2.5 stars. Thank you netgalley for providing this arc.

I’m so sad that I didn’t enjoy this. It was so unique, yet it couldn’t keep me interested. I can usually read books way faster, and this one is short, yet I struggled a lot. I didn’t like the ship. I found it dull, and I didn’t care much for Paul. He was standard, boring, just whatever. I liked the mc, and the magic system, but yeah the plot wasn’t it for me. It needed more umph. Honestly, I skimmed the last forty pages, so if you asked me how it ended I couldn’t tell you.

I don't usually enjoy dual POV stories, but here I did actually like it. I liked watching the way the storylines mingled a the very end, too. This was super atmospheric and woodsy, and I loved that a lot--anything that gives me folksy, woodsy, fall vibes is immediately something I enjoy. I have to say, though, that I needed a bit more from the characters in terms of depth, but this was still a really fun gothic fairytale overall. Not overly complicated but wonderfully written, a folksy American fairytale-esque story that I think a lot of readers will love hunkering down with this fall!

A really intriguing gothic mystery. I loved the authors note at the beginning giving context to the background of the characters and the Mexican heritage having an impact of the story. This really elevated the experience of reading about this culture.

Catalina and Paul exploring their curses was very interesting to read about. The lyrical writing was beautiful and the themes of hope and despair kept me hooked. A fantastic read for fall to match the gloomy haunting atmosphere of the season.

Thank you to Netgalley and Peachtree for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

My debut to the author didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed the dual POV and the intertwining of storylines melding at the end. Very much gives me Ava Reid ‘Wolf and the Woodsman’ vibes which I immensely loved. I wish i would have gotten to know Catalina and Paul as much as we got to know John but overall a wonderfully gothic, American fairytale that I will be purchasing a physical copy of!

4.5/5
I loved this book. I felt like it crept into the corners of my brain and was stuck there. Felt fairy tale ish but I enjoyed that. At the same time it didn't feel far fetched. Well written book and character.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Holiday House/Peachtree/Pixel+Ink/Peachtree Teen for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.


“Maybe poetry wasn’t there to let you escape. Maybe it was there when you couldn’t escape.”

Not only is the main character a poet, but so is this entire novel. Reading this book felt like reading poetry, so lyrical and haunting that it almost didn’t feel like reading at all, but instead simply an experience. I had to finish this book in one sitting, as once I started I couldn’t stop.

This novel does an incredible job of incorporating American folklore into this story, while still maintaining its unique narrative. It takes considerable skill to take the stories of Johnny Appleseed and Paul Bunyan and use them to create a heartfelt gothic horror narrative with a captivating romance. I also really loved how the spread of the knowledge of the Sap Man spread organically throughout the novel, giving an in-novel explanation for other characters’ knowledge of the Sap Man.

This book is told by dual timelines through the two main characters - Catalina and John. I really enjoyed this way of telling the story, as you could watch both the past and present unfold as both characters wound up at the same place in the end. It allows the reader to see the entire story without spoiling it for either the characters, or the reader themselves.

I thought it really set up for the Faustian dealings that both characters are tricked and forced into making, and the symmetry inherent in it. As Catalina tracks the Sap Man to rescue her brother - a literal journey into Hell - we watch John slowly descend into making the deal that creates the monster. They’ve both made choices that may have led to the final decisions they were forced to make, but they were also forced into those original positions by circumstances out of their control. Neither character is a villain for the decisions they’re forced to make, and I thought that was profound.

I loved the dynamic between Paul and Catalina, and how she grew to care for him despite her intentions of maintaining her distance. This really reminded me of the romance in Ava Reid’s “The Wolf and the Woodsman,” if only in vibes and circumstances (and how much I loved it.)

The interpretation of the Devil as the Banker was very clever - especially in regards to the theme of Faustian deals within this book. A person most likely desperate enough to make a literal deal with the Devil (and not read the fine print on any deals they do sign) would be those in dire financial straits. And so who else would they make these deals with, than the Bank in hopes of changing their fates?

I love the theme of wordplay and artifice within this novel, as it’s not until the deals are signed that the characters learn the truth of them, or what they actually agreed to. And the theme of wordplay and trickery makes the ending all the better, when Catalina uses her power of words through her poetry to her advantage.

“Little did she know the monster was her.”

I love how this is a novel that embraces the monstrous parts of yourself and still considers them worthy of love. Catalina is forced to become a monster to be able to survive her end of the bargain and protect the ones she loves, and she’s not condemned for it by the narrative.

The ending was so heartfelt and perfect that I almost cried. Part of me was worried that it was simply Too Perfect and was worried about a rugpull at the end. (Luckily for my heart that didn’t happen.)

I honestly think I’ll be thinking about this book for a while to come, and I will never see apples - or apple orchards - the same way again.

(For the publisher: I will post a review on Instagram and Tumblr the week of Sept.18.)

🍎"Curses could be broken, yes, but they left scars. Not simply the sort made from dead flesh, but the sort formed over a nerve, so that an ache is always there, just beneath the skin."🍎

Thank you to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for this ARC digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I begin? This story was absolutely captivating. It was filled with love, pain, grief, determination, hard lessons, desperation, and sacrifices. I found myself scrolling through each page every chance I got, even sneaking a peek to read during commercials when I was watching TV.

I'm honestly at a loss for words...yet I need to express how devastatingly beautiful it was. I loved how harsh reality and folklore were intertwined in this book. There were even moments that made me tear up, between the ugly truth on how American land was stolen and freely given to Europeans, to the relentless illnesses and poverty spreading throughout the lands, the cruelty of racism, the loss of a loved one, and the fictitious creatures found in the woods along with the deadly Man of Sap, there was never a dull moment. The fact that the FMC was biracial just like me, was icing on the cake.

This book may have been different than any other book I've read (as in the villain wasn't the love interest 🤣) but it was certainly dark, unique, and truly special.

Borrowing from American folklore, and her Mexican-American heritage, Autumn Krause has delivered quite a unique story of broken dreams, lost love, grief, and redemption.Told with very surreal imagery, gothic atmosphere, and plant horror, this reminded me a little of Pans Labyrinth, Mirror Mask, and The Corpse Bride. Delightfully unique and creepy!

This is the kind of book that's hard to pin down concrete thoughts and feelings about because it was more of an experience and a mood. It's a bit raw, and I enjoyed it so so much!

It makes me want to run out and plant a garden for all to enjoy!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a DRC of this book for review?

🖤If you are looking for your next autumnal read, look no further. Before the Devil Knows You're Here is the perfect balance of spooky and dreamy, tragic and whimsical, and will both chill you to your core and warm your soul. 🖤

Told from two POV's, this is the story of the Man of Sap (a gothic rendition of Johnny Appleseed), and Catalina, our young and passionate heroine determined to protect the ones she loves. BTDKYH pulls you into the world of poisoned apples, where you must question your soul and purpose. It mixes elements of Spanish and American folklore with the Biblical message of sin and grace. It is mysterious and atmospheric, and I will never look at apples the same way again!

"What was a knife against such a being? Hell, what was a girl like herself against him?"

Thank you to NetGalley and Autumn Krause for and eARC of Before The Devil Knows You're Here, in exchange for my honest opinions. I am honored to have been selected.

🖤What I loved: 🖤
* Krause's writing was fast paced and energetic from start to finish. Every chapter ending had me wanting to start the next immediately.
* So many quotable moments. When my physical copy arrives, I want to annotate the whole thing!
* The story comes around full circle and the ending is beautiful!
* The biblical element was mixed in well. The Banker/Devil character is the perfect villain. The David/Goliath vibes were strong.
* The TWIST had me kicking my feet!

🖤What could be better: 🖤
* Some things characters said would feel out of place for the times. "it was a brutal mother.." for example, felt like something a teen would say now, but did not feel true for Catalina.
* I wish we got to know Catalina and Paul as well as John. I felt that their characters were less developed, but I still enjoyed them immensely (but if this story had 100 more pages, I would be so happy!)

⭐ My Rating: 4.5 ⭐

🖤 Favorite Quotes: 🖤
"Someday, I vowed silently, I would give her an apple and show her the star inside. A star for my sun."

"A soul wasn't something a man could take from another. I knew that. They were real in the way kisses were real, an immaterial electricity drawing us beyond the tangible in the way Marguerite had
drawn me beyond myself all those years ago."

"Fire flickers across my page,
lines of alternating bright and dark,
and I don't know if it is light to see by
or shadows to steal my thoughts away.
And so I let them meet in my heart,
Where I keep my ghosts
and I don't fear the dark
because I've learned it is me."

The Devil is real, and he’s a white man who works at a bank.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Here is a beautifully-written book – made all the better by the fact that it was horror that was being so poetically described. The plot fits together very well, so the plot twists feel unexpected without being completely out of nowhere, and I loved the character of Catalina specifically, and her drive to save those that she cared about, even if she was hurt in the process. I also really enjoyed Paul’s character, and I liked the dyslexia rep. Even John himself was a sympathetic character.
The only real problem I had with this book, and the reason that I cannot give it five stars, was the romance. Although it was obviously meant to only be a minor subplot, it felt too minor, and the characters didn’t really have much romantic tension. The book would have worked just as well had the characters been friends, and it felt unnecessary and too sped up for the purpose of one concept that would have worked just fine with platonic love as well.

"Before the Devil Knows You're Here" by Autumn Krause is an intriguing YA novel. The book's diverse world and imaginative storytelling kept me fascinated, delivering an immersive and exciting reading experience.

Very slow and pretentious. Not much was happening, and I almost DNF'd a few times, but I wanted to give the book a fair shot, so I pushed through. The only thing that saved the pacing was John's story in between to break up the traveling. It was very unique, and I believe the author achieved what she set out to do in making a story about apples, but it wasn't for me. I expected more of a horror plot, especially based on the cover, title, and description, and more action instead of constant thinking and remembering. I think the right reader could love this, though, especially when read during fall.

🖤🥀 “Love opened a mortal wound. In agony, I worked the blade to make it deeper” 🥀🖤

Twisted. Haunting.

5/5🖤

It was as if reading a painting that you can’t stop staring at. Written by a paintbrush. Before the Devil Knows You’re Here by @autumnkraus transported me into this atmospheric world full of apples and the darkness that creeps in during fall time.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinions! I am so thankful for this opportunity.

In the beginning of this story, the author talks about the inspiration of this book being from a Mexican American family and how she created a character with the same heritage. There was a part where she talked about her Nana being an inspiration for this book and especially the main character but had passed away before its publication and that really spoke to me, as someone who had recently lost their great grandma a few days ago, throughout this book I felt her pain and grief, I felt not alone. Autumn’s words felt like poems written for me and what I was feeling, something that I didn’t want but needed to read in this moment of my life.

🖤“And hearts weren’t pretty…it was bloody, pulsing thing that beat with pain and was shaded in angry, grief-stricken red and rotting , despairing black…Poems made you face your life in all its entirety…Her words took their breaths from her dreams and losses.”🖤

Autumn Kraus’s writing was so lyrical and poetic I felt so obsessed with each word she wrote, almost the entire book was highlighted! I loved it so much that once it comes out on October 3rd of this year, I am gonna buy a copy just to highlight my favorite parts and just look at it with admiration.

Catalina, the main character of this story also really spoke to me, especially her fear of being close to people and loving someone only to lose them and feel nothing but grief. That is one of my biggest fears, I have felt the light of loving people, but I have also felt the pain of losing the people I love and it would always stick with me more than the memory of the love I had. So I often distance myself from my family and friends, and don’t really try and make new friends because I don’t want to feel that way again. But this book taught me that it is better to love and grieve rather than to never love at all.

🥀 “The memory whittled against her bones, weakening her…that was the thing about grief…it would always be there, waiting. It was water seeping through every barrier you erected to hold it back, every patch in the wall, every board nailed in place. It was quick to seep and even quicker to rise.” 🥀

Excerpt of Synopsis from Penguin Random House:

1836, Wisconsin. Catalina lives with her pa and brother in a ramshackle cabin on the edge of the wilderness. Harsh winters have brought the family to the brink of starvation, and Catalina has replaced her poet’s soul with an unyielding determination to keep Pa and her brother alive.

When a sudden illness claims Pa, a strange man appears—a man covered in bark, leaves growing from his head, and sap dripping from his eyes. He scoops up her brother and disappears, leaving behind a bird with crimson wings. Catalina can’t let this man—if that’s what he is—have her brother. So, she grabs Pa’s knife and follows the bird.

Along the way, she finds help from a young lumberjack, who has his own reasons for hunting the Man of Sap. As their journey takes them deeper into the woods, they encounter strange beasts and tormented spirits. The more they uncover about the Man of Sap, the more they learn how deeply Catalina’s fate is entwined with his, planted long ago in cursed seeds.


🖤 “Beautiful, in a way a black dahlia or a northern widow spider is.” 🖤

This quote from the book best describes this story, I literally read it in a day, I could not stop reading it and I just want more of this author’s writing!!

Before the Devil Knows You’re Here comes out October 3rd, perfect for fall! I will link some preorder sites in my stories for ya’ll to have easy access to find! Also go follow the author @autumnkraus she is so amazing and wonderful and I love everything she posts. Such a kind human being and she deserves all the love in the world! Plus her aesthetic is chefs kiss!

The main word I would use to describe this book is empty. The story seems to be building towards a dramatic final confrontation and then sort of falls flat. Themes are developed and then abandoned while subplots culminate in “plot twists” that are exciting only because they come out from nowhere.

The main story centers around Catalina and Paul going on a quest to find the Man of Sap. By their very nature, quest plots provide a lot of downtime for the characters to think and talk while they travel. Catalina thinks a lot about her family, her memories of her mother, dealing with loss/grief, who she truly is, and her hopes for the future. These themes are repeated in her conversations with Paul. But the themes rarely factor into the conflicts or their subsequent resolutions, making the protagonist overcoming them feel devoid of meaning. Apart from the final confrontation with the main antagonist, the banker, Catalina responds to each danger by running, hiding, or being saved by someone else.

None of the antagonists in this book felt very compelling because the priority seems to make them look/feel creepy rather than to have any interesting or thematic motivations. For example, the wedding party scene with Ruth could have been a warped/deranged reflection of Catalina and Paul’s sense of survivor’s guilt but ended up with the antagonist as essentially just the ultimate Bridezilla, monologuing in a cartoonishly evil way to deliver exposition. There is nothing clever or meaningful about the way that they defeat her and it seems to take barely any effort.

The main antagonist, the banker’s, entire shtick is that he offers Faustian bargains/deals with the Devil, using the wording of contracts to trick his victims and making what seems like a blessing to be a curse. But his power alternately seems bound to the contracts that he makes but when convenient or required for the narrative, he can suddenly do as he pleases. The “terminating the contract” clause doesn’t make sense because the book implies that the banker continues to be bound by the terms of the contract even after it is terminated and the victim is released from its terms. That’s not how contracts work!?

John aka the Man of Sap’s storyline ended in an anticlimactic and unsatisfying way. John’s POV is told through letters/journal entries that he’s writing to Catalina in order to tell his whole life story. When she finally reads these letters, Catalina spends maybe a page thinking about them before moving on and their contents are never brought up again.

The descriptions of the world are poetic and vivid but the actual worldbuilding is barely fleshed out. Catalina and Paul encounter various mythical beings: tree weepers, Hill Dogs, and a White Spider tree. They each appear for a single scene, don’t speak, aid Catalina and Paul for seemingly no reason, and then are never mentioned again. Apart from describing their physical appearances, we find out basically nothing about their backstories, how they came to be, or what they do.

Some more minor issues: The descriptions rely very heavily on similes and metaphors, initially to great effect but it begins to feel overdone later on. Also, some of the similes are kind of ridiculous or don’t make sense (for example, Catalina compares a row of three apples to teeth).

The romance between Paul and Catalina is generic and feels like it’s included solely because a romantic plot or subplot seems to be a requirement in fantasy books these days.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peachtree Teen for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: American folklore, spooky stories, Faustian bargains, dual POVs

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 8/1 and has been posted to my book blog and to Instagram as of 8/18.

This is a nice, quick read full of Faustian bargains and bits of American folklore. The book has elements of homesteading life, Johnny Appleseed, and Paul Bunyan (though this is less obvious/prominent), while also being unique and a good amount of spooky elements. I think I saw an American Gods comparison somewhere and I definitely get that comp. I hesitate to call this Gothic, I don't quite get those vibes, but it's still a good autumn/spooky season read. I definitely wanted more spookiness though. The creepy birds and the ghost town were great elements and I wish they and more things like them were explored more in the book.

One of the things I find interesting about this book is the associations and symbolism, and the layers there are within a single motif. Apples are a pretty big part of this story and serve as a source of fear and longing and poison and salvation, at different points. Along with their different associations, apples in this book also have symbolism relevant to other stories and traditions. While not native to the Americas, apples are a very 'American' fruit, which ties them in nicely to the other folkloric themes of the book, and has the double appeal of being a fruit already used in fairytales as a poisoned fruit. Beyond that, in Judeo-Christian tradition apples are connected to the themes of temptation, sin, and the devil. These multitudinous layers add to the symbolism in the story and help to cultivate a specific narrative within the story.

Catalina seems like the practical one in her little family. She worries over food and farming while her Pa gets easily distracted and her brother's big heart has him nursing mice with broken legs back to health in the middle of winter. At the same time, Catalina is a poet and so has at least some romanticism when she looks at the world, even if that romanticism is melancholy. That combination of practicality and romanticism serves Catalina well as she goes after the Man of Sap. Catalina is also very loyal to her family and willing to do anything to save her brother, as evinced by chasing after the Man of Sap, among other things. I do wish we got to see more of Catalina's poetry and love of books. She's largely distracted by life and then her quest to save her brother, so I understand why she isn't writing much, but I wanted to feel more about her poetry than I did.

The other POV in the story is John and it's clear from the get-go that John = Man of Sap. He tells his story about how he became the Man of Sap while Catalina's story is set in the present. John is by no means a sympathetic character, even when he's human, even as a younger teen. That being said, it's clear John has true regret for the things he's done and the way his life has turned out, so there was a part of me that felt sympathy toward him at the end of the book, and I'm glad he was kind of able to get the ending he wanted.

In general I wanted more emotions in the story. Catalina just kind of accepts, moves on, accepts, moves on, ad infinitum, and I wanted to see a bigger emotional reaction to anything. She's distraught over losing her brother, but I didn't really feel that, and while she falls in love with Paul, I didn't really feel that either (also they've known each other for like a week, if that). John, on the other hand, actually displays a good bit of emotionality, though his feelings are pretty negative.

There were a couple of twists in this book, some of which were more predictable than others. There were two really big twists, one that I saw coming and one that I didn't, that I really liked. One of these things relates to John's story, and I did kind of see it coming, but I still really liked seeing it come to fruition and how it played out. The other has to do with Catalina and resolved much faster than I would've liked. It was an intriguing setup and while it happened at the 90% mark, so clearly there wasn't much left of the book, I think there was a lot of promise that could've been executed on and it almost felt like the resolution was sped up as a result of editing or something rather than the author's decision. Nevertheless, I liked both twists and enjoyed what they brought to the book.

Overall, this is a quick read that combines American folklore with Faustian bargains and a young poet's love for her family. I do wish there were more emotions in the book and that perhaps it was a bit longer to explore the end of the book, but it's a good autumnal read.

Catalina is full of grief and anger and thinks there is something wrong with her, and I loved that because it is so realistic. I was even mad at her sometimes for being so mean to Paul, who is a cinnamon roll.

I loved getting Catalina and John’s story at the same time. The writing is so lyrical, and you’re taken on this dark journey through woods filled with dangerous creatures and broken dreams.

4.5 rating.

I really enjoyed this new book by Autumn. Having read her first book, I can already see the improvement and growth of her writing. This book was so atmospheric, the descriptions and setting were beautifully detailed. I loved Catalina. She was a great main character.

This was adventurous and magical. I loved the lore, how Autumn spun it to create a unique story that took you on a ride that you weren’t quite sure where it’d end up. Which, the ending had a nice twist.

Told in two narratives, one of cursed John who plants poisoned apples and Catalina, a Mexican-American girl living in the 19th century, 'Before the Devil Knows You're Here' is a dark fantasy combining folklore elements with horror. The plot and concept were very unique, and the writing was evocative and beautiful. Unfortunately this book suffers a bit by not fully fleshing out the scenes and transitions and consequently contributing to a sense of confusion. All in all this was a quick read and I am interested to see more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

Before the Devil Know You're Here is a bold weaving of folklore and dark fantasy set against a harsh landscape. Recommended for readers who gravitate toward lush prose and a story deeply embedded in symbolism (I learned so much about apples!). Four stars because the beginning was confusing in moments.

The story is quite unique and not something I’m quite used too, but it still is quite enjoyable. The pace could’ve been a little faster, but all in all, an agreeable read with a great cliffhanger.