When Joe finds out her grandma left her her home a place Joe had only visited once that she could recall the memories she had were good ones except when she thinks about the memory of leaving. When her stepdad Robert decide before even discussing it with her mom Abigail or Joe that they’re going to sell the house. Unfortunately her verbally abusive mother Abigail who is also heavily pregnant with the inbert(which is what Joe calls the baby short for embryo and Robert Junior) that yes they will sell it in she it’s going to go down to clean out the house Joe insists she’s going to go as well and after a little finagling Abigail agrees. The closer they get to the house the more Joe’s memories come flooding through but after they arrive and meet the residents that her grandma clearly stated in the will must stay in the Home there a little weirded out and Joe is taken aback when she notices Tom has the same strain scars on his arms bed she has on hers but quickly dispels it is just a coincidence after all there’s no way grandma also accidentally got him with the rake as well. Although Joe and Abigail think Tom and Hattie are strange the longer they’re there the more it seems Joe has a lot more in common with them then she thought. This is a very strange story I love yeah horror stories and I think Patricia Ward did a great job creating tension and an overall spooky feeling it is a definite solid four star read I know other reviewer‘s had made mention of fat shaming which I know the mom was verbally abusive but she’s just a character in it you’re so sensitive that bothers you maybe you should steer clear of horror books I just don’t understand these people who want to read horror but get offended by things of the character say… They’re just characters in a book I mean get over yourself. That’s so aggravating anyway I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it and would definitely read more from Patricia Ward in the future I couldn’t wait to read this book and was not disappointed I received it from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

The Cherished was so unexpected. Jo has been left a house by her grandmother.. her father’s mother. Her father, who was schizophrenic and told strange stories to Jo as a child. The letter mentions tenants, who turn out to be even stranger. Jo and her mother visit to get the house ready to sell, but once there, memories start to return to Jo of her time there. Weird things happen. Are said. Things that make Jo think maybe her dad wasn’t so wrong. And maybe, she belongs there.

Jo's family life has never been easy, and now that she's been given the family's home in her grandmother's will, it will not be easier. Her very pregnant mother is not the kindest, especially regarding Jo's late father and grandmother. That's not to mention that Jo can't remember what happened at the house to have given her scars on her arm to this day. When the current tenants of the house turn out to be strange characters, Jo starts to uncover the truth about the house and her past.

While I was intrigued by the premise and the cover, this book needed a lot more work in several areas.

First and most importantly, there were several instances of outdated, offensive language used by the main character that is never challenged by the narrative. Someone is referred to as being in a "paranoid schizo state," a woman is called a "Nazi baker" after committing the crime of talking to someone else instead of the main character, and the language around Jo's non-white father's appearance was derogatory. This is not a historical fiction where the main character gets their viewpoint challenged, this is a modern story. It is a wonder that this book is being published by a big publisher but this language has gotten through into a nearly finished copy.

Even without the offensive language, the story itself was unengaging, poorly organized, relied on cliche, and did not execute on its premise. A switch to a first-person perspective could have made Jo relate more to the audience. There were a lot of redundancies in the interactions between her and the other characters. The lack of questions she asks about the ridiculous stuff going on around her was infuriating. The characters were stock and did not feel like they had much depth to them. There were several examples of the author being too on the nose, like having Jo listen to "Money, Money, Money" and then thinking about her mother's consumerism. The pacing was very unbalanced, with the majority of the book having nothing happen.

The only thing that I thought was interesting was that the supernatural element was a different type than I expected - fairies instead of ghosts/hauntings. But even with that, there is not a horror element like the book pitched itself to have. It compares itself to Midsommar (a movie I love), but I can't think of anything that the two had in common - in the plot, characters, stakes, pacing, etc.

Overall, this book really was a letdown. Most importantly, I would like the publishers at HarperTeen to seriously consider what sort of language they will allow to be published in their books.

The cover of The Cherished instantly pulled me in. It generates this dreamy feeling of a memory that our main character can’t seem to shake about an event from her childhood. Jo can recollect memories of her father taking her to visit her grandma, but these memories are slightly tinged with something sinister that she can’t quite put her finger on. When she receives the news that she inherited her grandma’s home, more and more of these memories begin to resurface.

I found this book to be slower paced than most books that I am drawn to. If I gave it an official pace, it would be slow-medium. The story was enjoyable but was impeded a bit by pacing. When reading the synopsis comparing this novel to Midsommar I was hooked. However, I did not find it to be comparable at all. It did however perpetuate the stereotype that small town residents are not intelligent and nefarious..

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review. I actually ended up DNFing at 50% because I tried so hard to get through this. The writing was odd and difficult to read. I really wanted to like this book because it promished dark horror, but when I read it was for fans of Wilder Girls, which I also DNFed, I should have known. There was ZERO horror in this book. Basically the creepiest thing was the tenants which were weird. I'm not sure if it actually displayed horror aspects later on, but if it's a horror book, it should be included in the first 50%. Another thing that absolutely turned me off of this book was the main character, Jo. She came off very whiny and unappreciative. I really wanted more horror aspects as the plot itself was rather boring.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book because I loved the cover art so much but, unfortunately that was not the case. The idea of the story was intriguing and interesting but not executed correctly, in my opinion. I found myself lost in the story and confused as to what was going on throughout the whole book. The writing was choppy and made the story line not flow how it should.

"For fans of White Smoke, The Hazel Wood, and Wilder Girls comes an original, hypnotizing horror thriller in the vein of Midsommar, as one girl inherits a mysterious house from her estranged grandmother - and a letter with sinister instructions.

Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother's will - let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.

Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.

The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?

But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it's true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay."

I love menacing inheritances, I hate Midsommar.

The Cherished is a fast-paced, YA horror book that really delivers on the creeps. The novel was very creepy. The first half of the book had me completely hooked and I just had to keep turning pages until I found out what happens next. But, when we get to the midpoint of the book and the twist happens, the pace started to slow down and while still creepy, wasn't nearly as strong as the first half.

Overall, I thought the premise was interesting, and the creeps were top notch. I wish the second half/ending would have landed a little butter, but I enjoyed the creepy vibes/atmosphere enough for a four stars.

1.5 stars- thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this Arc!
I'm not sure how to feel about this book. I think the idea was very good, but it wasn't well executed.

First off, up until Abigail saw the fairy, the book was really quite boring. Everything moved very slowly, but after that happened, everything moved too fast. It was too clean of an ending, probably because the book would have had to be longer for the ending to be good. Another thing I didn't like about the writing was the style of it. It's very choppy and confusing. It definitely gets better as the book goes on, but for the first good part of the book, the style made it harder to get through because i kept losing interest and also having to go back and remember who different characters were. Also, it wasn't always consistent- I specifically remember one part of the book where Hattie has this long paragraph, and she speaks on the same level that Jo was, but the rest of the book she was written to come off as a young child who didn't have much schooling and wasn't very eloquent. There were a lot of things like that and just a lot of plot holes in general.

Another thing that annoyed me was Jo, which made it much harder to read the book because she's the main character. She was just really bratty and spoiled, and also had some takes that just made me uncomfortable ("paranoid schizo state", "dark-skinned, Hispanic looking. He could be from anywhere. He might even be an Arab", etc). There was honestly no character in this book I liked.

One thing that I think was good is that there were a few plot twists that I didn't guess, like her why her mom had to go when she was pregnant, and things like that.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel.

First of all, this cover is stunning. The summary sounded so intriguing, and I didn't hate this book. I also didn't really love it though. I felt like this was very middle of the road for me. It was a pretty quick and easy read. I liked the idea of the story, but it didn't quite deliver for me. I found myself a little confused about what was happening throughout the story. Overall this is probably one that won't be super memorable for me, but I am happy that I read it.

The Cherished has an interesting and intriguing plot. It has all the bones for a good thrilling story. However, I did end up DNFing it. I found that the writing was uneven. It seemed to have the kind of voice that was not yet mature enough for a young adult novel, which led to me not really caring about the main character in this story. I was also surprised with the insensitive content displayed in this book that didn't really seem like it served any kind of purpose or reflection of the character. It was off putting.

I hope this book finds the right readers for it. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperTeen for the advanced copy for review.

2.5/5

The Cherished is a fast-paced, creepy YA horror book for fans of House of Hollow! I thought the first half of this book was the strongest - I was very drawn to the story and didn’t want to put it down. Around 50% when the “twist” was revealed, it started to slow down and the story dragged a bit all the way until the end.

Overall, I thought the premise was interesting, but I needed something more for this book to really land for me. I enjoyed the creepy vibes/atmosphere, but I don’t think the story itself was strong enough.

DNF @5%

What the actual f*ck is this book?? I didn't even make it through two chapters and the number of racially insensitive (at the very least), fatphobic, ableist lines with terrible takes on mental health pregnancy and more is WILD in a YA book coming out in 2023. And so far, the writing isn't great either. It's choppy and makes odd choices at times with tense usage. And maybe the plot ends up doing something interesting with the horror elements, but I won't be able to tell you because I'm not wading through anymore of this garbage to get there. Other reviews get into details of some of the specific things said, but I can tell you I could make a lengthy list and I only read a tiny fraction of this book. I recieved a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

I teach in a middle school and The Cherished would be a great novel for my students to read. Patricia Ward writes from the heart. The Cherished is a compelling coming-of-age story that follows a young woman as she navigates a tense yet loving relationship with her mother and the equally complex issues of identity, race, and class. The story is enriched by supernatural elements, which are seamlessly woven into the narrative.

Ms. Ward is no stranger to exploring issues of fraught identity and painfully and elegantly articulating complex relationships between family. I searched out The Cherished because I was blown away by a book of hers titled, The Bullet Collection. A literary memoir about growing up in Lebanon during the civil war.

In The Cherished, as in The Bullet Collection, Ms. Ward uses language that is pristine and beautiful. Jo, the main character, facing insomnia and depressive moments is described as follows:


"She empties her mind as much as she can, hollowing out the dark spaces, emptying, breathing, but there are always thoughts floating by in the darkness, like the squirming lines under a microscope slide. They never stop. They are the basic proof of life, these mismatched errant images and words. No matter how still she lies, no matter how black her clothing, how filmy and gauzy and soft (clothes of a long-dead person, lying in stillness, in darkness), the thoughts come."

Later in the book:

"The trees sway against the sky, too. The world never ceases motion. She might be still as stone, but everything in the world outside flutters, sways, shivers. Perhaps that’s what always frightens her from falling asleep, the knowing that when she lies unconscious, helpless, there is ceaseless motion all about. Life, continuing without her, changing, moving. "

The Cherished begins in the affluent suburbs of Boston and ends in rural Vermont. In another instance of inspired prose, the author describes Tom, who Jo meets in Vermont:

"He looks like a thing grown from this earth, a living gnarl of bone and flesh born from dirt and rock. His big hands haul things—stumps, logs—as if they have no weight at all. He chopped down the tree he’s sitting on, and pounded and baked the bread she eats in the morning, and slit the necks of the chickens in the freezer. Everything in this place has been touched by his hand, at one time or another. Sitting on his stump to stare across the meadow, he looks like the overseer of this land. Way more than she could ever be. . ."

The Cherished is an inspired novel that will resonate with anyone who has struggled to find purpose or grappled with complex relationships.

As I wrote, The Cherished would be an exciting novel for my students to read. Additionally, I could use it to introduce my more advanced readers to literary fiction by suggesting, if they liked Cherished, they should read The Bullet Collection.

I found this very difficult to read. The grammar, the storyline, characters were all over the place. Love the book cover but the story did not match.

Rating: 🌟🌟

The idea of Fairies we have based on stories we have come across as kids are the small mythical creatures with wings and magical wands. But what if their attitude changes from happy and friendly to ferocious without warning if they are somehow offended? That’s the idea Patricia Ward explores in her debut effort “The Cherished”.

Kudos to the author for exploring a relatively new theme in the fantastical genre(at least to me). Young Jo inherits her grandmother’s ancestral house, the source of her nightmares and childhood visions with her father. Accompanied by her mother, Jo decides to take a trip up to the house in an attempt to sell it, though unwillingly. The mysterious caretakers of the property, Tom and Hattie, warn Jo against selling the property and unveiling an “underworld” but as things go in such stories, the other world is unlocked and all hell is unfurled. Can Jo understand the mystery behind her visions and close the “door” forms the rest of the story.

The book gave me a bit of “Locke and Key” vibes but unfortunately the pacing was a major negative for me. Half of the book is wasted setting up the plot and the mother daughter relationship was a bit confusing. The book would have worked wonders if it was a 100 pages less in length but that’s just my opinion. The synthetic audiobook, though helped in pushing along the length of the book, was devoid of any emotional connect- another negative for me. But hoping for the actual human rendition to enhance the experience.

A very unique attempt but misses the mark for me. Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins and Patricia Ward for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #TheCherished

This book was wild. I thought the writing was great and I loved, loved, loved the concept (I won’t spoil!). But though, I did have some issues with the beings as the villains of the story, but that was my own personal preference. I did find the first half of the book quite slow and didn’t pull me in, but once I pushed myself through, and everything started to pick up, I thought it was really really good!

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Unfortunately, me and this book didn't hit it off as much as I wanted after seeing that cover. The main cause this book didn't work for me was the writing style. I can see why other individuals might adore this book but it just wasn’t cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book. I found it enjoyable but not unique. It also read a little younger than I would prefer.

DNF'd at 43%.

I enjoy a handful of YA, but the narrative voice for this felt middle-grade while still exploring YA themes. Additionally, there are some problematic representations of schizophrenia, and so I won't be recommending this to my followers.