Didn't capture my attention and engagement. Interested in trying it again though and hopefully it will take.

The first part of the novel worked for me, but the back half was not satisfying and a bit of a let down. I'd try another title by this author, but this one was just "eh" for me.

I loved the first half of this book. The author does a great job creating a spooky atmosphere that hooks you right away. Once the romance was added to the story I felt the spookiness slip away.

ARC received from NetGalley for honest review. I did not realize this was a second book to a series and had not read the first book. The writing style was beautiful. I did not get the “horror” vibe from this novel. The beginning of this novel had me hooked, but I sort of lost interest toward the end. Although I would not rate this higher than 3 stars. I would love to read more from this author .

Now, this book is supposed to be a horror, but honestly I didn’t feel the vibe there. Imma say it’s more like a romantic-suspense-mystery book coupled with Faith. Lots of Faith. Some mysterious things occur, sending Kit into a terrified state. She starts seeing a shadow outside her house, and becomes very disturbed. Tying to change her past mistakes, she befriends the neighbourhood’s grumpy old lady, Mad Maddie McPhearson. I think this is major highlight of the book. It changes everything, Kit’s friendship with this lady opens the door for all the secrets to unfold.


I love the characters of the book. Kit, her two friends, all have distinct personalities. Bree, the bubbly vibrant girl whom I like best, and her other friend who is more tough-ish and all. The book has an oldies vibe, and I think that made it quite different. Mad Maddie’s life when she was younger is shown, and I felt nostalgic thinking of the pretty, vibrant lady full of life. There were lots of secrets that she took to the grave, some of which Kit guessed.


There weren’t too much characters and it was fast paced. There was mention of ghosts but I don’t think I understood who the ghosts were.

I loved the book, it was interesting, If you’re a fan of Southern Fiction that is filled with suspense and crime, I think this might just be the book for you.

Four girls have decided that the four of them will call themselves as the Sisterhood. One girl, Libby mysteriously disappears. What happened to her? The novel revolves around this question of “what happened to Libby.” I don’t want to give more away of the novel. I want you to read it for yourself.

I’m sorry to say that even though I enjoyed the first half of this book, I found the second half didn’t stand up to the first half. It’s a good atmospheric novel. The descriptions are written that you find yourself seeing what the characters saw. It is a little spooky but I don’t think of as horror. It’s more about true friendship and the mystery of how one of the four girls of the sisterhood disappears one night and how that disappearance affects the small community. It is face paced and has a few surprises. It’s a great mystery to read.

This is a well-written book and Twyla Ellis has woven a brilliant story. I do not like reviews that give away too much. Sometimes a bad review will keep me from reading a book I really wanted to read. I think if you want to read a book, read it! I do not think you will regret reading this book.

This caught my eye that with the cover was the promise of what was inside. Reading alot of ghostly novels and ones that have the unexplained this fit what I was looking for. This is also first time in reading this author. What a name for a road that too was one that picked the curiosity. Kit is the one we follow in this one. Will she get the answers she wants about Libby? She does get some she did not expect though. And that Miss Maddie what a number. She also has to do things she did not expect when coming to sell the house. So this does have some scary parts it also will throw in some elements of romance. The mix is a bit off so the author will have to decide which part fits in where a bit better but in ghostly and unexplained not too many have romance built it is already in there. Then it is not exactly romance. It keeps you engaged because you do want answers especially since you started the questions.

This book surpassed my expectations, which is always a great thing. It takes place in a small town in Texas on the edge of the Big Thicket. Four childhood friends - the Sisterhood of Cemetery Road - spend their days riding bikes around the small town until one night when Libby goes missing. She was never found and not long after Kit moves away. Years later, Kit returns in order to fix up and sell her parent's old house. Kit has never planned on returning to her part of the Thicket, but the Thicket has other plans. Reconnecting with the remaining two members of the Sisterhood and brothers Colton and Jackson lead Kit on a journey that traverses the supernatural as well as the darkest parts of humanity.

I absolutely loved this book. I found the summary to be a bit misleading in that I thought this would be more of a girl coming back to her small town and reconnecting with the people she left behind and maybe finding closure about her lost friend. I was expecting a much more quiet book with themes about grief, friendship, and forgiveness. I certainly was not expecting the scary supernatural elements that permeated the story. The cover and the summary, in my opinion, do not do this story justice for just how entertaining and enthralling of a story it is. There are consistent threats from the supernatural elements that Kit encounters and while none of them physically hurt her, they are terrifying. The story does still cover themes of grief, friendship, and forgiveness, but with an undercurrent of the unknown forces that creep out of the Thicket at night. There were a few scenes that had my heart racing and I had to put down the book twice when I was reading before bed because it was just a bit too much and my overactive imagination was getting away from me. This book wasn't what I expected it to be - in the best way possible.

The relationship between Kit and the elderly Miss Maddie was my favorite relationship in the whole book. Miss Maddie is Kit's neighbor who lives in a run down estate. Miss Maddie is the definition of a crotchety old lady who wants nothing to do with Kit. She sits on her front porch and threatens Kit for just walking by her house. When Kit returns to town, she realizes that Miss Maddie doesn't have anyone looking out for her so Kit takes it upon herself to try. Bringing Miss Maddie dinner and generally checking in on her, despite the verbal assault Miss Maddie slings, is Kit's new mission while she's fixing up her parent's house. There were rumors back when they were kids that there was something off about Miss Maddie - or Mad Maddie McPhearson as she was called - and Kit slowly unravels the mystery of Miss Maddie. Their relationship really highlights what kind of person Kit is and it helps Kit remember the good times of living in the town before tragedy struck. While the two never completely get along, there is a small camaraderie that builds between the two women throughout the book.

There were two small things that irked me about the story. The first is the hints along the way that nothing is exactly as it seems. Now, normally with these kinds of spooky mystery books, I'm already questioning everyone's motives and actions and I think that is a standard expectation of the genre. However, Ellis takes it one step further and will put lines like "if I had only known then" at the end of some scenes. Which was just too heavy-handed for my liking and it broke my immersion in the reading because it made me go "okay, well I guess this will be important later, good to know" and by the third instance of this, I let go of my own guesses or suspicions on certain characters because the author didn't say anything about them so they must not be part of the mystery. It just took some of the mystery away and took me out of the reading experience since those were really the only times the narrator had that sort of 20/20 hindsight.

The other small thing that I wasn't a fan of was how quickly the romance element moved at the end of the book. I was a huge fan of the romance elements of the story overall, and felt that Kit and the love interest had a nice slow burn relationship building which was appropriate given all the spooky stuff happening and the fact that Kit wasn't sure if she was even staying in town or not for most of the book. The love interest was also a very solid character who was Kit's rock for much of the story. She leaned on him and he was always there to help her. The romance wasn't the main story line by far so when the ending epilogue specifically focused on the romance, it didn't feel like the right tone to end the book on.

Finally, the last part I want to mention that I really liked was how this book used To Kill A Mockingbird as a touchstone for some of the themes of the book. The four girls read it in school and set out one summer to figure out who is their town's Boo Radley. The characters call back to this a few times throughout the story and I think it was interesting to see the parallels between the stories. The general mood and tone of the stories are somewhat similar with their small town southern charm and slower pace of life. The theme of 'outsiders' is strong in this book and we see that theme explored from multiple perspectives which I found really interesting. I find a lot of time classic novels are referenced in modern books but I haven't read many classics so I don't usually care about the references to them that much. But To Kill A Mockingbird had a big impact on me when we read it in 9th grade English class so it really deepened my reading experience of The Girls of Cemetery Road.


A fantastic book about grief, friendship, forgiveness, and outsiders. Some very scary scenes that got my heart racing. An exploration on the supernatural as well as the evils that lurk closer to home. Highly recommend!

344 pages.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC. This book was published on August 25, 2020.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary advance reader copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This is book two in the Ghosts of the Big Thicket series, they’re not continual books, they have different characters in different storylines so it is not necessary to read the first to enjoy or understand this book. This was a good read, I enjoyed the sisterhood and found Kit, the main character very likeable. When the four girls in the sisterhood meet late one night in the woods, only three of them come out and it forever changes not only their lives but the whole of their small community. Kit and her family move away within the next year and it is over ten years before Kit returns to her family home, to get it ready to sell. Being back in the Big Thicket makes Kit not want to leave as she reunites with her friends but there is a presence in the woods, is it Libby, the spirit of the missing girl or is it a malevolent spirit. As we get to the bottom of the mystery, we meet a very interesting cast of characters. Good storyline and enough twists to keep it interesting. I found the last part of the book wrapped the story up a little too quick but still enjoyed reading it.

I will be watching for the next book in the series..

i had enjoyed the first book in the series, this book kept what i was looking for in this type of book and it had me wanting more from the series.

So, I have been really diving into a lot of books the past week or so, and as grace would have it, they have been phenomenal- and this book was no different! I truly struggled to put this book down!

There really is nothing that I would change about this story of four girls hoping to find their Boo Radley and what was expected to be an amazing summer of no school. The loss of one of the girls helped to fuel the legends of Cemetery Road and our girls grew up, coming back together when Kitrina comes home to sell her childhood home. That is when the strange and paranormal begin to take place and leaves everyone re-opening the old wound of losing Libby; wounds they thought had closed.

The story of the girls on Cemetery Road started as a coming of age story and quickly and surprisingly turned into an emotional and paranormal thriller. It was amazing to see such a smooth and effortless transition from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood type vibes to what the hell is going to happen next vibes!

I definitely recommend this book with a 5 out of 5 stars! Perfect for your Halloween reading list!

The Girls of Cemetery Road is a fantastic book. It is about a group of girls and the area they grew up in around East Texas called the Thicket. The characters are very well written and you become quite attached to the Sisterhood. The story revolves around the dispperance of one of the girls and how things go years later when one comes back to the area. There is a real gothic feel to it especiallty the creepy old house with the crazy lady. The ghost story was my favorite part. I liked how it played out. I also loved the Thicket, the author did such a wonderful job describing it. And the owls, loved the owls. This is for sure one of my top five books of the year. Just an all around great book. I can't wait to read more of this series.

I wasn’t sure what to think of this book by the end. There was a lot going on. Centered around Kit Katim who has come back home to Big Sandy, Texas to get her parents home ready to sell, this book reminds me in part of Where the Crawdads sing.
It’s a bit of a mish mash. Part love story, part childhood mystery, and part supernatural happenings. It was an enticing read that went quickly.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Crawdads.

Thank you to Twyla Ellis, Zimbell House Publishing, and NetGalley who provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

this was good... fast paced and curious... mysterious and it drew me into this story. it had fun paranormal aspects and interesting storyline.

"The Girls of Cemetery Road" kept me so intensely interested. I really enjoyed reading this book with the teasing cliff hangers, the eerie feel, and the mysterious setting. 4/5 stars!

Looking for a classic historical ghost story that takes place in an eerie Southern plantation? Then this book is for you. I loved reading about the close-knit friendship shared by the Sisterhood, and find myself wanting to learn more about their childhood.

This book moves at a good pace, and there are multiple chapter cliff-hangers that provide welcome scares.

I love, love, loved this!! Couldn't put it down. The perfect book for the spooky season!!

It was interesting on how all of the characters were linked. The character interactions made this a great book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

Ehhh. Meh?

I love horror, but it can definitely be hard to do well. Especially in the written word. And even more so for a YA audience.

This book had a strong, promising start. It was set up to be a good story. And then there was romance. I will never understand the need for people to add romance into horror titles because it is so unnecessary. It was losing steam at that point anyway, so I decided to nope out of it.

This was a pretty solid novel. The setting was definitely the best part for me. I loved how genuinely creepy the Big Thicket was, and how it felt truly witchy. I also thought that the main character, Kitrina, was quite interesting. What shined for me were the childhood scenes at the beginning of the novel. The author really captured the thrills and confusion of being. a child. That being said, I never truly got into this novel. For me, it was pretty middle-of-the-road. Thank you for the ARC.