"A little hope was a scary thing."

Part modern gothic, part ghost story, They Drown Our Daughters explores the depths of motherhood, identity, and the lengths a woman will go to hold on to both.

First of all, that cover! It's gorgeous. They Drown Our Daughters captivated me from the very beginning. As someone who grew up loving the ocean, the setting of Cape Disappointment with its lighthouse, Thalias, and mermaid-ghost lore truly moved me. I saw myself back in the sea, diving under the waves so I wouldn't be swept off my feet.

At first, I questioned the multiple timelines and POVs. Still, by the story's end, I appreciated the choice to show the intergenerational trauma of this line of women by giving them all a voice on the page. After all, this is a story about motherhood's (sometimes) crippling pressure. Bonus points for the book's queer representation.

There is much to love about this horror story: its curses, ghosts, haunting imagery, dreams, and the touches of magic! I dig it! I can't wait to see what Monroe does next…

Comparisons: Jennifer McMahon's The Drowning Kind x Andrés Muschietti's Mama (with a dash of Silvia Moreno-Garcia sprinkled on top).

Katrina Monroe’s debut, “They Drown our Daughters” is a powerful gothic horror about a multigenerational curse haunting a line of women from Cape Disappointment. Character driven and steeped in symbolism, the book is a study of what it means to be a “good” mother.

Bouncing between past and present, Monroe tells the character driven story using multiple points of view from all the mothers from Regina’s lineage. I liked this because we get to see all the different women’s viewpoints but also see them in their role as both daughter and mother. The overlap in characters and number of characters in the lineage did get a little confusing and I had to write it out to properly follow and know where each woman was in the line and how each was related. As a mother of daughters myself, this was heart-wrenching to read. Each mother set out to do her best in her own way to protect and love her daughter even at the cost of the relationship between the two—or her life. Monroe was definitely making a point about the pressures of motherhood and the crippling expectations mothers put on themselves.

This was a true gothic horror and loaded with some of the best gothic elements—ghosts, a haunted cape and lighthouse, dreams and a touch of magic. I loved the use of nature through the symbolism of the Thalias, ocean and the seashell. This was a haunting, atmospheric read and not only terrifying in the unbreakable cycle that kept happening to the women but also in the creepy wraith haunting the ocean and vile characters out to destroy Meredith. This is a slow build horror true to gothic writing. It’s worth the time invested as we get a shocking climax that leads to a heartbreaking yet ultimately redemptive ending.

this was an incredible haunting book. it combined history with magic and myths. It had time jumps which are one of my favourite things to read about. Would highly recommend this if you’re into anything creepy, magical and witchy.

A beautifully written gothic novel, with some compelling characters and an edgy underlying tension to it that works really well.

It is the story of a lineage haunted by a curse and told within a generational setting. The women in this story are complex and the author brings an atmospheric and creepy sense to proceedings.

If you love a good gothic drama this will be for you.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for giving me a free ARC.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. It was spooky and suspenseful and had me glued to the book from beginning to end!

What a wonderful book. I wouldn’t call this book horror. Far from it actually. I’d spin this book as more of a dark fantasy. Magic is always fun. I kept turning pages until the wee morning hours. Absolutely give this book a try, you will not regret it!!!

This is a LOT like Dark Water, which is a movie that I love. I'm not sure if the author has seen it, but it made me a bit disappointed that she used all of the same themes and ripped the ending straight from that movie.

The first half is extremely captivating. I loved the relationship between the mothers and daughters and how the generations were set up.

But just as I was getting into a rhythm and had accepted the world-building, a new character and location was introduced which really threw the vibe off. Instead of being unexpected and thrilling, it had taken too long to get to this change, making it feel abrupt and disjointed from the first half of the story. The world building in the first half had defined a set of rules and then in the second half we were thrown a whole new narrative and my brain kind of refused it.

By the end of the book, I was very frustrated with the exact same choices being made by woman after woman. I stuck it out only because I was hoping someone would change things up, not because I wanted to read the same exact situation happen 10 times.

I think this could have been excellent and more effective if written as a shorter novella.

They Drown Our Daughters is the story of a curse and how it affects the relationships between the mothers and daughters of the family who believe (or don't believe) in the curse.
The atmosphere of this book is stunning, Cape Disappointment is beautiful and haunting. You can practically feel yourself standing on the beach and the waves touching your feet. However, that was the strongest point for me. The story is told from multiple generations of narrators yet I never felt a jump in timelines and their voices sounded very similar and current. The plot twists didn't really deliver much impact and there seemed to be a lot of story that wasn't quite fleshed out.
This book took me a long time to get through because I just never felt connected to the story or the characters. This is a 3 star read for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to review this book.

“They Drown Our Daughters”
By: Katrina Monroe

Dead Man’s Cove is Always Hungry for Another Woman

Since 1881, generations of women living in the small village of Cape Disappointment, Washington, all direct descendants of an ancestress named Regina, are plagued by a perpetual family curse—the sea or some mythical creature in it— lures them to their deaths, in Katrina Monroe’s fantasy horror, “They Drown Our Daughters.”

During a recent spat of marital troubles, Meredith brings her young daughter, Alice, back to her family’s historical home at the Cape. As soon as she arrives, the old community insinuations of witchcraft and curses abound about the house, her family, and suicidal women drowned in Dead Man’s Cove.

Before long, Meredith also feels the tug of the strange darkness in the ocean pulling her towards its cold undertow of death. However she is determined to figure out the cause of this horrific destiny that has destroyed the lives of so many women in her family and break this curse to save her daughter’s life—even if it means sacrificing her own to do it.

Throughout this multi-point of view, multi-timeline fantasy fiction quasi-horror story / murder mystery / missing person novel, it's sometimes difficult to keep track of who, what, and when everything is going on because of the repetitive nature of the family curse, and especially because this story isn't presented in a linear manner. At times, I was perplexed about whose story was being shared because so many mothers and daughters were included—and not in chronological order. Nonetheless, Monroe does an interesting job in the conclusion and tying-up all the loose ends.

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The Book Maven’s Journal—Reviews for Word Connoisseurs

STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️

“They Drown Our Daughters”
Author: Katrina Monroe
Genre: | Horror | General Fiction (Adult)
Publication Date: 11 July 2022
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks

With Sincerest Appreciation to NetGalley, Author Katrina Monroe and Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks, for Providing this Advance Reader’s Copy for Review.

A novel of mother’s and daughters under a curse that stretches back in time. When Meredith returns to her home she must face the discord with her mother, while protecting herself and daughter Alice from the family curse.

This will be the caption on my Instagram post for “They Drown Our Daughters”. The primary image for this post will be of the book itself, taken from the Poisoned Pen Press Instagram page. It will be published no sooner than 08/07/2022 unless suggested otherwise.

Meredith is going back to Cape disappointment with her daughter, escaping the breakdown of her marriage. She has nowhere else to go; nowhere else she wants to go. The pull to the Cape is in her blood, a drowning in its own right. Meredith had promised herself that she will do things differently, that she will raise her child free from all of her mother’s superstitions. It is only after a tragedy that she realises her mother was right, there is something, someone in the water, watching, waiting, bidding their time and if she doesn’t stop what’s happening, it will carry on for generations.

A solid debut from Katrina Monroe. The story is cleverly done, spanning across multiple generations, showing the ways that different women chose to deal with the water and what lurks there. It gives an insightful look into the dynamics between mothers and their daughters, all with the added layer of threat from the presence in the Cape. The effect that parental decisions can have on their children years after the choice was made and what it is to be lost are all examined through the lense of an atmospheric and, at times, deeply unsettling, horror story.

4/5 from me; Overall though an enjoyable, tension filled read that I can recommend to both fans, old and new, of the genre. I would have preferred some of the plot twists towards the end to pan out differently.

My thanks to @netgalley @posionedpenpress for the E-Arc, It was a pleasure.

Relevant hashtags for irishbookstgram and bookstagram will be used, alongside #TheyDrownOurDaughters #KatrinaMonroe #netgalley #poisonedpenpress. I will also tag the publisher and author (if account if public) in the post.

This section will appear as a slide on my Instagram post. (First image will be of the book, 2nd slide image will be what is contained below).

“They Drown Our Daughters”
By Katrina Monroe
Read it if:
- You like the setting of small town America for horror.
- The thought of “The Little Mermaid” meets the girl from the ring appeals to you.
- Weird sh*t is on your go to list of topics of reading about (we all know it is for me).
- You want to read about a fictional family that is so much more messed up than your own.
- You appreciate vivid story-telling that draws you into it.
- You need a book that has the potential to keep you awake at night.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

They Drown Our Daughters was an incredibly rich and intriguing atmospheric novel. I enjoyed the characters, and it was a quick read. I found the writing to be engaging and entertaining; I had an enjoyable time reading this and it held my attention the entire way through that I finished it within the day! I enjoyed every page and thought that the plot/story was very unique. Would recommend to anyone!

The story follows a multigenerational curse (or maybe not) of the women in this family. Ever since 1890 weird and unexplained deaths or suicides have been happening to women of the family. We are now in the present and following the story of Meridith and her daughter Alice coming back to Cape Disappointment were her mother Judith lives. Weird things start happening around them and Meridith isn't sure what she can do about it.
The thing I loved in the story is having multiple PoVs and going to different times of this family.
The story is creepy, unsettling, gothic and also queer. The main character Meridith is lesbian, which I loved.
This book had me since the start, it did really well to set up the creepy and ominous vibe from the first chapter, it had me till about chapter 6, where I started to lose interest in this book a bit.
Honestly I think the beginning and ending were the best parts, while the middle dragged on, with kinda predictable storylines.
But the writing of this book was amazing, it was creepy, it was dark, and I will for sure be picking up more Katrina Monroe.
The characters were also really good, and with the fact that with most of them you don't have a lot of time, in that short period you can still get to know them, and understand them.
My main issue with the book and the reason I gave it 4 stars was honestly the pacing of it, like I mentioned in the start of the review I thought that the middle part of the book was dragging on, and had me losing interest in the story, and the ending had me wanting just a bit more, but I'm not fully sure why that is to be honest.
Big TW for this book are: suicide and drowning.
I was kindly given this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchanged for my honest review.

Beware mysterious figures in the dark.


They Drown Our Daughters is a horror book that reads like a haunting thriller and leaves you wondering if perhaps curses are real.

Meredith, freshly separated from her wife, heads back to her hometown of Cape Disappointment with her young daughter Alice. She returns to her childhood home despite a history of tension with her mother who warns of a curse- stay away from the water at all costs.

Long frustrated with her mother’s intense belief in said family curse, Meredith dismisses her concerns and takes her daughter to the beach- a decision that will change their lives forever.

For there is someone lost at sea and she calls to them.

I found that this book did such a fantastic job of utilizing multiple POVs and different timelines to weave a tense and rich story. Not only do you get to enjoy Meredith’s POV, but you find your answers through her mother starting in the 70s in addition to other women in the family who came before them.

Meredith’s mother, Judith, was a headstrong child hellbent on discovering more about the voice in the water and what that meant for her and her family. I really enjoyed Judith’s POV and found her childhood chapters to be particularly well written.

While some may find them frustrating due to her stubbornness and naivete, I found that to be what made them so real. The author did an excellent job of capturing a child’s perspective on this legend and you get to watch that perspective change as Judith ages.

They also do a wonderful job of showing how dangerous lying to and withholding information from your children can be.

I also particularly enjoyed the ending of this book and how the monster was made to be multidimensional- or maybe, the monster was never really the monster after all.

With all of that being said- again, I did feel like this book felt a lot more thriller than horror. This impacted my decision to give it four stars versus five stars. Still, I highly recommend reading this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this eARC! They Drown Our Daughters is out July 12th.

This book not only started strong but ended strong. The way that the author flips back-and-forth between different timelines is so perfect that you don’t feel like you’re being jarred back-and-forth between two narrators. I feel like this book fits perfectly on the bookshelves of people that enjoy Riley Sager, and the suspense keeps it fresh in your mind well after you’ve finished the last page

This book was so interesting! From the beginning I was swept into the story and fascinated about how each generation of mothers and daughters were different and similar. I will admit when the chapters began to alternate to so many different women, I was afraid the story would get too diluted and the depth for each character would not be flushed out. Luckily, those extra chapters were added to elaborate on to the story, without taking anything away.

The ending was just amazingly heart-wrenching and I wish I could read it again for a different ending. Such a good book and I am excited to pick up more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Publishing for an advanced copy to read and review!

They Drown Our Daughters is a gothic tale about curses and intergenerational trauma, as well as being a tribute to the sea and all who live in her.

The different timelines outlined in this story are intertwined seamlessly, gradually revealing the tragic history of a haunted family. A strength of this novel is its realistic, unflinching portrayal of many complicated relationships, particularly those between mothers and their children. Characters are complex and well developed and the story is underpinned by vivid descriptions of the sublime landscape.

The narrative takes a turn about two thirds of the way through the novel in a way that I do not think will be for everyone, but that I really enjoyed; this elevated the story, taking what could have been a more traditional gothic tale and adding an unpredictable, compelling layer that I hadn't expected. I would definitely recommend this book and I look forward to reading future stories by this author. And that cover? Beautiful, and lived up to by this haunting, atmospheric tale.

My sincere thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Cape Disappointment is haunted....or at least that's what the locals say. Meredith Strand never put much stock in the stories, but after she returns to the island after her divorce, she begins to wonder if there's more to the stories than just gossip. Is her family really cursed? What does that mean for her, and more importantly, her daughter? Is her mother really sick, or is it the curse that's plagued her family for generations?

This book was a delicious kind of creepy. Not only is it a ghost story of sorts, but it also explores the intense relationships between mother and daughter. The island is a disquieting backdrop with a lighthouse washing its red light to shore, not to warn the nonexistent sailors of the rocky coast, but to keep the daughters of the island safe.

I liked the way this book weaved past and present throughout to tell the story of each generation of Meredith's foremothers. It added weight to the narrative. I also thought that the ending was very well done, and not what one would expect.

This book started off with an absolute bang. I was instantly hooked. A haunting and lyrical tale of motherhood and the depths mothers will go to for their children. A riveting, multigenerational gem that is almost nonstop action packed. I still have a lot of questions at the end about certain aspects of the plot, which is what stopped me from rating it higher. Overall, a good time.


*small note* 500 meter butterfly is not a swimming event. The longest is 200 meters (location 141/729).