This book has an interesting premise, the cover looks really cool but it just didn't resonate with me. I didn't like the style if writing or the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

Spoilers ahead. I will not reveal anything big - most of the review vaguely alludes to plot, structure, and characters.

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I have to admit that I struggled greatly with this book. I did not connect with any of the characters. They seemed to be quirky for the sake of being quirky. The beginning of the plot was very, very slow - things didn't puck up until about halfway though the book...and even then, the payoff wasn't worth it to me. The lore was fairly interesting, but after spending half of the book only being given half-hints and hidden meanings, I was fed up. Essentially, the worldbuilding is clunky, I just didn't care about the characters or the events by the time things started happening.

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Again, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an e-ARC, and it's the first time I DNF'ed something...

I hate giving negative reviews, but this one just didn't do it for me. The synopsis sounded so promising, but the writing was hard to get through and halfway through the book, I gave up on it. I couldn't connect with the characters and I just got bored with the story.

This book has an excellent cover. Unfortunately, that's the only thing about it that can recommend. Gen Z, the target audience for this book, has (as a whole) a heightened sense of justice and acceptance. As I started reading The Cherished, I had the distinct sense that this was written in 1978 but only published in 2022. The dialogue between Jo and her mother, Abigail, doesn't ring true. Jo has a nickname for her yet-unborn half-sibling: "amoebert," which feels very much like something Beezus might say about Ramona.

Jo's father is described as "Someone dangerously broken. Plus, he was dark-skinned, Hispanic looking. He could be from anywhere. He might even be Arab."

Look, I'm not for canceling authors and policing every word that comes out of people's mouths. But this description pulled my up short, because "dangerous" is associated with "dark skin." I don't exactly know how to parse, "He might even be Arab." Is that the worst thing he could be? Really?

Evidently, Jo's father was also mentally ill. This is referred to, again, as being a "severely damaged" man; a "schizophrenic in a farm truck" who married Jo's mom but eventually ended up in the "loony bin."

On a pedantic note, I disliked that the book was in third-person present tense. It didn't seem intense enough to warrant that sort of immediacy in tone.

Sixteen-year-old Jo doesn’t feel like she fits in with her straight-laced family, and hasn’t ever since her father’s death. Her memories of him, though, while filled with love and fun, are also full of holes — things almost remembered. Things that feel dangerous. When her estranged grandmother dies, leaving her the family home alongside a mysterious letter, Jo may finally have a chance to solve the mystery of her memories and find where she truly belongs.

I liked the concept of this book and what it did with faerie lore quite a lot. It was interesting, and I liked the way it was clearly tied in to the history of the town and the family. However, this is currently being billed as a “visceral horror thriller in the vein of Midsommar” and it was decidedly NOT that. It’s more like a slightly darker version of the Spiderwick Chronicles. I wouldn’t categorize it as horror at all, although it could probably get there if some of the “scary” aspects were explored more thoroughly. The character relationships also seemed a bit stilted to me, and I particularly would have like more complexity and growth in the relationship between Jo and her mother.

This is still a good ways out from publication, so there could still be rewrites (and hopefully a sensitivity read) happening that would get this book closer to its vision. I still enjoyed it overall — it’s a quick read that should appeal to anyone who likes a good dark fairy tale.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to review*

This book could have been a lot eerier, a lot more atmospheric, a lot darker, a lot... better. Nothing goes far enough, and the plot os so slow. The build-up takes forever, and where it leads is underwhelming.

Unfortunately this book just didn't do it for me. The storyline was intresting in the beginning but it quickly lost steam the further you read.

This book is… interesting. I didn’t hate it, but there was a lot that did not work. Third person present POV feels very odd, like the narrator is hovering over Jo and reporting on every thing she does, and boy, do we get a full report on all the mundane things. Jo sorting the mail, walking down the driveway, doing laundry, sweeping the floor… Jo spends a lot of time doing filler activities that don’t contribute much to the plot, and it gets boring real quick. But somehow, I managed to stay until the end. The last third of the book is much more fast paced and exciting.

I really didn’t feel anything for Jo either way. She does not have much development or growth, she’s just kind of a prop. This book is extremely plot driven, almost no character arcs at all. Surprisingly, her mom is the one who has the most character growth.

I will say that the “he’s not actually schizophrenic” twist is a huge gamble. I know some readers will be offended by it. One reviewer here already is. I need to think about it some more and maybe read again closer to publication if there are revisions, but this book could be problematic. There is already so much stigma surrounding schizophrenia. Using it as a plot device like this and perpetuating the myth that people with schizophrenia are delusional and dangerous will upset readers.

I’m going to wait until closer to the publication date to post my review on Goodreads. If revisions are made to the schizophrenia subplot, please email me and I will be happy to reread and write a review that reflects it. If not, I will mention the use of schizophrenia as a plot twist because many readers appreciate a trigger warning for mental illness.

I enjoyed the beginning of this book and thought it was an interesting premise. However, toward the middle and end it started to feel rushed and not completely fleshed out. The ending seemed like a quick fix and not like something that was built up to.

Between the cover and the synopsis, this seemed all-too-perfect for me, hitting that subgenre sweet spot. But this...is not great. And if it's truly by an experienced, older writer (as goodreads suggests) this is quite problematic. (It's problematic and borderline racist anyway, despite the fact that some of the more egregious passages are clearly free-indirect-discourse from bigoted older relatives, who are judged by our MC.)

Unfortunately, this has been my first fairly negative experience with a NetGalley book. I've historically had great luck with Harper Collins novels, and I really liked the concept of this novel. Plus, the description that it was "in the vein of Midsommar," sold me.

That being said, I understand that this is a work in progress. I've never requested a novel set to be published so far out, so perhaps I should have gone in with lower expectations, but this book was.... difficult.

This book was very stop-and-go in the sense that I felt like we were stuttering along. I could tell the places where the author had probably taken a pause from writing and come back in a totally different frame of mind. There was an inconsistency in the tone of voice, as well as some confusing, underdeveloped aspects of the plot.

I also think it will be important for certain descriptions of characters to be fleshed out a bit more ethically in our modern framework. I have a family member who has debilitating paranoid schizoaffective disorder so I was left with a bad taste in my mouth.

More time and energy needs to go into this prior to publication. The editor has quite the project on their hands, and best of luck to them.

Not really much positive to say. The characters were annoying, the writing was off, and I just couldn't engage in the story

The fairies are at it again, and this time it’s not the nice ones!

Ward gives us a chilling look at the otherworld, where the gauzy, pretty fairies have some pretty sharp teeth. The story is familiar - a specially chosen human must guard an entrance to the otherworld and make some difficult choices along the way.

However, this book needs some serious editing. There are multiple racist, homophobic, and classist descriptions contained here that need to be reviewed.

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In my opinion, the description of the book does not match the actual content. I went in expecting a stronger horror element.
The first 3rd of the book is awful, the style, the tone, and the repetition of teenage angst felt more like a rough draft of how the author envisioned the story.
Please please retract content that describes a person as a Nazi. Not out of sympathy for the hate group but because it is disrespectful for the victims and outright immature.
It wasn't until Jo enters the Old House that the story finally picks up. This portion and there on felt like it was written by someone else.
I wish I had more context. Why are the fairies still there. Why can't the family kill them. How can the whole town be in on it and not really do anything about it. Why are tourists still stopping at the town when it is known that kids are taken. Why are the fairies childish, making messes but then extremely aggressive. How is Hattie still alive, not growing up.

The concept of this book is great, there are parts that legit scared me. Unfortunately there is not much to pull you in at first, just a lot of “ew my family is rich” nonsense that could be condensed. Once you wade through that it picks up. I do hope they edit it a bunch and take out the offensive terms before publishing it as it brings it way down.

After inheriting her grandmother's farm and property in a small town in Vermont, Jo soon realizes there is much more to her responsibilities and family than she realized. Although the plot takes a while to kick off, most likely to build the feeling of something not quite being right, I think it is definitely worth the read. I noticed a few plot holes and grammar issues. Since the book isn't going to be published until 2023, they will likely be corrected in the near future.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the unpublished ARC

I want to love this book. The idea is original and the potential is there to be exceptional. I got bogged down with the exchanges between Jo and Abigail, and really any conversations that took place where Jo's mom and her side of the family were concerned. Way too much time spent with them for me. I get why Jo is "sullen" but it could have been explained in a much fuller way. I wanted more time at the farmhouse and more story about Maur and Enzo. The idea of this book is so interesting, but the delivery just didn't keep me interested.

After being absolutely thrilled by Erin Craig’s SMALL FAVORS and entirely unsettled by Krystal Sutherland’s HOUSE OF HOLLOW, I’ve recently gravitated towards more spooky young adult books just like those. Patricia Ward’s THE CHERISHED follows in the steps of its predecessors, while still managing to tell a unique tale that merges past and present in a disorienting way.

What I loved about this book was the ingenuity of the plot and its idiosyncratic cast of characters. MC Jo has inherited land from her recently deceased grandma, who she has had nothing to do with for most of her life. But with the inheritance comes strict instructions around the preservation of the land — and Jo’s role in it all becomes startlingly and horrifyingly clear once she and her mother head to the house she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

Ward builds tension using offbeat characters, mysterious journal entries and by sprinkling in repressed memories surfacing before a big reveal. Jo was an interesting enough protagonist; her strained mother-daughter relationship with Abigail added a degree of realism to the story’s thrilling dynamic. Hattie as a side character was just eerie enough while also being likeable and Tom was a perfect background addition to the unsettling ambiance of a house hiding dangerous secrets. The ‘ghosts’ of Gammy and Jo’s dad Enzo, which manifest through flashbacks, also positively boost scene-building.

What I didn’t love was the — many — missing clarifications. This book is riddled with plot holes which is genuinely one of the most frustrating things about it. It doesn’t end on an obvious cliffhanger — thank all that is good and holy —but it does finish with way too much of the story left unexplained.

I suppose still thinking about those open-ended parts a day after finishing the book is, in some ways, a positive thing. But I’d expect it’s also discouraging to any reader doing their utmost to become immersed in a fictional world. Several of those unfinished devices aren’t even teased or alluded to in the ending — leading me to believe that there’s a chance this was intentional, and if this isn’t turned into a series, they’ll never be addressed again. (Hoping that this isn’t the case, because that’d be an actual shame.)

There were also a few noticeable issues in the text — words missing and formatting problems — but as this is an advanced reader copy, and the book isn’t due to publish for some time, these don’t dissuade from the story.

All in all, I can’t say with enthusiasm that I’m positive I’ll return to continue forward with what Ward has crafted in THE CHERISHED. If this ends up being part one of a series, I do hope that the author ties things up more smoothly in the next installment. No matter, as even despite that, I enjoyed this — and I’d bet fellow fans of SMALL FAVORS will, too.

*Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by #HarperTeen and #NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions stated are my own. There are many things that grind my gears about this new YA horror novel. I thought the premise was intriguing, and it gave me Guillermo del Toro vibes, specifically Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

However, there were passages regarding race and mental health that seriously need to be evaluated before the set publishing date. This is 2022, and there are descriptions that are just unacceptable in my opinion. I believe that the author was trying to demonstrate that these views were from the wealthy white upper crust characters, and was attempting to use that as a way to tell us that these characters are "bad" or "judgmental" but it just didn't work.

I hope that before this book is released to the public, the author applies their own advice from within it's pages: "There's down and dirty work to be done here, necessary work."

I unfortunately couldn’t get through this book. It was very slow paced and didn’t capture my attention. I feel bad, but hopefully someone loves this book, just wasn’t for me.