I loved this slasher horror. It was extremely dark, had a campy setting, and it was extremely entertaining. If you do not like gore, or any kind of body horror, this is not the book for you. The atmosphere of the book, being the camp, with a funky spiritual leader, is a great setup for the horror aspect, and it felt like a very traditional horror book.
The writing style felt somewhat unique., I love how much we were in Hannah's mind, and how we could follow the story with her; it made the setting that much creepier, only knowing what she did (plus some extra). The representation of PTSD in this story is very well done, and I think it was a great addition, making it more than just a cheesy horror novel. At first, the book felt slow, but once it started to pick up, it turned extremely fast-paced, like a switch, which is not my ideal in a thriller.
The ending was a bit unrealistic, rushed, and lacking emotional depth, which pulled down my overall rating.

This book was wild, gory, and gloriously deranged.
A slasher with a sharp psychological edge, it had me hooked from page one. I was constantly doubting every character’s motives, and just when I thought I had it figured out—bam, another twist. The descent of the main character into fear and obsession was so well done, I found myself questioning what was real right alongside her.

The pacing was relentless, the tension kept building, and the chaos felt perfectly timed. If you’re into flawed characters, creeping dread, and a blood-soaked mystery that keeps you guessing, this one absolutely delivers.

This was a fun, cinematic read. It would definitely make for a fun movie. There were some interesting twists in the plot, but I took a Star off my rating because I prefer a little more explanation as to why certain things happened as a few threads were left hanging. Thank you to the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

From the first pages all the way through the ending, breathe in, bleed out is absolutely stunning. The writing is tense and compelling, keeping you turning the pages to find out what new gruesome end comes to some of the guests at what seemed to be a peaceful wellness retreat. It's very much giving campy-slasher, but it's absolutely worth the read if you're in the mood for some summerween vibes!!

I loved this, and thank you so much to netgalley for the chance to read this for the summer camp!

I am a horror, thriller, slasher horror fan (books and movies!) so when I saw this one pop up on here to read early I knew I had to read it! I was not disappointed! Was it my favorite of the year, no, but it was definately up there. I loved the 90's slasher vibes. I will be keeping this author on my radar in the future for sure! Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

My views - This one is a slasher story. The FMC Hannah in dealing with a traumatic death experience of her fiancé Ben and starts having nightmare. Hannah ends up going for a retreat with her friends which was supposed to be a fun trip but all hell breaks loose when one by one they starts getting murdered.

The book is a fun one time read. The story is is filled with twists and mysteries. The story is fast paced and but readers discretion is very much required as the story is full of violence, gore, torture, trauma, grief, death, muider etc.

I have never read books from this author before but I like reading this one.

Starting from the end, this book contains the longest author’s note I’ve ever read, but also one of my favourites of all time. Thank you for the passionate love letter to the slasher genre.

Breath In, Bleed Out - besides being a genius title - is your standard, following to a t, slasher; getting into the story expecting nothing more of it will leave you satisfied and pleasantly surprised. The unique setting and the plentiful food for thought the wellness industry comes with offered a new take on the genre I feel the author managed to delve into very well and make the most out of.

Its weakest point was, in my opinion, the reveal and the overall ending (but I’m also very finicky about them in general) which felt rushed and a bit unrealistic. I’m also not the biggest fan of this type of plot device to portray unreliable narrators, and of resorting to telling instead of showing to explain the villain’s “big evil plan” to the reader. But a bravo for the killing scenes!

Rated 3.25 stars.

Breathe In Bleed Out is a slasher story that's very fast-paced, dark,and tense with characters that are likeable and others not so much. The plot is gripping with a twist I loved.
Hanna dealing with the death of her fiance decides to accept a friends invite to a retreat where she plans on begin healing mentally but things take a horrific turn.


Thank you Camp NetGalley , Brian McAukey, and Poisoned Pen Publishing

Okay do you need more reasons to not go on retreats and do weird culty stuff? Yes, still yes? Then read this book! I don't know how to say it without spoilers, but there is a reason I'm even reluctant to talk to therapists. You don't know who is taking note of what!

Hannah and Ben were on a hiking trip where Ben was going to pop the question. Between the question and Hannah's evacuation, wild things happened and Ben died. Hannah was saved but to fight the images and scenes from that time. Ben was not letting her go and Hannah her drugs. one day, Tess, Hannah's once best friend, came with a proposal: they were going to go on a retreat and let go.

The retreats are never what they say they are. The gurus are not only thinking about your wellness and peace of mind; they will have their own agenda. If you thought this one would be different, you are WRONG! Now get on that yoga mat, open your chakras and flip to the first page for a wild ride

wowwww was not the ending I expected!!! this getting over a death surviving a murderer holistic healing retreat mystery is a great read it started slow for me but before I was half way thru i was invested

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book hooked me right away. The desert wellness retreat setting is immersive and eerie, and I felt like I was right there with the characters. The pacing is smooth, and the main character, Hannah, is relatable and well-written.

PTSD is portrayed thoughtfully, adding emotional weight without feeling forced. As the story progresses, it delivers on slasher tropes with creative kills and fun horror nods.

The ending, while intentionally classic and a bit campy, didn’t fully land for me. I was hoping for a more emotionally satisfying climax and a stronger reveal. Still, this was a fast, entertaining read for horror fans who like heart mixed with blood.

A riveting and bingeworthy slasher- I was successfully misdirected at every turn and kept constantly guessing and theorizing the entire time. It was such a fast paced entertaining read.

The wellness industrial complex is its own horror story in itself, and the depiction of the Avidya holistic wellness retreat didn’t even feel all that unrealistic - the cultural appropriation, the cynical cash grabs, the white man dressed in full linen. I never really knew I needed a slasher in this setting but it was very well done.

It was little over the top and campy (in the best way) and it felt like it fit into the canon of classic slashers very well. It followed classic tropes and themes while turning them on their head in the new wellness/woo-woo setting. I didn’t see everything coming by a long shot, but the spirit of a classic slashers was definitely there.

The plot was fast paced and interesting to keep up with, though there was a LOT going on and the ending wrapped up a little too quickly given how much there was to resolve. But overall, such a fun time (despite the slashing)!

thank you to netgalley & poisoned pen press for this eARC!

Thank you Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There will be a lot of people who like this book, I was just not one of them.

The majority of this story is set in a yoga retreat out in the wilderness. We follow Hannah, who is dealing with the death of her fiance after a camping trip gone wrong. Hannah has barely been able to deal with the death of Ben, her friends have been pushed to the side, her life is spiraling. One of Hannah's friends convince her to go to a yoga retreat, helped along by the insistence of her counselor, and during the weekend Hannah has to figure out whether what she's experiencing is real or her brain playing tricks on her.

This should have been a book that I loved, I love horror, I love slasher movies, I've really enjoyed a lot of slasher/horror books lately, but this just wasn't it. I hated all of the characters, even the ones we're meant to like. The friendships felt really off and forced, the yoga retreat instructor was insufferable, and for someone who is meant to be a junior doctor Hannah seemed to have less than basic medical information. The ending was very rushed, I don't understand how any of the deaths are missed given that everything is being recorded, and the twist was lacking.

I do think it is good that there was a subplot exploring just how exploitative and predatory self help culture can be, as well as how trauma and PTSD can affect emotions and memory, and that it can seriously affect anyone regardless of who you are.

A slasher set in Joshua Tree? Yes, absolutely sign me up! I really enjoyed this book. My only complaint would be a few too many real world references like Tapatio-flavored Doritos.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

I came for the gorgeous cover and stayed for the slasher mystery and gnarly kills. Hannah’s had it rough since that day in the mountains when she lost her fiancée, a day only she knows the truth about. Since that day, she’s haunted by visions of her fiancée and is just barely hanging on. After a nearly fatal mistake at the hospital where she works, she takes her friend up on an offer to reconnect and make an attempt at a fresh start at an exclusive wellness retreat. But something’s a little off at this retreat. With legends of a haunted mine, a shady guru, and her own terrible visions that haunt her, Hannah begins to question everything, including her own grip on reality.

I had such a fun time with this read! It’s the perfect spooky get away that’s a little bit Scream with a dash of Midsommar. The double mystery of what happened on the mountain that day together with what was happening at the resort kept me super invested. The kills were deliciously gruesome and inventive, and the twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. It definitely made me want to read more from this author and I’ll definitely be checking out more of their work this spooky season!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance review copy. This review was written voluntarily.

This is a fun book that is like an 80s slasher movie with a 21st-century remake. The tension builds throughout the book, making it difficult to put down.

In this book, we meet Hannah, a young woman who is trying to come to terms with the death of her boyfriend Ben. She is having strange hallucinations and is not coping well. When she is given leave from her job, she decides to accept her friend's offer to take her and some of their friends on a wellness retreat for a few days in the desert. Eager to get her mind back on track, she dives into it with great enthusiasm.

But all is not as it seems. The guru who runs the retreat is a little weird, as is the woman who helps him. Are they genuine?

While they are there, tensions come to the forefront amongst the friends. When they start to disappear, one by one, the remaining inhabitants of the retreat start to fear for their safety and lives.

My mind was going back and forth on what was really happening at this retreat. The wonderful writing keeps you on the edge of your seat, keeping you guessing - is this happening, or is it all in Hannah's mind?

There are gory details of injuries, so be wary of that before you start the book.

If you are a fan of horror and slasher books, then this will be a wonderful addition to your collection.

I actually had so much fun with this one. I think it’s my first slasher book and it won’t be my last. I was captivated throughout and found that i kept changing my theories 🤣 it keeps you on your toes that’s for sure! I loved each death, they were written very well. And i actually loved Hannah the FMC - she had bad bitch tendencies and wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

I loved how it ended and actually didn’t expect the killer to be who it was! I would thoroughly recommend if you wanna read something that has lots of humour and is quite “woke” while also having that slasher / horror element too.

here’s the thing: i really, really wanted to like brian mcauley’s wellness-culture-gone-wrong slasher. i love a good gory whodunnit, where everyone is just a little suspicious of everyone else.

the premise is fun, although it does feel a little been-there-done-that in a contemporary lit market oversaturated with L.A. yogi/guru/chakra-aligining satire. the novel follows hannah, a medical student in her intern year. desperate to move past her fiancé’s death, hannah agrees to join her undergraduate friends on a trip to an immersive wellness retreat in the mojave desert.

because nothing says “forget your trauma and heal!” like sleeping in an open tent. with no cell service. and that self-proclaimed “guru” who seems to know just a little too much about everyone…

the first 80% of the novel really did deliver exactly what i expected it to! cheap thrills, gory kills, lots of ironic final destination-style deaths where yoga mats and metal gongs and amethyst crystals become deadly. i never felt super invested in the characters, which lessened the blow of their deaths quite a bit. and while the slasher bits were creative, and struck that perfect balance between horror and comedy, nothing about them was viscerally squeamish or intense. i wanted bret easton ellis or chuck palahniuk, but what i got were stage directions that would have done a lot better on film than on the page.

and that’s all well and good—i’m not asking my horror novels to be pulitzer-worthy, and i’m no stranger to campy b-list thrills. but this book really and truly lost me in its third act. there’s a stretch of maybe two chapters where the plot just goes off the rails. every possible theory is explored in the span of, like, 20 pages. and the ending left me feeling more than a bit skeptical of the logistics. for all of the pinballing that happens in the last few chapters, it’s impressive how many loose ends are left unresolved and how weirdly anticlimactic the conclusion feels.

i also think that mcauley could have benefitted from trying to narrow his thematic focus just a touch. he is exploring a lot of interesting concepts here that are really well situated to the genre, but in trying to cover all of them simultaneously, he ends up addressing none. is it a critique of the aesthetics and cultural appropriation of white wellness culture? an indictment of settlers making fools of themselves on stolen land? a window into our hellish corporate panopticon? an exploration of all-consuming grief and survivor’s grief?

yes to all of those things! and, in a truer way, no to all of them.

but then i read the author’s note and almost feel like i should go back and revisit some of the things that i perceived to be flaws. mcauley writes very eloquently about what the slasher genre means to him and the kinds of themes that he feels are best explored in this way. slasher films have shaped his creative career, first in television and film and now in horror lit. i love what he has to say about his process, and what this book means to him. so i don’t want to write the guy off completely—he’s making cool work that definitely will have its audience.

i just probably won’t be a part of it.

thank you to netgalley and poison pen press for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Slasher meets psychological horror.

<b>Overview:</b> After a year of trying to heal from her fiancé's death, Hannah is nearing her wits end. Suffering with constant nightmares that are now bleeding into her day-to-day life, she is hesitant when her friend Tess invites her to join herself and some mutual friends at an exclusive spiritual retreat. But what should be a time of healing and self-reflection turns into a bloodbath as Hannah's friends start getting picked off one-by-one. Is it a serial killer, or is a local spirit hunting down visitors in the dark?

I loved every moment of this novel. The mystery of the killer's identity was well played out through every moment, constantly having hints and misdirection's dropped throughout, so you are never fully sure who did it. And the unreliable narrator of Hannah is a perfect medium, as she slides deeper into questioning her reality with each eerie moment.

The pacing is fast and planned beautifully, with tension escalating as the desperation to find the killer grows. I loved the creative deaths, while it does take a bit of time to progress to them (the wait is wonderfully used to bring to question Hannah's reliability as narrator), they reminded me of my favourite gore/slasher movies. If you like <i>Scream</i> or <i>Final Destination</i> this is the book for you.

While <i>Breathe In, Bleed Out</i> is the first book of Brian McAuley's that I've read, I will definitely be reading more of his works going forward.

<b>Publishing: September 2, 2025</b>

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

#indigoemployee

Hannah is a medical intern that lost her fiancée in a terrible accident while hiking on a snowy mountain. While she tries to deal with her grief, in her own way, her best friend invites her to a holistic retreat that seems a little too-good-to-be-true type of thing. Hannah accepts the invitation, and embarks her trip with a couple of other friends she hasn’t seen in a while.

Everyone’s having fun; a little yoga over here, some weird herbs over there. Until one by one her friends start disappearing, and Hannah thinks the strange man she’s been seeing with a pickaxe is the one responsible.

“This place is not what you think it is”

~~~

HOLY plot twists. The actual murderer? Never saw that coming. The actual truth behind her boyfriend’s death and the moments before it happened? Never saw THAT coming either.
I’m proud to say I’ll probably never step into a retreat in my life because of this book. SPECIALLY not in the middle of nowhere with a sketchy guru.