One of the best books published this year, subtle yet fascinating. Tracy Hewitt Meyer’s straightforward style of writing blended with the depth of the story is remarkable.

Highlights: The depth of character background added color to a seemingly dull narrative, especially regarding the “bad guys.” Uncommon in many books, this is done impressively; after all, we readers love to know the why and who of a story’s antagonists.

Each character is distinct; how each talks and thinks differentiates them noticeably. Mood and setting are clearly defined. The flow of the story is very easy to follow; there are no unnecessary turns or subplots that ruin the reading.

The title is interesting; initially I thought it was one of those war-action-hero kinds of reads, but I have to admit I was surprised as I navigated the material to the end.

The only low point is the ending. In my opinion, for a good book like this, an ambiguous ending was a poor choice. A lot of questions remain unanswered. Maybe this is with a sequel in mind, but I think the author owed us an ending with a bang.

However, I will stick with what I have said: that this is a must-read and must-have young adult book, one of the best this year. Well done!

I love a lot of stories. I really love haunted, abandoned asylunm stories. This YA novel was right up my alley. Shaun has seen some stuff. As a result, he has done some stuff. So he runs away to a small town and cannot stay away. This is the beginnings of a great story. It may have slightly dragged at times, but it always brought you back to where you needed to be.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for eARC in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this missed the mark for me. The synopsis drew me. It took me several chapters to get into the read.

The plot of Generation Annihilation, which centres on a teenage killer who targets his stepfather, is really compelling from the first.
Although the secondary characters might have used more growth, Shaun's character was effectively developed.
The novel's concept was intriguing, but about halfway through the book, the tale started to drag a little bit and look repetitious.
Although simplistic, the conclusion was still good. Overall, it was a grim but entertaining read and a wonderful introduction to the horror mystery subgenre.
Thankyou to Netgalley and BHC Press for the e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

Going into this, I was expecting a spooky read, but it really morphed into a YA dystopian story the further I got, and I’m not mad about it!

I enjoyed discovering the secrets that were exposed throughout the story and I’ll definitely be looking for book 2!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a free ebook ARC to read. This is my honest review, and I am trying my best to avoid spoilers.

Generation Annihilation is an interesting young adult novel with a gripping plot hook. Starting with the concept of a teenager murderer with self-justifying motives makes this book a true blend of horror, mystery, and thriller/suspense. The story goes to some dark places for a young adult read, but I feel it is justified through the character development. I always enjoy books that make me think, and this one poses some good thematic topics for that.

I recommend this book to fans of horror, mystery, and especially to those who enjoy young adult novels.

*I got a free copy through Netgalley, this in no way affected my review*

This book had such a strong start and then went downhill along the way. The ending was so dark and scary; nothing happened in the middle and the ending was frankly just disappointing.

I liked the main character fine, but he could have been fleshed out way more. The author sets up a pretty strong base at the beginning, but then forgets about it until the near end of the book, which is a pity. The side characters were forgettable and could definitely use some more personality.

I really think the idea and concept of the book was there, but the author seemed to be done with it by the 50% mark and that’s a pity.

Also, you know when you come up with like the most basic ending you can think of and say to yourself ‘the author would never do that, that’s way too simple?’
Yeah…

So, this one might be a good start to get into YA thrillers, but it definitely wasn’t something new in the genre.

This book was a new unlike any theme I've read before. This is a book that once you start, you cannot stop until you have reached the end because you need every ounce of information and explanation as possible. For readers who love a fast-paced, hard-hitting read, this one is it. I certainly enjoyed this book, but my only complaint is that the characters fell a tad short to me. It didn't feel I got enough to truly connect with them. That is just a personal preference though, as it can be difficult to build in-depth characters in shorter reads!

Let's start with my favorite part of this book which was the idea of a new generation of human beings that start with how we handle teenagers in the present time. The whole concept for this possible look into a future with less violence and less crimes was truly interesting and at the same time disturbing.

At the beginning I was really invested with Shaun's story and to find out how he was going to get out of the situation he was in. Then he discovered the asylum and I do love myself a creepy mysterious asylum where potentially some dodgy experiments are taking place. But, this is also where the writing style started to be repetitive for me and made the pacing slow down even though a lot of things were happening.

For being a YA book I did find the story to be really dark and there were many trigger warnings so I feel that this is more for the older spectrum of YA readers.

And even though the story is told from different points of view, the characters lacked depth and I wanted to see more of their personalities and understand their motivations better.

CW: Sexual, Physical and Emotional Abuse, Drug use

A really great and intriguing read. I loved the characters and the story. Will look out for more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and BHC Press for this opportunity to read,rate and review this arc which will be available October 10,2023!

Sean is a troubled teen who sets his extremely abusive stepfather and his house on fire for nearly killing his mom. Then runs away to his mom’s home town of Blackthorn Peak West Virginia. There he sees a creepy asylum and meets a girl named Cass who tells him to leave. Naturally he doesn’t. What ensues is a twisty, creepy story of troubled teens, a shadowy Agency, missing kids and experiments. I actually dig this story. It would honestly make an epic horror movie. The creep factor was a 3.5. The writing lagged in certain areas but overall was pretty good. I recommend this book to teens 15 and over.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This book really missed the mark for me. When looking up books, this one was sold as a psychological thriller & it was absolutely not that. Maybe a mystery? Maybe??
Overall, I felt like this book had so much potential! I was so sold on old, abandoned, creepy asylum & annihilating a whole generation. BUT I felt like this book was the same thing again & again & again & again (you understand my point). I was hooked in the beginning, I mean those first few chapters had me INVESTED. Then it seemed like once the book moved into the asylum, it was like how many times can we retell this story? I felt like for 30 chapters, these characters just sat at a table chatting & slipped in & out of consciousness. Im going to be very honest, if this wasn't an ARC, I would have dnfd at multiple points. I powered through for the ending & well, let's just not even talk about the disappointment that was. Also, this book was supposed to be about the "spark" that existed between Shaun & Cass & let's be real, it was as dry as a desert. About a quarter of the way through I looked up if this was the author's first book, it wasn't!

I adore the premise of this book and the character writing. Since I had never read a plot like the one in this book, I was quite interested as I read it.

Because of this, the author did a fantastic job of selecting the ideal location, plot, people' ages, and insane doctors to reinforce the theme of her narrative. Outstanding effort.

Rated Down. My Rating 3.5

The premise of this book is very intriguing. I mean, who doesn’t love a good horror story with an abandoned asylum? Right from the start, Generation Annihilation jumps into the thick of it with little to no backstory but gives enough along the way to fill in the holes. Meyer does a great job creating an atmosphere that’s full of suspense, unease, and mystery surrounding not only the asylum but the characters as well.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley, Tracy Hewitt Meyer, and BHC Press for providing me with the advance copy. Please be assured that my review is entirely honest and voluntary.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Hmmm this book had some good writing. And I liked aspects of it. But I found it to be repetitive, and there was a plot hole or two. I think some elements could also have been added sooner. The info dumping during some later points was a lot. But maybe with some revising?

Though the primary plot isn't exactly new, the twists give the story a uniqueness that will keep you engaged to the very last page.

I do wish there was more exploration and discovery to elevate the creepiness to another level. I really, really wanted that House on Haunted Hill vibes.

Maybe we'll get the extra scare factor with the sequel? If there is one?

A fast horrific thriller with some disturbing themes - all good with me.
I enjoyed this story, and was suitable disturbed in places. Love a good asylum story.
The writing wasn't always smooth but it was ok. Really enjoyed it!

This is how you do pacing in a thriller book 🙌

Such a joy to read, loved the unique premise and this one was genuinely spooky!

This had promise, this could have been good! I felt like everything was so rushed and the explanations were so meh. there was no time to feel like you needed to guess or no time to feel uneasy.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a review. Honestly, I really did not enjoy this read. Something about having it all happen in an asylum gave me mixed feelings. And the random asylum worker being a…child predator… just felt like an unnecessary means of obtaining some shock value. The characters felt dull and 2-dimensional, and I just was not invested in the story. It was a great concept that was just executed poorly, in my opinion.