and there were multiple characters that I kept wanting to recur and got excited about when they did reappear. I am looking forward to more books by this author, and am excited to see where they go next writing wise.

Thank You NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and the author for this eARC and AudioARC.

Wow, what a chillingly claustrophobic and deeply thought-provoking folk thriller! Pearce masterfully crafts an eerie, atmospheric read, bringing the haunting history of Banathel village to life with strikingly vivid detail.

This novel delves into how fear can distort reality, blurring the lines between perception and truth. At its core, it’s a psychological horror with a touch of the supernatural. A child psychologist is faced with a chilling case—a 13-year-old girl convinced she’s being haunted by a witch. How could you not be immediately captivated? An intensely gripping and suspenseful read!

Okay, so aside from thinking, the title doesn't really fit the book(Something in the Chimey doesn't have a good ring, though, so I get it), this book was pretty dang good.

I liked the weird town, I liked our main character(despite her having some majorly bad choices in men), I just liked the entire atmosphere of the book. Grief is such a strange thing, and dare I say, maybe even stronger than love.

Audio Narration Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Story Rating: 3.25/5 ⭐️

Pearce did a great job creating the dark atmosphere and unsettling vibe in Something in the Walls. I listened to the audio format, and the delivery was even toned and engaging, the narrator's voice fitting well with the story.

The setting was described in great detail, and the characters were interesting and well developed. As the story progressed, the suspense was slowly building, and that feeling of unease intensified.

When the conclusion approached, the pacing picked up speed, the imagery descriptive and disturbing. The twist at the end was somewhat satisfying, as there were things left open to interpretation, but I felt that for my total satisfaction, I needed more answers.

Something in the Walls is available now. Give it a try if you enjoy creepy horror fiction, hauntings, and folklore.

______
*Complimentary ALC for review provided by Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.

Genre: Horror Fiction; Psychological Thriller

I really wanted to love Something in the Walls, but I found it hard to stay engaged. The pacing was just too slow, and it felt like the story dragged on without enough payoff. There were moments of intrigue, but they were few and far between, making it difficult to stay invested.

That said, the narrator did a fantastic job. Their performance was the highlight of the experience, bringing emotion and depth to the story. Unfortunately, even great narration couldn’t make up for the sluggish pace.

Overall, it’s not a bad book, but it wasn’t for me. If you enjoy slow-burn stories with lots of buildup, you might like it more than I did.

Do you like questionable choices and communities stuck a century in the past? This is definitely the book for you! Mina is a new child psychologist in a pretty bad relationship who wants to break into the world of psychology and the paranormal. She wants to find proof that will let her believe she may someday communicate with her dead brother. This leads to her making one terrible decision after another. Mina has almost no self-esteem. She lets people drag her around and put her down pretty much constantly. All in the name of trying to get over her guilt over her brother's death. So she stumbles into a possible possession. Then she stays. Mina does seem to grow from her entire experience and makes at least some better decisions as she realizes she is into something much bigger than she imagined.

I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration. The story follows psychologist Mina who meets reporter Sam at a grief support group and he invites her to accompany him to investigate an alleged haunting and other disturbances surrounding a teenage girl, Mina sees it as an excellent opportunity to get some experience under her belt and pad her resume, while Sam follows up on a lead. Neither of them are willing to admit to their ulterior motives, and neither are prepared for what they find in the home of Alice Webber or the village of Banathel itself, for Banathel is a village steeped in superstition where the doorways are decorated with hagstones and the children taunt each other with stories of witch curses. I really enjoyed Something in the Walls. The sinister descriptions of menacing figures glimpsed, heard and felt, but never seen directly, is always the most effective way of providing chills to this reader, and there were a number of well-executed scenes like this. The Webber family read as genuine in a dysfunctional and financially strapped way. The ending was interesting. I also found some behaviors of characters in the book, both in the present timeline and in their own individual pasts, rather baffling and not entirely believable. I would still recommend this one to readers who enjoy folk horror and witches and I will look for more of Pearce's work in the future. It was overall a really good read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audioARC to preview.

Mina gets sucked into a chilling situation of trying to figure out what is wrong with Alice, a teenage girl who has thought to be able to talk to the dead. All the clues Mina thinks that the allegations may be true. But then she starts to find clues. Agains what everyone is telling her Mina continues to search. And in searching Mina finds her self in a life treating situation. But before she gets caught she tells her findings to the only person she can trust.

The year is 1989, and Mina is a newly graduated child psychologist that is offered a job by a reporter that would provide her with experience in a field where many want experts. She finds herself in the town of Banathel, a remote village with a history of superstition and witchcraft. She is there to evaluate Alice Webber, a thirteen-year-old girl that claims to be haunted by a witch. As Mina spends more time in the town and with the Webber family she is witness to many inexplicable occurrences. Due to the towns' superstition, Mina is in a race to figure out what is causing Alice's condition before the residents take the situation into their own hands.

I felt like the story started off a little slow, and I wasn't truly invested in the characters. However, I couldn't put down the book for approximately the last 25% of the book, and I did find the ending satisfying. There were a few instances in the book where I had to remind myself that the story was taking place in 1989 and not present day because I was really judging the some of the characters decisions/actions.

If you enjoy a little paranormal, mystery, and thriller I recommend you pick up the book.

I listened to the audiobook while also reading along. Ana Clements does an excellent job with the narration.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press & Macmillan Audio for the eARC and audiobook. All opinions are my own.

An eerie and atmospheric psychological thriller that blends grief, superstition, and the supernatural. Mina, a young psychologist, takes on the puzzling case of Alice, a girl claiming to be haunted, in a remote village steeped in dark traditions. As Mina digs deeper, the town’s secrets—and her own—begin to unravel. While the premise is intriguing and the slow-burning tension builds well, the story occasionally loses momentum, and some twists feel predictable. Still, the unsettling atmosphere and creeping dread make for a compelling, if not entirely surprising, read.

I received Something in the Walls an audio Arc from Netgalley. Superstitions, traditions, and the old fear of witches among us come together in this novel. Mina, a child psychologist and Sam, a newspaper reporter travel to a smaller town in England to try to help Alice who is being haunted by a witch.

I was anticipating "Something in the Walls" by Daisy Pearce. I received my digital copy right before the release date. While I couldn't dive into the audiobook due to prior commitments, I dedicated an overnight shift to immersing myself in its pages. As someone who rarely ventures into the horror genre, I was intrigued by the overwhelmingly positive ARC reviews and a personal recommendation, leading me to give this book a chance. At first, I was hooked. The suspense was there. The creepy atmosphere was spot on. But and this is a big but, somewhere around the quarter mark, I just…lost interest. It's not that it wasn't scary anymore, because it was. It was like I felt as if I was missing a piece of the puzzle. Like I wasn't getting something everyone else was. I kept reading, hoping it would click, but it never really did. It's frustrating because I really wanted to love this book. I wanted to get what everyone else was seeing. Maybe it's just me, maybe horror isn't my thing, or perhaps this story just didn't connect.
Look, I'm not giving up on Daisy Pearce. I'm willing to try another one of her books in the future. I'm hoping it's just this story that didn't quite land for me. But as for "Something in the Walls," it's a 2.5 out of 5 for me.
I want to give a big thanks to Daisy Pearce, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ARC. As always, my opinions are my own.

Thank you to Daisy Pearce, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this Audio ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was not a fan. I did not like the narrator.

Great book! It had all the fears of growing up. Make a choice. Turn the page or close the book. Enter the darkness if you wish!

I want to thank Macmillan for providing the audiobook copy of this title through NetGalley for an early review. I also preordered the Minotaur Books hardcover edition and had the pleasure of experiencing the novel through assisted reading (listening to the audiobook while following along with the printed book). With that said, let’s dive into my thoughts.
First and foremost: I loved this book! OMG, it was such an incredible read!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from it. Was it horror? Was it a mystery? Was it both? Kind of.
"Something in the Walls" follows Mina, a young psychologist fresh out of college. Through a friend she meets in a grief support group, Mina is presented with a unique professional opportunity to gain experience in her field.
Her friend, Sam, is a reporter intrigued by the case of a young girl who claims to be possessed by a witch. Sam wants Mina to observe the girl's behavior from a clinical standpoint and assess what’s really happening so he can write a note about it for the newspaper.
Mina and Sam then travel to the location and, of course, things don’t go as planned. The two of them soon get drawn into a small town steeped in old traditions and beliefs that challenge their own sanity. And the main question remains: What is really going on with this girl who claims to speak to the death and being possessed by a witch who talks to her through the cracks of the walls?
This book blends both paranormal and psychological horror, blurring the line between the two in a way that leaves you questioning what is magical and what is real. It’s great because this sense of doubt is also planted in the reader, not just in the protagonist, and will keep you wondering until the very last page. The story repeatedly tests our logical thinking and perceptions.
And the ending... just wow. I won’t spoil it, but it’s definitely my kind of ending: about 80% closed, with just enough left open to leave you pondering long after you’ve finished the book.
I look forward to checking out more works by this author soon!
If you enjoy small-town horror stories and witchcraft tales, “Something in the walls” is perfect for you!
TW: There are implications of physical and sexual violence, though they are never explicitly described.

I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery full of strange happenings and even stranger characters. I went into this story thinking it was one genre and finding out it was another. This made me love it even more because it took me by suprise in that way. I stayed invested throughout the plot, as it kept digging deeper into the mystery of what was happening to a young girl in a small, rural town, distant from modern day. I thought the author developed the characters well and really used their personalties well to make the story move along. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, as I was gifted a copy and all opinions and review are my own.

"It turns out she wasn't 'mad' she was just poor."

"We choose how much power we give people over us."

"Desperation makes you inventive."

Dynamic author Daisy Pearce has created a twisty thriller that makes your skin feel creepy crawly all over in her unsettling mass hysteria horror novel, Something In The Woods.

Mina still needs more experience for her child psychology degree and agrees to help journalist Sam investigate 13 year old Alice; whose family and town believe she is either a witch or mad. She seems to know private things both past and future. She hears and sees things that others say are not possible.

As they stay with this family, that is overwhelmed with bills and tension from a town treating Alice as something evil or begging for her to help them talk to their dead relatives, they let their own secrets influence their findings.

Mina and Sam met in a grief program. She's dealing with her brother's death and Sam with his young daughter's passing. Both have secrets over their losses, and, what if, just possibly, Alice is the real deal.

Adding to the ominous atmosphere is voice actress Ana Clements with her staunch English accent and her slow burn cadence building to terrifying fear as truths, centuries old, come to light, and the words, "It's not the dead we should be afraid of, it's the living," have never been more true.

The build up to the reveal is nail biting and the ending was something, maybe not something in the walls, but definitely something shockingly twisty.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio via #NetGalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you you to NetGalley for the advanced audiobook.

This book was creepy and and kept me on the edge of my seat. As for the audiobook, I didn’t care for the narrator.

A 13 year old being haunted by a witch! I was pulled quickly into this at the beginning, the elements of possession and horror. It was a unique blend between a psychological thriller and complete fear!

It did fall a little lackluster towards the end for me, but overall it was an interesting and atmospheric read!

The audio was very well done. The narrator did a great job at adding to the ambiance of the story and really bringing out the horror elements!