A different kind of thriller with dark academia vibes, also full of deep feelings, fear, manipulation, and vengeance.

The story is narrated by three characters: Max, Audra, and Juniper.

Max is an artist and and he teaches at the university where Audra studies. In fact, they're very close.

Audra is a brilliant artist who is preparing her thesis and is being guided by Max. She lives alone in a cosy and beautiful house in Greenville, Maine, and has invited Max to spend the weekend there and help her with her thesis project.

Both characters narrate the story set in 2018-2019.

Juniper is an artist who has spent years in Lupine Valley Arts Collective (Maine), a sort of "artists camp". Here, people come to learn and grow as artists. When the time has come, they can teach. Juniper's story is set in 1988-1989.

The whole story is quite original. The vibes we get from the artists camp are interesting as well as the characters, especially Coral.

Some events that take place in Lupine Valley make me wonder, how far can someone go to feel inspired and make art?

A different kind of thriller with this dark academia vibes, also full of deep feelings, fear, manipulation, and vengeance.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the author, Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This atmospheric revenge thriller is told in two timelines, and varying POVs. Not always easy to follow, especially in the earlier timeline where everyone has been given a nickname. The story centers on an artist's camp/colony back in the day, and what has become of the characters thirty years later. I did find the revenge plot foreseeable, and it moves very slowly - this may be why I found it hard to stay engaged.

While this book was cleverly written, it was much too slow. When Max Durant went on a weekend trip to his students out of the way home in Maine, mentorship wasn’t on his mind. He had no way of knowing that his student, Audra, also had ulterior motives. Told in two time periods, 1988 and 2018, I found both storylines to move quite slowly, making it hard to keep me engaged. It was easy to guess where the story was going, and I kept hoping for a big twist, one that would redeem this book for me, unfortunately, one never came.

Dark Things I Adore is narrated from the dual POV of Max and Audra but it also features another perspective from a past timeline. I found the first half of this book to be incredibly slow and I was close to not finishing but I am so glad that I persevered because the hand half was fantastic. There were so many twists that I never saw coming whatsoever and I love how the book closes with a final twisted secret reveal of sorts.

Why, exactly, did Audra invited Max Durant, her professor, to visit her cabin in the woods? She's a talented artist, as is he, but she's always set herself apart from others. And why does he go? This dual time line novel moves back and forth between Audra and Max in the present, and Juniper and a mysterious person in the past. The notes and poetry left by that voice are clearly written by someone with mental health issues but who is she? What happened in the woods in 1988? Lots of questions because no spoilers. I figured this one out very early on, and you might as well. I ended up flipping pages to see what ultimately happened and there was one surprise for me. That said, it's well written and others might enjoy it more than I did. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for granting my wish and gifting me a digital copy of the debut thriller by Katie Lattari - 4.5 stars!

Told between two timeframes - 1988 and 2018 - the story centers around Lupine Valley in backwoods Maine, an artist camp. In 1999. the Painters are a close group and spend many a night gathered by a campfire or in someone's cabin. There are two locals among the Painters - Coral and Mantis - who serve as both muse and guide among their jobs at the camp. In 2018, Audra is a promising art student at a prestigious institute in Boston, working under the instruction of renowned artist Max Durant. Max follows Audra to her home where she is to show him her thesis work, but Audra has different plans for the weekend.

This is a complex, multi-faceted book that I loved getting lost in. It's a revenge story, trying to balance the scales of past injustices. It's also a look at how complicit we can be - do we look the other way when we know something just isn't right? Do we do that for our own sakes or for someone else's? The author was so skilled at twisting the past and present, so that even when you think you have it figured out, there are even more layers you didn't guess. Fabulous debut - can't wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exhange for an honest review.
"Dark Things I Adore" by Katie Lattari
is a story of art, mental health & revenge.
I found it to be a dark & captivating read.
I enjoyed it & liked how the author used dual timelines to gradually reveal secrets & lead the reader to a great unexpected ending.
This was the author's debut novel & I can't wait to read more thrillers from her.

DNF @ 10%. I was going to try to stick it out, even though the writing wasn't really to my taste. But then I looked at other reviews and decided that this book is unfortunately notto my tastes. Sorry!

Really atmospheric dual timeline thriller. Brilliant ending too. If you like your novels dark and brooding with more than a hint of intrigue, you'll like this.

If you enjoy multiple characters and timelines, you will like Dark Things I Adore by Katie Lattari. I was immediately intrigued by the title, how could you not be? It just implies something suspenseful and a little sinister.

Here’s the synopsis:

Three campfire secrets. Two witnesses. One dead in the trees. And the woman, thirty years later, bent on making the guilty finally pay.

1988. A group of outcasts gather at a small, prestigious arts camp nestled in the Maine woods. They’re the painters: bright, hopeful, teeming with potential. But secrets and dark ambitions rise like smoke from a campfire, and the truths they tell will come back to haunt them in ways more deadly than they dreamed.

2018. Esteemed art professor Max Durant arrives at his protégé’s remote home to view her graduate thesis collection. He knows Audra is beautiful and brilliant. He knows being invited into her private world is a rare gift. But he doesn’t know that Audra has engineered every aspect of their weekend together. Every detail, every conversation. Audra has woven the perfect web.

Only Audra knows what happened that summer in 1988. Max’s secret, and the dark things that followed. And even though it won’t be easy, Audra knows someone must pay.

I enjoyed this book and think you will too! It comes out on September 14.

I really wanted to love this book, but I had the hardest time getting into it. I didn’t understand what was happening between the Professor and his student and his character was hard to relate to. I picked this up and put it down multiple times, but it was just too slow for me. Thanks for the opportunity to give it a read.

After reading some fantastic reviews on n Dark Things I Adore, I was excited to have my wish granted on Netgalley. I

Unfortunately when I started this book I struggled to get into it. I put it aside and tried again but still I was lost. I found myself confused by the multiple characters and timelines. There is also alot of art talk and jargon that made my eyes glazed over.

So many people have enjoyed this so don't just take my word for it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this book to read

Are you seriously telling me that this is a debut novel? It certainly did not read like one.
This story follows a dual time line. In the present timeline of 2018-2019, we see Professor Max Durant and his protégé Audra Colfax. Max is a renowned artist, but he definitely is problematic. The way he just thinks about women in general did not make me warm up to the character from the beginning itself. I am guessing this was deliberate. This is how the character needed to be painted. Max is trying hard to get close to Audra. This is something he has done before with various female students of his.

The other timeline is that of 1988-1999, with the events taking place in a sort of art camp at Lupine Valley owned by old man Gus. He had a fondness of giving everyone nicknames. We follow several characters and the incidents they were involved in while at the camp. The important ones would be Moss, Mantis, Juniper and Coral.

How is Max and Coral related to the people mentioned at the camp. The reader is easily led to believe that Max’s weekend getaway to Audra’s home is not going to turn out in his favour. What exactly are Audra’s intentions and why does she want to harm Max?

Things get dark very quick and I love the build-up. It is slow yet much needed. The way art is incorporated and used for the narration left me wanting more.

The story begs the question, where does the artist draw a line between differentiating their muse simply as a subject and a human being.

This was such a dark & captivating read - I loved it! I liked the dual timelines, and how secrets were gradually revealed, leading to something ominous. And the ending - I was yelling at that ending! Well done Katie Lattari - I can't wait to read more thrillers from you.

DNF - Did not finish. I decided not to keep reading this title because I did not connect with the writing or plot. Thank you, NetGalley and publisher for the early copy!

Dark Things I Adore is told from multiple POVs across two time periods: in 2018, Max, the egotistical and predatory art professor with a dark secret in his past; his student Audra, who unbeknownst to him, knows said secret and is secretly planning his punishment; and Juniper, in 1988, living through the past Max thinks he’s left buried long behind. There are also bits and pieces of diary-like, stream-of-consciousness notes by a fourth character, Cindy, also from 1988.

The writing in this book is just beautiful, even poetic in some places, particularly the vivid physical details and descriptions of color, reflecting the artistic eye of its multiple narrators. The suspense builds slowly to a tense conclusion with a number of twists that I did not see coming. I felt that one twist - the reveal of who Audra really was - was so obvious as to not even count as a twist – but there were still plenty of surprises.

If you like dark, psychological suspense and drama, definitely give this one a shot.

Representation: black and lesbian side characters

tw: psychological abuse, self-harm, mental illness, suicide

Hoo boy, this was a rollercoaster! I loved the intensity and brilliant storytelling. Absolutely un-put-down-able! You will read this in one sitting and enjoy the ride!

If you like slow burn thrillers than this is the book for you, unfortunately for me it was just too slow. I do enjoy books with dual storylines it felt like both of them dragged on without any thrill going on. I got 60% of the book read and then gave up. If you are really into art and academia you will definitely enjoy and appreciate this book.

The setting: the beautiful, forest filled small town in Maine. Dual timelines weaving the past and the present in an impressive way we follow Professor Max Durant and his most elusive student to date, Audra, as they travel from Boston to Audra's home town of Maine for a weekend escape filled with anticipation, lust and possibility We get to read about this scandalous get away from both Max and Audra's point of view, the back and fourth allowing for the reader to slowly inhabit the minds and intentions of Professor and Student; The stark contrast between perspectives is shocking and beautifully executed.. Next we travel back to the 1980's, an artists retreat nestled in Maine, a tight knit group of friends enjoying the creation of their respective art projects and the company of the group. What was supposed to be an amazing time goes awry leaving the group with secrets, and nightmares after the murder of one of their own. There is only one person left who knows just what happened that night, and they are determined to settle the score. What happened all those years ago? Why is a tenured professor risking everything for a weekend with a student, and just who is calling the shots?

This is an incredible dark and twisted tale, in the tradition of Gone Girl and The Secret History readers are sure to fall in love with this perfectly calculated game of connect the dots. Hooked from page one, and still obsessively pondering this story days after I've finished Dark Things I Adore is sure to become an instant sensation.

A big thank you to Netgalley, Katie Lattari, and Sourcebooks for a digital e-copy of Dark Things I Adore in exchange for my review. It is my extreme pleasure to present to you my humble opinion of one incredible novel. If you read any new releases this fall, let it be Dark Things I Adore.

A story of art, mental health and revenge gets twisted up in this atmospheric thriller. In 2018, an esteemed art professor Max goes with his protege Audra to her home in Maine to see her graduate thesis. Max is way too into his young female students, pushing them to explore their darkest depths, and if that means sleeping with him, all the better! He has plans for the same with Audra. But little does he know, Audra has plans for him too, and not exactly what he is picturing. In 1988, a group of eccletic artists gather together in an arts camp in Maine, shedding their former identities and exploring where their art can take them. And as one girl gets pushed too far, the actions of the past have consequences for both Audra and Max.

This is a darkly twisted story of ambition, art, the toll on mental health and stigma around it, and predators. It lives up to the title.