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.

4.25 Stars
I love slashers and Breathe In, Bleed Out did not disappoint! The second you read the first line, you just know it’s going to be a bloody fun time. Add in the remote wellness retreat with a sketchy leader and I was sold.

I devoured this. It gives off Scream vibes - which is always a plus - and kept me on the edge of my seat.
Hannah is the type of main character you can’t help but root for. She’s plagued by hallucinations of her dead fiancé and reluctantly agrees to the retreat with hopes that she can finally move on from the traumatic events that lead to his death. Problem is, while she does begin to heal, everyone around her starts dropping like flies and she has to confront her past if she hopes to make it out alive.

As expected when it comes to great slashers, the deaths in this are gruesome but creative. And the whodunnit aspect was wonderfully done! Almost everyone is a suspect at some point and McAuley did a great job misleading us. The final twist actually surprised me and I love when that happens 🙌🏻

This is a must read for slasher fans!
I’ve never read Brian McAuley before but I’m definitely going to have to check out his backlist now.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I admit I had a hard time with this book.  I started it with great expectations, but even finishing it, it never grabbed on to me.
I didn't like the characters they were every annoying top 1% er you've ever met.
Rich, over privileged people who could be ride, shallow,nor just plain ignorant.   Get enough of that day to day....
Others say there is humor among the horror, but if so, I missed it.

I'm not trying to trash the story. For others, this may be a compelling and gory slasher book.  But I started reading slashers and horror in the 70s, so I may be jaded a bit.

Thanks to @netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

Thank you so much to the publisher for allowing me to read this early!! Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me. I had a tough time with this one, one of the main reasons being that the characters were insufferable and I understand in a lot of thrillers characters are not likeable but I really couldn’t deal with the characters in this one. I overall just didn’t find myself super into the story and then on top of that the difficulty with the characters just made me fully detach from the book. I do think this one could be for others but like I said it just wasn’t for me! Thank you again for allowing me to read this copy early!!

McAuley kills it again in his latest slasher novel set in a remote spiritual retreat. I always have a blast with his books and this one’s no different! Packed with flawed, compelling characters, a killer you won’t see coming, and some unexpected twists! I had so much fun with this story.

Still reeling from the trauma of witnessing her fiancé’s gruesome death, Hannah hesitantly joins her friends on a wellness retreat, hoping for some kind of peace. But what’s meant to be a serene journey of self-care quickly spirals into a nightmare when a masked murderer (wearing someone else’s face) begins slaughtering guests one by one. And with the retreat’s strange leader, Guru Pax, giving off major cult-leader vibes, it doesn’t take long to realize this isn’t about self-care anymore. It’s about survival.

We’ve got yoga, sound baths, natural hot springs, and a creepy local legend about a supernatural miner haunting the nearby Dead Man’s Due Mine- who gives off Leatherface energy. I’m a sucker for horror villains with creepy rhymes (hello Krueger) and this one hit the mark, with a tone more in line with Scream. Just when I thought I had it figured out, McAuley pulled the rug out from under me. The misdirection was clever and the twist was genuinely surprising! The kills were also wildly creative. One involving a crystal was especially memorable and very fitting!

I also loved the setting of a peaceful, new-age haven gradually unraveling into violence. That kind of sharp contrast between peace and carnage is horror gold, and McAuley milks it for all it’s worth. Hannah made for a fantastic, unreliable narrator. Her PTSD and haunting visions added extra tension and made me question what was real right alongside her. It kept me on edge the whole time!

If you love fast-paced slashers with a smart final girl, suspenseful twists, and killer one-liners, pick this one up. McAuley blends classic horror vibes with fresh brutality and pitch-black humor. And yes, I’ll definitely be packing peppermint essential oil from now on… because you never know when a pickaxe-wielding maniac might show up.

I had so much fun with this slasher story!! I flew through it in one sitting and enjoyed every moment.

It was witty, gory, and perfectly unnerving. The story took place at a super cultish desert retreat, and had such blissfully awful characters that I loved to hate.

I was left guessing at what was happening until the very end. I was genuinely shocked by the reveal!

This is a great fast-paced horror for anyone looking for something new and fun this fall. Breathe In, Bleed Out is out Sept. 2 so run and grab it as soon as you can!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this advanced copy as part of Camp NetGalley!

Breathe In, Bleed Out is a slasher horror story about trauma. Hannah has been barely living for the past year since her fiance died. She has visions of him throughout the day and nightmares of the accident every night, trying to supress them by using prescription drugs. As a training doctor, she almost kills a patient and her mentor advises her to take time off to grieve. Her best friend, Tess, offers for the friend group to go to an exclusive, invite-only wellness retreat near Joshua Tree. Soon after starting, Hannah is haunted by the ghost of a long dead outlaw and people start going missing.

I really liked all the twists and turns, keeping me on my toes so I was constantly changing who I thought was murdering everyone. This had a Scream vibe set at a hokey wellness retreat with LA influencers and I ate it up. The deaths were fun and I didnt guess the murderer at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a deliciously bloody slasher this was!

"Dragging a body through six inches of snow is even harder than I expected." — And that's how you grip me right away, right from the first sentence.

In true slasher nature, at the center of this story is a woman, Hannah, that tries to outrun a killer. Set at a remote area, it was extremely fun to follow these events! I loved the setting of a healing retreat the characters found themselves at — it added to the story on several layers. The author managed to give the characters just enough depth for us to care about them, and has masterfully built Hannah's mental descent. The line between real events and her imagination quickly blurs, and keeps the reader guessing until the very end. I had a great time reading this book, and it has made me want to read more of both slashers and this author's work!

Additionally, I also thoroughly enjoyed the author's note at the end, where he tips his hat to the movies that shaped him and inspired this story!

If you're a fan of classic slasher movies from the nineties, want a dash of societal criticism in your books, and are in need of something extremely fun — definitely grab this one!

Hannah, a nurse in Silicon Beach, LA, is plagued by guilt over the death of her fiancé, Ben, in a skiing accident. The trauma manifests as persistent nightmares and a decline in her work, culminating in a near-fatal patient overdose. Her chief doctor insists she take time off for intensive therapy. Her childhood friend, Tess, intervenes with an invitation to a weekend healing retreat in Joshua Tree. Hannah accepts, joined by Tess and three other school friends, hoping for respite. Initially, the retreat offers a sense of normalcy with its healing therapies, but then her friends start disappearing. The story takes a dark turn into gruesome killings, forcing Hannah into a desperate race against a mysterious killer to save herself and her remaining friend. While the escalating tension is engrossing, the explicit gruesomeness might be a deterrent for some readers, though the ending promises a significant and unexpected twist.
Thank you, Netgalleyng a copy of this book for review. The opinions expressed herein are my own.

If you are looking for a fun slasher summerween book then I think this is the perfect pick! The story is very fast paced and filled with lots of nightmarish scenes. I thought there was a lot of action and a good amount of twist and turns to keep my attention and wanting to finish the book to see what the big reveal was. I think the setting felt very scary movie esque, it being at a retreat and felt like one of those fun summer slasher films we all love.

I found Breathe In, Bleed Out to be such a fun read, despite the many deaths and blood-soaked plotline. The story was simultaneously light and fun with a dark, sinister killer on the loose. Though some of the plot points were far-fetched, I was so entertained that I didn't mind. The story kept me on my toes and threw several red herrings my way. The healing retreat on the outskirts of a remote mining town made for a deliciously isolated and creepy setting. I enjoyed the exploration of wellness culture throughout and how certain practices can constitute cultural appropriation.

While some of the characters in this book were thoroughly annoying, I could also see them being real people that I would take efforts to avoid hanging out with. Though the group purported to be best friends in college, they definitely did not seem to get along that well anymore. I did enjoy the dissection of main character Hannah's emotional turmoil. She is dealing with grief and survivor's guilt after the death of her boyfriend Ben while they were on a trip together, but she is also dealing with the trauma surrounding that death, like having to lug his dead body through a snowy landscape and the no-good-options decisions that she had to make in that difficult time. (Plus another emotional landmine that I won't mention due to it being spoiler-y).

All in all this felt like a classic slasher film, which it seems was the author's intent. A definite thumb's up from me!

P.S. The cover and title of this book are spot on. Love both!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC!!!

This slasher story was good, but kind of predictable. This is my first time reading a slasher story, especially since I don't read horror. The story was good, and the plot twist too. I am open to read another of this author's books in the future, and I like his writing style.

A fun read! This felt obviously written like a movie, so imagine my shocked pikachu face at the Lifetime lore drop in the acknowledgement. Hannah’s running from the ghosts of her past straight into the arms of a different ghost? This time with a pickaxe? Brian McAuley pays homage to the cheesy slasher genre with this camp-filled racehorse of a story that takes little issue with handing the reader a page full of gore.

3.5 stars. I love horror movies and when I read the description for Breathe In, Bleed Out, I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be supernatural or slasher or both, and it kept me guessing until the end. Our protagonist, Hannah, goes on a wellness retreat with her friends to help her overcome the trauma of losing her boyfriend during a mountain excursion a year prior. As the retreat progresses, people start disappearing and dying as Hannah is haunted by visions of her boyfriend.

Overall, the author developed the tension well and there were some genuinely creepy moments. As can happen in horror, some of the side characters were underdeveloped and existed mainly so they could be killed off. I did enjoy that we got a brief peek into their backstories that helped elevate them beyond mere stereotypes. The kills were certainly creative and the addition of the creepy miner was a nice touch. I do think that too many red herrings were thrown in, which got a bit tiring after awhile. In general, reading this book made me think of how it would make a great horror movie. Despite horror being my favorite movie genre, I’m relatively new to reading it. This was a great introduction to literary horror!

Do you love slasher movies? How about in book form? Breathe In, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley follows a classic slasher formula while still managing to feel original. A story that pulls you in and easy to breeze through in a weekend.

Our main character, Hannah, is grieving her fiancé when her best friend invites her on a wellness retreat in the desert. When they arrive with a group of lovable side characters things start to go wrong fast. Is Hannah going crazy from grief? Is there something sus with Guru Pax?

Setting this at a wellness retreat was such a cool choice that made for some great unique gory scenes. The writing style always felt fun and perfectly captured the feel of a retreat. Some really excellent characters that felt like the kinds of people you’d meet at one of these types of desert retreats.

Unfortunately, my favorite character didn’t make it. I was unable to guess the killer and was surprised by the ending. Overall this was a fun and fast read. Perfect for spooky season or a poolside summer thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital ARC copy!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley & Brian McAuley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 1 star.
Genre(s): horror.

Overall impression: I'm a massive horror fan and enjoy slasher movies, so I was excited to give this book a go for the 2025 Camp NetGalley. Unfortunately, the characters were so bitter and unlikeable that it made the entire reading experience unpleasant. There wasn't a single person to root for, so I didn't really care what happened to any of them. I wasn't impressed with the language used either - it relied too heavily on stereotypes and made the book feel both racist and like it was a parody. The only good part was that I hadn't guessed the killer by the end - though I was disappointed by the reveal.

Tropes:
➵ Meditation retreat
➵ Isolated location
➵ No phone service
➵ No way out
➵ Drugs & hallucinogens
➵ PTSD, depression & addiction representation
➵ Disgraced doctor
➵ Toxic relationships
➵ Missing friends
➵ Picked off one by one
➵ "Let's split up"
➵ Open ending

⤷ Plot:
The opening scene was extremely confusing and immediately made me want to put the book down. It was a 'dream within a dream' scenario that gave us a glimpse as to why Hannah needed to go on a meditation retreat. We then got to see her life completely spiral out of control where she overdosed on prescription medication and nearly killed a patient because of her negligence. Her lack of basic knowledge really pissed me off because even a junior doctor knows that in an opioid overdose, you don't slap the patient's face to try wake them up. You have to administer naloxone and BLS.

The rest of the story revolved around the wellness retreat. Characters slowly started getting picked off by the unknown slasher, often in very predictable ways. It was full of gore and got a bit more exciting towards the end as the tension started to peak. But once the killer was revealed, I felt deflated because they seemed like the most boring person to take the role. I finished the book feeling completely unsatisfied and annoyed at all of the survivors.

⤷ Characters:
The characters completely ruined the novel for me. There wasn't a single person that I wanted to root for because of how bitter and hateful they were to each other. I don't even know why the so-called friendship group decided to go on the trip together because from their first interactions, you could tell just how much they didn't like each other.

Hannah was the worst culprit for me. She was extremely judgemental and jealous of her friends, and we unfortunately had to read through her bitchy inner monologue for the entire book. Considering how terrible of a person she was, I was extremely surprised to find out that she got into medicine and was working as a doctor. She lacked compassion, empathy and human decency. Whilst it's typical for the main character to survive a slasher, it would have been more enjoyable if one of the other characters survived instead.

⤷ World-building:
Most of the book was set at the exclusive wellness retreat. There was a good amount of time spent describing the yurts, studios and general environment, so you could picture the scenes pretty clearly. But because the author relied too heavily on stereotypes, it never really felt like a believable place.

⤷ Writing:
The sentence structure was very basic, so you get through the chapters relatively quickly. Whilst the pacing was slow at times, it never really felt like it dragged. I did have an issue with the language used for a few different reasons. Firstly, it felt like the whole book had a very racist undertone - minimising Indigenous characters to stereotypes. Secondly, there was so much modern slang and overused mindfulness language that it felt like a parody novel.

⤷ Everything else:
I read this as part of the 2025 Camp NetGalley challenge. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book otherwise because of the cover, despite finding the blurb interesting.

“𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.“

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝙱𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 𝙼𝚌𝙰𝚞𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚘𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚗 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 #gifted 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚙 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢!

A haunted spiritual wellness retreat run by a shady, cultish guru? Yep, this is the story. Throw in toxic self-help, “healing” manipulation, and this is a bloody, death rollercoaster I rode with my eyes half-closed lol. This was a fun read and my first by this author. I think I expected more blood and gore, but enjoyed the story overall. The characters were messed up yet relatable and I enjoyed McAuley’s writing. If you are into slasher movies and horror novels, this is for you.

3.5🌟 rounded up

A bit campy, a bit gory, and a lot of fun - Breathe In, Bleed Out is a slasher novel that turns a "wellness retreat" into a living nightmare.

I had a good time reading this. It was fast-paced and had me laughing at what BS Guru Pax would appropriate next. The whiplash from Hannah's reality/nightmares kept things interesting.

I'm pretty sure I've met Lauren, sorry, I mean Luna, before, at my yoga teacher training. Her insufferable personality was absolutely spot on, as was her macho jock useless boyfriend's.

Recommended for fans of campy slasher novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book but I was a little disappointed with the ending. I know this book is considered a slasher but the horror fan in me really wanted it to be supernatural. I liked the characters and I liked the mystery part of Hannah’s fiancé. I want to pick up more books by Brian McAuley in the future.