Thank you to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Catherine Yu's "Direwood" is a velvet-clad 1990s vampire horror story that centers around Aja who is trying to find her missing older sister and ends up finding a monster or two.

I enjoyed this SO much. I saw a lot of reviews really hating on Aja but I think a lot of the reviews forget that she is a teenage girl, one who on top of feeling racially set apart from her small town, also felt isolated in her family. When she comes across a beautiful monster in the form of Padraic offering a way out, of course she acts selfishly (she makes the decision based on Fiona going missing but still) and makes stupid decisions. That said, I felt like Aja was a realistic depiction of a teenage girl, especially one that clearly deals with a lot of anxieties. I felt like this story followed a lot of the cliche Young Adult vampire romance books (think "Twilight", "The Vampire Diaries", etc.) but what sets this story apart I think is the body horror elements and the depiction of the vampires.

Without getting into spoilers, I will say TRIGGER WARNING for BODY HORROR, VIOLENCE, and BUGS. There were some scenes that were genuinely gross and I say that as somebody who enjoys Cronenberg. Honestly, I was surprised that this is categorized as YA with how vivid some of the descriptions were. I have got to hand it to Yu for that because man, her writing is top notch. I'd love to read a more "adult" horror from her. Anyways, I thought the body horror worked really well with Yu's depiction of vampires. I haven't seen vampires really described this way in any of the vampire books I read growing up and recently and I really enjoyed it. The vampires in this story were still beautiful and absolutely tempting but as Aja slowly begins to lower the rose tinted glasses and sees the horror of them, we the reader are also horrified and feel just as stupid as Aja for falling for the glamour.

I enjoyed this a lot and was so surprised at it. I also didn't expect the main character to be Asian American so that was also a huge plus. We deserve to be just as flawed and foolish as our white counterparts (I also feel like a lot of reviews seem to border on racist in the way they write about Aja in that it felt like a lot of people were attaching the model minority myth to her when the whole point was that she's not a model minority and neither was Fiona but that's a whole other discussion!). I definitely recommend this especially for how the vampires are depicted !

Direwood is a creepy YA 90s horror novel. This is an original vampire tale following Aja who meets a vampire who wants to lure her after her sister goes missing. The story is engaging with well-developed characters. I enjoyed this fresh take on vampires. Highly recommended! Be sure to check out Direwood today.

I need to stop reading vampire books. I've read so many, and yet, haven't enjoyed a single one. And it's not that they're all the same, i just have issues with the writing styles that tend to accompany Vampires.

For this one, the death blow was the main character. Talk about an idiot. This girl spent the whole book trying to convince herself Padraic (the vampire) was human. He was a monster, but its ok because he's hot. Right... This trope works alright in some cases, but this was not one of them. If the main character had taken one (one!!) simple action, the death toll would've dropped drastically. But of course, her morals and hope for humanity got in the way (eyeroll)

Other than that, there weren't many issues. The atmosphere for this one was super neat, delightfully creepy. Truthfully, the characters killed this, and that's it.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

Very creepy and highly entertaining! The writing is dreamy and even hypnotic-- it is hard to escape this book's spell. It's as seductive as its vampire main character, and it did not let me go until it was done with me.

Absolutely loved this YA horror. Completely immersive narrative and engaging characters. The horror elements are pitch-perfect and young readers looking for a truly creepy story will be delighted. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this novel. I am rating this book based the stars due to lack of time to leave a full review.

Thank you for sending me this early copy! This was such a riveting read. I was immediately hooked and stayed up late reading. Be aware though! This has some gruesome bits and if you have issues with bugs there are some really gross bits. This novel doesnt shy away from the grim. These vampires were very different than others Ive read and enjoyed the authors twist on it. I do feel traumatized about caterpillars and blood sucking butterflies. Not sure I’ll ever get some of the imagery from this book out of my head.

this was ODD.
like from the beginning to the end, i couldn’t read my eyes away. It reminded me a lot of stephen king and the way he writes scenes that can be uncomfortable.
i love love love the vampire element. we don’t get that a lot in YA anymore so to have that + gothic horror was perfection.
it seemed had a lot of common themes like friends and family, and really beautiful moments apart from the creepiness

EXCERPT: "If 2022 was going to have a defining moment, it would be Catherine Yu’s remarkable debut with her young adult novel Direwood. In its sheer ingenuity as a fresh and thrilling take on vampires and the modern bildungsroman, Direwood is an upcoming release to watch out for."

Full review published online at Asia Pacific Arts Magazine.

I was delighted to be approved for an ARC of this book, and it’s amazing: compelling, creepy, enchanting. Most of the time when I was reading this book, I felt like I was under a dark spell…delirious…almost like I was drugged. The writing is that good. It just crawls inside you and never lets you go.

It’s been a long time since I read a more traditional vampire story. And I love horror, can’t get enough of it. The imagery in this book is fascinating, and I’m never going to look at butterflies again.

Also, sisterhood. Aja is looking for her missing sister Fiona throughout this book, and we see the power of sisterhood. And that ending! I did not see that coming.

This book is dark and dangerous and creepy and sad. Creepy 90s horror at its best.

As a connoisseur of vampires, I immediately requested Direwood. It is everything you want in a vampire book. Aja as a narrator adds so much to the story with her love of her sister, her caution, and the way she views her situation compared to those she is surrounded with. I really enjoyed this book and its take on vampire lore. I absolutely recommend it for those who enjoy vampires that have long since disregarded humanity. Let’s hear it for morally grey vampires!

The atmosphere and slow building dread in this novel is superb!
A compelling and atmospheric read and subtly creepy.
The writing is vibrant and compulsive, with a growing sense of dread pervading the pages.
This was a wonderful creepy, tense and chilling book!
It sucked me in, and I was glued to the pages of this compelling and mystical book.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Page Street Kids,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Unfortunately, I found the voice in this too stiff and distant from the actions to really get into it. The main character was repetitive in the first few chapters and then entirely inconsistent in the later ones. She seems to spend most time just sitting around. When her weapon is taken, she puts up no fight. It almost doesn't even get a sentence. The relationship between her and Padraic varied wildly by the second rather than doing a enemies-to-lovers kind of thing. She's enamored by him, yes, but she also talks about how much she has "grown to know" him after spending at most a few hours with him. It didn't make sense. Even small things felt inconsistent like when, one day after Mary shows up, Aja asks her if she's noticed how much worse the vampires are fighting. How could she have noticed when it had only been twenty-four hours What did Mary have it to compare to? Those things, in combination, were hard to ignore. I think the premise is intriguing, but the execution was too stiff and distant to get into.

Thank you to Page Street Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC! This book has vampires, blood rain, flesh eating caterpillars, and all the creepy things. After a group of teenagers goes missing, Aja follows a vampire named Padraic out into the woods hoping to find her sister. She finds the missing teens living in an old church with him and another vampire, but her sister isn’t there. Aja has a week to find her sister and figure out how to kill the vampires, while also trying to resist Padraic’s pretty words and promises.

This was a very quick read that had me on the edge of my seat. It was disturbing and unsettling at times and had me cringing at some of the gory details. It was also a story about family, friendship, and wanting more out of life. I liked Aja - she was always in her perfect sister’s shadow, but she still risked everything to go after her. And let’s be real, no one can blame her for being drawn to the handsome vampire. This would be an excellent read for spooky season.