This book had me hooked from the very first page. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, another twist would hit—completely shifting my perspective and keeping me on edge. The pacing was spot-on: long enough to develop the plot and explore the characters' backstories, but never dragging. What stood out most was how it blended suspense and mystery with deeper emotional themes, particularly grief and its complex impact. This book really dived into grief and how we each experience it and the people we encounter along that journey. Each character felt fully formed, had their own stories and feelings, and I really enjoyed watching their dynamics unfold.
The ending was satisfying and tied things together nicely, though I would’ve liked an epilogue to glimpse where the characters landed after the dust settled. Overall, this was a gripping, thoughtful read that stayed with me. I’m excited to see how others respond to it once it’s released.

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley is the perfect summer slasher/horror read. I was hooked from the very beginning, captivated and terrified, on the edge of my seat until the very end. The storyline is gritty, intense, and a nonstop adrenaline rush with just the right amount of goriness that pulls you in, and doesn’t let you go. I loved every single page of this campy thriller. A huge thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, the author and NetGalley for the eARC of the book.

The story follows the female protagonist, Hannah who’s been through an awful, traumatic experience. She is in therapy, but is still having a tough time dealing with everything that has transpired. Hannah has pushed every one in her life completely away. However, when she receives an invite from her estranged best friend, Tess to go to an exclusive healing retreat under the guidance of a guru, along with some other friends. She decides to go on with them. The retreat is out in California, in an extremely isolated, middle of nowhere location. Hannah thinks a getaway just might be the actual thing she needs to pull her out of the numb daze that she has been stuck in. But this retreat takes a violent, unexpected turn when people start disappearing and murder ensues. Can Hannah trust herself enough to be able to stay alive?

Breathe In, Bleed Out is a suspenseful, highly atmospheric, fast-paced, classic slasher story with dizzying twist and turns galore. This book read like an old "Block Buster" video movie from the 90’s. I couldn’t get enough of this addictive, nostalgia driven, blood-soaked contemporary horror book. If you’re a fan of movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, Urban Legend etc.., then this is a definite must read book.

4.25 stars

I am OBSESSED with story. The slasher in a wellness retreat gives off the vibes of a campy teen scream slasher and I’m here for it.
At times the pace was a bit on the slower side, but the gory and gruesome kills definitely made up for it! In the beginning I was so interested in Hannah’s backstory that I kinda forgot what was coming for me.

It’s one of those books that you don’t want to put down, and I really recommend it if you’re looking for a fun and twisty slasher!

This slasher novel delivers exactly what you’d hope for. It has gruesome kills, tension, and a healthy dose of camp. It gave me major nostalgic vibes for those classic 80s/90s horror slashers, complete with a remote setting, a shady spiritual retreat, and a killer on the loose. The pacing is solid, and the kills get increasingly creative in true slasher fashion. While Hannah wasn’t my favorite final girl, the ride was undeniably fun, and I appreciated how the story leaned into its genre roots!

Thank you NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the gifted copy.

Leave all your baggage behind and come and take a wellness journey deep in the heart of the California desert… Just kidding, this is a slasher horror novel so you might as well bring all your baggage because it’s not going to let a thing like distance, isolated remoteness or danger stop it from exacting its well plotted plans... A year ago, Hannah’s fiancé died in the frozen wilderness and grief, and guilt, has plagued her ever since. She is haunted by his ghosts and overmedicating herself to get through her days. When her life seems to blow up in her face even more than it already has, she is offered an exclusive wellness retreat for her and her friend group. Desperately hoping to change the trajectory of her life and reconnect with her college friends she reluctantly says yes. The wellness retreat is led by Guru Pax, who seems to mash up cultural spirituality and repackage it as a unique healing journey. Hannah, and other members of her group are skeptical at first, but as they undergo sound baths, yoga and desert hikes in a tech free haven she begins to feel a lightness that wasn’t there before. But her peaceful journey to a better life, veers violently off course when a masked killer starts picking them off one by one. In true Agatha Christie fashion, the reader is tasked with discovering the who and why behind the whole nightmare.
Brian McAulty has created the perfect set up for every slasher movie fan and will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing the outcome with every turn of the page. I loved how he created an ominous atmosphere from the beginning and never let it venture too far from the story. There are hidden agendas, secrets galore and a friendship group that may have a few things they need to deal with. Each of the characters are amazing and scream, “I am a perfect horror movie archetype”. The obnoxious jock, the lovelorn friend, the sassy artistic lesbian, the beauty, the fraud, the indigenous guide and of course, the final girl. In true final girl fashion, she will undergo periods of growth, strength, weakness and a feeling of losing her grip on reality, but her emotional journey is one that you will want to be on. The wellness retreat deep in the desert provides the phone free experience that you need for a slasher to work in this day and age. There will be no phone calls to make that can save them from the evil that is coming for them and no handy google searches to find out the truth. This is a perfect warm up to spooky season book and an excellent choice for the reader who just can’t say goodbye to Michael, Jason, Freddy or Ghostface, no matter how many times the studio tries to make us.

I just finished Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley, and it’s a total blast—if your idea of a good time includes trauma, bloodshed, and a healing retreat that turns into a waking nightmare (mine does).
The story follows a troubled woman still reeling from a traumatic experience, trying to get her life back on track. She heads to a remote wellness retreat with her friends, hoping for some peace and healing—but let’s just say, things get very messy, very fast. What starts as self-care quickly spirals into paranoia, violence, and some seriously unhinged horror-thriller territory.
McAuley nails the balance between real emotional depth and gory fun. It’s sharp, fast-paced, and surprisingly funny in places, without ever making light of the main character’s pain. If you like your thrillers soaked in blood with a side of emotional grit, this one’s absolutely worth the read.

Brian McAuley's Breathe In, Bleed Out is the novel version of a Final Destination film, with a smorgasbord of gruesome but inventive deaths perpetrated by the ghost of a miner who likes to wear the faces of his victims - or are they? This was a quick, fun read.

Thanks to Camp Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Brian for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, I can safely say I am now definitely a fan of Brian McAuley after having never read any of his previous work! Also this is my first slasher novel and I was hooked! I can safely say I will never be Hannah and I will never be attending a healing retreat I will happily stay broken thanks 😂

can def imagine this as a slasher. i was losing my mind at times w the "modern" dialogue... and honestly, i would've chosen crazy loving doctor at the end. that's just me. bc what are we doing now?? getting sued for malpractice?? no, hannah.

This book is pure B-movie energy- in the best way. It’s messy, gory, and totally leans into the chaos. The kills are creative, the pacing picks up fast, and there’s something kind of refreshing about a story that doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not. Sure, the characters are a little much (bordering insufferable), but honestly, that’s part of the fun. It’s self-aware, loud, and weirdly entertaining. If you like slashers with style, this one delivers. I had a blast!

Breathe In, Bleed Out delivers exactly what it promises—blood-soaked mayhem at a “wellness” retreat gone horribly wrong. The setup is fun, the kills are creative, and the premise has a darkly comedic edge that horror fans will appreciate.

That said, while the book definitely kept me entertained, I didn’t feel fully invested in the characters or the emotional stakes. Hannah’s backstory is compelling on paper, but it never fully connected for me amidst the chaos. The retreat setting had potential to be more atmospheric, but at times it felt more like a backdrop than a real, lived-in space.

Overall: a quick, gory read with solid slasher energy but not much that stuck with me afterward.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Hannah is still grieving and struggling with the death of her boyfriend, Ben, and is haunted by his memory. When her friend comes to her with a plan to take her on a retreat in the middle of nowhere in hopes to help Hannah move past her trauma, Hannah reluctantly agrees. It is on this retreat where everything goes wrong. One by one, members of their friend group start to disappear.

Breathe In, Bleed Out is a fast paced thriller with an unreliable narrator and a mix of lovable and extremely annoying characters. I really enjoyed this slasher! I thought Hannah was an excellent unreliable narrator. I could never really tell if something was truly happening or if she was just imagining it. The whole plot gave me subtle Midsommar vibes

I will admit I was a little disappointed in the reveal of who the killer was. I just thought it could have made the story more interesting if the author had gone in a different direction. I felt as though the actual killer was a little cliche.

Huge thank you to NetGalley & Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley is a solid thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish. The story follows a main character who’s dealing with a lot of personal demons while also facing real-life dangers, which makes for a pretty intense read. McAuley does a good job of balancing action and character development. I found myself really caring about the protagonist, even though they definitely had some flaws.

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed about this book is the atmosphere. The writing pulls you into this gritty world that feels real and raw. You can almost feel the tension building throughout the story, especially during the more suspenseful parts. McAuley knows how to make you stay on edge without going overboard.

That being said, some parts of the plot felt kind of predictable. If you’ve read a lot of thrillers or crime novels, some twists might not surprise you. But honestly, I didn’t mind too much because the character development and emotional depth made up for it. The book is more than just a typical thriller—it’s about dealing with guilt, regret, and trying to find a way out of your past, which made it feel a lot more meaningful than just a straight-up action story.

Overall, Breathe In, Bleed Out was a really great story. It’s gripping, emotional, and doesn’t just rely on twists to keep you interested. If you're into slasher stories with a hint of emotional turmoil, I’d definitely recommend it.

3.5 rounded up. Overall, I enjoyed this horror/slasher book by McAuley. The switch between first and third person was effective to keep the POVs separate, although the third person chapters definitely clued readers in to who was going to die next. Also, they felt like a screenplay instead of a novel - as if I was reading the script for how it should be shot on film. That took me out of the moment and made it a little less scary and/or personal. I didn't really care much about the other characters besides Hannah. Still, it was a fun ride that kept me guessing. I read it in one day and am not mad I did. If you like slasher films and don't mind some gore, this one might be for you.

You guys, look. I love horror. Campy, atmospheric, slasher, sci-fi, whatever… I love all of it. This book delivers on the campy slasher horror.

Breathe In, Bleed Out, follows Hannah, a medical intern who has had something terrible happen. The book opens with Hannah dragging her dead fiance through a snowy area, trying to get to civilization and hopefully receive medical help.

We’re abruptly thrown from that scene into the current day and see how Hannah has been post that event. And it’s not good. She’s seemingly isolated herself from her friends, dependent on anti-depressants, kind of in therapy, and trying to lose herself in work. Well, as I’m sure as you can guess, that also quickly falls apart.

Her estranged best friend comes along and invites her, along with her other estranged friends, to an exclusive and secretive health retreat in the middle of nowhere California. And like any good horror, it begins.

Y’all. This book reminded me so much of Scream (funnily, McCauley mentions this in his author’s note). Like. I was so sure that one of the characters was the BBEG, and then I had the rug pulled out from under me time and time again. I legit did not guess who the actual bad guy was until it was revealed. I think this is a genre that is hard to pull off in book form. How do you truly capture that, kind of funny, kind of cringe, horror in text? I think McCauley does a great job pulling off several red herrings that left me reeling.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC, I loved this!

Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley. (Advanced Copy read thru NetGalley)
I wanted to love this book, the idea was good the execution was meh.

One year ago Hannah Reynolds stumbled out of the snowy wilderness onto the road riddled with frostbite and racked with hypothermia. A truck driver found her half-dead and rushed her to the hospital, her fiance Ben wasn't so lucky, his body was never found. Only Hannah emerged from the wilderness and it was only Hannah's story of her trying to drag Ben's body to safety that returned with her. Now haunted by the ghost of his memory Hannah has become a shell of the person she was, overly dependent on Xanax Hannah makes a terrible mistake at her job as a Medical Intern that puts her on leave. After an appointment with her psychiatrist, Dr. James Grady, Hannah is confronted by her best friend Tess Sampson who is determined to get her friend back and persuades her to go on a healing retreat at the exclusive Avidya Healing Retreat. Just a weekend of Hannah, Tess and their friends under the guide of Guru Pax may be the thing Hannah needs to pull her out of her stupor or it maybe the thing that triggers her trauma and pushes her over the edge. As the weekend goes on and more people start to disappear, Hannah starts to question her sanity and the truth of what happened to Ben during their last trip together starts to seep out. Is Hannah responsible for Ben's disappearance, is she behind her friends' vanishing from the retreat, or is there a dark and more sinister thing out there?



Spoilery things mentioned here.

There were several things that kinda took me out of the story such as: a character with an addiction to a prescriptive medication going cold turkey with no side effect; the inclusion of a side character who really didn't add anything to the plot - he was just a FACE to be used; the weekend seemed longer than it should be; I did not care about the 3 of the characters who were killed to care that they died, one I did feel bad for and the last two felt anticlimactic. Dehydration and lack of hygiene felt like they should have been more important topics. Hannah is a Medical Intern which means she graduated medical school and is in her first year of residency but its also been a year since Ben died so the timeline there feels off to me personally. The story line with Mr Fox kinda goes no where.
And this one is gonna sound weird but this book kinda gave the same vibes as the movie Ripper: Letter From Hell (2001) even though they arent the same plot wise or really story wise.

Definitely gave classic slasher horror movie vibes!! This fast pace suspense will turn and twist you in so many ways— I was kinda able to guess who the killer was, but I def can see people not being able to get it (I watch too much Crime series). Very typical slasher movie, BUT who doesn’t enjoy the classics?
*The cover alone pulled me. Highkey gave that old school, drive-ins vibes!!

Our FMC not being able to differentiate reality from imagination had me in such suspense, like pls girl 😭😭😭 That trope always gives me sm anxiety, but also made this much more entertaining.

Overall, this leaves you w/ some questions unanswered— I had a fun time though!! Perfect for this gloomy weather we’ve been having****
Even if the ending did kinda tank for me 📉 with the reveal. I would still watch this if it were converted into a film, def for fans of Scream!!

First I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance. This book reads like it crawled straight out of a VHS tape from a cursed video store—and I mean that in the best way possible.

It’s got all the classic slasher ingredients: an eerie setting, suspicious characters lurking in plain sight, and that delicious tension where everyone feels guilty but you’re still somehow shocked when the mask comes off. Even when I saw the kills coming, it didn’t matter. I was still yelling “DON’T GO IN THERE!” in my head like I was watching a late-night horror marathon.

It delivers exactly what it promises—nostalgic, bloody fun with a modern edge. If you grew up on 90s slashers or just crave that pulpy, popcorn horror feel, this one’s calling your name… probably from inside the house. 🔪

And honestly? Someone give this a film deal. I’ll bring the snacks. You bring the nightlight.

4.5 stars rounded up :)

I love watching slasher movies—even if I sometimes have to peek through my fingers. The jump scares, the adrenaline rush, and the thrill of knowing the masked killer is lurking just behind the unsuspecting victim always keep me glued to the screen.

I enjoyed this slasher-mystery novel for many of the same reasons, there’s plenty of gore, suspense around the killer’s identity, flawed characters, strained relationships, and a remote retreat where people are picked off one by one, reminiscent of And Then There Were None. However, while the book delivered on the classic tropes, it never quite gave me the same heart-pounding reaction as a good horror film. The ending felt a bit far-fetched, and although it was an entertaining one-time read, I doubt I’ll remember the plot a few months from now. Still, it kept me turning the pages and was worth the ride.

Set in a remote, tech-free wellness retreat in Joshua Tree, Breathe In, Bleed Out combines slasher horror with spiritual and emotional themes. The story centers on Hannah, a medical intern dealing with the trauma of her fiancé’s death and a career jeopardized by a drug-related error. Searching for healing, she joins friends at a desert retreat led by mysterious Guru Pax. However, the peaceful atmosphere quickly turns dark as a masked killer begins to eliminate attendees one by one.

Hannah is a deeply flawed, emotionally raw protagonist. Her battle with grief, reliance on medication, and hallucinations make her relatable and compelling. Some secondary characters come across as underdeveloped and clichéd, which could detract from the overall tension. Regardless, the novel is fast-paced and self-aware, capturing the feel of 80s-90s slasher films, with inventive death scenes and nostalgic references.

Ideal for readers who enjoy fast-paced, bloody, and fun horror with a self-aware nod to cult classics such as Scream. Breathe In, Bleed Out captures the slasher aesthetic with memorable kills, a sense of atmospheric isolation, and enough emotional depth to root for the final girl. Although it doesn’t reinvent the genre, it provides the thrills—and sometimes the chills—that horror enthusiasts crave.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars