I love the feeling when you find an author whose writing style just works for you. That's certainly how I feel about Gwendolyn Kiste, now that I've read two of her books. The writing is beautiful!

The Haunting of Velkwood is a slow, deliberate book that explores sisterhood and queerness in a way that's full of longing -- the word that kept coming to mind as I read was wistful. I cannot explain how, but the book itself feels ethereal, like you can't quite grasp it, which goes perfectly with the story itself. The story is about ghosts, about holding on to the past while simultaneously trying to let it go and move on. About discovering who you really are and claiming what you really want, no matter how long it takes. And while there were parts that left me feeling unsettled and there are some dark themes covered (primarily abuse), by the end, I was filled with a sense of hope. I wanted the best for these characters, and I wanted every single one of them to find peace, in whatever form it needed to take for them.

It's a creepy, queer Virgin Suicides and I was very much here for it!

Beautifully written and mysterious!

Gwendolyn Kiste has woven a compelling mystery that I could not put down. It begins with this original concept about a neighborhood that became a ghost in the nineties. No one can enter and those that lived there are cursed to haunt the street forever. I was instantly invested in Talitha a woman in her forties unable to put her past behind her. She is drawn back to Velkwood by a researcher that believes she will be able to cross the boundary. Talitha returns in hopes of finding her long lost younger sister and ends up finding so much more.

This is a character-driven supernatural mystery. Kiste is a rare talent that is able to write first person POV in such a way that we the readers are able to figure out elements of the story before the character does. For example, the love story. We realize Talitha's true feelings before she is ready to acknowledge them. It is clearly intended by the author and that is no easy task.

Kiste trusts her readers. She does not overly explain everything and leaves much to our imaginations. It's a careful balancing act that she accomplishes perfectly. The story ends with just the right amount of ambiguity. Enough to leave us thinking about the book but not so much that we are left feeling frustrated or cheated.

The book is evenly paced with rich, well-developed characters, and beautiful descriptions. My only complaints with the writing were a few head-hopping moments and overuse of the word "crystalline". Minor complaints and nothing that took me out of the story. too much.

What really made the book special were the characters and their relationships. I especially loved Brett. As a teenager of the nineties, I was able to relate to the characters and appreciated nostalgic touches like the Cranberries songs referenced.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a unique paranormal mystery or a new take on the haunted house story. This is also a must for those that appreciate middle aged female protagonists, the nineties, and LGBTA+ romance. The description compares this to Yellowjackets, but I think it's closer to Mike Flannagan's Haunting of Hill House. Check it out!

This is a very unique and original ghost story. I have never read anything similar. All of the characters are extremely relatable especially because of their numerous flaws. The author does a remarkable job describing the girls' devastating childhoods and letting you feel their pain and desperation. The story looks at the toll of ones' past shame, grief and guilt has on their life and future decisions. It is also an examination of family and how you cannot escape them and the marks they leave on you.

I highly recommend this book.

Although I was impressed with the originality of Gwendolyn Kiste's first novel, Reluctant Immortals, I didn't love it, but I couldn't resist picking up her second book when I read the description. And I'm so glad I did, because The Haunting of Velkwood is something special and entirely unique.

Twenty years ago, the world was rocked by the tragedy of the Velkwood Vicinity, when an entire street and its inhabitants disappeared behind an impenetrable, otherworldly barrier that could be breached only by the three college girls who escaped. In the years since, the anomaly has been the topic of sensationalist and occult journalists and pseudo-science investigators. And as the twentieth anniversary approaches, Talitha Velkwood, whose family the street was named for, is approached by one of those investigators. Talitha was one of the girls who escaped Velkwood Street -- and now he wants her to go back in.

The Haunting of Velkwood is a speculative horror novel about a haunted place -- but one that's not necessarily haunted in the way you'd expect, or at least not entirely. It's about the past's tendency to haunt the present, how long-ago trauma can attach to and shape a person until it's addressed -- and can often continue to do so even after it's addressed. It's about the dark side of suburbia, the cost of holding secrets, the consequences of inaction and looking the other way in an attempt to maintain appearances. It's also a love story, about how love too is a kind of haunting.

If I wanted anything from The Haunting of Velkwood, I just wanted more. I wanted Kiste to delve more deeply into the history of the neighborhood and provide more character background for some of the residents (specifically Enid). I wanted just a bit more explanation about the paranormal elements, too, although I do appreciate that a lot of it was left open to interpretation.

Despite the more sorrowful and strange aspects of the plot, there's something about The Haunting of Velkwood that feels uplifting and empowering. It's a moody, darkly absorbing novel that's just as emotional as it is eerie, and I was captivated by it from the first page to the last.

The Haunting of Velkwood is a contemporary paranormal mystery about an entire city block hidden behind a veil and the three women who try to fix it.

Velkwood Street and all of its inhabitants disappeared behind an impermeable veil twenty years ago and despite investigations by everyone from the government to ghost hunters no one has been able to get past its invisible barrier. But, it’s speculated that the three girls who grew up there and were back in their college dorm when the town disappeared could go back inside. The last time one of them (Grace) attempted to cross she came back forever altered so the remaining two women, Talitha and Brett, have never tried. But a group of researchers have been been given a grant to unravel the mystery of the “Velkwood Vicinity” and a drone photograph reveals that Talitha’s little sister Sophie is trapped inside. So for the first time in over twenty years Talitha will go back to her childhood home and try to save her sister.

The Haunting of Velkwood is a creepy and original story about life, death and childhood trauma. The reader is told in a series of flashbacks what the home lives of Talitha and Brett were like and what lead to the disappearance of their street. It is only by reuniting all three girls back on Velkwood can they defeat the forces that are keeping their loved ones trapped in a type of suburban purgatory.

This was an entertaining and fast read and it kept my interest the whole time. For me, the big reveal of what happened to Velkwood and how to stop it was a little bit of a letdown. But I enjoyed the pacing of the book and the back and forth between Talitha and Brett.

Named after the family of Talitha Velkwood, the Velkwood Vicinity is a small street composed of eight houses that abruptly became completely inaccessible for most people and electronics. Hazy to the naked eye, only Talita and her childhood friends and neighbors Brett and Grace seem able to pass into the street following their departure from it twenty years prior.

As the Velkwood Vicinity remains the subject of vast amounts of speculation, one day Talita is approached by a new researcher with the intention of returning to the neighborhood to investigate it. Although she initially refuses, a new discovery leads Talita back to Velkwood and the mysteries that surround it.

The Haunting of Velkwood is an atmospheric and unsettling novel. On its surface, the random disappearance of a whole street and the questionable fates of its inhabitants-are they living, dead or something in-between-is quite eerie. But as the story develops, its many layers unfurl: the nature of small neighborhoods and its inhabitants, the strict adherence to conformity and the habit of callous neglect to preserve a fragile illusion of peace.

More than a typical ghost story, The Haunting of Velkwood delves into the nature of trauma: how it can attach to us, shape us and lead to us living incomplete lives while wrapped in its shadow. There are depictions of different forms of abuse and homophobia, for those who may be uncomfortable with those topics.

The novel is slightly more character-driven than plot-driven, with most of the focus on Talitha and Brett and their brittle relationship. Seemingly two opposite sides of the coin: with Talitha drifting aimlessly through her life with barely a presence and Brett racking up achievements and attention. Yet it’s painful way they dance around one another, the inevitable push and pull that they’ve become accustomed to and the way in which things change once Talitha returns to their old neighborhood that remain engrossing.

While I do wish that some of the secondary characters had been given more development, some of the revelations involving them were unexpected. Tension does build in the last third of the novel as the danger of the Velkwood Vicinity grows and the ramifications of repeated exposure to it become apparent.

Talita is eventually forced to make a choice: does she live in the past and the famiscle of comfort it may bring or does she grasp the future and all the uncertainty that it brings?

The Haunting of Velkwood is a wonderful written and thought-provoking novel. Thank you to NetGalley, Saga Press Books and Gwendolyn Kiste for providing access to this ebook. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I wish The Haunting of Velkwood had come with trigger warnings because I probably would not have picked it up if it did. Beyond that, I think this book was just okay. The ending was underwhelming and I wish there had been more character development. Bonus points for the sapphic romance.

The Haunting of Velkwood is a story about sisterhood, friendship, haunted pasts and even more haunted presents. Velkwood itself is the subject of countless theories on dark happenings that took place years past. Talitha Velkwood is plunged back into the midst to confront the dark past she hoped to escape and uncover the answers that have continued to elude her for so long.

Gwendolyn Kiste loves hauntings. More than love, she understands them. A haunting is not merely someone tormented by a ghost. It is defined by the pain and mystery within someone’s heart and soul. Anyone can be haunted by a specter, but “Velkwood” delves into the psychology of why hauntings work.

Kiste’s writing is heartrendingly beautiful. She constructs strong, powerful people and lets them suffer with the knowledge that their suffering does not make them weak. Throughout Velkwood, they struggle to discover the strength to face their haunting and to move on from it, to take back their lives. Not to banish the ghosts, but with the knowledge that even should they leave, the ghosts still remain with them.

Throughout each turn in the story, Kiste claws the reader’s heart open and brings forth the tears. An exceptional piece of work and one of her best that knows how make even (and especially) the victims of a haunting works.

What Kiste knows is that strength is learning to live with the ghosts.

Twenty years ago Talitha, Brett, and Grace walked away from their homes, family, and neighborhood. Twenty years ago, Velkwood street disappeared overnight to become something like a haunted void. Now at loose ends and badly missing her little sister, Talitha agrees when approached by a researcher who wants her to return, But once she goes through the veil and back into Velkwood, secrets long buried demand to come to light and the neighborhood doesn't want to let her go again.

Kiste does a nice job blending the supernatural into a seemingly bland suburban setting, making it eerier than the cookie-cutter suburbs usually are on their own. However, the narrative style and pacing make the story drag more than it should, considering the actual length of the novel. Talitha is hard to like or care much about, while Brett is definitely the more interesting and sympathetic character. Enid, too, is a character deserving of more page-time and development, fascinating while she is there but not giving readers quite enough. While fans of supernatural suburban horror-thrillers will likely enjoy this iteration of the theme, it may leave other readers wishing for a bit more character development and actual horror. Slow creep, and rather mild at that.

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Haunting of Velkwood early in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this one! I loved the unique take of an entire street becoming haunted instead of just a single house. The story has spooky Twilight Zone vibes mixed with the surreal visuals of Edward Scissorhands (I kept picturing the town as the town in that movie 🤷‍♀️). Like Edward Scissorhands, The Haunting of Velkwood is a story about acceptance, both of ourselves and of others. It’s also a story about letting go of the past and embracing who we should’ve been all along.

Though I didn’t feel a strong connection to the main character, I did find myself rooting for them and their group of friends. The friend group definitely gave me The Craft vibes, but maybe that was just me. My mind was making all kinds of movie connections with this book, which should tell you that I felt it was very cinematically told. The writing definitely gets an A+ from me!

Be sure check this one out if any of what I said sounds interesting to you! I know I’ll be looking to pick up a copy when it hits stores on March 5th. Thank you @netgalley , @sagapressbooks , and @gwendolynkiste for allowing me to read an advance copy!

Ratings:

Plot: 👻👻👻👻👻 /5
Characters: 💁‍♀️💁‍♀️💁‍♀️ /5
Ending: 💀💀💀💀💀 /5
Overall: 4 /5

I think this is billed as a super natural thriller but it felt like a ghost story to me. The main character spent her life in denial and returns to her childhood home to confront the horrors of her past.

I enjoyed the premise of the story and the character building. It has all the gothic elements- fear, horror, death, suspense, and a little romance. The story touches on some heavy themes but allows the reader to imagine the worst rather than spell it out.

Very unique and interesting.

A grief laden novel about a neighborhood shrouded by a veil that has been impenetrable for twenty years except by three surviving residents. College students at the time of the incident, now in their forties, confused and haunted by the past and the people they were forced to leave behind in the Velkwood Vincinity. Now one survivor is ready to confront the past and return to Velkwood to try to set things right.

This was mysterious, sad, and strange right up to the very last page. I think some ideas in here didn’t feel fully realized and fully fleshed out, but the rest of the book had a lot of emotion and I found this really hard to put down. My first read by Kiste and definitely not my last.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! From the first page I was completely sucked in, and so invested in what was happening with Talitha and the residents of Velkwood Street.
I thought the atmosphere was so rich it was oozing off the page and kept me in constant suspense about what happened to Velkwood Street and its poor residents. At least all but the three that escaped, and it seems it's up to them to work together to put things right. I loved Talitha and would have loved even more of Edith, she was a super intriguing character. The whole random street being turned into a ghost town in the middle of small-town America scratched an itch I didn't even know I had. I loved how it played out from beginning to end, and this is one that I will read again.

This is my first book by this author, and it won't be the last, I'll be checking out her other books!

The Haunting of Velkwood is a supernatural thriller about love, loss, and the ghosts of our pasts and I could not put it down. I love stories that revolve around a creepy boundary, similar to a scifi favorite Annihilation, so the second the lore of Velkwood Street was explained, I was locked in. The pacing was solid and I could see this unfolding clearly in my mind. Definitely a story that could very easily be adapted for the screen - very clear visuals throughout. My only complaint is that I wish the side characters like Jack and Grace were fleshed out a bit more, but I understand why they weren’t in order to keep the focus of the story. I also wanted more of Enid but I think that’s a mark of a good story that I was so interested in the world and characters that I crave more. The twists didn’t exactly take my breath away or scare me as much as I hoped, but I think it was the right amount of intrigue and eerieness to satisfy a reader looking for a thriller like this! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read!

An original and compelling take on the traditional ghost story, with the added bonuses of a sapphic romance and an account of friendship that provides power and agency to women. Kiste takes on abuse and poverty, suburban sprawl, intolerance, love, fear, and trauma in this novel that begins like the X-Files or Ghost Hunters and ends with beauty and care. In the course of a single night, a neighborhood becomes a ghost, an area that few can enter, a location where time moves differently, where people and events replay themselves until the three women who escaped on the night in question return to put things to rights and to rest.

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for this ARC! I read Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn last year and I loved it so when I saw a new release by her I jumped at the chance to read it.

The Haunting of Velkwood is an interesting take on a ghost story that I really enjoyed. It was a perfect mesh of sci fi and paranormal that was easy to follow.

I would definitely recommend to fans of grief horror and ghosts!

This book crafted a unique spin on a haunting, where the ones with unfinished business are the survivors, not the ghosts. I thought it had a little too much angst for me, and while some of the characters are fully formed, others feel like they are just there to motivate or confuse the 'real' characters. I wanted more about Enid and the other people on the street! All in all, a good read that does something new.

Gwendolyn Kiste's "The Haunting of Velkwood" invites readers into a realm where ghosts are not just apparitions but integral to one small neighborhood's entire fabric.

Talitha's home and her entire neighborhood just disappeared one day — along with everyone in it. Years later, Talitha desperately wants to forget everything that happened in Velkwood, but she also cannot let go knowing her sister may still be there stuck eternally in what was once her home. Then, she's offered a chance to return home and maybe find some answers.

"The Haunting of Velkwood" is a beautiful gothic novel set in a suburban neighborhood. The premise itself is so compelling. I hesitate to say much more because this is a book best gone into blindly. Kiste's writing is lyrical as she delves into secrets from the past and the way we carry our trauma throughout our lives.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Saga Press for the advance copy!

A twisted tale of a haunted neighborhood and the 3 girls who are harboring the secret to the haunting. Original.

I really enjoyed this book. It almost had a juvenile vibe to it but I am really glad that I read it and I would definitely recommend it if you like horror, gothic, paranormal, ghost or any of those sort of books. I would definitely read it again.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read this book. I was not paid for my review and this is my honest review.