Haunting and interesting? DEfinitely. But it didn't seem to hang together very well, barely by a thread, in fact. Wish i could give it more.

"Clever Creatures of the Night" by Samantha Mabry is an evocative and haunting tale that blends folklore with contemporary issues. Its lyrical prose and atmospheric storytelling create a mesmerizing and thought-provoking read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for an advanced ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

This story had a lot of promise! I loved the post-apocalyptic vibes, the remote house in the woods, a group of young adults with their own agendas. Case, the main character, arrives at the home looking for her best friend, Drea who invited her to come stay. Upon arriving, Case realizes that Drea isn’t there and appears to be missing and the inhabitants of the house are acting strangely. The mystery of Drea’s disappearance had me interested throughout the story, along with the snippets of her writing found in hidden places inside the house. There were elements of supernatural, wild animals acting bizarrely, a local haunting of a witch on a mountain. All could have led to some creepy conclusions. However, the characters were not well developed and the plot seemed to meander half way through the book. No conclusions were made and the ending seemed unfinished and confusing. Perhaps this book wasn’t for me.

I felt compelled to check other's reviews before posting my own and I'm relieved to see I'm not alone. I wanted to like this book, the cover art was stunning, the story sounded very gripping. And yet— I only got like a third of the way into the book and felt no interest in continuing. The story was stilted and the concept felt awkward in practice, I felt baffled why Case wasn't demanding answers from the first moment she arrived, and all of the housemates interactions with her just felt so odd. Overall, just not for me.

Unfortunately, I had to dnf this at 37%. I typically love this kind of gothic horror, but neither the writing or the characters had grabbed me at any point.

Much of the writing feels too descriptive, where we are essentially reading a shot-by-shot analysis of what is going on, instead of a book where it flows. One specific part near the beginning had the main character talking to two gas station attendants where she gave them her phone number and address, all the while the person she came with is beginning to drive away. It felt drawn out as it was happening, instead of the intended feeling of urgency - much like when you're watching a movie and a scene is long enough that you start thinking about how there's no WAY this character can hold their breath this long.

There were also a few too many characters to try to keep track of, and none were unique enough for me to ever know who was who. Many times a scene with a character was happening, and I only knew who that character was when the character I THOUGHT it was appeared. In the same way, I felt the location and the plot felt disjointed, where I was never certain why or how the missing character had even met these people, or decided to live in the middle of the woods with them. When we begin the book, it feels like we're dropped into a story without the proper introduction, and by the time I quit reading I don't fully believe I ever caught up.

I'm unsure how to describe reading this, but it felt like rather than reading the book itself, or experiencing things with the characters, I was instead reading the auto-generated description of what was going on. The writing was very flowy and emotive, but ultimately I think it held back the story rather than enhanced it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for providing this e-ARC.

I was going to wait for a while before writing this review, see if I could settle my thoughts a bit, but I'd rather just rip the proverbial band-aid off. Let's get this over with...

Prior to starting this, I saw the overall low rating and I laughed in its face. I frequently find myself in the minority opinion on YA Horror books, so was completely expecting to enjoy this in some way. Unfortunately, I fall directly in line with the majority of other Readers on this one. OMG, for me, this was a complete and total mess. I have no idea what I just read.

This story is a fever dream meets a bad acid trip and I wasn't having it. The only things I really took from this are: we're following a character named, Case; she's gone to visit her friend, Drea, per Drea's invitation; when she gets to Drea's home at the appointed time, she's not there and instead Case is forced to interact with Drea's bizarre housemates.

There's a slight post-apocalyptic feel to this. Like an event happened that forced all these kids to move into this remote house together and they live cut off from the rest of society, but I have no idea why.

From the start, I knew it probably wasn't going to be for me, but I kept going. I wanted to see if I could find some sort of enjoyment in the story. The writing style was not to my tastes at all, but sometimes, if the storyline is gripping enough, I can see past that.

Initially, I was intrigued by the fact that Drea seemed to be missing. If we could believe Case's thoughts, Drea had invited her there, so why would she suddenly be gone?

The property itself was rather eerie and all of Drea's roommates were odd in a way that did, at the start, seem like it could provide a good creep factor. Sadly, that never took off. It was so confusing, I just could never settle in to enjoy any of the atmosphere, or outlandish circumstances.

The dream-like quality of the writing, paired with the hopping around in focus, made it very hard to decipher any sort of plot. I wanted to get to the bottom of what happened to Drea, but the story was relayed in such a way that it made that close to impossible and not enjoyable.

I'm not sure who I would recommend this to. I would say you'd have to be a big fan of Literary, or Speculative, stories to enjoy this. Also, perhaps if the words of a story are the most important thing for you, it could work. The writing does have a certain sense of lyricism to it that could be pleasing to some Readers, but if enjoy any coherent plot, or well-developed characters, you may as well skip it.

Thank you to the publisher, Algonquin Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I went in with an open mind, but woefully, this was a complete miss for me. On to the next!

I really wanted to like this, because it had so much potential. There's the mystery of the missing friend, the odd behavior of the roommates, and even a disaster that changed the world. But none of those interesting ideas really added up to anything. Even at the end, after a very interesting and tense, violent encounter, there wasn't really a resolution that made the journey worthwhile. While I was disappointed, the writing was potentially good and I thought the ideas were great, so I will probably try this author again. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

After receiving a letter from her friend Drea, Case heads to Texas to visit. When she arrives at a dilapidated farm, Case discovers Drea’s school friends, but Drea is nowhere to be found. Something strange is going on at this house and Drea’s friends either can’t or won’t help Case in her search. What really happened to Drea?

This was my first dive into the world of YA horror and it was certainly interesting. Right off the bat, I felt like this plot had so much potential! Case and Drea have an interesting friendship during what feels like the end of the world and the setting has an ominous air that you just can’t shake.

There were moments I felt like the story was on the verge of something more mystical or folklore-esque, but I could never tell if it was actually leaning that way or if the push was in my head.

In the end, this book was a solid 3 star read for me! I enjoyed the story, but wish there would have been a little more in the beginning to really hook me and hold me in the real world, rather than questioning the reality of the world I was reading.

Case needs to find her best friend Drea but she may have joined a cult and that decision may have cost her life. Cleaver Creatures of the Night tries to infuse mystery and deceit but fails to create that atmosphere. Most of the atmosphere is teenage petulance and miscommunications that drive the plot leaving the characters with no depth or urgency to move the story.

I am not sure what I expected going into Clever Creatures of the Night but I do not think I got it. *inserts the gif of the cat shaking their head, no* It was really confusing and I just didn't care about the plot. On the bright side, it's a pretty short read.

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.

I was truly anticipating reading this book because I absolutely adored Tigers, Not Daughters so much. Unfortunately, my reading experience with Clever Creatures of the Night wasn’t that good. It did start off promising – Case goes to visit her friend Drea only to find out that she’s not there. Did she go missing? Are her roommates responsible for her absence? The issue is that the book takes place during the course of one day. There’s only so much Case can do to find her friend in a place where they’re located in the middle of nowhere and there’s no cell signal. Initially, the mystery of what happened to her friend had me really invested. The problem is that this book has so much promise and truly could’ve been something amazing, instead we get a really underwhelming reason as to why Drea’s not around. The writing is beautiful, but for a book that was very short (around two hundred pages) it felt impossibly long.

The supporting characters needed to be more interesting to keep this book going for how long it did. Instead, they were rather dull and one-dimensional. This was such a letdown after reading Tigers, Not Daughters.

This book is good for readers who like slow-burn mysteries and literary thrillers. I wouldn’t even call this horror.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Algonquin Young Readers for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this book immensely and thought it nailed the nuances of literary horror. Mabry is skilled at writing atmosphere and kept me hooked until the very end.

Ugh. This is tough. I had high hopes for this one and was certain at about 50% in my only critique would be this should have been a novella and about 100 pages shorter. But then that ending. Like there was one tiny part I liked. But overall? Too quick, too messy, and it literally wrapped nothing up. It was anticlimactic. I imagined about 5 possible endings that at least would’ve been more satisfying. I felt like way too much time was spent on the letters that were written…and it was a story that came across as truly sinister…until the end. Seriously bummed about this.

Who knows if it's because I read the ARC, but this book had a lot of strange and confusing aspects to it; but I might have also been confused because it was boring and I couldn't care for any of the characters.

So formally, the writing was pretty clunky in some spots, with sentences that were just worded weirdly. The perspective of the narrator/narrative voice shifted without warning a few times, making it confusing who we are supposed to be empathizing with at a given moment. What was probably most egregious was the chapter titles -- they were so needlessly confusing!!! It starts at chapter "Eight" and I was either thinking that it was doing some time travel type story telling or my eBook was messed up. Then it goes to chapter 9, 10, 11, then NOON!! Ahh only FIVE chapters in does it make sense that the titles of the chapters are the time of day it is in the story! It would've been obvious from the first chapter of it was titled "eight a.m."!!!

Plot wise, like I mentioned, I couldn't feel for or relate to any of the characters -- they were very surface level and simple; a lot of them had one, maybe two, motivations and they weren't really clearly described. The plot itself was boring, but what was more upsetting was there was a line that could have been explored that would be much more interesting! The volcano eruption and apocalypse-like scenario would have made for a MUCH more interesting book, but it was only referred to a couple of times and described in minor detail for like two pages. Lastly, the reveal that Andrea just died in an accident that morning or the day before or whatever was super lackluster! Like why are the other people at the house acting like it's some big conspiracy when it was literally an accident -- why not just say that from the beginning! Also, lastly lastly, there's some implication throughout and at the end more explicitly that either Andrea or Case doesn't actually exist? That would be interesting if it was developed at all.

I want to start this review off by thanking NetGalley and the publisher. I received and eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Now onto the review. This book was a short read. It’s a literary horror so I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting into. I love horror but literary fiction tends to not be my thing. It tends to be very overwritten and flowery, in my opinion.

This book was too short to be overwritten and flowery so there’s that.

It follows Case. She’s going back to her hometown in West Texas to visit her friend Drea (Andrea) before going off to college.

It’s been a long time since Case and Drea have seen each other. So Drea writes letters to her. I loved that. Case kept all of her friend’s letters with her and tied them in a neat little bundle. I’ve done similar with a friend who was overseas. It was cute.

So, this area of West Texas is still recovering from a recent volcanic explosion. The volcano was apparently considered dormant and erupted.

The thing, when Case arrives after receiving a letter from Drea to come visit, Drea isn’t there. Instead it’s just her roommates. And they give off all the bad vibes.

I can’t say I hated this book but I didn’t love it. The literary aspect absolutely shows but for me, there wasn’t really any horror.

Now, this part get a little spoilery.

Case survived a fire and has damage from it. Nerve damage. She takes pain pills. And at some point, the pills she has left go missing.

When I tell you that was the only part that stressed me. I was freaked lol. I’m a chronic pain patient and one of my biggest fears has always been being somewhere and my meds either being taken or just somehow vanishing. That part was what really scared me.

That isn’t to say there aren’t parts that aren’t objectively upsetting or scary. It just wasn’t really feeling like a horror book to me.

I did like Case and I liked a lot that she would do anything for her friend. What I didn’t like was the mystery of the story as a whole. It wasn’t really that great in my opinion. And the ending of the book felt like it came on too fast. And was convenient.

It wasn’t a satisfying ending. It left me wanting more. I know the book is short but short books have punchy and satisfying endings all the time. This shouldn’t have been a deterrent from having a solid ending but it feels like it was.

So I’m giving it a 3 but might be more like a 2.75. I don’t know that I can really recommend this to anyone because it wasn’t a great read. It was just kind of meh. None of the characters felt very strong aside from Case. Yes they stood out on the page but not in any way that made me feel anything for them. I appreciate being able to read it.

First off, let me say that this cover was gorgeous. It’s definitely what drew me in to read the story. Second thank you NetGalley for the arc of this book.
Let me say that I liked what this story could have been. I kept hoping for more to happen in the supernatural sense and I was never satisfied on that part. There just wasn’t enough to the story for me to truly love.
All in all it was a pretty decent YA book I would recommend to read if you just like the normal mystery trope and aren’t hoping for some supernatural-ness thrown into your story.

"Clever Creatures of the Night" by Samantha Mabry is a delightful and enchanting picture book that celebrates the magic and mystery of nocturnal animals. Through lyrical prose and captivating illustrations, Mabry takes young readers on a captivating journey into the secret world of creatures that thrive under the cover of darkness.

One of the book's standout features is its vivid imagery. Mabry's descriptive language paints a rich and evocative picture of the nighttime landscape, from the moonlit forest to the shadowy depths of the ocean. Each page is filled with intricate details that invite readers to linger and explore, making the reading experience immersive and enchanting.

The illustrations in "Clever Creatures of the Night" are nothing short of mesmerizing. Mabry's use of color and light creates a sense of depth and atmosphere that brings the nocturnal world to life. From the luminous glow of fireflies to the piercing eyes of a prowling owl, every image is brimming with energy and personality, capturing the imagination of young readers and adults alike.

Beyond its visual appeal, the book also serves as an educational tool, introducing children to a variety of nocturnal animals and their unique adaptations. Mabry's lyrical prose provides fascinating insights into the behaviors and characteristics of each creature, sparking curiosity and encouraging further exploration.

But perhaps the most magical aspect of "Clever Creatures of the Night" is its celebration of the interconnectedness of the natural world. Through the stories of creatures such as bats, foxes, and owls, Mabry reminds readers of the vital role that each species plays in maintaining the delicate balance of their ecosystems. It's a powerful message of respect and reverence for the creatures with whom we share our planet.

In conclusion, "Clever Creatures of the Night" is a captivating and beautifully crafted picture book that will delight readers of all ages. With its stunning illustrations, poetic prose, and profound message of environmental stewardship, it is sure to become a cherished favorite on the bookshelves of families, classrooms, and libraries everywhere. Samantha Mabry has created a true gem that will inspire wonder, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the wonders of the natural world.

I was hoping to get to this one. I am sad that I was not able to read this before it was archived. I think it will be interesting read, and I will try to get a physical copy if I can find one for a reasonable price!

I didn’t not like this book. It was fine. I’m not mad that I read it. I just wish it was more. It was a short book, but it felt like it dragged on in a less than enjoyable way. The whole book takes place over 24 hours and it is building up to what feels like it should be a big reveal, but it just fell flat for me. I liked the friendship between Case and Drea. I loved that Case was willing to do pretty much anything necessary to find out what happened to her friend. I don’t understand how Drea got into her situation in the first place. Like, I understand how she got to the house with her “friends” but I don’t understand why she didn’t try to leave after that. She had her mom that she could have gone to. The ending of the book left a lot of loose ends and the conclusion was not definite enough for me. For me, the idea was really good and could have been great but this book was just not my cup
of tea.
Thank you to Netgalley and Algonquin Young Readers for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I love horror, so when I read the synopsis for this, I was ready to immediately dive in. Unfortunately however, the book fell a little flat to me. It felt too short, and I didn't get enough time with the characters to really get invested in them. I liked the book, but just wanted more from it. I think it could have easily had another 60 pages added which could have rounded it out a bit more.