Received an arc of this book. Premise sounded great who doesn’t know the story and rhyme of Liszt bordon. Book has a slow start characters not likable would not recommend

This creepy and eerie novel blends different genres brilliantly, including horror, paranormal, mystery, YA thriller, romance, and a touch of magical realism. If you're a horror fan interested in true crimes of the past, including Lizzie Borden's story, this installment is a perfect fit for you.

The story takes place in Fall River, where Lizzie Borden and her family lived, and where Lizzie's parents were bludgeoned to death. The Morse family owns most of the historical properties in town and rents the Borden Family House for touristic attractions, such as haunted mansion tours and a bed and breakfast. Many creepy outsiders prefer to stay in the same room where Lizzie is presumed to have axed her parents.

It seems there are cracks in Winthrop and Catherine Morse's marriage. Their princess daughter, Mariella, who is the "It" girl of the school, rebels by choosing to date Vik Gomez. Vik doesn't come from money like Mariella's social circle; he's an outsider who recently moved from Philadelphia with his family after his stepmother died in a hit-and-run incident. His sister, Tessa, and his mother are still dealing with their grief.

When Winthrop and Catherine Morse are found brutally axed in their house, Mariella points her finger at Vik, declaring him the murderer. Tessa believes that her father cannot hurt a fly and intends to prove it, even though her actions put her life in danger. She becomes suspicious of Mariella's behavior and her insistence on not leaving the house where her parents were butchered. Tessa asks for help from Philip, Mariella's childhood friend who works at the family business giving tours at the Borden house. Philip has a crush on Tessa, but he is also loyal to Mariella, making it harder for Tessa to get information about Mariella's secrets related to the night of the murders.

The increasing pressure, witchery, pagan rituals, and urban fantasy elements mix perfectly with the horrific atmosphere. The ending will make your blood run cold! Overall, I highly recommend this book to YA horror/paranormal fantasy lovers!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for sharing this digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you Netgalley for access to this ARC. These opinions are my own.

I love a good horror book, especially one based on a real historical event, but this one was underwhelming. The switching of POV's was a bit jarring and I felt everything involved in the plot was spelled out and predictable. It was mildly entertaining but not something I would read again, nor would I recommend it to anyone.

I think that anything involving the Lizzie Borden mystery is fascinating to read about. I love seeing author’s twists on the story and their fictional recounts on what really happened. Hatchet Girls takes a different approach and takes place a century later but in the same town that the crime took place. In fact, there’s even a Lizzie Borden House, a haunted bed and breakfast, which is the only tourist attraction in town.

If you’re in it for the mystery aspect of this book, you pretty much find out what’s going on within the first 20% of the book. You don’t find out all the details of the supernatural/magic and how it comes about, but you do get an explanation of pretty early on that magic is involved. But, what isn’t revealed until further down the line is the details of what exactly this magic is, who REALLY is behind it all, and how everything will be resolved.

This is an extremely fast read, probably the fastest read that I’ve read in a while, so for those of you who like to whip through books quickly, this is a great addition to boost your reading count to meet your reading challenge goals. It’s a super easy, quick, read. It’s also very YA in tone which isn’t a bad thing, but I know some people don’t like YA books that actually feel like a YA book.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book until I got to about the 70% mark, but I ended up LOVING this. I thought for sure it was going to be a 3 star read, but the ending made it 4 stars for sure. So visual and perfectly creepy, and most definitely a horror ending. Make no mistakes, this isn’t some thriller with magic and some supernatural sprinkled in, the ending is full fledged horror.

I also loved how the locations in this book are based on actual haunted locations in Massachusetts! It makes me want to do my own research about Bridgewater Triangle and Hockomock Swamp. And the fact that the author experienced weird supernatural occurrences after returning from visiting these places, yeah no thanks I’ll pass on that.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Many thanks the NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.

I was intrigued by this one. I liked the idea of a murder mystery set in the same town as the Lizzie Borden murders and was even on board with the mystical/dark fantasy portions it promised. But, some of it felt a bit hokey and the writing style of jumping between a couple of perspectives (no real rhyme or reason) and timelines felt disjointed. For me, this is a second purchase for large collections where there is a huge draw for horror-type thrillers.

Mariella Morse is the town's princess. She is daughter to the wealthiest man in town. But no one knows her family's secret: her dad has been abusing his wife and daughter for years. And now Mariella wants a way out. Her new boyfriend, Vik Gomez just might be the ticket. When he is arrested, holding an axe and covered in blood, standing in front of her murdered parents, the town is quick to blame him for the murders. But his sister doesn't believe it. And she will go to great lengths, including diving into the dark legends of the forest, to clear his name.