Manhattanite Bram shows up in the middle of the night to a small town near the Hudson, with nothing but one suitcase, her phone, and a chip on her shoulder that no one knows anything about, headed for her estranged uncle’s dilapidated mansion. All the reader knows going in is that she’s been basically thrown out of her mother’s home in Manhattan, Bram has secrets, and—after the end of her first night—her new home might be very, very haunted.

This is a spooky ghost story with a lot of twists. For starters, Bram is definitely a skeptic, and definitely not a damsel in distress. She is positive there’s more to the legends of the multiple girls that have died in the mansion than is being told, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it and clear the latest girl—her step-couin’s—name. There is a definite feminist twist to the ghost stories and the detective work that Bram does and it’s refreshing while still remaining creepy. This is a great winter book to curl up under seven blankets and read in the dark.

The author did a fantastic job with the atmosphere of the book, remaining true to the character of everyone that had been introduced, Bram’s story and past were integrated nicely into the narrative and at no point did I feel like anything was introduced needlessly or at the wrong time. Everything wrapped up into a nice little bow at the end and it was a very enjoyable read.

TW: sexual assault, drug use, death of a parent (and parent figure), alcoholism

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for a review.

4.5/5 Stars
This book came out this past Tuesday and if you’re a fan of ghost stories or unique (and feminist) mysteries then you will want to check it out asap!! The beginning was full of confusion for me, but everything was cleared up as the story progressed and by the end just… wow… this author was a plot genius! Every piece of this mystery fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and it was so satisfying to read. Also, the level of spookiness was perfect for me. I’m not really a fan of paranormal novels, but this had the right amount of tension to engage me, while not totally freaking me out. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes the idea of a spooky manor with a history of *disappearing girls* but with a healthy dose of feminism. Thank you so much to the publisher for the arc! I loved this book!

Sadly I was not able to get to this before the release date, and I will not be getting to it before it's archived. I am interested in picking it up.

This was a really great book start to finish. Dark and atmospheric, it kept my attention the whole time and I loved the way they revealed the ending. The twists were timed in a good way as well. I really liked the characters, for the most part, but I really tend not to like when everyone but the main character knows something. No one told Bram a key detail that definitely would have made her life easier and safer, yet for some reason, she was the only one who didn't seem to know. I realize it was written that way for suspense, but those are just the small things that bug me in this genre as a whole. I love haunted house stories and I think this was done in a fairly unique way. Overall this was a solid book that had some spooky vibes and great pacing.

Don‘t Tell A Soul by Kirsten Miller is a contemporary young adult gothic mystery about a girl who flees Manhattan for her uncle’s mansion in the Hudson Valley. But the house has tragic tales of injured, dead and missing women and girls attached to it and the locals in the small town don’t trust Bram or her uncle.

This is feminist spin on an old idea (estranged uncle + creepy mansion + suspicious townsfolk) but Bram isn't your normal damsel in distress. She refuses to believe in ghosts and thinks there is a logical explanation for each mystery of the “dead girls”. There are a lot of red herrings and misunderstandings that keep Bram and the reader on their toes. Slowly the reader uncovers what has really happened in the mansion as we are also discovering Bram’s true reasons for leaving Manhattan and what happened to her father.

I appreciated that Bram was sassy and bold and didn’t just cower in her room. But this also means she throws herself into dangerous situations and takes a lot of snow and blizzard related risks. She keeps her eyes on her goal so even though there are several cute boys hanging around she is clear that she isn’t trying to date in the middle of a murder mystery. And although I could follow the many threads of tragedy that created both Bram‘s last five years and the entire 130 history of the mansion it could feel like a lot of excessive drama. There is also an odd “adults can’t be trusted“ note of cynicism that runs through the entire novel. Almost every adult present is rude, cruel, murderous or mentally ill and the best of the bunch are already dead.

Overall, I found Don’t Tell A Soul a twisty mystery with lots of fun elements. This is a great one to snuggle up with on a cold winter day and watch this teen sleuth stand up for all the “dead girls” that went before her.

4 stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️

My copy of Don’t Tell A Soul was provided by NetGalley and the publisher for reviewing purposes

"That was when I knew there was something wrong with the story. It sounded like a million old tales I'd been told - simple and tragic with a clear villain and victim. But in the real world, girls don't just lose their minds. If they kill their mothers or beat up their boyfriends or burn down their houses, they tend to have reasons."

Bram arrived in small town Louth hoping to leave her past behind in Manhattan - her controlling mother, the scandal, the tragic family history. She found a different past to explore, that of the town, the manor where her uncle now lives, and the Dead Girls. Uncle James also has a sad past - a first wife dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, and recently, his second wife passed away in the manor, in a fire speculated to have been caused by her daughter Lark. Lark's side of the story is unclear - she was found afterward wandering the grounds, talking about the girls who died at the manor and with little memory of the night. Bram has experience with not being believed, but she can't convince Lark to confide in her; she's been institutionalized. The locals in Louth don't approve of Bram and others from the city moving into their town, evident from their chilly reception. But Bram won't stop investigating. She wants to know what happened in the past - Grace Louth was the first girl from the manor to die, drowning herself in the Hudson River after her fiance married another. But she wasn't the only girl to die. And while Bram looks into the mysteries of the past, all isn't right in the present either - sounds around the house, doors opening that she definitely locked, furniture in different spots than where it was when she fell asleep... People have said that the manor is cursed, but Bram wants to find the truth.

I had a hard time putting this one down! Just a really engaging gothic thriller, with a constant feel of "who to trust?". There are multiple layers of mystery here, and everything tied up satisfactorily for me. Good depiction of mental illness/addiction. The book's description calls it a "modern day Rebecca" - I haven't read Rebecca and can't speak to that. If you like atmospheric gothic, this is it for sure. I thought of The Turn of the Screw (what is going ON in this creepy house?) and A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel (what's the truth?/why don't you believe me?) You may want to be aware that this book contains death of a parent, sexual assault, and drug abuse.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the eARC. Don't Tell a Soul will be published January 26th, 2021.

4/5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Great ya novel that kept exceeding my expectations with how lush the story is

THIS BOOK SCARED THE HECK OUTTA ME

⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 Stars!

Don't Tell a Soul lends itself as part ghost story, part suspense, and as an avid reader of both I was *highly* satisfied. Here we follow Bram, a troubled teen with a spotty past, one parent in the grave, and a terrible reputation in her wake. When her mother sends her away from the city to live her with her estranged uncle in the Manor where a fire previously took his own wife and sickened her daughter. But the town of Louth is full of secrets, and Bram is drawn to the stories of Dead Girls surrounding the manor she now lives in. Will she be able to uncover the truth before someone — or something — gets to her first?

tw: addiction/drug abuse, attempted sexual assault, mentions of suicide, murder

I love being scared. Blood and gore? Eh, not my style. But there is something to be said for the ability to create a tone of unease that carries throughout a book and Kirsten Miller definitely did that for me. There were moments where I was questioning myself reading this thing in the dark. I am a very visual reader, and there were instances where all it took were a few choice words and I was terrified out of my wits at the image alone. That alone made this a winner for me!

There was also a quickness to the prose that launched the story along so nicely. We were given tons of information and backstory as we went, mixtures of legends and Bram's own thoughts. We know from the beginning that Bram has been through something horrible, but as she pieces it back together so do we, and she is a fiercely determined heroine that I think everyone wants to root for in the end. She tempers her aloofness with a natural kindness and a curiosity that won't quit. The supporting cast here was also phenomenal and you really don't know right up until the end who you can trust — but that made it all the more fun.

The half a star down rating was because the ending propelled itself a little too quickly for my tastes and I found myself turning back the pages to make sure I hadn't skipped ahead. I think it could have done with a little more breathing room before jumping into the epilogue but despite that I found this a highly enjoyable, creepy, and satisfying read!

Don't Tell A Soul will be out in three days! And if you love a good creep factor, this one is a winner.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

I’ll be honest, I was tempted to DNF this book because it was sort of slow moving and it wasn’t really compelling until 40% in the book and then BAM did the novel really shift its gears and started to become unputdownable! I love the book Rebecca and this book was advertised as a retelling of sorts loaded with snowy creepiness and mystery. I must say that I started to like the protagonist Bram way better once we got a chance to really know her better. I really couldn’t tell where the story was going and that’s good! I like the element of surprise and figuring things out alongside the protagonist.

I love that we as readers, just like the protagonist, are wary of all the characters we encounter, because it gives you this feeling that nothing is sacred and you can’t trust anyone. I must say that I really enjoyed this book a lot and am glad that I went against my initial feelings to put it down, and decided to give it a chance.

This book is ideal for readers who love twisty thriller/mysteries or Gothic influenced thrillers with unrealible side characters.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Bram moves to a creepy manor that is supposedly cursed. Not a new concept but still one of my favorites to read. This reminded me of a lot of Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark which I absolutely loved but I thought there were a little bit too many similarities. Comparing those similarities would be spoilers so I won’t go into those but if you’ve read both books you will know what I’m talking about.

I really liked that even though this is targeted as a young adult book, there are themes of female empowerment and seeking justice. I liked that the women in the book all helped and supported each other and that there were some people you could actually trust. Some of the men were even helpful and I thought it was refreshing that our main character had help rather than having to do everything on her own. There was also no romance which is a plus for me.

Described as a modern day Rebecca, I’m now interested in reading that book this year. I enjoyed this and the cover is absolutely incredible.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Delacorte Press for an advanced copy of this book!

Most characters run from ghosts, but Bram Howland runs toward them.

Fleeing Manhattan and the controlling grip of her mother, Bram heads to Louth to stay with her Uncle James in his half-burned mansion. In the wake of a house fire that killed his wife, a house fire apparently set by his step-daughter, he's not the uncle that Bram remembers. Without her uncle's help, Bram must explore the truth behind the manor, dodging cagey Louth locals and vicious rumors at every turn. The Dead Girls of Louth are waiting for their stories to be heard.

And maybe even waiting for Bram to join them.


Don't Tell a Soul is sharp, even prickly, and perfect for the height of winter.

Opening in a snowstorm swirling around the half-burned mansion, this book sets its tone immediately. Everything about it is cold and crisp, and it layers itself in one shadow after another. And like the environment, Bram is equally chilly and sharp, clutching box cutters in her pockets and constantly weighing the depths of her trust for others. From the very first page, you cannot trust anyone but Bram.

You must not.

It's a critical facet of horror, this ability to heighten the sense of setting, and I'm always pleased when I can report that a book has done it well. Don't Tell a Soul toys with all manner of smoldering wreckage even while lakes and rivers freeze over in a glittery sort of wonderland, forming a tiny riverside town with secrets tucked into every single shadow.


"The truth always got buried along with the girls."

More important than the setting, though, is the plot of the book. I don't often read horror, so when I make an exception, I want it to throw every punch full force. Thankfully, Don't Tell a Soul understands how rumor flies in small towns, how scandals twist to take looming, threatening lives of their own. And more than that, it knows how to spin the bones of a ghost story at the same time as it brews approaching, so very real danger. Even as the pieces of the Dead Girls of Louth come to light, the tension never quite relents. Bram wades through nearly two centuries' worth of ghosts while trying to put her own to rest, and it takes the full sum of the book to put it all to bed.

As a result, Don't Tell a Soul is a phenomenally fast read. This is probably why it played such a strong role in busting my reading slump last week. The pages keep turning, the answers keep coming, and yet the questions remain, darker than ever.

Additionally, this book manages to take horrors of past and present and tie them together. Grace Louth, the first Dead Girl, and Bram Howland are closer than they could ever know, and theirs stories touch along unsettling parallels. This rings true for the other Dead Girls, too. Bram and her sharp, wary nature are the key to everything that this town has hidden over the years.


If you can handle horror sometimes more realistic than paranormal, read this book.

At times, the topics can grow heavy; there's no denying that. If you've read this far and want to give Don't Tell a Soul a try, I recommend you read the content warnings I've listed below. And if you've done that and still want to pick this book up, you don't have to wait long! Next Tuesday, January 26th, Don't Tell a Soul makes it way onto shelves. You still have time to place a pre-order or library request, if those options are within your means, and before long, this book will be here, all wrapped up in bitter winter chill.

Are you ready to meet the Dead Girls of Louth?


CW: loss of a loved one, suicide, drug use, addiction, overdose, underage drinking, gaslighting, domestic abuse, alcoholism, rape, animal death

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 1/20/21.]

"Stay up all night with this modern day Rebecca! Perfect for fans of Truly Devious - a haunting story about a new girl in an old town filled with dark secrets...that might just kill her.

People say the house is cursed.
It preys on the weakest, and young women are its favorite victims.
In Louth, they're called the Dead Girls.

All Bram wanted was to disappear - from her old life, her family's past, and from the scandal that continues to haunt her. The only place left to go is Louth, the tiny town on the Hudson River where her uncle, James, has been renovating an old mansion.

But James is haunted by his own ghosts. Months earlier, his beloved wife died in a fire that people say was set by her daughter. The tragedy left James a shell of the man Bram knew - and destroyed half the house he'd so lovingly restored.

The manor is creepy, and so are the locals. The people of Louth don't want outsiders like Bram in their town, and with each passing day she's discovering that the rumors they spread are just as disturbing as the secrets they hide. Most frightening of all are the legends they tell about the Dead Girls. Girls whose lives were cut short in the very house Bram now calls home.

The terrifying reality is that the Dead Girls may have never left the manor. And if Bram looks too hard into the town's haunted past, she might not either."

That cover! That description! That reference to Rebecca!

Thank you to Random House Children's & NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review! Don't Tell A Soul was an awesome read! It's pegged a modern day Rebecca! and I definitely got those vibes! Bram (cool name!) Is our main character who moves to a small reclusive town called Louth with her Uncle into a huge house filled with mystery and dark secrets. She meets a few people along the way but is never quite sure who to trust. As she discovers the stories of the Dead Girls she becomes drawn to the specific girl who was said to haunt the painting in her room. Bram begins to uncover the chilling secrets of both the living and the dead and trust me when I say... Nothing is what it seems!

I found myself drawn to Don't Tell A Soul, it has a gothic ambiance. The story is wonderfully written, there are fantastic eerie vibes, more mature YA thriller/horror. This isn't your typical adult horror, the outcome is somewhat predictable, but I still enjoyed it.

CW: parental neglect, parental death, gaslighting, sexual assault/rape, drug abuse, mentions of suicide, mental illnesses.


Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a fabulous YA mystery/horror/thriller focusing on the power of women's anger and the myriad ways society (and families) try to silence them. I'd say it's somewhat like Riley Sager, but even better better, and written by a woman (so the teen girl characters are quite well developed and their voices are realistic, at least to me). It's one of the rare e-ARCs I'm defnitely going to go out and buy as soon as it's released. (Content warning for (non-graphic) discussions of sexual assault.)

CW: parental death, sexual assault/rape, drug/substance abuse, mentions of suicide, mentions of non-descript mental illnesses, gaslighting, parental neglect

I’ve been slowly but surely drifting into a territory of picking up one book after another revolving around what sounded like haunted houses, but with a much more complex stories underneath. I am not quite sure what draws me to these kind of books, but Kirsten Miller managed to create a wonderfully creepy ambiance reminiscent of gothic classics. There’s an unease in the house and especially in the beginning, you have no idea what to expect from it. As often as the people of Louth keep saying that they don’t believe in ghosts, it still seems like something is off about the manor.

People say the house is cursed.
It preys on the weakest, and young women are its favorite victims.
In Louth, they’re called the Dead Girls.

When you first meet Bram, it becomes instantly apparent that something bad has happened to her. Even without knowing the details, you just know. That girl has built up a wall of defense a mile high and while that was completely understandable considering her history and upbringing, it still felt irritating during some earlier points in the story. The way she went from starting to like and warm up to people to completely distrusting them and looking for weapons to defend herself in case of an emergency could give you whiplash, although I again want to stress that it makes sense because of her past. But still, as long as you don’t know her, it makes it hard to warm up to her entirely sometimes. Her reasons for wanting to be in the manor so badly kind of eluded me at first, because I did not completely understand her obsession with what happened, but then this also gets explained and uncovered. I think one of the main objectives with the book is to just stick with it and things will eventually get resolved.

Aside from Bram, there was an assortment of interesting characters, all keeping you on your toes the entire time. I feel like we could have gotten to know a couple of them better, but with Lark’s wall up, you get most of your information through second-hand gossip and later confrontations. Trust is a scare commodity in Louth, especially with so many girls having vanished and/or died in the small community over the years. However, my initial feeling for most people was correct, which either made the novel predictable or my gut instinct is just rocking.

Overall, I enjoyed many of the twists and was far from guessing everything. I felt a certain distance to the characters and the story for a long time, but it did all come together in the end. Some might say it came together a bit too conveniently, but I didn’t mind that too much. Just be prepared for a story full of gaslighting and people blaming mental illness for all sorts of things, without anyone being diagnosed or actually having a mental illness in some cases. It can easily rub you the wrong way, but is a huge part of exposing who the good and bad guys are in this story.

WELL HOLY MARBLES

this was my first book of 2021 and holy crap what a great choice, good job past self. this book spoke to me as a survivor, as someone who wasn't believed, as a former angry traumatized teen hellbent on justice. i loved every goddamn word

please why aren't we all screaming about this book on main constantly, when i tell you it's the PROSE and the CHARACTERIZATION and the SUSPENSE and the GHOST GIRLS and the METAPHOR and the LOVE SONG TO SURVIVORS EVERYWHERE god read this book i beg

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Deliciously gothic and haunting, Don't Tell a Soul is a work of suspense and intrigue. It's always a great read when you don't know who to trust, maybe not even the narrator herself.

I loved the setting of this story. Creepy, wintery small towns give me weird vibes in real life, but this really was the perfect setting for Bram's story. The typical trope of a creepy old house is often overused in this genre, but I can't complain since it fit so perfectly.

I enjoyed Bram's character. I found her determined and full of moxie. Female empowerment is important to me, so it was nice to see it used in this book.

My only qualm was that it was a tad predictable. I'm usually pretty good at figuring out big twists so I wasn't surprised to do it this time. These books always tend to go the same way, making it hard to have something completely original.

Don't Tell a Soul made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It made me feel uneasy and like I was being watched. When simple words on the page can do that, you know it's a good read. 3.5 stars.

- the vibes of this were SO good (eerie, melancholy, cold)
- I really enjoyed the feminist commentary throughout

- I'm confused why this is categorized as horror
- the characterization was so poor; I know absolutely nothing about any of the characters personalities and there were so many of them with different timelines it actually got pretty hard to distinguish between them
- the direction the book went in was really disappointing. I was hoping for a spooky, ghosty story but it just did not go that way at all

I’ve been reading a lot more YA horror/thriller recently, and this book was an excellent one. It’s very mature, definitely on the older end of YA (my preference), with a strong coming-of-age theme; the main character has a lot of her childhood conceptions shattered as she discovers secrets and family history. There’s also a powerful found family theme, which I love. The mystery is tantalizing, with a rather subversive reveal, and the setting is very atmospheric.