Based on the reviews I'd seen on Goodreads, I was ready to be positively appalled by this book. But... I really have no idea what the hate is about? I mean, it's not my new favorite or anything, but nor does it have me outraged either. I will say, there were a few moments where I was like "wait are you really using this very racially insensitive term in 2023?" and I agree, that is not acceptable. But it was also one or two instances, and I really am holding out hope that they get edited out of the final version. Someone read it and let me know. Or I will use this as an excuse to shuffle over to B&N to check for myself, even better!

What I Liked:

►The concept was actually pretty interesting. There are a lot of questions that the reader is going to want the answer to, from the start. Why's Grandma leaving Jo this house? Why was she being so extra about it? Why is Jo's family so against it? Intriguing, right?

►I was definitely invested enough to want to know what was happening. Frankly, I wanted to know what this place was all about! Not just the house, but the whole town seemed iffy, and I definitely wanted to know why!

►I liked that family dynamics were very much at play. I loved that we were being let in on both deep-seated family secrets from years gone by as well as dealing with the relationship that Jo currently had with her mom.

►It's fast paced and quite readable. I mean look, it's short and sweet, and the mystery is pretty compelling, so. I am always here for a book like that.

What I Struggled With:

►I felt no connection to the main character. I mean, this is fairly self-explanatory, yes? I didn't really dislike Jo or anything, she was fine. She just... didn't have a huge effect on me one way or another? It was almost like I was being told about her, but I wasn't really getting the emotions behind that. I think had it been told in first person, some of that could have been resolved. But alas.

►It required a pretty sizable suspension of disbelief. This is likely at least partly on me, because I am not always so good with the supernatural/paranormal, but if you are more able to "go with it" than I am, this may be less of an issue for you.

►The aforementioned insensitive comments. Again, this one kind of speaks for itself. See above.

Bottom Line: It's not without issues, but it is also a pretty fun and entertaining mystery/thriller.

I struggled with this book, but I did manage to finish it so partial credit is deserved.

Unfortunately for me, this story doesn't really pick up until about 75% into it, and by that point, it was too late to find anything redeeming in the characters. The mother-daughter relationship in this is horribly toxic, and the fact that the daughter's therapist hasn't called them in for a family session or ten means he isn't doing his job.

On top of that, there's some racism present. This is largely used to set Jo apart from her mom's family, but it's still in questionable taste in my opinion.

What really bothers me, though, is the way schizophrenia is portrayed in this book, as if a character suddenly being able to see what they thought were another person's delusions makes it okay to dehumanize them. There are also some horribly ableist things said about two other characters, Tom and Hattie, and while I get that this is part of the main character's growth, it just isn't pleasant to read.

The main takeaway here is that this book takes too long to get to the interesting parts, and by then the characters are more annoying than deserving of sympathy. The excitement is too little too late, and it's rushed on top of that. Not the book for me.

Nothing about this situation feels right to Jo. She has somehow been left her grandmother’s house, but more than that, she has been left a letter that scares her with its implications.

This book has an overarching sense of dread that is really powerful. It’s definitely not a light read, but it’s a well-written suspenseful one, and one I recommend.

I've tried three times to read this now but I just couldn't continue. I understand that it's an ARC and it hasn't been finalized yet but I truly had a hard time reading on with the errors and it felt incomplete. I usually could look past this but unfortunately, not this one. I had high hopes for this book because of what I read in the synopsis but I'm really sorry. It's not for me.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

A girl inherits her estranged grandmother's house and finds herself involved in a sinister mystery.
This book certainly had an amazing potential, but it didn't quite get to where it should have.
The characters were a little hard to connect to, and I didn't really like any of them. The pacing was a bit off, and at times it seemed like not much was going on. Adittionally, I would have liked it more if the fairies were developed in more depth —they might as well have been haunted toys or dogs with rabies and it would've had the same effect. On the positive side, I really liked the atmospheric way in which the creepy little town and its mysterious inhabitants were built throughout the story, as well as the way the suspense was kept throughout most of the story.
If you like mystery/thrillers, as well as surreal creatures, you could give this one a try.
I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Creepy Horror Fairytale?

I enjoyed the concept of the story. It was a new creepiness that doesn't feel like the same old over done concepts.

The characters were a bit annoying. All of them. I was more interested in the dog vs some of the characters.
Some chapters are way to long. The ending felt to rushed compared to the first half of the book that dragged on.

I recieved this eArc from Netgalley for an honest review.

The Cherished unfortunately did not resonate with me as much as I had hoped, despite being drawn in by its captivating cover. The primary reason for my lack of connection with this book was the writing style. While I understand that others may find it appealing, it simply did not align with my personal preferences.

When Jo’s estranged grandmother dies and shockingly leaves Jo her house and working farm in Vermont, with a vague letter telling Jo she has “necessary work” there, Jo will be pulled into a dark and unexpected world. The Cherished is a horror, fantasy about family responsibilities.

Jo’s father passed away two years ago, and now her gammy has died as well, something she only learns about because she receives a letter from her lawyer telling her she has inherited the family farm. Jo hasn’t been back to the farm since she was eight years old, a trip that ended in her gammy attacking her with a rake and her father kidnapping her, which leads him to an arrest and a schizophrenia diagnosis. Now, as Jo and her mother head to the farm to get a jump on preparations to sell it, Jo will have to fast her past and the murky memories she has of that fateful night. What she learns will change everything.

While the plot was intriguing and enjoyable, it was brought down by stilted writing and the horrendous characters. Jo’s family is over the top villainous. The people living in the Vermont town are unreasonable, expecting Jo to pick up where her grandmother left off, but not giving her any information about what it is she is supposed to do. And then they look down on her for not somehow reading all of their minds! I even found Jo to be pretty awful, with an all about me attitude that doesn’t do her any favors in this story, it simply makes her look stubborn and like she is being defiant just for the sake of going against her mother and others.

The Cherished is made even worse by its extremely problematic depictions/views of mental illness. Jo’s father is diagnosed with schizophrenia (though it is clear that he likely never actually had any mental illness) and Jo’s family, her mother especially, constantly talk about how his mother drove him crazy. Big, big, big misrepresentation of how mental illness works. And general language surrounding mental illness, is just not what you want to see in a book like this. Especially since depicting Jo’s struggle with her memories and feelings from her traumatic past could have made this book an exceptional example or relatable novel for someone with similar struggles, but instead it’s one I would never recommend to someone suffering from mental illness.

The ending was a bit of a let down as well. I’m wondering if Ward is hoping for a sequel, as even though all the conflicts in the story were resolved, it still felt unfinished. I wish it was better, because I love the idea of the dark fae and one family’s responsibility to keep them away, but I just can’t recommend this one. The promising plot was overtaken by unpleasant writing, unlikable characters, and problematic representation.

I have been trying to read this book for months. I keep starting, finding I just cannot connect to it on any level, and then putting it down. Now the pub date is upon us and I have given it one last try. And I just can’t. The writing is not good or engaging, the story is disjointed and by the end of chapter 6 I am finding this book to be a chore.

The characters are uninteresting and I truly have no idea what’s even happening here. I have also attempted the audio but I have been given the voice galley and, because I’m struggling to follow along with the story anyway, I find it just impossible.

Thank you anyway, though, to Netaglley, HaperCollins Children’s Books, Harper Audio, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn't terrible... but it wasn't great. The voice was incredibly grating and difficult to follow for long. The pacing felt off, too; quite slow for a YA "horror thriller." I wouldn't say it was much of either tbh. More of a mystery? But I found myself not caring too much about Jo, which is never a good sign. I'd try something else by this author, but this one really wasn't for me.

This had some cool aspects to it and got fairly creepy at one point, but it took a while to get there and the main character didn't carry the story well.

Jo is a sixteen year-old living with a mom she doesn't get along with and a stepdad she doesn't like. I can understand being a teen and struggling with your parent, but Jo came across as whiny and spoiled and it made it difficult to get behind her. Not that Abigail is necessarily so much better, but I could see how she'd seek out a stable relationship after so much turmoil in her previous one.

The pacing is slow for the first two-thirds, there are some hints but I wanted to get to the exciting part. I did enjoy the reveal of what was going on and the beings kind of freaked me out. I wanted more development about this, but it was so late in the story that we didn't have enough time.

The ending was rushed and way too easily dealt with. I don't know that I'd call this horror, more a fantasy with some darker parts. There's a decent story here, but I think it needs more development.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for the copy.

Josephine Lavoie gets the shock of a lifetime when she finds out that her absent grandmother has passed away - and that she’s been named in her will, inheriting her house and her land. When she arrives at the house, things aren’t quite what they seem. The tenants are odd and she feels and overall sense of dread. As she spends more time in town and around the farm, the memories from her childhood start to come back, making her wonder if her father wasn't as crazy as everyone made him out to be.

This book is compared to the film Midsommar (which I loved) and it does have that same feel of “I know something is off, but I can’t quite place my finger on it.” The story unfolds slowly, leading up to the big reveal of what the mysterious presence is at the farm. While I was sucked into the story and couldn’t stop reading, the suspense didn’t really feel palpable, the stakes didn’t really feel high. I’m not sure what it was about it, but I felt like I should be more anxious than I was while reading (which could be a good or bad thing depending on the person!)

Going into this story, I was worried it would be one that I wouldn’t be able to read while sitting in bed at night as I was expecting a horror/thriller vibe and I’m a big scaredy cat. Thankfully, that was not the case. The book felt a bit more mystery than thriller, though I can see where it was trying to be a thriller. I never once felt on edge or like the characters were in life and death situations, even during the moments when they were in danger.

If you’re looking for a book with a thriller vibe without actually causing you anxiety, this is the book for you. The plot is there, though I felt like it had a lot of untapped potential, and it was (mostly) easy to understand the character and their actions (but it becomes much clearer the deeper you get into the story). It's not a book that I would probably read again, but I would recommend it if it fit the vibe someone asked me about.

Jo inherits a house, its tenants, and its secrets in Patricia Ward's The Cherished. A very promising and engaging premise that, unfortunately, didn't reach its full potential.

The vision of this novel, a teen girl finding herself by discovering her family's legacy, was creative. The fairies were deployed in a unique way. There is, as I said, a lot of potential here, but it would require some substantial adjustments to pacing and character development to fulfill.

The book builds so slowly, with periods of unrelated exposition. After dragging, the plot kicks off about halfway through and then steamrolls over moments and devices that are asking for more details and explanations. Many of the characters are flat, entirely explained by one characteristic. I think part of the issue is that this novel was promoted as horror for fans of Midsommer and that's not the vibe. It's more of a fantasy coming-of-age with some suspense elements. There is also some racist and ableist language that appears, I think, in an effort to build characters, but it creates some discomfort that doesn't drive the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 5%.

I only finished the first chapter but that was enough to know that I'm not going to read any further. I'm quite positive that if I had read any further that this would have definitely earned a one star.

Here are some passages that helped me come to my decision. I don't know what the page numbers would be because I have an e-arc and they don't really put page numbers in those.

Jo can't remember what happened-just that it was nighttime, and Gammy sounded so frightening, yelling over and over, Get out! Jo got badly hurt and still has ugly scars down her arm; Gammy hit her with a rake by accident, her dad later told her. She can't remember that or anything else, not even when he drove them off in a paranoid schizo state.

The next one was:

"To think she had nothing, literally nothing, to do with us," Abigail rants, "and then she goes and dumps this on us! I'll have to go through her things. My God, that house was crammed with junk like a Turkish bazaar!"

Now, that really had me questioning this book. But this next one was the final straw:

Maureen was bad enough, but Enzo wasn't even her actual son, and his background was a total mystery because he couldn't remember it. Who couldn't remember anything, not even one detail? Someone severely damaged, that's who. Someone dangerously broken. Plus, he was dark-skinned, Hispanic looking. He could be from anywhere. He might even be Arab."

That was it. I cannot believe in this day and age of the year 2023 that people think it's okay to write ableist and racist garbage like that. Like what was the point of that? All in the first chapter! No thanks.

e-arc provided by NetGalley

3/5 stars

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Teen for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

The description of the book completely drew me in and I immediately knew I wanted to read this book. However, after starting the book, that is where the excitement ended. I felt like the story just took soo long to get into and it was so slow throughout the entire book. I felt like the writing style just didn’t flow smoothly so it was difficult to get through at times. Overall, I just don’t think that this book was for me and I didn’t really enjoy it much. Hopefully it is one that will work out for other people though!

I really wanted to like this story, it was just a bit lackluster and could not get into the writing style. Sadly, I DNF at 40%.

Yall, I am willing to overlook a lot of things. I can live with horrible editing, misspelled words, run on sentences, whatever, as long as the book is good.

What I cannot overlook is the racism, sexism, and every other phobic/ism that is in this book.

I cannot properly explain what genre this book is other than loosely YA. Its not a horror, its not coming of age, its not really anything.

I cannot say that I recommend this one, because I do not.

A wonderful tale about second chances. I cannot help but feel receiving a house at a young age would make me excited also. If Jo had more life experience, she might have been able to make different choices about her inheritance. She had questions about her father and her grandmother. Plus she had a difficult time with her mother and stepfather. She felt out of place with her mom so when she received news of a house, she was only too happy to travel with her mother to the property. Did she know what was coming, no but she would face her situation and decide what to do. Great atmospheric read.

I'm a sucker when a book is noted to be or have horror elements. The Cherished hit that checkmark and I jumped to request it in any format I could get approved for. I was gifted both digital and synthetic voiced audiobook.

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I started with the digital ebook and found the writing style choppy and a bit all over the place. The first few chapters were also very slow. It felt like the author was attempting to build character background but it didn't flow smoothly.

I ended up transitioning to the audio. I didn't have any issues with the synthetic voice but it did take until approximately 65% in before things started to pick up. The characters are not easy to connect too. The author does a good job of creating small town creepy atmosphere as well as uncanny and strange locals. I did enjoy the lore of this small town and what comes out to torment them.

Though this one wasn't for me I do recommend my horror followers check out other reviews. Thank you Harper Audio and Harper Collins for the opportunity to review in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

feel this story would work better as a screen play for a movie versus a novel. the story overall was ok pacing was off and not sure of the point of the letters in between some chapters, who were they from? that was confusing and inconsistent with no answer as to why there. enjoyed the twist with Tom being a fairy, glad Jo and Abigail got a character redemption.