Samhattan is a fictional town built around a cemetery. This, alone, makes for a spooky time. Daphne focuses on a folktale that is brought to life through the power of thought. Samhattan is where the legend of Daphne is born. Josh Malerman has crafted a tense, anxiety-building tale about Daphne, a seven foot serial killer who has seemingly come back from the dead to exact vengeance on the high school’s female basketball team. Malerman takes the reader through her rampage and centers it around one of the basketball players: Kit. A lot of what seems to drive the story is based around anxiety and its effects. Because Kit suffers from anxiety, the reader shares in her thoughts and feelings. It certainly adds to the tension. Malerman imbues the very mention of Daphne’s name in terror, because that is one of the ways she can be conjured. One of my favorite parts is how her appearance is precluded by the smells of alcohol and smoke. My mind immediately went to smoky horror movie scenes. I don’t know if that was the intention, but it certainly put me in a horror mindset. Daphne is a thrilling, fast-paced story that was non-stop scary. I was hooked from the first page.

I’m disappointed to say that this book was not for me. I thought I was getting a ghost story written for adults but Daphne is clearly a YA novel masquerading as horror. I should have done more research before requesting this title but when I saw a new book by Josh Malerman, I was super excited to read it, however, this did not live up to my expectations and there was too much basketball.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's the last summer before college. It should be a happy, carefree time. Time to spend with friends and family before venturing off into one's future. But it's not so happy nor it is carefree.

Kit Lamb heard about Daphne before her last high school basketball game. One of her teammates tells the story of Daphne. Daphne is a ghost story/urban legend. Daphne is a super tall, KISS make up wearing creepy teen/woman who died under mysterious circumstances. They say she was evil; they say she may be a killer; they say not to say her name, they say she is looking for revenge...

Malerman dazzled me with [book:Bird Box|44646576] and he has been hit or miss with me ever since. With [book:Daphne|59763901], Malerman has his mojo back. He has written a book that is part coming of age and part horror. This is a "the-hair-is-standing-up-on-the-back-of-my-neck" book. There is underlying tension and as Kit struggles with her mental health and mounting dread. This is where the book shines.

This is a different read folks, but I found it to be very satisfying.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This one was so good, and a definite reminder to never manifest your fears by thinking about them, even after listening to a ghost story. Josh does a fantastic job of building suspense and keeping you turning the page.

I really liked the questions to "the Rim", by the way this is a basketball reference. If you make the basket after asking your question, it is supposed to come true... if not, it won't. For Kit, "the rim" has never lied to her and as those around her begin to die, she can't help but wonder when she is next.

This is a horror novel, so don't be surprised by the gruesome moments when members of the girls basketball team are killed. I'm trying very hard not to give spoilers here, and it's proving difficult. Let's just say I got definite Nightmare on Elm Street vibes, think the teenagers are the key and the parents not quite oblivious, but in serious denial especially when talking-thinking about Daphne.

Equal parts heartbreaking and terrifying, this is one story you don't want to miss. Definitely, pre-order this one, you won't regret it.

Josh Malerman has done it again with this memorable psychological horror thriller! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

Daphne has a relatively simple setup: we follow protagonist Kit, who is seventeen years old and happens to be one of the stars of the Samhattan high school basketball team. Kit is never happier than when she’s on the court with her best friends and teammates - that is, until an unsettling experience during the final game of the summer season before her senior year, when she makes the game-winning shot. It doesn’t help that she suffers from panic attacks on occasion, too.

Then there’s Daphne. A myth, a ghost, a Samhattan legend. A towering 7-foot figure in denim and severe makeup who everyone knows about but nobody knows about. Murdered unjustly many years ago. She’s a part of Samhattan history that has been buried in the subconscious of the town, until now. When one of Kit’s teammates tells a spooky story about Daphne to the team at a sleepover before the big game, Kit can’t stop thinking about it. About her . But thinking is the problem - because thinking about Daphne is what summons her and to you. And Daphne deals only in death.

I loved so many things about this book. It’s a slow burn at the start but quickly ramps up and gets more and more desperate as things start to go so, so wrong. The concept of intrusive thoughts and fear begetting fear is relatable and well represented, and I loved the perspective of having a main character who struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. Kit is so much more than her anxiety, but anxiety is a part of her life that can’t be ignored. The parallels between real anxiety and mental illness with the horror element of a terrifying killer that gets closer with every thought are fascinating and really well written (without being preachy or too obvious that it’s making that parallel).

On the scale of messed up-ness, this book is fairly messed up but not traumatizingly messed up. It’s gruesome at times but never enough to be nauseating - if you’ve read any true crime or monster horror, this will be a breeze. That’s just to say that this book actually is scary at times, which is a good thing! Many a novel has been marketed as horror only to be…disappointingly tame. Not Daphne . The tension is palpable as horrible things start happening and Kit’s panic climbs and climbs. The feeling of inevitability, the terrifying feeling that you can’t control your own thoughts, and the helplessness against an unseen villain…it all makes for a spooky and riveting read.

The pacing in this is brilliant, and the climactic sequence was so nerve-wracking. I was shocked by the ending and every new thing I learned throughout the course of the story that led up to it. Ultimately, I loved how it concluded and there are some scenes that are burned into my brain forever. My only slight qualm with the book is that the teen girls, especially Kit, read as somewhat younger than her character was. She was seventeen, but her thoughts and especially her journaling, which is interspersed throughout the rest of the story, reads more like someone around fourteen years old. I feel this way primarily because it reminded me a lot of my own diary writing style as a young teen. It’s not a big problem, I just kept forgetting that this girl is supposed to be entering her senior year of high school in a few months - and that felt strange in the context of her thought patterns. However, the subject of her anxiety made sense. And some of the other girls on the team were younger than Kit, so it may also have been associating them all as the same grade when they actually represented all four grades, as well as the upcoming freshman class in the case of one girl. Just a stylizing thing I noticed, but not enough to be a real problem!

I’m giving this five stars because I loved it. Josh Malerman includes a little afterward where he talks about his love of basketball, and it really comes through in his writing. There’s also a crucial scene that is directly inspired by an instance in his own life, and I really enjoyed that little tidbit. It’s always fascinating to learn about what inspires authors and why they write the things they write. Highly recommend for readers of Malerman’s other books, as well as horror and thriller lovers and anyone who loves a good urban legend tale.

I did not expect to connect with a horror novel about a high school basketball team, but I did! Daphne is terrifying. The Canadian tuxedo and scent of ex boyfriends really got me.

DNF @ 20%. I cannot take this heavy handed "anxiety is the real villain" anymore! This could have been so great as an allegory of a horror villain representing a teen's anxiety and the "if I don't think about it it's not there" process and how that actually just makes things worse. Instead we are FORCE FED and beat over the head with what Malerman is trying to do every other paragraph. It's a little insulting that he didn't think we could figure it out, but as this was about a high school senior, maybe he was writing for teens and was pandering slightly? I'm not sure but I honestly just don't care to read more.

**Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the eARC**

I enjoyed this book. I can not wait for more by this author! Thanks to publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this book!

I have to admit that I bailed on this book very early. Earlier than I normally would because the writing was very juvenile. All very angsty. I think this may be better geared for a middle school / high school audience rather than an adult. The basketball, the talking to the rim, was just too much for this reader. Not to mention that a 7ft tall dead woman dressed all in denim with her large man hands is just too ridiculous to actually be scary.

I loved Bird Box so much but now having read Pearl (ugh) and this book I'm beginning to think Malerman is a one hit wonder.

I was really hoping this would be a high rated book for me, but unfortunately it isn't that. Daphne fell incredibly flat. I really love the idea of it and the urban legend, but this is a no for me. 2 stars for creativity.

I actually had nightmares while reading this book which is rare…. So props to Mr. Malerman for evoking sleepless nights. Daphne is a must read! While I had trouble caring for our main character, Kit, (she seemed immature and wasn’t super unique or interesting overall) the description of anxiety and anticipation was excellent.

High school girl basketball stars. A crazed serial killer. What more could you ask for? I have to admit I’m a bit of a Josh Malerman fan, so when I was gifted an advanced copy, I was thrilled!! This book definitely did not disappoint. Loved all the different POVs and the journal entries throughout helped to make the story more ominous. Pick this one up- you won’t be disappointed!!

On the surface, Malerman has written a hell of a boogeyman in Daphne. Once you dig beneath the surface a bit, though, you’ll discover that anxiety is the true enemy. And if you’ve had even a single dance with anxiety, then you know how badly it can mess up every aspect of your day.

As always, Malerman continues to break new ground. And it just keeps working!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Normally I like Josh Malerman’s work, but this fell flat. The characters were clearly written by a middle-aged man trying to sound like a teenager. I had some hope in the beginning when Kit was dealing with anxiety that Daphne might be about anxiety ruining your life with intrusive thoughts. Instead, it’s about an urban legend I’m supposed to be scared of because she wears KISS makeup. Was KISS ever scary?

At least it was short.

Book Review! Daphne by Josh Malerman. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ As a rule, if a book's ending gives me cold chills, I HAVE to give it five stars. This was wild from start to finish. Josh Malerman's writing is evocative and visceral. This book is full of so many run-on sentences I felt like I was in a fever dream. But I liked it. And as far as Daphne? Think Stephen King's It meets It Follows. If that doesn't make you want to pick up this book, I don't know what will.

✨Review✨
Whew, this one….was just not my cup of tea. I had high hopes because of the intriguing slasher film premise, but ultimately the execution did not land. The story is about a girl’s high school basketball team that becomes hunted by an urban legend named Daphne. Daphne was an outcast of the town and now she is seeking vengeance on the girls one by one. The only way to save yourself is to not think about/talk about her.
It was hard to connect with the characters and their motives because the book jumps around to multiple perspectives without distinct chapters. The dialogue is interspersed with journal entries from the main character that tend to bog down the overall horror element of the story. I did like the representation of anxiety with the main character and how she was able to utilize it in her favor. This one just was not for me and that is okay because this could be someone else’s favorite read!
⭐️⭐️ - It was OK

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion and I do not aim to disparage the hard work of the author.

Thank you so much to @netgalley, @randomhouse for the ARC! The pub date for Daphne is September 20th, 2022!

Daphne is the unspoken bogeyman of Samhattan, Michigan in Josh Malerman’s latest supernatural thriller. In a nod to the classic YA horror novels of the 80s and 90s, Malerman’s Daphne evokes the blood curdling, bone chilling keep your lights on feelings reminiscent of R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike.

Every town has a legend or hidden history that the locals keep quiet about. That one story that everyone seems to know, but remains behind locked lips. In Samhattan, that story is Daphne / a woman so evil, her name has been stricken from memory. Until a basketball team’s slumber party awakens her spirit and thoughts of her start to spread throughout the community, resulting in a rising body count.

Daphne is a near perfect supernatural ghost story that is full of blood, evil, and a surprising hero that is crippled with anxiety. The only reason I did not give it five stars is that I am not a huge sports fan and therefore could not relate or care about a lot of the basketball references, but that is not a reflection in the author, as despite my lack if interest in the setting, the story itself kept me captivated.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Josh Malerman for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review. .

I keep reading Josh Malerman's work hoping to have another experience like "Bird Box." While there were aspects of this book I enjoyed overall it fell flat. Ambiguity is fine but I feel completely confused. I liked the overall plot of the book but I kept getting lost with the characters. Who is this person? Am I supposed to know who they are? Have they been mentioned before? A good book - yes. One I will recommend to everyone - not so much. Horror fans will be entertained. But the mystery/thriller part of it really fell short for me.

I really enjoyed this book, the pace is a little slower than I'm use to but it gets under your skin. Another great book from Josh Malerman.

If you think about Daphne she will come for you, so don't think about Daphne.

I started this book during my week of only reading horror, and it took me a while to finish. Daphne is an interesting and spunky take on the slasher-horror genre in which Daphne, the 7-foot-something ghost of small-town Samhattan's most notorious outcast, begins picking off the high school girl's basketball team one by one. I liked the story's progression and the POVs from each girl we get moments before each is murdered, but some things about this book felt weirdly off to me. The detective character's POV wasn't doing much for me, and the dialogue generally felt really strange and unrealistic. I can't seem to escape 3-star books this month.

Some moments truly terrified me, though, especially because I read most of this while dogsitting alone in a big empty house! When I tell you I locked the bedroom door, I'm not just saying that.