This book was so much fun especially with it being almost spooky slasher season it was a great introduction to my favorite season. I wanted the characters to have a bit more backstory not just the FMC but other than that I couldn't put this book down and I love he cover. I want a copy just to have on my shelf tbh

What I Liked: This book hooked me the minute that I opened it up, and I didn't want to put it down. Hannah is a relatable character, and I was so curious to find out what really happened with her and Ben on that mountain. I had formed so many theories about that and was shocked to find what really happened. I liked that we were in her head for most of this because the unreliable narrator adds to the mystery of this book. There were moments in which I was questioning if things were happening as said or if this was all Hannah's imagination.

I was not expecting the ending at all; that reveal caught me off guard, and this portion made the book even scarier than it was originally. This book was both a slasher with a psychological thriller combined which kept me glued to the page. While I was pleased with the reveal, I did find that the ending happened rather quickly and wasn't satisfying. What I had to keep reminding myself of as I read was that it was a slasher, so deaths had to happen, and if things didn't close the way that they did, it wouldn't feel like a true slasher.

The relationships between the characters were pretty light, and I didn't really feel for the first few deaths that occurred. Those characters were annoying, and so it was quite pleasant when they were out of the picture. This was well done, though, because the others didn't feel they lost, so the plot got to continue, and the killer got to go unnoticed because of their lack of care. I was also pleased with the addition of both the Guru and Kimi because that plot derailed you from finding out what was truly going on.

Final Verdict: Breathe In Bleed Out is a thrilling book that takes you on a journey with twists and turns. People who are fans of slasher movies or psychological thrillers will enjoy going on this journey with Hannah as we see things unfold in her life.

she was not for me though i love this cover and this title. horror and thrillers have been such a flop for me this year :(

Breathe In, Bleed Out
By Brian McAuley

After the tragic death of her fiancé, Hannah is adrift and uncertain. Her world is unraveling, and everything she’s worked so hard for seems to be slipping away from her. In an attempt to reclaim her life, she agrees to a retreat in the desert that will reunite her with her old friend group. What they find in the desert is chaos and bloodshed.
Nobody does campy slasher like Brian McAuley. If, like me, you grew up watching ’80s slashers movies, this is the book for you. The characters are full of tropes but remain well-written. The slashing is just the right amount of camp while remaining bloody and brilliant. The reveal is well done and fairly unexpected.
What the book does best, however, is really explore the trauma of grief and how it impacts a person's mental health. Don’t let the murders fool you; inside this book is an excellent portrayal of someone dealing with an extreme loss and all the attendant upheaval that follows.
It's definitely worth the read.

3.5 🌟 — This was a fast-paced read with short chapters that made it hard to put down. I really enjoyed the writing style, and it was entertaining from start to finish. The horror elements were strong and atmospheric, but the story also had real substance behind the scares. The themes of grief and friendship added depth to the story, and the characters felt well-developed.

While the plot was good, I wasn’t completely sold on the twist and the ending. I was hoping for a slightly different direction, but that’s my personal preference and doesn’t take away from the quality of the book.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable and well-written book. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of horror who are looking for something with a good story alongside the chills.

Brian McAuley has become an author that is a must-read for me. I have previously loved Curse of the Reaper as well as the Candy Cain slasher books. So when I was given the chance to read an ARC for Breathe In, Bleed Out by NetGalley, you bet your ass I clicked on "request" as fast as I could!

P.S. (thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this in exchange for my honest review)

This slasher encompasses the California stereotype of granola loving, downward-dog-facing, chakra-aligning, shove-crystals-up-your-ass artistic-bullshit-that-only-those-born-into-money-can-afford-to-live lifestyles, and allows the reader to sit back and enjoy the shitshow while these characters die off one by one. The writing style is so cinematic, and I could easily see this being made into a movie. I had a great time with this one.

This was a great horror read, it reminded me how much I enjoy horror stories and it had so many great elements! We've got a bit of Midsommar vibes (culty remote getaway in the mountains), My Bloody Valentine (miner with a pickaxe as the murderer), some psychological elements (is the FMC crazy?) and a surprising backstory for our FMC which is slowly revealed throughout the tale. It's fun, gory and twisty and I didnt pick our final killer (though I felt like I should have when it was revealed 😂).
Hannah's friends take her on a wellness retreat to try and help her recover from the loss of her fiancé the year before and the timing is perfect because she's been having a hard time at her job as a doctor, despite the support of her psychiatrist. She is spiralling and this contributes to her confusion when people start going missing at Avidya.
We've got some messy friendships and flawed characters in Hannah's friend group, a weird guru running the retreat and a snarky assistant helping him and Hannah isn't sure who to suspect when she cottons on to the fact that her friends might not be leaving one by one but disappearing one by one.
I definitely felt the tension as the story reached its peak and the uncomfortable feeling of being trapped with Hannah, with no car and no phone service.
I really liked this book and it's inspired me to slot more horror reads in to my TBR 😊

As soon as I got access to this ARC (thank you poisoned pen press!), I couldn’t put this book down.

It’s a downright, classic Slasher. It felt like watching a movie, all the descriptions being done perfectly so I could picture every single frame in my mind.
Being a Scream fan myself (my first slasher, just like the author’s), I transcended (wink wink) into this catharsis like state.

The only part not as perfect for me, was the final reveal.
Sure, I wasn’t expecting it necessarily, so clearly a good misdirect, but I was a bit too confused at all that was happening to enjoy that final “OH CRAP” moment.

Overall, I really recommend everyone to read this book (out in September), since, like I said, it’s an amazing Slasher.

Thank you again Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity of reading this amazing book early in exchange of giving my honest review.
Will definitely be looking into the author and reading more stuff from him.

This was such a wild ride, you can really feel the love McAuley has for nineties slashers and it really resonates throughout the whole book. I was jaw-dropped for every single one of the death scenes, they were CRAZY and brutal and everything you want in a bloodbath read.

I actually really loved the cast we were playing with here, whilst the characters feel super stereotypical and at times they act very cringey, it feels intentional and he manages to simultaneously make them feel very real and human - they're people you can believe exist, but you know you wouldn't want to be around. It makes their deaths effective but still exciting. You're attached but not so much so that you don't want to see them fall. This book definitely deals with quite a few racist stereotypes/appropriation, but in my opinion it was handled in a way that showed this in a negative light. I don't feel that the characters were meant to be seen as good or likeable people.

I particularly enjoyed our main character. The dissolving of her mental state was like 70% of the drama and watching her descend into madness at the events unfolding around her was a wild ride. The reveal at the end was totally unexpected - admittedly I wish there had been slightly more foreshadowing for that to be the turnout, but overall I think it was adrenaline-inducing enough that I found it satisfying. I'd say overall I'd consider this 4.5 stars and I will definitely be purchasing the paperback once it releases.

I really enjoyed this book. The pacing was amazing, the story never felt boring and somehow the author also included a lot of funny moments for a book of this genre.

The story immediately grabbed my attention with a flashback scene and just kept building up the tension from there. The book was very easy to read and hard to put down due to never getting boring. The characters weren’t the most likeable but that didn’t really bother me as I was reading. It felt like this type pf book didn’t really need very likeable characters.

This was definitely one of my favourite reads this year and I would recommend it to all thriller/slasher/horror fans. I rated the book 4.75 stars, rounded up to 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an Advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a person who tries to be mindful and also someone with a meditation practice, I was immediately drawn to this book, as I am also a huge fan of horror! So this book was a no brainer to pick up, and I loved the cover! Initially I felt the book was a little cheesy, but then I figured out that the author was writing this book as if it was a slasher flick from the 1980s, and I absolutely loved it once I had that mindset - this would make a great beach read, or a read for anywhere where you're trying to get some rest and relaxation, with a side of murder.

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

4.5 stars! 🌟

Hannah has recently lost her fiancé after a fatal hiking adventure. Her best friend suggests going on a healing retreat to see if this will help her nightmares and hallucinations stop. But, what they find is that a killer is after their group of friends and they aren’t sure why.

This book is perfect for fans of thrillers, light gore, and suspense. It will keep you changing your mind on who is causing chaos until the very end.

This book starts off with a “what am I reading?!” kind of vibe and quickly settles you in to what Hannah is dealing with emotionally and mentally. I loved the guessing game throughout the book and the cat-and-mouse approach of a killer. The author displays wit in the writing and I found myself alternately tearing up, being annoyed, and even laughing out loud a few times — all within the characters’ personalities and depth. I appreciated the acknowledgment of colonialism’s impacts on Indigenous peoples and the dominance of white supremacy in healing spaces, land attainment, and cultural practices.

There was not anything I did not enjoy about this book and it has definitely made me interested in following this author and reading more.

2⭐️
Overall, it was okay, and I’m no stranger to slasher films. Plot wise, it felt like it was trying to do too much - wellness retreat gone wrong, possible ghost slasher, possible FMC slasher, possible revenge slasher. The ending felt really rushed and anticlimactic. It also was very plot explainy - not everything needs to be spelled out. Readers can make inferences.

I was turned off by the mention of “REI” - though I am aware that’s a me thing - and the phrase “winter backpack camping” when the author used the term “backpacking” correctly later in the book? Elk also don’t grow horns..

If you can ignore these details, and enjoy gorey slashers, then this book might be for you.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley, but all opinions are my own.

Disclosure Statement: I received a copy of this novel from the author. My thoughts and opinions of it have not been influenced in any way by either author or publisher.

Brian McAuley is the rising king of slashers. There's a growing market for slasher horror, and writers like Stephen Graham Jones and Philip Fracassi continue to try to find new ways to make slashers fun or relevant, but Brian's work in the subgenre feels less like novelty and more like refinement. Each of his slashers keeps a tight focus on character, then broadens out to incorporate thoughtful themes reflecting on the tensions of human life. What makes his stories work is that every book is ostensibly about something bigger than just killing off a bunch of coeds or teenagers, whether it be about holiday nostalgia and togetherness or growing old and facing a world that changes around you, or in the case of Breathe In, Bleed Out, coping through trauma and guilt.

The book has a lot of fun elements to unpack, but chief among them is its send-up of "wellness culture," which further incorporates elements of criticism specifically on cultural appropriation and toxicity in white culture. Although this isn't a deep treatise on the culture, the book plays around with fresh corpses while maintaining a healthy side-eye at the trappings it criticizes.

But at its core, this is really about about guilt and about how we deal with it in the long run. It's about surviving not just traumatic experiences, but also surviving the way we talk to ourselves about that very survival. It has a lot of fun (and funny) sequences of ironic murder, but at its core it never forgets that the characters of the book need to feel like people, complicated and sometimes even hypocritical, but always flawed in ways good and bad.

With an afterword that makes an impassioned plea for more slasher fiction, Breathe In, Bleed Out feels like a true treatise on the subgenre. It is representative of all the major tropes and twists, but it's digging deep into what makes these stories so fun and what keeps them relevant to our modern cultural conversation. This is a bloody great book and I had a lot of fun with it.

Functioning as both a love letter to classic slashers and a modern take on the isolated group, picked off one by one, Breathe In, Bleed Out is another solid chapter in Brian McAuley's ongoing journey to pay homage to this beloved horror genre while attempting to bring new things to the table. The pace is balanced, keeping the reader frantically turning pages without ever losing control of its steam, and the kills are creative and fun, many a fresh spin on familiar kills a la In a Violent Nature or Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Fans of the slasher will want to pick this one up.

I feel like I just found a treasure! 🤩 I had the best time reading this story.

From the start, Breathe In, Bleed Out gave me serious Scooby-Doo vibes and as a massive Scooby fan, I was all in. It had that classic “group of friends, creepy location, and someone picking them off” energy, but with a darker, bloodier edge that made it even better.

Slasher is hands-down my favorite horror trope, so this book hit all the right notes for me. It felt like a love letter to the genre. Think Friday the 13th or Scream but with a fresh, twisty voice that kept me hooked. The suspense was nonstop, and every chapter left me second-guessing what I thought I knew.

The main character? Totally unreliable in the best way. She had a shady past and an even shadier connection to her fiancé, who was killed shortly after popping the question. I couldn’t decide whether to trust her or suspect her and that made everything so much more fun.

McAuley was an absolute master at dropping reveals at just the right moments. Nothing ever felt forced or too early. Everything unfolded in a way that kept me glued to the page. And that ending? Perfect. It made sense, tied everything up without being too neat, and gave me the satisfying payoff I was hoping for.

I’ll absolutely be recommending this one to anyone who loves a good slasher. If you grew up loving Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or anything campy and terrifying, you’re going to eat this up. Breathe In, Bleed Out delivered everything I wanted and then some.

A massive THANK YOU to #Netgalley and #PoisonedPenPress
for the chance to read this early in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fun slasher. After losing her fiancé, Hannah is barely holding it together, so her best friend drags her to a tech-free wellness retreat for some healing. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, but some characters felt flat and the plot was a bit predictable. Still a fun, bloody read for horror lovers.


Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-arc!

5 STARS!! THIS NEEDS TO BE A MOVIE YESTERDAY!!

Okay, let me just breathe in… and bleed out how OBSESSED I am with Brian McNulty’s upcoming horror masterpiece!!

I started this one casually, you know, reading a chapter here and there while juggling a few other books… but THEN I hit 60% and BOOM💥I was HOOKED. Like, I had a full 12:30-9pm shift today and managed to sneak-read every free second I had. I devoured the rest like it was my last meal.

The wellness retreat setting? Absolute genius. It’s like all those trendy “self-care gone wrong” horrors we’ve seen lately… but this one? It hits different. Think yoga mats, herbal tea, and ‘find your center’ vibes, smashed headfirst into Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre levels of carnage. Yes. PLEASE.

And can we talk about the kill scenes?!?? Brutal. Creative. So nasty in the best possible way. I was cringing and cackling and cheering all at once. Truly chef’s kiss 🤌.

Reading this book didn’t feel like reading. It was like watching a slasher movie inside my brain🍿Fast-paced, bloody, and just a damn good time. If you love horror, slashers, and stories that don’t take themselves too seriously while still being smart as hell!!! This is your jam!

I won’t spoil anything because you NEED to go in blind and enjoy the ride, but trust me! Pick this up on September 2nd. You will not regret it. Just… maybe avoid wellness retreats for a while, yeah?

Breathe in Bleed out is honestly the perfect Summerween book, this was one of my first ARC’s and what a roller coaster this was.

Breathe In, Bleed Out follows Hannah, who is reeling from the devastating loss of her fiancé. Haunted by nightmares and struggling emotionally, she joins her friends on a retreat that’s supposed to help her heal. But instead of finding peace, things spiral into chaos as the group starts getting picked off one by one.

This slasher was a wild, gripping ride from start to finish! It was my introduction to this author, and I was genuinely blown away by his writing, definitely adding more of his books to my TBR. The story moved at a lightning pace, filled with creepy, nightmare-worthy moments and an atmosphere thick with dread. It was suspenseful, and kept me guessing the whole way through-I never saw the killer coming! The twists were clever, the tension never let up, and the mix of characters kept things interesting (even if I didn’t love all of them). It felt like I was watching a slasher film play out in my mind—and I was hooked the entire time.

The reviews for this book were so good, but I just couldn't get into it.

Anytime the story starts off with a "dream" - I don' t know, it's just so overused.

There were a lot of buzzwords that just felt forced to the story - the one guy talking about consent, "capitalism" ... it just turned me off.

I didn't feel a connection to the characters and the ending was a bit predictable.

However, this would make an excellent story close to Halloween.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an e-copy of BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT to review.

I rate BREATHE IN, BLEED OUT three out of five stars.