Thank you to Lyndall Clipstone, Macmillan, and NetGalley for this arc!

Unholy Terrors is one of the few books that live up to their covers. We've got bones, darkness, and scary stuff galore, and look at my heroine wearing her skeleton armor like OMG. The aesthetic was spot on.

In the author's third novel, we meet Everline (Evie), a magic-less warden wanting nothing more than to show her usefulness in protecting her people from the monstrous vespertine outside the walls. But she seems to live in the shadow of her mother's betrayal and death, and when she kills a vespertine with human-like qualities ( her father acts like it's no big deal when IT IS), she vows to travel outside and find out what's going on. Accompanied by her best friend and sister, she encounters a boy vespertine and she makes a deal with him: if he takes her to the Thousandfold, she'll allow him to feed from her. Sexy, I know. You can see where this is going. They are both bound by duty and as their feelings grow deeper, the more danger they find themselves in.

I love a good enemies-to-lovers book and this was not a let-down. Ravel is a monster boy after my own heart, claws, and all. I do hope we get to see more of them because I need more of them. Full stop.

I recommend this for readers looking for a dark romance and those who love monster boys falling in love with fierce girls.

This book was terribly slow works building and was a chore to finish. While the characters had a good idea centered around them, it wasn’t fully executed.

A warden sworn to eradicate monsters. A monster who is not what the warnings foretold. A quest to uncover the truth. What answers will she find behind the wall? Let’s find out!

Read if you like: YA fantasy, YA paranormal, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, sworn to protect each other, sibling rivalry/bond, spooky reads, unique magic, search for truth, questioning the status quo, holy warriors, wolfish monsters, unlikely allies, LGTBQ rep, character driven, finding your place.

Everline Blackthorn was raised as a warden. Her vows made her duty clear: Hunt the monstrous vespertine and end the unholy magic that drives them. That is until she discovers an unusual vespertine and her many questions leave her wanting answers. The only solution is to seek the truth about the monsters, and herself, beyond the safety of the wards. She gains an unlikely ally who could be the key to uncovering the past. But will she be able to escape unscathed and unchanged? Or will she want to escape at all as Ravel Severin shows her the truth of the vespertine and all the things the warden have kept hidden. As their connection grows will they forsake their duty or each other?

Bold words coming: Unholy Terrors is one of my top reads for 2023. I said it. It’s true.
It has all the things I want in a YA paranormal/fantasy. The characters are great with a lot of growth potential. The plot is slow burn but not slow paced with a fantastic balance of relationship and processing and action. We have an absolutely gorgeous setting and the world descriptions get you viscerally into the story and the harsh and otherworldly conditions. Every word is purposeful and beautifully written in a way to evoke the dark and magic laden world we step into and keep us wondering what’s hiding in the darkness and how the characters will respond to new threats and situations.

I just love it all. I love Everline, her bestie Lux, and her pious sister Briar. Ravel is the whole mysterious and alluring package. There’s enough world building that you have a good understanding that a lot of things in the society have changed quickly and fatally and that people have just accepted a new reality with few questions as the result. It doesn’t belabor the point and you are meant to fill in the blanks much like the characters who are expected to operate on faith and duty.

There’s an air of urgency that makes it impossible to stop reading because you want to uncover the secrets alongside Everline and Ravel. You need to know what’s hidden in the forest. Because as magic and duty all backed with blood, and bones, and honey clashes with reality it yields perfectly dark, sweet, and luscious feelings of growth and discovery. The interplay of the relationships between all the characters and the way they build and unfold further solidifies the idea of finding yourself in truth and understanding each other.

It’s the difference of knowing what’s right and doing the right thing. Because if faith is built on duty alone, and duty fails to be good… then the only thing left to do is question what you believe. Yeah. It’s deep, people. Magical, steamy, dark, hauntingly beautiful, heart wrenching, heartwarming, and it all hinges on acceptance and understanding. Perfection!
Go preorder it before I write even more about it!
Thank you to NetGalley and Lyndall Clipstone for a copy of Unholy Terrors, it was my absolute pleasure to review.

A lushly written YA fantasy/dark romance that I couldn't get enough of.

Unholy Terrors pulled me right in and kept me enthralled.

Recommended!

Excellent world-building, intriguing magic system, and a fleshed out cast of characters made reading this book so delightful. I was hooked from the first page and found myself staying up late to try to solve the mystery that begins to unfold about Everline's past. If you love monster romance, gothic-horror vibes, and beautiful prose, I'd add this to your TBR!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I feel unsatisfied honestly. I think the plot and characters has so much potential, but it just didn’t deliver in the way I wanted and needed it to. What initially drew me in was the enemies to lovers and humane Vs monsters, the literal key to my heart when it comes to tropes. There were some points where I was caught off guard and it was quit unpredictable, but it was only about 10% of the book where I felt this way. Also, the spice. Yikes. It was a huge let down. The build up and tension was good but that is it. I’m sad this book did not deliver the way I wanted it to as I was quite excited to read it.

UNHOLY TERRORS is a standalone dark YA fantasy novel that had me hooked from beginning to end. It’s the best kind of enemies to lovers—where everyone has secrets they’re hiding and betrayal is always a looming possibility.

This book had everything I wanted, including:
💀blood & bone magic
👁️an eldritch god with so many eyes
💕themes of sisterhood and friendship
🎀ribbons on weapons
🤐 broken vows
🖤a lovely monster boy

Basically, you should preorder this book ASAP. I know I will. It comes out on October 17th and there is no better spooky read for Halloween!!

Huge thanks to Lyndall and MacMillan’s @henryholtbooks for the chance to read this incredible arc!!

Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone is the book for the monster lovers but done in such a tender and intimate way.

The prose of this book is so beautiful and lyrical that it creates a delectable atmosphere for Everline's and Ravel's story. Everline is a great protagonist. I loved that even through treachery, that she stood her ground for what she believed in. She's a little messy but I feel that makes her believable because what young teenage girl isn't messy and making unwise decisions?

I also really loved the connection that Eveline and Ravel forge even being on different sides of the tracks. The question and the journey of "are we more than our parents' mistakes?" is always a question I loved to see explored.

And now, I just want to fangirl about my love for vampires, and Ravel's unique monstrousness. The vespertine were such cool creations of being part werewolf/shifter, part vampires -- and who doesn't love a good vampire story.

*slight spoiler*
I also really, really loved Ravel's moments when he used magic. Those scenes were so artfully written and gave such a vivid image.

I really loved this book and think others who love lush atmosphere and searing romance are going to greatly enjoy as well!

I'd say for about 45-50% of the story I was really entertained. Confused, but entertained.

Let's start with what I liked. Everline's story and trauma was really interesting and I was invested in her figuring out about her past. She had this complex moral code to her with conflicting desires of wanting to do her duty as a warden and wanting to know about her mother and past. It added a complicated but important layer to her as a character and the stakes of the story. I think some of the set up, descriptions, and relationship elements were really well done and had such great potential. I also really liked most of the characters, the cast was diverse and multifaceted, especially Briar – Everline's her half-sister – who had a dramatic arc/shift during the book that I think could have been drawn out more but was still interesting.

Now here's where most of my problems lie.
- there was little to no world building -- what we did get revolved mostly around the magic and creatures (but most of the time i was confused what was happening)
- the "love' between Ravel and Everline could have been a good slow burn, enemies-to-lovers situation but instead felt oddly random and forced regardless of the predictable set up
- the actual mission and plot of the book should have been intriguing and engaging but there was so many unnecessary descriptions and moments that I was honestly bored during a significant portion of it.

Overall, the reason I gave this 3 stars (maybe 3,25 cuz I'm feeling generous) is because I was relatively entertained for most of the book. There were good moments and interesting characters and because of the potential, it did provide a decent time.

Gothic setting. Questionable MMC. A girl who breaks all the rules. This book has it all. I devoured it in less than 24 hours. Like I literally could not put this book down. It had me on edge the whole way. If you love monsters and edge of you seat heart breaking betrayals. You must pick this book up!

The world building is quite lovely, very heavy on the gothic atmosphere. The writing is easy to read. There is a lot of exposition and build up. Unfortunately, nothing starts happening until 5% into the book (the end of chapter 1) and I just can't force myself to focus. I decided to stop after completing chapter 1.

I do see some adults enjoying this as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC..

Thank you to Lyndall Clipstone for providing an eARC of Unholy Terrors to be through HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books and NetGalley!

When I won this eARC giveaway on Instagram, I shouted with joy! I absolutely adore Lyndall Clipstone's Lakesedge and Forestfall. Unholy Terrors is a dark, gothic fantasy that truly creates a vivid picture in your mind while reading. I felt like I was watching a movie in my head and, with every turn of the page, the writing flowed beautifully. Everything about Unholy Terrors is so immersive, the setting, the plot, the characters, and the romance. I enjoyed reading this book so thoroughly and it is one that I can read over and over again and never get bored.

This book had very little actual plot. It was no plot, all vibes. That being said, the vibes that were there did a great job at bringing out the 14 year old goth girl inside me. There is very little world-building, and there aren't even that many characters, despite Everline living in a fortress with presumably a ton of wardens. And the relationship between Everline and Ravel is honestly silly if you think about it with any common sense. Everything from them being attracted to each other to begin with, especially on Ravel's end, considering his sister had just been killed, to their insistence that they belonged to each other after knowing each other (and being enemies) for just a few days. You don't unlearn the kind of indoctrination that Everline and Ravel received from their respective fathers in a few days. But regardless, it was so easy for me to suspend my belief just to enjoy watching this relationship develop. Everline is always wearing long, gothic lace dresses and black lipstick, Ravel has on skull makeup, while they're both trying to kill each other in a deadly wasteland. It's completely unrealistic, but I loved it, and I think that all the goth girls are going to love it too.

As always, I do enjoy Lyndall Clipstone's poetic writing style and her depiction of sibling bonds. In this case I really appreciated Everline and Briar's relationship and how it evolved throughout the book.

such a gothic and atmospheric read. lush and immersive prose, complicated character relationships, neat plotting. everline is a dogged, flawed character, and ravel, whose experience is equal but opposite, is a good foil for her. their relationship held my interest the most, followed by the world-building. the combination of sisterhood, healing, and corruption as themes was really fun. it takes some time for the plot to really get going, but once everline and raven started interacting, i was hooked.

i loved the resolution. so wholesome.

ty netgalley and macmillan <3

Things I loved:
- rich goth atmosphere
- great prose
- monster boy
- Bad ass MC
- strong female friendship
- complicated family dynamics

This is the first book I've read from this author and there was a lot to like. The strongest part of this novel was the vivid writing. It was so rich and decadent. I was very impressed.

The story itself was interesting enough to keep me reading. The romance was pretty hot.
The world was easy to follow as well as the magic system.

My only complaint is the constant repetition of certain things. There was a lot about her mom being a traitor and at like the 20th time it was mentioned I was growing pretty unsympathetic toward the MC.

Other than that this was a pretty entertaining read if you're into moody gothic reads.

Out October 17, 2023

Thanks netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an immersive, beautiful, gothic, and intense read!

Prose-

Lyndall's writing is the most immersive I've ever read. The way she describes little things from the protagonist gripping a fence to the feeling of an 'unholy' power is amazing and truly outstanding. I've never read anything quite like it. The world and the characters feel so lush and broken but beautiful and vivid. As well one of my favorite things is how Lyndall captures that gothic atmosphere and the pure innocence of femininity.

The Characters-

As I said the characters felt so real and complex. Our protagonist felt young and innocent and even a bit naive at times but she was also so strong and loving. The characters did things that caused pain as well as gave so much love like we humans do. I loved them all and they truly felt so well-rounded.

The World-

The world is dark and gothic and so beautiful and full of such dark, intense magic. The way the magic was used and how she described those scenes was so epic and intense and always had my jaw on the floor and my heart racing.

Overall-

I loved this book! While there was lots of lush prose this book is truly so easy to binge. And the vampires (or vesper tine) were perfect! Growing up I have always been obsessed with vampires and I think Lyndall truly did them justice in this book paired with the gothic atmosphere! I really loved them, fangs and all.

The themes in this book were so well portrayed! Themes of grief, of rage, of vengeance and forgiveness. Of love and trust and what those two words mean in relation to each other. Themes of family and the kinds of bonds (or chains) that creates.

I LOVED this book!

**Some SPOILERS up ahead**

Vampires-
One of my favorite things about vampire books is the bloodletting and the biting and I think Lyndall captured this dark, hungry essence of the vampires/vespertine perfectly. I loved the scene with her on the altar and Ravel feeding from her. In terms of vampires this book did nearly EVERYTHING I could have asked for!

Some Issues-

One thing I wasn't pleased with personally was the sexual scenes. To me this book was a perfect moody, gothic, and vampy YA novel with such strong and beautiful themes. I personally don't believe the level in which those sexual moments were described was appropriate. But I'm also a firm believer in keeping YA fade to black.

I also didn't understand Ravel and Everline getting intimate with each other after they had fought each other nearly to death. At that point I feel like, we as readers, aren't too happy with Ravel and this moment could almost seem like him taking advantage. Obviously we learn his betrayal wasn't completely real but as Briar said, he DID still betray her and cause her pain (and vise versa). I understand something said in that moment led to Everline realizing his true intent at the end but still... the moment wasn't necessarily bad but it just didn't feel right. It honestly felt uncomfortable.

These issues I had with the book aren't enough for me to dock stars because they are little moments.

** END of SPOILERS**

Thank you so much Lyndall Clipstone, Henry Holt, and Netgalley for my e-ARC of this STUNNING book! Now I need to reread Lakesedge!

It was good, but it was slow. Would've liked a few illustrations. Not sure I could fall in love with the person who killed my sibling in less than a week.

This was a free copy via NetGalley.

3.75 stars, liked it!
Clipstone definitely knows how to create an atmosphere with her writing. They are immediately put into the world with our main protagonist Everline, a necromantic warden who is struggling with her family history and also being the only warden without magic. I’m the search for the truth, she gets her best friend captured and the book follows her attempting to get her back. Clipstone does a good job of bringing the question, who makes a monster? Who decides who is evil?
It’s also a standalone so it’s easy to pick up and read. The atmosphere will be great for its slated October release.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

I was really enjoying this in the first half. But, I think that after the initial set up it just started to drag a lot. I also, while I could understand why Briar was in the story, wished she wasn't a part of the adventure into darkness with Lux and Everline (?). I don't think that that relationship really needed to be explored more than it was early on, and then they quickly made up/the relationship changed in a span of like 3 days. Also the romance was....uber ridiculous. She *killed* his sister, that's...???? He forgives her nearly immediately. They fall in love/get all hot and heavy within like 3 days. I just--the timeline of this was weird, the romance was too fast, and the twists and turns were very... heavy-handed, hah.
I was liking this so much early on (the world is so cool), but then it just really didn't deliver overall.

Thank you Netgalley, Lyndall Clipstone and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for an eARC of Unholy Terrors in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love Unholy Terrors, but unfortunately it was not for me. The concept, the aesthetic and vibes were right up my creepy, monster, gothic alley. Unfortunately, I found the pacing to be too slow to hold my attention. While Lyndall obviously has a way with words and her descriptions are powerful, at times I found the depictions repetitive and unnecessary. Because of the overly descriptive writing style, the plot did not move at the pace I needed to stay engaged.