A psychological horror with an unreliable narrator, an isolated setting and a doomed group of friends.

When splitting this book into three parts (Beginning, Middle and End), I can pinpoint two that I liked and one that I really didn't which is why this is a solid 3 or 3.25 stars.
The first half of the book was intriguing, it was solid set up and made us wonder what happened at the island all that time ago that affected the main character and her mother. There were so many good mysteries set up.
I also really enjoyed the last 50 pages of the book. The ending itself was creepy and ambiguous in a way where I closed the book and had to think about it. In a similar way, I enjoyed the main plot reveal of what all the strange stuff happening in the island was, it felt fulfilling.

But the middle of the book was what felt like a real drag. There were some conversations that felt pointless. The first character deaths were really well written but the scenes following immediately after bored me out which was disappointing because the deaths itself really hooked me.
Alongside that, I also had some gripes with the main character's forming relationship, how quick it happened. And that plotline felt like it overshadowed the other side characters.

It's hard for me to give a review to this story. It was equally fun, entertaining, nonsensical, empty, pointless, and nostalgic.

Sally is a young woman with a dark past. Her mother dies and she has to meet with her father and his new pregnant wife at the funeral. There's a lot of mixed emotions, unresolved trauma, health shaming, and fractured unresolved parent-child relationships.

Sally is blanking out on a lot of her past and is having weird dreams. Her shrink is trying to help her but her mother's death is sending her to a dark place regardless. After the funeral she decides to take on a journey to figure out her past and where it went all wrong.

What worked for me was the story was fun, kept you engaged, and was easy to read. It's the shallowness in the narrative that makes reading fast and easy. Good for readers looking for a light horror read. The suspense is decent and keeps you going.

What didn't work was the weird relationships between the kids/young adults. Were they friends, lovers, frenemies? Who was straight, who was bi, and who - homosexual? There were storylines that didn't go anywhere, seem to have been put in there just for the sake of making a statement or filling the pages.

The horror felt too "easy". It didn't build up, there was no tension, no suspense. It just happened. I wasn't grasping the couch or biting the blanket at any point. There was no character arc in any of the characters, even Sally, unfortunately. None of them changed or evolved.

There is one major relationship that I'm not going to reveal. This relationship was the cornerstone of the story. However, it didn't evolve, didn't thrill, didn't do anything. It just sat there unresolved and unchanged. And perhaps this is the main reason for my low rating.

The culprit was easy to figure out.

Overall fun and entertaining, but nothing too exiting, mind bending, or heart racing.

I absolutely loved this book. It was surprising, dark, and completely new. I thought the characters were well-developed and really interesting. I cannot wait to recommend it to all of my customers!

Unfortunately., I'm not sure if I can finish this book.
The writing style is way too choppy.. Often times, it feels like I'm reading the journal of a young child. The beginning of the story is very attention grabbing, but I'm over a third of the way in and while I understand it should be a slow burn, nothing important is happening. I just don't think this book was written for someone like me and the oddly punctuated lines of the book stress me out and keep me from getting into the story at all. Again, this may just be my personal brain's way of processing the written text, but paired with the painfully slow burn it's a little much.

When We Talk to the Dead blends grief, trauma, and the supernatural into a slow-burning, atmospheric read that’s way more gripping than the reviews led me to believe.
Sally da Gama heads back to her childhood home on Captain’s Island—a place she barely remembers—and brings a group of friends along for the ride. The house is eerie, the memories are foggy, and the island? Definitely not just vibes.

I’ve seen people say this drags, but I thought the pacing worked. It sets the scene, builds the tension, and lets you really sink into the characters and their complicated relationships before things start to unravel. Once they do, the creep factor ramps up fast, and the twists kept catching me off guard—in a good way.

By the end, it felt like I’d stumbled into a psychological teen horror with actual emotional weight.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for my early copy, unfortunately I ended up DNFing When We Talk to the Dead.

This story did not at all go where I expected. It was a nice surprise to truly not know what could happen chapter to chapter. Was this supernatural? Something human that was just helluh creepy? It was nice to keep guessing.
The characters were well developed, but I did find the dialogue stilted in places. Something was always a bit odd, but perhaps that was intentional to provoke that unsettled feeling.
I would definitely read another book from this author and recommend reading this one!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When Sally’s mom dies, she decides to travel to the secluded island where she grew up… until the accident. Her twin sister left for dead, her mom incapacitated, her dad takes Sally and runs from the haunted property.

She returns as a college student with friends but something strange begins to happen. Is the island really haunted or is it just their imagination?

I enjoyed a lot of the story but there were times when I was left with so many questions. There were also times when it was so sped up that the English wasn’t working (and Im not talking about the times it was supposed to be off). It seemed to move very quickly and not develop. I feel like if I was in my teens/early 20s, I’d probably have appreciated it more.

Read this if you like:
➡️YA Horror
➡️ secluded islands
➡️big twists at the end

Thank you Crooked Lane Books, Ian Chorao and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ian Chorao’s “When We Talk to the Dead” is a haunting, slow-burn psychological horror novel that looks into trauma, grief, and memory set against the eerie backdrop of a supposedly cursed island off the coast of Maine. Combining the creeping dread of a supernatural thriller with the brutal emotional weight of buried family secrets, this book is as much about the ghosts inside us as the ones we fear in the dark.

The story centers on Sally de Gama, a woman emotionally fractured by years of loss. Following her mother’s death, Sally returns to Captain’s Island, which is the site of her traumatic childhood and the drowning of her twin sister, an event she has completely blocked from memory. Accompanied by a group of close friends, Sally hopes to reconnect with her past. Instead, she finds herself trapped in a waking nightmare, stalked by something that may not be human and may have a connection to her she never expected.

The first third of the book unfolds slowly, focusing on Sally’s fractured mental state and the tension-laced dynamics among the group. The pacing was a bit frustrating as the horror doesn’t fully emerge until later. But for those patient enough to sink into Chorao’s world, the slow burn pays off. The eerie atmosphere builds gradually, laced with quiet dread with strange noises, disturbing memories, and the unshakable feeling that they’re being watched.

Chorao adds depth by switching perspectives, including glimpses from the creature itself, which is a presence that is lonely, angry, and disturbingly childlike. It doesn’t just kill—it hungers for connection, making its scenes unsettling and, oddly, tragic. There’s also a handful of gruesome, well-paced death scenes, made all the more intense by being shown from the victims’ points of view.

While some plot elements, such as a quickly developed romance between Sally and one of her companions, may feel unnecessary or rushed, they don’t significantly detract from the chilling core of the novel. What shines most is Sally herself. Fragile but determined, she’s a compelling and emotionally rich protagonist. Her journey to uncover the truth is both terrifying and profoundly moving.

The final act is explosive. As the island becomes a killing ground and the truth about the creature and Sally’s connection to it comes to light, the book transforms into a harrowing fight for survival. The last 20% is filled with action, gore, and emotional reckoning. While some twists are foreshadowed, others land with surprising impact, deepening the horror and heartbreak.

The ending is classic horror: open-ended, devastating, and thought-provoking. It leaves you with a lingering sense of sorrow and unresolved questions, not unlike the trauma it portrays.

Overall, “When We Talk to the Dead” demands patience and emotional investment, but rewards you with a richly layered story that merges supernatural horror with deep psychological exploration. For fans of slow-burn, character-driven horror with tragic undercurrents and an atmospheric setting, this one will linger long after the final page.

Wanted to love this one. There was so much going for it, but sadly I lost interest along the back middle.

There are a lot of themes played with here and a lot of really interesting spooky aspects. I loved that it’s set in Maine. The creepy setting vibes were great. I didn’t particularly love the characters or the way they interacted through a lot of this book. I did enjoy the way this book plays with memory, and trauma.

Sally de Gama is lost in the aftermath of her mother's death. After a long bout of catatonia following the disappearance and presumed death of Sally's twin sister at a young age, Sally barely feels connected to her. When she returns to her home state of Maine to bury her mother, Sally uncovers her family's mysterious history. In an effort to remember her mother and sister, Sally sets off to return to the mysterious island of her youth, accompanied by her closest friends.

When We Talk to the Dead is part psychological thriller, part creature feature. The dynamic between the friends is lively and realistic, the worst parts of their group amplified by the unease everyone feels on the island. While the twists are well foreshadowed, the book moves at a nice pace that makes for a fun, tingly read.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of “We talk to the dead”. This book is a tale about psychological trauma and grief with a tinge of the supernatural.
We are introduced to our five characters with each their own story and the relationship to the narrative character. When they arrive at the island the relationship between our characters starts to show its cracks.

For me personally, it was a slow start until I reached around 53% of the book. Then things started to pick up for me and I read the remaining 47% in a few hours.
I liked the writing style and the eerie atmosphere the author created with his words. Even though it is a slow burn horror book, which I normally don’t like very much, the author did a great job of grabbing my attention. I was also very surprised by the ending. I didn’t saw that one coming and I’m still thinking about it.

When We Talk to the Dead is a dark, surreal, and deeply introspective that blurs the boundaries between reality and hallucination, grief and madness, the living and the dead. This haunting tale unfolds with a dreamlike quality, unraveling the psyche of its troubled protagonist while offering a meditation on trauma, family, and the elusive nature of healing.

Not an easy read, but unforgettable for those who love psychological horror and experimental storytelling.

I liked the premise of the book, but the execution was very poor. It felt more like a cheap slasher than a slow burn thriller.

This was definitely a slow burn horror novel. It took me awhile to get into it, but it picked up after about 90 pages. The characters were pretty good, and the plot definitely has intrigue for me. I wish it was executed a bit better. Sally and her friends go to the island where tragedy happened when she was young and her sister dies. Going back many years later, Sally is looking for answers. The ending was a bit predictable, and I wish there was more surprise.

The pacing is confusing, but the main character is well written. There were lots of useless and confusing convos. This book has potential but it was waaaay too slow for me.

When We Talk to the Dead is a tale of psychological trauma and grief intertwined with a hint of supernatural mystery. When Sally da Gama makes a decision to return to her childhood home on Captain's Island - a home and life she cannot remember details of - with her friends, they find out how cursed a grief-stricken location can become.

I honestly do not understand the claims that this novel was "too slow" to finish or enjoy. We are introduced to the five main characters, their personalities, traits, and relationships with each other to understand their purposes within the narrative. Once they arrive on the island, these established relationships start to show cracks as true feelings and thoughts are slowly revealed within their isolated stay.

The terror of the supernatural builds from there, enveloping the story into a foggy shroud of mystery. There were things that happened (spoilers) that I was not expecting, and they kept me continuing to read to find out what happens next. The consecutive twists at the end made me have a giant "OH" moment as their reveal were well executed and plausible.

Once things started to pick up within the plot, I had the distinct sensation of reading a story that was derailing into a teen horror movie in a naturally moving way (this is not a negative). I came into this book expecting a mediocre slowburn horror based on quick glances at the reviews but came away pleased that I gave this book its due turn.

What I Enjoyed:
- main character Sally definitely has some psychological trauma/grief issues that make her feel distant from everything that is happening -- makes her an interesting protagonist
- slowly creeping horror that remains long after the story ends
- twisty plot twists that made me give audible "OH" moments while reading
- fleshed out teen characters who both embody and throw off stereotypical teen archetypes for horror-based media

this novel was pretty good, but i found the ending a little bit too strangely done, as the elements were barely there beforehand. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I really enjoyed the story buildup, the atmosphere, and the main protagonist; they were all well done and kept me interested. However, the pacing felt a bit too slow for my taste. I'm not saying the book doesn't have potential, but the slow pace caused me to lose focus several times.

I really gave this one a chance by reading it all but unfortunately if this wasn't an e-arc I would probably have DNF'd it. It was such a slow book, nothing happened until 70% of the way through. It takes slow to another level.

There was potential there but unfortunately I don't think this was one for me.