True to form, McGinnis’ newest book delivers the unfiltered thoughts from an atypical narrator with poetic prose that doesn’t flinch from the dark and the ugly - and the unreal.
Nealy is deeply flawed, deeply scarred, and you don’t have to want to be her friend to empathize with her. We see her personal tragedies with visceral visuals, although the emotions are reserved and almost distant.
One of my favorite elements of McGinnis’ books is that she writes protagonists that are fundamentally broken, but they are also imbued with a personal strength - whether that strength works for good or evil purposes varies!
Thematically, she grapples with the idea that not revealing the dark inside ourselves and others leads to avoidable hardship and potentially to tragedy.

I love Mindy McGinnis. She writes YA (young adult) that is not watered down or glossed over like a lot of books for that target audience are, and feels lore real life. It's gritty, it's nasty, but it's real. I think most of her books that I've read have been highly rated reads for me, but THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES has always been my absolute favorite.

Until I read Under This Red Rock.

I don't know how Mindy did it, but Neely and her monsters were some of the most honest realistic characters I have read in a long time. I'm itching to know what kind of research she did to write the type of main character that Neely is. Though I can't relate fully to her, there were moments where I felt seen and understood. The awkwardness and inability to fit in even though you try I think can be understood by so many people in so many situations.

The entire novel was just a prime example of the skill McGinnis has with creating these worlds and characters with all these individual issues, personalities, and interlocking stories. Living in Ohio, I don't know what inspiration she used for the caverns, but I had a very specific and popular cavern system in mind when I was reading, which influenced the visuals nicely for me.

Towards the climax, there are chapters that flip back and forth between past and present, rapidly changing, forcing you to move on as fast as possible to find out what happens, until things come crashing down around you, around Neely, and you find yourself shakily facing the rapidly approaching ending that you ungracefully fall into. It was an emotional ride, and I finished the last page with goosebumps on my arms and the hair standing up. It was an intense ride, my heart raced, and amazingly I wanted to just start it over again. I can't remember the last time I had ended a book with a desire to dive right back in at the beginning.

THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES was confidently my favorite Mindy McGinnis book, with HEROINE a very very close second, and I didn't think that would change. Then Neely came, disrupting everything, and I'm not mad.

Read if you like: realistic characters, gritty stories, mental health representation, satisfying ending.

Sometimes, I wish Mindy McGinnis could publish multitudes of books per year, like some sort of Cyborg Author™, but then I wonder if they would not hit as hard as when we were graced with our yearly offering. I digress, but man I love her books. Under This Red Rock is no exception. Since this is a mystery, I will keep it short and sweet!

Neely is a mess. You can't help but feel for her. She lives with her grandparents after the deaths of her mother and brother (on two very different, very horrific occasions). She suffers from mental illness, but she has been told her whole life that she had to hide her inner demons, basically. And so, she tries, because she doesn't want to put her grandparents through any more awfulness. But she still hears (and talks to) people and things that are not really there. Needless to say, she's not particularly popular, and she finally finds some people to connect with when she gets a job at the local caverns, which happen to be a place she has always enjoyed.

But turns out, the staff get into some drug and alcohol infused hijinks after hours, which is bad enough for people who aren't already suffering hallucinations. Neely reacts poorly, and when someone she deeply cares about winds up dead... well, Neely wants to know how this happened, even if she has to look closely at herself, too. There is a lot of mystery and excitement, but also a lot of character growth as Neely has to confront a lot of dark information about herself, her family, her past, and her present.

Bottom Line: Couldn't put it down. Is it time for Mindy's next book yet?

I am blown away every time I read a book by McGinnis. Neely is suffering from hallucinations and has learned to cope with them. She finds a job in the nearby caves where she finds freedom from the hallucinations, but a horrific death sends her spiraling as she tries to determine if the murderer is her.

This book is such a fantastic book. McGinnis' writing pulls you into Neely's world and has you wondering just how much of her narrative we can believe. The murder mentioned in the blurb takes a while to happen, but that's because time is taken to really get to know the characters and know just how affected Neely is. You begin to forget that there is a murder and cheer for Neely as she begins to make friends and possibly begin healing from the death of her brother, which makes the inciting incident so much more painful. The ending is rushed, which was a bit disappointing, but the entire thing was so good, I'm willing to overlook it.

Neely isn't sure what happened to her friend, because her mental health issues cause hallucinations and gaps in her memory. This story takes us on a journey of a family who has struggled with mental health and the associated stigmas, and a daughter who just wants to live a normal life.

The two words I would use to describe this book are dark and disturbing. In “Under This Red Rock”, McGinnis tackles mental illness, SA, suicide, trauma, death, grief, murder, and the darker side of human nature. I love McGinnis’s writing and I’m always excited when she releases a new book. Her writing is so unique and immersive, and her characters are raw and complex.

This was a dark and bleak read that left me feeling sad. There are so many heavy topics explored and it was hard to read certain parts. I thought Neely was an interesting main character, the ultimate unreliable narrator. She has an undiagnosed mental illness where she has auditory and visual hallucinations. She often has a distorted sense of reality. Could she have been responsible for her new friend’s death? The murder mystery in this book kept me guessing until the end.

This wasn’t my all time favorite book by McGinnis, but I would still recommend it to YA mystery lovers. If you liked McGinnis’s other books, you’ll most likely enjoy this one.

TW: SA, suicide, mental illness, murder, animal death, animal cruelty, drug use

3.5/5 stars

Mindy McGinnis looks at mental illness from the inside out, creating a character that allows you to see and hear her hallucinations.

Neely is plagued by monsters. Monsters that speak to here. Her family has a history of mental illness and her brother just committed suicide over his. She knows when she hears the voices growing louder that she doesn’t have as much control of her mind as she needs to. Trying to establish some normalcy and quiet her mind, she works as a tour guide in a local cave system. Not only are the caverns astonishing, but they block the voices from bothering them. Here she makes an actual friend, a college student named Mila. She is gorgeous and confident and full of life; a balance against Neeley’s own personality. Neely finds herself becoming more stable. But then Mila goes missing and Neeley can’t fight the voices anymore. Something lurks underground. Be it man, monster or delusions is unknown.

I always love McGinnis’ characters. They are complex looking into their moral grey areas. Even those that seem perfect on the outside always have something dark hiding inside. Neely’s complexity is multiplied by her mental health issues. She struggles to do right but ends up doing wrong. Characters like Mila have something dark lurking within them due to an event in the book though she will deny this. No one is ever what they seem. The book is scary and best when it looks at something people live with daily. I couldn’t imagine Neely’s life. The cave itself is a character in its own right. The deep darkness sizzles with fear and danger even though they give Neely relief. But wouldn’t darkness save Neely from her own darkness?

The ending crashes down on the reader too quickly. Tension is lost and readers don’t have time to process the answer to the mystery of Mila. There is an epilogue that gives you some idea of what happens after the climax, but I feel like I didn’t get enough resolution for Max who I had bonded with during the book.

McGinnis does include a Content Warning for suicide. Besides suicide, this book has drug and alcohol use, as well as mentions sexual deviancy and rape. Some animal deaths are alluded to.

This is a dark psychological thriller that twists and turns giving the reader an amazing thrill. The ending is not the best, but horror fans will enjoy Under This Read Rock

Mindy McGinnis does a brilliant job discussing mental health and spooky way. The protagonist Neely’s perspective was creepy and brought in a level of intrigue that McGinnis is a master at.

I stayed up for HOURS after my bedtime to finish this compelling mystery/psychological thriller. Under This Red Rock never lagged or got dull. Mindy McGinnis is incredibly popular in our high school library and this one is sure to fly off the shelf. I wasn't sure how this one would end, but I think Neely got the ending she deserved. I would love to read another book with her as the narrator.

Mindy McGinnis is the queen of twisted, dark young adult fiction. All of her books get into your head and invade all your thoughts, and Under This Red Rock was no different.

Full honesty here: I was too anxious and freaked out to finish this. Neely’s mind is a scary place to be. Her thoughts were all over the place, and it sent me into a darker mindset than I like to be in. It scared me to see the darkness of humanity and to live in Neely’s pessimism.

I think this book was fascinating and well written, just like all of Mindy’s books! Just beware what you’re getting into before you start reading.

I have some mixed feelings about UNDER THIS RED ROCK. Its strengths lie with its protagonist, Neely, and her grappling with both mental illness (likely schizophrenia) and grief over the deaths of almost everyone close to her, most recent of which was her older brother, Lance. I found the voices and, later, visions Neely heard/saw and her inner monologue/dialogue with them, and her sometimes simultaneous interactions with the real world, to be extremely compelling and well-written. I was fascinated by Neely's thoughts and the way she existed in the world of this book. At times, though, I wanted to scream "Just go to the doctor and get some dang meds, Neely! You don't need to make life so hard for yourself!"

However, I was quite disappointed by the ending. I don't usually like to nitpick such things, but the way McGinnis basically wrapped up Neely's trauma, mental illness, and everything else, with what amounts to a shiny narrative bow was off-putting and just too...neat. It's been a couple days since I finished the book and I still get grumbly and frustrated when I think back on the ending because I genuinely loved the rest of the book so much.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

Mindy McGinnis's Under This Red Rock starts strong with a compelling premise: Neely is haunted by monsters that may be a feature of inherited mental illness. She finds relief as a tour guide at the local caverns, since her monsters can't follow her underground. But the reprieve is temporary, and monsters abound when Mila, her coworker and new friend, is murdered and Neely questions her memories and perceptions.

While I was engaged at the start, I found the narrative lacks tautness and fails to maintain suspense. Still, it's an imaginative treatment of mental health issues that fans of McGinnis will likely enjoy.

Neely has always been haunted by monsters. The only place she can get away from them is in the caverns near her home. She thinks she will finally have some quiet when she lands a job at this cavern and the added perk is Mila. Mila is everything Neely wishes to be, but when a staff party has her using drugs … her monsters get worse. Soon, Mila is found dead, and Neely can’t trust her memories of that night. Who killed Mila?

Under This Red Rock is a supernatural story with a mystery twist. Readers will easily be able to suspend disbelief as they uncover hidden truths above and below ground. McGinnis has once again stretched into a new genre and proven that she will not be contained by one type of writing. This book is a fast-paced mystery with some interesting supernatural components to keep the reader on their toes. Under This Red Rock is a wonderful read for everyone.

A chilling, thrilling mystery, this book gripped me from the start. I loved the eery vibe and creepy setting!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book.

My second Mindy McGinnis book and it did not disappoint. Though I did like A Long Stretch of Bad Days a little more then this one it was still a good read.

This book is dark and deals.with mental health, suicide, murder, rape and more.

I didn't love our narrator in the beginning of this book. By the end though I understood her a little bit better and even liked her. I also liked knowing that some of her voices were experienced in her life. That was a nice little nugget.

I also was not expecting the twist at the end, I was almost convinced Neely did it for a second but I never thought it was Brian or that he did more stuff so bad.

I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

If you like Mindy McGinnis this is another must read. The atmosphere of being in the caverns or riding the zip line is just amazing. The unreliable narrator with mental health issues and quite the family backstory is very alluring. The mystery is a bit gory and very compelling. Pick this up and be ready for quite a ride as usual.

Neely hears voices. The girl under the bed, the man in the closet, and shitbird. She can't escape them except in the caverns. Luckily, she gets a summer job at the caverns giving tours and finds peace. Until she doesn't.

I really liked this book. I don't know about the mental health representation but it seems carefully done. I'm always wary of thrillers that have a main character with mental health struggles but this didn't feel like it was abusing this trope. I don't think that the mystery itself is super groundbreaking but it kept me interested the entire time.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this title!

Mindy McGinnis. You are everything to me

First of all, this guy requires some hefty trigger warnings for suicide (and ideation), sexual assault (not on page, but referred to and talked about on multiple occasions), tons of misogynistic language, animal death/cruelty, and descriptions of gore!

This was so good. I wasn't blown away by A LONG STRETCH OF BAD DAYS but I've LOVED pretty much every other book that I've read from this author. This very much felt like a "we're back, babey!" moment.

To me, this title doesn't need a ton of exposition from reviews. When I started reading it I didn't entirely remember what the synopsis even was but I think that made my experience really interesting because I had no clue what was going on for a while! Though to be fair, I still kind of didn't know what was going on through parts of it due to the overall nature of our narrator, but that's okay. I was along for the ride.

Mindy McGinnis is really good at taking difficult topics and characters and making them engaging. She weaves an interesting plot around he focal points and does a fantastic job at keeping us so focused on certain things that we miss the train heading right for us because we had no idea that she'd even led us onto the train tracks.

I can't speak to her portrayal of schizophrenia, but it felt delicately handled and discussed to someone who doesn't live with it. Take that with a grain of salt; I'd be very interested in how readers who do live with that feel about this book.

Otherwise, highly recommend. She's an auto-read author for me.

unique psychological mystery thats so well done and with great mental illness rep. tysm for the arc! would recommend

Thank you #NetGalley and Harper Collins Children's Book Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Mindy McGinnis' novel Under This Red Rock. #UnderThisRedRock

Mindy's expertly crafted, mind-twisting story will keep any reader on their toes. Neely, the main character, faces many challenges in her life. First, she lost her mom when she was little. Then, her brother committed suicide. Finally, she has Schizophrenia and does not want to burden her grandparents with getting her help. Neely wants to take charge of her life, so she gets a job at the local caverns. Quickly Neely fits in with her new coworkers and finds refuge away from her monsters in the caves themselves. One night of partying with her new friends Neely has a night that she will never remember, or is she choosing to forget? To find out if Neely herself feels the pressure of the red rock or maybe it's someone else feeling the pressure check out Under This Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis today! #UnderThisRedRock