This 5-star-read is packed with the Southern charm, magic, intensity, vivid emotionality, strong women, magical realism and - curses.
Susana Prather believes she is going to die. There is this generational curse, right? Women from her family have been cursed and she starts to show the signs - sleepwalking, waking up drenched, feeling the call of the swamp...and her dreams are vivid. She might be watching the history of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn. The one with the hard life and the cruel experiences. The one with two men in love with her. The one who might be the cause for the curse. And young Susana does not want to die, even if she feels that the death is inevitable. So she tries to live. And her zest for the living in the fullest might break the real curse - the generational trauma, the pain that is hidden in secrets, the hard burden of hurt, hate, silence and just pain.

This is a beautiful, fulfilling, in a good way hurting read. The topic is so real and as the authoress says, she knows from her experience and her family history all too well what she is writing about. There is much pain present in this life. Racism, cruselty, violence, sexual violence. If there is a way out, it might be the way that Susana is exploring. Realization, compassion, forgiveness. Healing. Freedom.

Brutal, honest, beautiful. A recommended read.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this book.

This took me a little bit to get into but I enjoyed it overall! Definitely a slow burn. I liked the creepy/spooky feel at times, especially as it didn't overwhelm. I would read more by this author.

I did not enjoy this one as much as Caroline’s first two books but still a lot of good stuff! The writing itself is lovely, but connecting to the characters is SO hard. I struggled with the names and the fact that I did not feel like there was a lot of emotional investment in many of the characters.

A wonderful dark contemporary/ historical YA read. Susana has grown up knowing the women in her family are cursed, waiting for her turn to be taken by the swamp. The night she turns eighteen, the curse sinks its teeth into her, but she's not going down without a fight. Is she truly doomed, or can she finally break free from the bonds rooted in generational trauma?

This one was addicting. I'm a sucker for southern fiction, and the creepy curse premise really drew me in. I loved the dual timeline. Most of the story focused on modern day Susana, with occasional flashbacks to her ancestor in the 1800s when the curse was born. Both timelines were engaging. And the ending was amazing. Love the fact that the author based much of the story on her own family's history.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

thought-provoking story with spooky vibes while sstill maintaining wholesome qualities, this books takes you to the southern swamp with its beautifully written imagery and metaphors.
Absolutely loved this parallel tale and the characters that learned so much about themselves! A must read!

Curses and Other Buried Things by Caroline George is a haunting young adult novel that explores family secrets and the legacy of curses. Susana, the protagonist, grapples with sleepwalking and visions as she uncovers a generations-old mystery tied to her family and the swamp behind their house.

This Southern Gothic tale tackles themes of generational trauma and mental health alongside a touch of the supernatural. Fans of novels like Wilder Girls and Dark and Shallow Lies will likely enjoy the suspense and Southern atmosphere.

If you're looking for a coming-of-age story with a twist of the paranormal, Curses and Other Buried Things is worth checking out.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A gripping examination of family dynamics, love, and unforeseen connections. The characters are well developed and their passionate journeys resonate deeply. The dual timeline keeps the reader engaged.
Many thanks to Thomas Nelson Fiction and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Deep, complex, rich. Just a few words that come to mind when I think of Caroline George’s writing.

This book was a wonderful example of those descriptors with a complex dual/time plot, angsty romance, and a culturally significant setting. The combination created a moody-vibe alongside a vital theme that we can choose how we handle generational trauma and aren’t locked into the roles we’re born into.

My rating: 4.5*

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a good book, and I say this as someone who does not read a lot of YA. The book is rich, emotive and atmospheric. I always like dual timeline novels and seeing the pieces fit together.

A teen girl must try to break decades of a family curse to avoid a deadly fate.

I really wanted to like this one more, but I struggled to be intrigued. It wasn’t spooky enough I think for me based on the description. But that might just be a writing style preference, and others might enjoy this more!

"Free people free other people."

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Susana Prather is cursed. Or at least, that's what her family and the rest of their small town has always believed. The women of her family have been for as far back as the family tree can show them, all the way back to Suzanna Yawn, who the curse seemed to begin with. But with so little information to go off of and so little information being shared with Susana by her family and the people in town, it's up to Susana to try and figure her own way out of the hold of the curse before it can take her. Too bad the curse makes itself known and the clock starts ticking down on the morning she turns eighteen when she wakes up in her bed, still drenched with swamp water. But it didn't take her. Not yet. Looking back on her family's past might be difficult with so little help from her grandparents who raised her after her mother was lost to the curse after she was born, but she has no choice if she wants to make it past eighteen and to have the chance to figure out what she wants and who she really is. And who knows. Maybe along the way, she'll learn how to stop relying on the curse to help her keep the people who love her at arm's length, too.

The narrative of Curses and Other Buried Things switches back and forth between two timelines--Susana's day to day struggles to try and solve the curse while also living her life as much as possible, and the memories she has a night when the swamp calls to her of her ancestor Suzanna Yawn's life, played out tragedy by tragedy, and honestly, I'm not sure I've ever found a book that switches back and forth through timelines that does it better than this. The frequency of Suzanna Yawn scenes is used so brilliantly to show the strength of the the curse's hold on Susana and how successful or unsuccessful her attempts have been to keep herself away from the swamp at night. The characters were beautifully written, their struggles were all so real and held such weight to the story, the romance was heart wrenching and and heartwarming at the same time, despite the curse forcing the repetition of a love triangle in both timelines, and the *writing*. I think I could wax poetic about how *gorgeous* Caroline George's writing is for the rest of time, ad nauseum.

Despite thinking from the description of the book that it was going to be a bit more horror/thriller centric, I didn't find myself feeling let down by the fact that it wasn't that at all. This book was so fun and so heartbreaking and such a wild ride from start to finish, and it was hands down one of my favorite reads of 2023. Between the deep connection I felt to Susana not only for her struggles to rewrite so many lifetimes' worth of generational trauma, but also for the way she interacts with her hometown and the people around her, as a girl who also grew up both in Georgia and later in another swampy southern town.

Honestly, I'd recommend this book to just about anyone, and I can't wait for the next time I pick it up and get to go on this journey with Susana again. Just be ready for tears. Especially when you read the author's note at the end, which I'm not going to spoil here because it meant *so much to me* to read it after finishing the book.

Below are some content warnings to keep in mind going in, also. (Some of these were included specifically by Caroline George in her author's note.) Stay safe out there, everybody, and make sure you're in the right headspace to read, if necessary.

Suicide, suicidal ideation, sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual impropriety, financial/social standards, abandonment, unexpressed grief, wartime shell shock, neglect, racism, racism toward indigenous peoples, lynching, description of death and corpses, teenage abuse of drugs and alcohol, generational trauma, grief, loss, death of a parent, death of a sibling, death of a partner.

This felt a little slow for my personal taste. I did appreciate the clean content and beautiful prose. But the story itself wasn’t paced well

I will say this one was a little bazaar for me. At times I was really invested, at other times I was so confused and frustrated.

Seven generations of women in Susana Prather’s family have been cursed- the swamp behind their house and claimed them all one way or another. We mostly follow present-day Susana, but there are dreams where we get flash-backs to the other six Prather women and how their stories played out. Ultimately it’s about how secrets and grudges can be the death of us, but it’s hard to grasp that until the very end. It’s a very winding path to get to that conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3 Stars ~

A multi-generational curse lures Susanna to the swamp night after night. A love triangle (one is her third cousin...). And secrets are taken to the grave.

Susanna is on a mission to break her family's curse before her time runs out.


I never want to feel like reading is a chore or like I need to be paying it my upmost attention at all times, and this just made my brain hurt. 3 characters all with the name Susie, Susanne and Susanna, in 3 different timestamps. Fuck that was rough. (Although I understand the reasoning behind it, I personally, am not a fan).

Otherwise, I felt like the story itself was interesting, but it got a little repetitive and long-winded.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC for the return of an honest review.

Book Review: Curses and Other Buried Things by Caroline George

Curses and Other Buried Things is a young adult novel about an eighteen year old girl who inherits a 150 year old curse on her birthday. This novel also has elements of historical and paranormal fiction.

Susana Prather has heard her whole life that the oldest daughter in her family line inherits not only the name and physical appearance of their ancestor Suzanna Yawn but also her curse of madness and an early death. And as soon as she turns eighteen Susana finds herself sleepwalking into the nearby swamp just like her forbearers. Despite her attempts to break and prevent the curse from taking hold she finds herself walking into the alligator filled swamp over and over. But the curse isn’t just paranormal but also the result of long held family secrets and denial. Susana will have to go back into the past and confront the people she loves if she wants to end the curse before it’s too late.

Although I found Susana and her family frustrating as characters I was really engrossed in the mystery of the curse and her angsty relationship with Godwin. Even without the paranormal and unexplainable aspects this is also a story of generational trauma, family secrets and eventually forgiveness and letting go of the past.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Susana Prather believes she is cursed. Seven generations of women in her family have been lost to the murky Georgia swamp, and she thinks she's next. While sleepwalking, she dreams of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn. But is there any truth to this curse? And if there is, can Susana break it before she becomes the next unwilling victim?

Honestly, I found this book blurb to be misleading. I was expecting a paranormal thriller, maybe even some horror elements. Instead, this reads more as a family drama and a romance. Not my cup of tea at all. I also found it confusing having so many referenced characters with variations of Suzanna/Susana/Susie etc. The plot felt spread thin, and relied on a lot of dumb decisions that were stupid even by teenage standards. It's hard to give a fair review when I was so let down by what this book was and wasn't. Ultimately, this just wasn't the book for me BUT if you like cheesy romance tropes, family drama, and a sprinkling of mysticism, you may like this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

A family history that spans generations soaked in blood and lore. Seven generations of women in Susana’s family have been lost to the swamp behind her house. When she turns 18 she finds herself sleepwalking every night but no memory. There’s only one thing that separates her from previous generations. She believes the curse can be broken. This was an atmospheric story that kept me hooked.

Huge thank you #thomasnelson and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

I felt like this was a 150 page story told over 400 pages. There were a lot of parts that dragged and felt like they weren't that important to the plot. The book is told in two timelines and while I understood why we were seeing Susana's ancestor, her life kept going in circles and I got bored of it quickly. I think if some characters had communicated even just a little, the whole thing could have been solved in a few chapters.

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

Tried reading this a number of times, I don’t know if it was the style but it just wasn’t gripping me, the beginning was slow and its definitely a slow burner something I struggle with anyway (my issue not the author). I liked the idea behind the story but expected it to be more horror and much darker then it actually was, it’s more of a gothic romance which isn’t really my type of thing. Wish I could have loved this, it just isn’t my style!