Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. Doubtful is a town with a horrific secret. People go missing and are later found in pieces. Mismatched pieces. Follow as a group of friends known as the Jackrabbits go in search of one of their own with the help of the cool new girl.

“The Stitcher” is not who or what you think. Plot twists and turns are tied with red string. Don’t go out after dark. Always travel in pairs. Hide where he can’t find you. And when technology goes on the fritz, know that the horror is near.

Thank you to @netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an arc of Where He Can’t Find You in exchange for an honest review!

I so wish I liked this book. I love Darcy Coates, how she writes and how she creates her stories. I also did not know it was a YA novel until I started it but that was fine! Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. It was very long, the pace was slow and focused on the backstory for entirely too long. I feel like if it was 100 pages shorter, it could’ve been more action packed and flowed better. It was also hard to figure out who was talking from time to time. I gave it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because of her imagination and how well she writes!

Very creepy from start to finish. Although this is considered young adult, it is gory, spooky, and unsettling. It is appropriate for young adults that love horror. I absolutely loved the storyline and how this book ends.

"Don't let The Stitcher take you."

Wow, this is an incredible YA horror thriller that is heavy on the body horror and creepy atmosphere.

In the town of Doubtful, The Stitcher takes people all the time. This is known by all the townspeople, but they're helpless to stop him (or is he an "it"?) Abby and her friends live by a set of rules to stay safe, but when Abby's sister is taken, she'll break all the rules to get her sister back.

I enjoyed everything about this, the plot, the characters, the setting, the lore. The writing is very fast-paced and kept the story moving. The town of Doubtful is the perfect setting and Coates' vivid descriptions really made Doubtful seem real. The lore of The Stitcher was fascinating and I could've read a lot more about its origins. The body horror was pretty intense for a YA book, and it really worked here.

The characters were realistic and distinct, and I felt so bad for them. You could really feel the pain and loss that they were experiencing. As far as villains go, Charles Vickers was just as scary as The Stitcher, and that's saying a lot.

I'll definitely be recommending this book to anyone who wants to read something terrifying!

⭐️: 3/5

Living in a town haunted by disappearances, Abby and her friends have come up with rules to follow in order to not be the next victim of the Stitcher, a killer who dismantles the victim’s bodies and sews them back together in unnatural ways. Despite all their precautions, Abby’s sister Hope is the next one taken. Now it’s up to Abby to race against the clock to find her sister and save her before it’s too late.

I didn’t know that this thriller was more of a YA book, but the creepiness of it definitely kept it from feeling too YA, even if the way that the characters are portrayed and the flow of the story makes it clear who the target audience is. From the start, I was unsure really about what the genre was going to be. When I started, I assumed it was going to be just a normal thriller, but then a lot of the themes trend toward supernatural and horror, and it ended up being kind of a mix of all three. It really jumps right into the story and the action, setting the scene as action unfolds, which helps is making it a really quick, bingeable read. It kind of reads like an extended scary story one might hear/tell around a campfire when trying to be spooky, which made it feel a little…long, eventhough it’s such a short read. It was definitely an intriguing concept, and was at the edge of my seat waiting for the resolution because of how creepy and off-putting the imagery is, but once we get to the end, I kind of found the lack of explanations of “how” a little disappointing. If you’re looking for a decently creepy, quick read though, this one was pretty good.

Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooksfire for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

This creepy story has a cast of characters reminiscent of Stranger Things or It.

However, as other people have pointed out. The pacing is pretty slow and it is hard to connect with the characters. There is also constant shift in perspectives and lack of paragraph breaks can make it challenging to keep up with where we are, and who is telling the story.

The premise of the Stitcher is truly terrifying, yet the connection to disrupting technology isn’t clear at all/the “why” isn’t explained. The attempts to explain why people couldn't leave the town was just explained away, and several times, I found myself wondering how this universe works. There are several instances where they make, and break their own rules or fight the monster using methods that they were told didn’t work before.

Where He Can’t Find You is the perfect scary read for this spooky season. I’m not usually a horror reader, but this book is making me rethink it. It was so creepy, and there were times when I read it at night and got a bit scared. It was a hard to put down read that kept my attention the whole way through. I loved the detail we got into the story and the town’s history, it really tied everything together for me. A very enjoyable but creepy read. Thank you to NetGalley, SourceBooks Fire, and Darcy Coates for the eARC!

Where He Can't Find You by D. Coates, published by Sourcebooks Fire is a ya horror mystery that stays with you.
I read the book a few days ago and story and characters are stubbornly staying with me.
Abby lives in a town where a serial killer sein unwesen treibt. Human or rather a pnr being?
Thta is for the citicens to find out, or not.
Abby and her friends are caught in a case of cat and mouse when her sister Hope is taken and she has to run again time to get her back at all costs.
A bonechilling, unputdownable read that had me in knots more than one time. And the end, all I'm saying is that I had never ever expected. A twisty read full of unexpected turns that had me guessing till the last page.

I will start this review by admitting that Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors. I’m happily biased and I don’t see that ever changing! That said, I’m not huge into YA but when I saw an opportunity to read her newest book I jumped on it. This is a wonderfully character driven story. You wind up falling for all the kids as they battle their own fears and demons. The sister relationship is wholesome and honest and the friendships feel incredibly real. I will admit that this story dragged for me in the beginning. I stuck with it and it was well worth it in the heart-pounding end. The creature is something straight out of a nightmare!! I highly recommend this book. Especially if you’re into YA and like horror. You won’t be disappointed!

This was my first Darcy Coates book and it didn't dissapoint. It had the perfect amount of horror and suspense. Loved getting to read about the town's history and finding out how and why the killings were happening. Also loved the pictures included and wish there had been more. Can't wait to check out other books by Darcy Coates!

4.5 ⭐️

I really loved reading this book! It is my favorite Darcy Coates so far, and while I have really enjoyed the others I’ve read by her, this book takes it to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL. While there are a few things I have questions about, I can say for certain that this story freaked me out more than just about any other I’ve read lately—in the best way. It nods heavily at Stephen King’s IT, and I loved that. Highly recommend for someone who wants to read a story that’ll scare their socks off but who isn’t willing to commit to 1000+ pages.

Full review posted to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5576817739

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the ARC!

“DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.
DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.
DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU.”

You won’t catch me outside after reading this!! The Stitcher is terrifying, and this was a really good read.

First of all, The Stitcher is a fantastic name for the killer in this story. As the blurb says, its victims are found sewn back together in ways that are completely unnatural.

This was the perfect book for me to read during this Halloween season. Yes its touted at YA but this 40 something year old gal LOVED IT!!

So the pictures I got in my head while reading this was a small town where it is almost always cloud. Its almost like a town that time forgot. Its a town where all the kids have very specific rules to follow in order to keep them safe. Its almost like that movie Scream when they enforce the curfew.

This did keep me on the edge of my seat and also had my heart pounding a few times. The idea of there being either a serial killer with a sick twisted mind out there or a supernatural being with a sick twist urge out there in the town was a story all in its own.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't know why I do this to myself..YA mysteries drive me crazy...and this was no exception. They are so over the top! Irritating characters, overblown plots.
Dnf

This book was absolutely terrifying.


I tried to start this a few weeks ago when I first got the e-arc but the beginning unsettled me so much that I had to put it back down. I finally decided to return to it, reading it in chunks and in the daylight, and the terror remained a theme throughout. Believe this book when it says it’s a horror!

So, of course, I have to praise Coates writing here for building a world and atmosphere so terrifying. I really felt the paranoia, fear and anger from the characters. There were some truly horrifying things and descriptions throughout.

I really liked the comic book elements weaved in to the book at the beginning of each section of the book. I wish there were more!

I think my only issue with this book is that it felt a little slow and the ending a little bit too neat, perhaps? But it was good, and the reveal and backstory was good. I could never decide if this book was going to go fully in to the paranormal territory or what.

Overall, this was a really good book! It was gripping and terrifying.

Don’t walk alone or the Stitcher will find you. Don’t stay out late or the Stitcher will take you. People are vanishing in this small town Illinois. When they are found they are dismembered and sewn back together in unimaginable ways with red thread.

It was definitely different and not what I was expecting. Had me on the edge of my seat the entire time reading!! Perfect for spooky season. I will never see red thread the same again! Thank you Netgalley for my ARC copy!

Abby and Hope’s father disappeared several years back and their mom hasn’t been quite right ever since. It’s safe to say almost everyone who lives in Doubtful has suffered a similar tragedy, whether it’s a family member or friend, most residents of this haunted town know someone who has been taken by The Stitcher. Or worse, who has been returned by The Stitcher, chopped and mangled and sewn back together, hideously mutilated and utterly unrecognizable. More often than not, these grotesquely damaged corpses are missing several parts.

Things go weird before The Stitcher strikes. Technology becomes unreliable and stops working altogether. The animals begin acting in odd, disturbing ways. In their homes, many folks have increasingly horrific nightmares. This is when following the rules becomes especially important. Never be outside after dark. Never walk through town alone. And keep far, far away from Charles Vickers, a bizarre and unpleasant man who most suspect of being behind the murders, and who seems to obscenely revel in the accusations. Vickers always has an alibi and the police haven’t got anything on him, though–so maybe there really is a supernatural, monstrous entity behind the killings, after all?

Abby and Hope aren’t alone, though; along with loyal friends Rhys, Riya, Connor, and Jen, the new girl who refuses to believe in town conspiracies or things that go bump in the night–they comprise The Jackrabbits. A jackrabbit never drops its guard, it’s always ready to run–and run fast. And most importantly, it survives.

And then Hope gets taken. From her bedroom, in the middle of the night, without a sound. Desperate to find her sister and to find answers, Abby will stop at nothing to get Hope back–and her friends are with her every step of the way.

This book was freaky as hell! I worried though; in stories like this, I feel that freakiness is unsustainable because it massively hinges on the unknown. When we’re left to our own devices to fill in the blanks in a horror story, almost everything we come up with is going to be scarier than the actual answer, whenever the author reveals it. Even if it’s tremendously horrific! Because as soon as we know it, the power of that fear is taken away.

I will say that even though that may be the case in Where He Can’t Find You, when the story pivots in that direction it becomes something else entirely: a high-stakes adventure where everything–the lives of friends, family, even the fate of the town of Doubtful– is on the line.

"From USA Today bestselling horror/thriller author Darcy Coates comes the chilling legend of a monster no one can escape.

DON'T WALK ALONE, OR THE STITCHER WILL FIND YOU.

Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they're found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer...or something far darker?

DON'T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU.

She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe - which is why it's such a shock when Hope is taken. Desperate to get her back, Abby tells the police everything she knows, but they claim their hands are tied.

DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU.

With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew."

Yeah, I love reading about this town but I don't want to go there.

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for giving me an early copy of this novel. Below you'll find my honest review.

I read my first Darcy Coates horror story earlier this year, and was really excited to get my hands on this one. It did not disappoint!

This one drops you right into the thick of it, into the town of Doubtful. It lets you know that it's a bad place where bad things happen. It tells you the rules you must follow to have the best chance of staying alive, so the Stitcher doesn't take you. It doesn't explain what's going on, why these things are happening... it just lets you discover all of that as the story unfolds.

And unfold it does... when one of the main characters' sister is taken by the Stitcher, vanishing into the night, they do the unthinkable... they decide to fight back and try to save her.

The bonds of friendship, the isolation of only depending on each other as the town has given up trying, and the constant fear of the Stitcher - man or monster?, intertwined with the weird effects on wildlife and electronics and the empty, dead feeling of the town, really push this novel into true horror. The atmosphere is set up perfectly. The hook is set deep inside. And the action drives it forward.

My one complaint is that I'd have loved a little more detail of how things became the way they are. The explanation is satisfactory, but I'm craving more information on this well-painted world.

Absolutely loved this one. Highly recommend.

This is a fantastic book for YA and adult horror fans! It definitely brings the spooky vibes without being too heavy. I thought it’d be a bit “immature” for me, as a seasoned horror lover but I was pleasantly thrilled and captivated.