*Little Kin* by Katya de Becerra is an eerie, beautifully written story that lingers long after the final page. Blending folklore, mystery, and emotional depth, it creates a haunting atmosphere that pulls you in right away. The characters feel authentic and layered, and the slow-building tension makes the payoff especially satisfying. A captivating and unsettling read for fans of dark, thought-provoking fiction.

Little Kin feels both beautiful and deeply unsettling. The writing has this quiet, almost hypnotic tone, and the way it blends folklore with themes of identity and belonging really stood out to me.

It’s intimate, eerie, and the kind of story that lingers after you finish.

Little Kin by Katya de Becerra is exactly the kind of folk horror that gets under your skin and stays there. Described as a tale of survival and belonging rooted in folkloric tradition, it sits firmly in the company of T. Kingfisher’s quiet, creeping dread and the sun-drenched nightmare logic of Ari Aster’s Midsommar, and de Becerra earns that comparison fully.
What de Becerra does exceptionally well is build horror out of the things that should feel safe: community, family, ritual, a sense of place. Her background in Cultural Anthropology is not incidental here. The folklore woven through this story does not feel decorative or borrowed. It feels lived-in, specific, and genuinely strange in the way that real folk traditions can be when you look at them closely enough. That grounded quality is what separates Little Kin from folk horror that only gestures at its source material.
The novel continues de Becerra’s preoccupation with complicated family dynamics and the weight of cultural memory, themes she has explored across her previous work with increasing confidence and depth. This feels like a writer at the height of her powers, stretching into territory that is more unsettling and more emotionally resonant than anything she has done before.
Fans of folk horror, ritual horror, and atmospheric storytelling that asks as many questions as it answers will not want to miss this one.

I was so immersed in this book. It’s eerie and atmospheric and a lovely blend of dark fantasy and folk horror. Add to your TBR!!

3.5☆
"The sacred balance must be kept. If we tell lies to the land, it will break us all"

Cassini Shanradoff-Krim is still reeling from the death of her mother, and mourning a father who is still alive but losing his battle to alzheimer's disease, when she recieves a letter that a mysterious Aunt Brigra she knew nothing about has left her their family's ancestral home. Cass embarks on a journey that will bring her closer to finding out who her birth parents are, and perhaps propel her anthropological career into the big leagues.

Little Kin is full of folklore and dark fantasy storytelling. Katya de Becerra definitely knows how to bring a world to life. The story did end up having a little too much fantasy sprinkled in for my taste, especially when it was marketed as a horror.

I think it can be hard for YA authors to find their adult audience writing style, and in my opinion Katya is not quite there yet. Besides for some spicier scenes, you could easily substitute the adult main characters for 17 year old characters, and the story would work. It reads very much like a throwback to the teen dystopian book era ( which I loved), but was lacking the grit and depth I feel an adult novel should have.

I would absolutely read Katya de Becerra's next adult novel, if there is one. Once her character's voices mature a little bit more, I think she'll be a force to be reckoned with when it comes to writing adult novels.

This was such a good book and beautifuly written. The author did such a good job setting the scene...dark and foggy folk horror. No electronics work as you near the island. Don't go out at night, don't answer the door....very creepy.

This one is a beautifully crafted and unsettling horror! It’s got folklore, world building layers, and uncanny moments. I loved the main character, Cass, as she navigates through this betrayal set of events on this island. It was a unique and memorable read!

I love folk horror and I’ve always found anthropology fascinating, so I was immediately intrigued by the premise of this book.

It was a fast paced read. At times I felt the plot was moving so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to appreciate the world of Rothagisht and the intricacies of the remote island and its mysterious customs.

I enjoyed following the main character Cass on her journey of self-discovery and empowerment. Elements of the story felt like Alice in Wonderland with Cass caught in a wild fever dream and I was happily along on the ride.

I would recommend for fans of The Wickerman and Midsommer. There were similar vibes right from that start in which a character is lured to a remote society and we can tell immediately that something is off but can’t put on our finger on what it might be. The plot kept me guessing until the climax which encouraged me to keep reading “just one more chapter” until the book was done.

Thank you for an E-ARC of Little Kin!

I will say that I liked the last 20% a lot. I wish would could have spent more time with that. This story is about a young woman going back to a home she has never known and the mysteries and horrors of what she discovers once she arrives.

When Cass inherits her family's ancestral home on a remote subarctic island, she hopes it will lead her to answers about her past. Instead, she finds herself caught in an ancient covenant, surrounded by unsettling folklore, impossible beings, and a desperate fight for survival. Little Kin was an eerie, immersive read with family secrets, dark fantasy, and folk horror.

I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding Cass's family history as she pieced together the truth about where she came from. The mythology and lore were incredibly imaginative, and it was clear how much care went into creating this unique world. While I appreciated the fantasy elements, I did find they occasionally overshadowed the horror. I went in expecting something a little darker and scarier...which is totally on me.

However, the story kept me invested from beginning to end. With the constant mystery, the unforgettable setting, and the surprising twists, I was always eager to see what would happen next.

Thank you, @blackstonepublishing, Katya de Becerra & NetGalley, for the #gifted earc. All opinions are my own.

The world building here is just top-notch. I was immediately immersed in the atmosphere and invested in both the island’s lore and Cass’s origins. The horror here is pretty light—it has a lot of folk horror elements, but it reads more as a dark fantasy to me. It is a little creepy and unsettling at times, but certainly nothing that kept me up at night. The protagonist, Cass, is an anthropologist and approaches her experience as such, which I thought was a clever way to make the “outsider vs. isolated community” trope feel very natural for the story. That lens also brings the fantasy elements down to earth—somehow, despite the magic, elf-like creatures, ancestral swords, and rock monsters, the vast majority of this story feels remarkably realistic. Things do take a more fantastical turn eventually, but it stays pretty grounded overall. There were a few wild twists I didn’t really expect, and I was briefly concerned about how a few situations might resolve, but man, the ending was so satisfying! Every loose end I cared about was wrapped up exactly how I’d hoped. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author!