Thank you Camp Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Breathe In, Bleed Out will grab you in the first chapter and won't let go until the very end!
Short chapters, fast paced, great twists!

Hannah's a survivor. She's been struggling for the last year after the traumatic death of her fiance, her mental health is in shambles and her career may end before it even begins after she makes a MAJOR mistake at work. Hannah's friends want to help her and have asked her to attend a wellness retreat with them as an opportunity to reconnect and hopefully move forward. It takes some convincing but she agrees it's time to heal once and for all. Haunted by the fractured memories of losing Ben, the secrets she's been keeping, and desperate for healing, she is committed to putting in the work this weekend to move on. Upon arrival she quickly realizes that this retreat is far from the relaxing, fun, luxury experience she had anticipated.

⚫️Tropes⚫️
🔺️ Isolated/Remote setting
🔺️ Grief
🔺️ Psychological Trauma
🔺️ Mental Illness
🔺️ Slasher
🔺️ Final Girl
🔺️ Whodunit

☆ Final Thoughts ☆
I love when an arc adds to my tbr! I went through and added all Brian McAuley books. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I think it's a must read for Summerween or Halloween. If you're an 80s/90s horror movie lover, look no further for your next slasher read! I loved the little nods I recognized all throughout this book. Modern yet somehow very nostalgic. Definitely will be recommending this on social media and in my spooky book groups and clubs!

#campnetgalley2025

3.75/5

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!


After a harrowing winter trip to the mountains, Hannah walks away with an engagement ring, but no fiancé. A year later, she is dependent on her meds, her psychiatrist, and virtually has isolated herself from all friends and family. When her best friend invites her to a group retreat and won’t take no for an answer, Hannah reluctantly agrees to tag along. But what is meant to be a spiritual fresh start turns into something much more sinister.

BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT by Brian McAuley is a snappy, gruesome slasher that was ultimately very fun! The first chapter has a great hook and immediately lets you know that our main character is quite an unreliable narrator. It makes her and the reader doubt everything she’s seeing, and makes things a lot more tense. McAuley did a great job depicting someone who is dealing with major trauma and grief.

The majority of the book takes place in Joshua Tree and discusses the displacement of the Native people in that area during and after the arrival of the gold rush. I think McAuley did a great job discussing this history without taking me out of the fast-paced plot.

I will say, I did have some issues with a writing choice that ultimately took a lot of suspense out of the reading experience. But ultimately I had a great time with this one and will be reading more from this author!

BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT comes out September 2nd!

As others have already said this book is essentially a slasher movie. The writing itself felt solid and worked with the theme. I give this book three stars because it was not 100 % for me, its a lot of killing without real intent or deliberation and I prefer well fleshed out villains with a master plan. It is good for what it is and if this is your genre would definitely recommend to check it out.

Thanks to netgalley and Poisened Pen Press for providing me with an ARC for this book.

(will submit review end of august)

This was a solid book, it was entertaining and I was invested into figuring out who the “slasher” was. I would not call this a slasher book, yes it had the elements but it read more as a thriller does and I did not have the gory deaths or just the fun of the kills from this book.

5 stars

A perfect blend of humor and horror, Breathe In, Bleed Out was a bloody good time from start to finish. This book hit for me on every level, slashing its way into my favorite reads of the year.

Hannah is doing her internship in emergency medicine while trying to heal from the death of her boyfriend Ben. After a near miss with killing a patient, totally by accident, Hannah accepts her bff Tess’s invitation to a healing retreat in the Joshua Tree desert. Their friends Luna and Jared will also be coming along to support Hannah in her healing journey and to soak in whatever fun the retreat has to offer.

When they arrive at the retreat location, named Avidya, they are greeted by Guru Pax and his assistant Kimi. The accommodations are rustic in the extreme, with each of the four guests being assigned a yurt with a hay-filled mattress on the ground inside. Not quite what the group was expecting. When the friends start getting picked off one by one, Hannah struggles to figure out if the masked miner with the pick-axe is a real killer or a figment of her imagination.

The characters and setting are serious fun. The humor in this book made me laugh out loud and the kills made me squirm. I love the way the story of Hannah and Ben was slowly fed to the reader, little by little. I was so invested in finding out the truth of that snowy weekend. The dynamics of the friend group were relatable, but this story never took itself too seriously. I adore a self-aware, campy slasher.

If you are a fan of the genre, this is a “can’t miss” read. Run, don’t walk to grab this on release day.

I don’t read a lot of thriller/horror., however I enjoyed reading this and was able to do so in one sitting. The pacing of the novel is so good. I had so many theories, and then plot twist!

This book screams Millennial slasher film and I'm into it! In comparison it's like the book version of "Scream" movie where the characters can be a bit over the top and slightly annoying but the kills are fun to watch/read. I was initially interested by the book cover that looked inspired by a old school 1950's horror movie cover. but when I learned the synopsis was a group of friends at an Ayahuasca retreat that slowly get stalked and murdered by a mysterious killer, I knew I needed to have this book.

Hannah is the main character we follow whose dealing with the trauma of losing her fiancé Ben in a previous expedition and throughout the story you are trying to figure out what really happened to him on that mountain. She is very much an unreliable narrator with mostly drugged induced hallucinations that put you on edge the entire story. There was some focus on the other characters but not enough depth was given to anyone's backstory to connect to them. The other characters were mostly used as martyrs for Hannah and for misdirection.

My only downside was the ending reveal that just wasn't my favorite and feels a bit foolish. The book teetered on being slightly serious with dealing with mental illness and past trauma still haunting you but the ending went full silly. I'm new to this author but I really enjoy the writing style of this book and hope he continues with this type of genre in the future. If you are looking for a fast paced and fun slasher this is the book for you.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, Brian McAuley, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a new author to me, and he delivered. What's not to love about a campy slasher? It has the early 90s vibe I love, with just the right amount of blood and gore. I loved the backstory of Hannah and her struggles. Would definitely recommend to those who love 90s and early 2000s horror/slasher films.

4.5 rounded up!

"In the dark of Dead Man's Due,
Waylon Barlow waits for you.
He'll hack you up without a trace,
pick your bones and steal your face."

Hannah hasn't been the same since she returned from the mountains without her fiancé. When her friend Tess invites her to an off-grid spiritual retreat, she sees it as a way to finally let things go. But when it seems like her friends are getting picked off one by one, Hannah has to grapple with if it's all in her head, or if there's really a killer on the loose.

BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT by Brian McAuley is the mother of all things wellness retreat horror!

He sets us up with a strong opening that only strengthens as we're introduced to this rag tag group of friends and a Guru set on taking them on the spiritual journey of their lives.

The characters are raw and real - our main girl Hannah, especially, feels incredibly flawed and human - making it so you can't help but root for (most of) them (lol). And the killer caught me fully by surprise!

This is a slasher, so the kills were gorey and insane and won't have me booking myself into a wellness retreat anytime soon, but the ending earned the biggest fist pump from me.

If you pick this one up, be sure to read the author's note and acknowledgements because Brian's journey to this point makes this book and story feel all the more special!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the early copy for review - out September 2!

This felt like an A24 movie and I loooooved it. While the ending felt a bit rushed, it didn't ruin the overall story for me. This didn't feel like a regular slasher. Can't wait to see what McAuley does next!

4 ⭐️ for Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley.

Now I don't normally read horrors but this was my Camp NetGalley pick and I'm so glad it was. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

Think Scream meets Scooby Doo: a gory slasher, local legends of a vicious ghost, and a good old mystery to boot.

After losing her fiancé on a traumatic wilderness trip, Hannah is desperate to escape the haunting memories and guilt that plague her. She's over reliant on prescribed meds, on the brink of losing her job and her sanity. So, when her friend group scores an invite to a remote, tech-free spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, she reluctantly joins, hoping for a reset.

The healing rituals and desert serenity offer a sense of peace. That is until fellow guests start turning up dead...

As the retreat spirals into chaos and Hannah's grip on reality frays, she must confront the truth about her past and face a relentless killer who’s turning this journey of self-discovery into a fight for survival.

This uses every slasher trope but in a way that really worked. I also appreciated the wit and moments of levity - the Arrested Development reference in particular got a chuckle out of me.

I found the first few chapters slow as it starts but once they were at the retreat I ended up binging the book in one sitting - I was desperate to know what was happening. I did guess the killer quite early on but there were so many red herrings, and twists and turns that by the end of the book I had suspected everyone.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book is available 2nd September.

Other than the ending feeling rushed this was a solid book.

I haven’t read a slasher in so long this did not disappoint. Very Gory and I loved the hidden message of the wellness industry.


Solid read.

Holy Flip! I picked up Breathe In, Bleed Out as part of Camp NetGalley, and I was blown away. This novel is a must-read for horror fans and a true love letter to the slasher genre. Brian McAuley absolutely nails the tone, this book is gory, smart, and incredibly fun. Think Scream meets wellness retreat nightmare.

The story centers around Hannah, a final girl grappling with the grief of losing her fiancé. As part of her healing journey, her therapist recommends she focus on herself, which leads her to reconnect with her friend Tess. Tess invites her to a mysterious no-tech resort so exclusive it has zero online presence—no website, no Instagram. Creepy, right?

What starts as a serene getaway quickly devolves into a tense, bloody spiral. Hannah’s reality becomes increasingly fractured, and readers are left constantly questioning: is this all in her head, or is something sinister truly happening? McAuley masterfully keeps you guessing and the payoff is worth every page.

McAuley fills the cast with slasher staples the douchey jock, his bitchy girlfriend turned to a modern yogi, the offbeat witchy friend, the boy that got away, and of course, the haunted final girl. But he writes them with surprising nuance, making you care who lives and dies. You’ll find yourself rooting for some and begging for the brutal end of others.

He even introduces some fresh archetypes, like Guru Pax and his mysterious native assistant, that add another layer of tension and satire. The red herrings are perfectly placed, and the inner group conflict keeps you on your toes about who the killer could be.

While McAuley pokes fun at wellness culture in a way that’s topical without being heavy-handed. It adds humor and commentary, but the focus stays tight on the mystery and mounting dread. Without spoiling anything, the killer fit perfectly within the world McAuley builds, and is kind of comical how it came to be. It’s both a homage and an evolution of the slasher formula.

And don’t skip the author’s note at the end. It’s a heartfelt touch that reveals how personal this project was for McAuley, and it made me appreciate the story even more.

Should You Read This?

Absolutely. If you love slasher horror, psychological thrillers, or suspenseful reads that don’t take themselves too seriously while still delivering high stakes and bloody tension, this one’s for you. Easily one of my top slasher books of 2025 so far, and it’ll likely stay in my top 10 by the end of the year.

A scathing critique of the modern wellness industry in the guise of a campy slasher romp. So much fun and truly terrifying at times!

At the start of this book, I immediately grew very invested in the fate of Hannah, our protagonist who has been trying to balance her medical internship, her Xanax habit, and her extremely vivid dreams and hallucinations of her dead fiancé, when she’s placed on leave from work. Her compassionate and supportive psychiatrist, suggests that admitting herself into a treatment program might be the best move, but when Hannah hears from an old friend she’s been dodging in her haze of grief, another option presents itself: an exclusive wellness retreat with her old friend group. She accepts the opportunity, hoping for a weekend of yoga, meditation, and rekindling some neglected friendships.

Hidden off of a back road on the site of an abandoned mining camp near Joshua Tree, the isolated and tech-free wellness getaway immediately feels both idyllic and somewhat ominous. Tensions among the friends start to arise as the charismatic and eccentric leader of the retreat urges them to dig deeply into their psyches to address and purge themselves of their deepest traumas. Things take a dark turn during a hallucinogen-fueled spiritual hike when Hannah is certain she’s attacked by the ghost of a miner who died in a tragic accident. The others convince her it was all a hallucination, and with her mental state already tenuous at best, she is inclined to believe them. But it all felt very real…

The novel quickly descends into grisly chaos as the members of the group are picked off one by one by an unknown slasher and Ingrid struggles to delineate realty from delusion as she seeks the truth behind this strange wellness retreat and its idiosyncratic leader. The end of the book came out of nowhere— maybe other readers saw it coming, but I certainly did not and was delighted at the surprise.

Fans of classic slasher movies like Scream and Final Destination should definitely check this book out- I am not typically a horror fan but I very much enjoyed Brian McAuley’s take on the genre!

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to be an early reader of this title, publishing 9/2/25.

This book is so fun and gory. I also liked the deeper meanings as well that were buried a little bit. This is a good slasher for anyone who likes them. I do feel like the ending seemed rushed. The reveal/twist happened and then the book ended very quickly. I still very much enjoyed reading this.

Traumatized by the death of her boyfriend, Hannah is talked into going to a spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, California, which is at the end of the road named for a gold mine with a dubious past.

At first, Hannah really enjoys the retreat, living into her mantra, “Release”. But soon things start to feel strange, and Hannah begins to doubt her sanity—is this just a continuation of the nightmares that have plagued her since Ben’s death or is there something else going on?

We, the readers, know that Hannah’s friends are dying in particularly gruesome ways. But, like Hannah when she realizes what is happening, we can’t seem to pin the killing on anyone: is it Pax, the guru; Kimi, the assistant; the angry Marine? Or even one of her friends?

This is one of those hard to put down books that keeps you guessing until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Very solid entry that should catch the eye on the summer reading horror display in your local bookshop. Despite being overburdended with the persistent trauma based character dynamics infecting most of the horror genre for the last decade, "Breathe In, Bleed Out" has got the traditional formula (friends on a trip) which always works delivered in a unique package (desert guru retreat) that makes for a really fun romp. Add in some great kills and good pacing and you've got a really effective book that goes down smooth, akin to a tight 90 minute slasher. The only real weakness is that there's not much time or attention spent on fleshing out the supporting characters so besides the protagonist, I didn't feel much in terms of stakes. But given the choice between lean and bloated page count, I'd choose lean. I never read e-books, but since this was an ARC from NetGalley, I had no choice, and my highest compliment was that I had no trouble knocking this one out.

PS: The author essay after the book is worth the price of admission. I'll be checking out the rest of his work.

I loved the idea of a slasher at a wellness retreat and this was exactly what I hoped for. It didn't wow me and I didn't straight up LOVE it, but I really enjoyed the time spent and I want to see this movie lol

It's very Nine Perfect Strangers with a serial killer on the loose. It does take a good almost half the novel for the kills to start, which means the second half of the book really super flies. But don't disregard the book just cause the kills start late, it's a well-written witty satire on influencers, wellness, and cults, and the set up is necessary.

Speaking of the writing, I really liked McAuley's voice in this book. It's straight forward but the dialogue is where it really shines. Each character is distinct with their own voices... though some suspension of belief is necessary for how the killer got away with it for so long, after an end-story reveal made it more unbelievable. It's as silly as that scene in I Know What You Did Last Summer when the killer puts a body in Julie's trunk, full of crabs and ice too, and then somehow cleans it all out in minutes before she can return with witnesses. It's that level of silliness at times, but again, I don't mind this in my slashers! So long as it's not too egregious.

Which, the summary compares Breath In, Bleed Out to Scream but I don't think it's quite to that level of wit and satire. It's more like Urban Legends quality (which, I love that movie still, so again don't think I'm saying this book is bad, it's not!).

And can I say just how quickly this book reads? Seriously easy to read and devour. I think it was a total of 2 hours of reading, which I read a little fast so it may be a little longer for others.

If you're looking for a fun summer slasher, this is definitely the book to check out!

I absolutely devoured this book and ended up staying up until 1am to finish it…then proceeded to stay up even later because I was scared. This book kept me checking around me while reading it because the vibes were so eerie the whole time. I never knew which character to trust throughout this, and we had an extremely unreliable narrator (which is one of my favorite things in a book).
This book starts out with us finding out Hannah lost her fiancé Ben and is still struggling to cope with the grief. I chose a crazy time to read this because I lost my fiancé about a week before starting this book so I feel like I can relate so much to what Hannah was going through throughout the book. We find out Hannah is having hallucinations of her dead fiancé, which starts us off with the unreliable narrator because even she’s unsure of what she’s seeing.
Hannah’s friend Tess invites her on a spiritual getaway to “find themselves” and to try and help Hannah heal. The real horror starts when they get there. Slowly Hannah’s friends begin to go missing, but nobody questions it besides Hannah.

This was my top pick for a Summerween read and it was top tier! It had everything I was looking for in the slasher vibe genre and it was an absolutely fun and engaging read. I could not wait to go back to finish this book. My mind was reeling, trying to figure out what or who the villain was and it did not disappoint. I was giddy and excited the entire time reading this book. The author just knew exactly where and how to put every single element together so so well.

You know when you're starting a book and the tone, the pacing, the mood, just everything just clicked right for you? This was it. This was the book for me. I love films like Scream or Urban Legend and was just craving something like those films in book form and this banger of a book hit it right on cue. Just pure entertainment. I know I'm going to be raving about this book over and over again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.