I had a bit of a difficult time connecting with the characters. This is different than your usual ghost story. It is a creepy, slow burn that will keep you turning pages. If you enjoy gothic stories and the paranormal be sure to give this book a try. A town that fell off the face of the earth. Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press Books for an e-ARC copy of the book.
3.5 stars rounded up

A different type of childhood trauma story. A strange occurrence altered the lives of three girls in very different ways. This book brings a whole new meaning to returning home to face your trauma. This is a great eerie read and would be perfect for someone looking for a not too scary horror read.

I really wanted to love this one. A town that mysteriously disappeared and can only be accessed by the three survivors.

I had a hard time connecting with Talitha as a MC. I appreciated the different emotional topics the novel covered. It’s definitely a heavy read that tackles volatile family ties and how different opinions, especially when they clash with who you are as a person. It was all handled delicately without shying away from showing what some people grow up with and how it shapes them.

I think had the book followed a different character I would’ve enjoyed it more. They had a very interesting tie in and I would’ve loved to explore the how and why of it all a little more. It would've entirely changed the story possibly but it would have been a lot of fun. I get why Talitha wanted what she did but for whatever reason it just didn’t hit home for me.

The horror aspects themselves were very well done. They felt cinematic and built this very creepy atmosphere I couldn’t get enough of.

This is probably one of those not for me books, honestly. I think it’s worth giving a shot if you liked this author’s previous novel (which I still plan on reading at some point.)

The Haunting Of Velkwood completely sunk its hooks into me, almost immediately. I laid down for my nighttime reading, planning to read for 15 minutes and ended up finishing this entire book. I couldn’t go to sleep without finding out what happened next.

I absolutely loved how unique this book was and the take on a “haunted town.” I got some Under The Dome vibes from this one, but way scarier. Kiste definitely knows how to keep readers on their toes, and I will be looking out for more from this author.

My absolute favorite part of this book was the character development. I can’t believe the depth of almost every single character in this book in under 256 pages. Kiste explores grief, love & longing, nostalgia, and why we can’t always go home.

Preorder this book now if you love horror, strong characters, amazing pacing, and haunting!

**Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press Books for the eARC of this amazing title!**

Eh! This was okay! I kept waiting for something to happen but it just never did - very underwhelming! The concept had so much potential in my opinion, but it just fell flat. The characters were interesting enough to keep my attention throughout but other than that, I don’t have a lot of good to say.

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this early copy!

Twenty years ago, Talitha, Brett, and Gracie left their homes on Velkwood Street for the last time — hours later, the whole street disappeared... kind of. The Velkwood Vicinity, as it became to be called by paranormal armchair experts, was encapsulated in a paranormal bubble that killed anyone who tried to get in (even photography drones only survived for a few minutes) and only sporadically showed the homes of those inside (kind of like a ghostly Brigadoon). But a new researcher believes that Talitha and her friends can get inside, and is hoping he can convince them to explore the mysterious phenomenon. When Talitha reluctantly agrees, she unearths parts of her past that she never wanted to dig up.

This is a really fascinating idea for a story — the neighborhood itself is haunting the people who lived there and the nearby town — and the themes of running from the past and dealing with childhood trauma are perfect for exploration in a horror novel. However, the execution just isn't there for this book. It's a bit nebulous and not quite as scary as I think Kiste wants it to be, and while the researchers are intentionally anonymous, they come across as bland and boring rather than anonymously intimidating (which I suspect is what Kiste was going for). All in all, good idea, bad execution.

When I first read the description of this one, I was so intrigued. It sounded so unique and weird, and I knew I needed to read it. This is a paranormal ghost story unlike any I have ever read. If you are a fan of gothic and eerie tales, you will want to pick this one up!

The story follows Talitha, a woman tormented by memory and those she left behind. Oh, and her neighborhood just one day kind of disappeared but is still there with all of her family and neighbors left behind as sort of ghosts. But only she and her two friends who lived on her street were able to enter. The story is a mystery as to what happened to Velkwood as researchers use Talitha to study the neighborhood. But it is so much more than that. This is a story about memory, family, how our pasts can haunt us, and the idea of our neighbors turning their heads to anything remotely difficult. Velkwood is unique in what happens to it, but it is also just any street in the U.S. where neighbors go about their own lives, trying not to interfere in each other’s lives even when harsh realities are staring them right in the face.

This book is emotionally devastating at parts and really delves into familial relationships, first loves, and finding a way out of our past trauma really well. The relationships feel real, and I love the complicated love story really at the heart of this story between Talitha and Brett. The ending was gothically beautiful and will stick with me for some time to come. This is a slow burn story that is really rewarding if you savor it and give it the time it deserves.

I first fell in love with Gwendolyn Kiste's writing when I picked up the Rust Maidens, a beautiful body horror, suburban gothic story set in the rust belt. The Haunting of Velkwood felt like a spiritual sibling to the Rust Maidens in the best way. Suburban gothic playing with liminal space and trauma in a way that is perfect for fans of Yellowjackets and stories of complex characters coming to terms with traumatic events in their past.

Talitha Velkwood and two of her childhood friends, Brett and Grace, survived the night their entire neighborhood turned into ghosts. Their families gone and their entire neighborhood barely visible from the rest of town and no one can get in to this ghost town except those who were from there. Some big Twilight Zone vibes! 20 years later, Talitha is drawn back to Velkwood Street to find answers as to what happened to her family, particularly her little sister. There are secrets abound - what happened on Velkwood Street that made it disappear?

So, I loved this novel. Kiste’s prose is beautiful, contemplative, and moves both plot and character forward in an effective way. She layers reveals at the end of each chapter that feels earned and not forced like how many twists/reveals can feel.

This book tackles some very emotional subject matter including the past, how the past affects us, and how it can draw you in to a cycle of repetition. There are heavy themes of grief and letting go. Lost love, old friendships, and the way friendships change over time and distance. You might get misty eyed reading this one. It is a beautiful and fresh take on a haunting novel. If you enjoy those sort of books that will get you in the heartstrings, pick this book up when it releases on March 5th!

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for the advanced galley in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to the folks at NetGalley and Saga Press for the eARC!

A convergence of the past and present, Gwendolyn Kiste’s latest novel, The Haunting of Velkwood begs the question, “What does it mean to be a ghost?” Of course, the textbook answer to this question stems from the image of a literal specter, an apparition from the past that follows one around. More importantly, ghosts are the manifestations of reminders, the physical entity that does not let you forget the past. With this story, Kiste proves ghosts can take many shapes and forms, maybe even your own self.

The subdivision now known as The Velkwood Vicinity has stood “vacant” for years behind some unknown force that keeps the general public out. However, previous childhood residents Talitha, Brett, and Grace seem to be the only living people able to cross its threshold, for what reason, we aren’t sure. There’s a lot to be understood about this strange occurrence, the formation of such a barrier twenty years ago that has seemingly preserved this neighborhood in metaphorical amber. Enter the slew of researchers who are desperate for answers and are willing to approach Talitha and crew for help. Despite all the years she has spent avoiding her childhood residence, Talitha decides to take this research crew up on their offer and re-enter Velkwood. What she finds is something no one can predict, something quite haunting.

While this is the first work of Kiste’s I’ve read, I can easily say it will not be the last. Her prose carried an air of effortless elegance as I found myself stopping to reread lines again and again. The talent in her writing alone stole my attention only for her very genuine characterization to steal the show. Talitha is a very relatable character in the sense that she desperately wants to leave the past in the past when we first meet her. She doesn’t come across as someone who wants to rock the proverbial boat, yet she decides to face the music anyway. In doing so, we learn so much more about not only Talitha, but the people of Velkwood, those she regards warmly and those she does not.

There’s a certain brilliance in Kiste’s approach to handling the strangeness of The Velkwood Vicinity and the great idea it stands to represent: confines. While the neighborhood has literally been off-limits to many for years, even on the inside, the life Talitha and her friends knew as children was defined by what was considered acceptable. The unspoken (and sometimes spoken) levels of judgement, expectations, and farces typically associated with the suburbs reigned supreme in Velkwood, leaving plenty of room for hidden secrets, trauma, and darkness. While modern horror fiction has been ripe with new takes on haunted houses, Kiste’s exploration into a haunted neighborhood is largely original and markedly creative. The juxtaposition of such a setting as the ideal neighborhood of Velkwood to the dark truths that fuel the veil separating this world from ours was a perfect personification of the barrier that descended years ago. This is a story that taps into what it really feels like to be labeled as “other” within a supposed picturesque setting, the deeper experience of yearning to break free of the confines set around you.

Most impressively, Kiste accurately depicts how it feels to grow as a teenage girl into adulthood from the complexities of relationships, finding who you truly are, and the decision to embrace authenticity in the face of rejection. The Yellowjackets comp for this book is very legitimate for these reasons as both stories encapsulate the struggles of growing as a woman. We can also talk about the immaculate early 2000s vibes this story manages to harness (I LIVED for that “Ode To My Family” literary needle drop). Not only do we read about Talitha, Grace, and Brett’s experience related to Velkwood as adults, but we also spend a sizeable time in the past working to understand just how the hell we ended up here. How do you end up haunted by your former self, your former home?

The Haunting of Velkwood succeeds in numerous ways, but most of all, it triumphs in telling a story characterized by heart and acceptance. On a very surface level, this novel reads like an episode of The X Files full of eerie paranormal happenings and a firm desire to get to the bottom of what’s causing this veil to exist around Velkwood. On a much deeper level, Gwendolyn Kiste has crafted a story that details the confines of expectations, a reckoning with (what feels like) a sentient childhood, and most importantly the decision to embrace authenticity in the face of rejection.

The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste releases on March 5, 2024 from Saga Press.

The Haunting of Velkwood follows Talitha, a directionless woman who has never really recovered from her traumatic past. When she was in college, her neighborhood and everyone in it disappeared. The only ones who escaped were Talitha and her two friends, Brett and Grace. The book picks up when Talitha agrees to accompany researchers back to her home to see if she can journey into the disappeared zone and find definitive answers about what happened.

The good: Gwendolyn Kiste has an accomplished prose style and Talitha is an interesting character. The premise of the novel is fantastic and the focus on dying suburbia is rich with subtext. There is some really lovely queer rep in this book.

Unfortunately, this one never really clicked for me. If I had to describe the book in one word, it would be languid. Everything (no matter how exciting it should be) seemed to move at the pace of a fever dream. While I was in the narrative, I followed the plot easily enough, but after finishing the dream logic seemed to evaporate, leaving me with a lot of questions about the whys of some of the novel’s big mysteries. I wanted to understand more about the mechanics of what happened, and I also wanted to know more about Enid and Grace.

I will definitely try another novel from Kiste, and this one might be right up someone else’s alley—it just wasn’t for me!

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The Haunting of Velkwood was a great read, and I loved the fact that I had no idea what was going to happen next, it was so unpredictable in the best way, exactly how you want your suspense books to be. A formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Title: The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn
Publication Date- 03/05/24
Publisher- Saga Press
Overall Rating- 3 out of 5 stars (DNF @ 50 percent)

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this novel, give it a chance you may like it. Let’s talk about some of the good things. It’s a very unique story, with diverse characters, and a sci-fi feeling without being too in depth. You might like this book if you like fever dream stories, I do not so that is a me problem. Essentially our main character is going back and forth between two worlds after her neighborhood disappeared and in ways turned into a ghost. I did like that the neighborhood was it’s own character but with this and many other things I wish we would have gotten more about that. More detail, more description, a lot of the story felt rushed but not fast paced. When she travels back to her neighborhood the world is different and described as almost having a yellow tinted film over it. I just don’t enjoy fever dream stories very much so I will own that.

I think I could have pushed through and finished if we would have gotten more from the characters and if the story didn’t feel so rushed. You can tell the author has a lot of potential and really wonderful and unique ideas. I would have loved it if we went back and forth in time to be able to connect with the past more. Granted, I didn’t finish the novel so I imagine there is a lot I’m missing here and maybe these things show up in the latter half. The main character is in her 40’s and just didn’t feel like she was written that way. I felt like we were living in her early college years, she didn’t show a lot of emotional maturity or wisdom I would hope for in a mature character.

Again, I truly think this author has a lot of potential and I hope they will continue to publish books. We need more LGBTQ representation across genres. This is not a bad book and worth giving it a shot. I just can’t justify pushing through when I’m not connected to the characters and their story. I was also at times, a little put off by some of the wording and interactions between characters that felt immature. All in all I feel like a 3 star rating sums up my experience with the first half.

A ghost story for people who are underwhelmed by the usual ghost story. A rift in reality creates a rift in existence for Talitha. Her neighborhood suddenly disappeared one night after she and her friends, Brett and Grace, returned to college. The Velkwood Vicinity holds the remains of the street named after Talitha's family, along with her sister, mom, and secrets. Talitha longs to return to her little sister, but is her sister still there? Travel back to Velkwood with Talitha and Brett to find out what happens when you try to return to ghosts.

This book was super interesting and at no point did I know what direction it was going to go in (which I love). The writing was very good and the underlying themes were great. I did have a hard time connecting with the character though and found a lot of her actions questionable or annoying. Some elements also felt a bit underdeveloped. I wish we got more from Grace, Enid, and Brett. And some stuff felt a bit repetitive. This story just was not as strong as I found the author's previous work to be, but I will still recommend it to people who want to read a unique ghost story.

This was one of the best haunted house stories I have ever read, and I read a lot of them. I need to compose my thoughts better to make a post on social media, but this was fantastic. Beautiful prose, a heartbreaking plot that somehow still ends as happily as it possibly can. I was hooked from the first few pages and I could NOT put it down. Thank you so much for the arc!

I loved this! It was so original and hit so many different areas. There was horror, there was family drama, there was sci-fi.

Quick Synopsis: Talitha used to live on a "haunted street" called Velkwood. Her and her four friends left before the street just up and vanished. Of course, this is now brought up and being reinvestigated via documentaries etc.. Great blurb, right? Yes!!! Nope not giving any more away

What I liked: this touched upon every genre possible, and I could not put this down. It held my attention from page 1. This is a very short book and while i feel it filled those pages, I wanted more on the history of the street and Enid. That would have been awesome to delve into those two areas.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

The Haunting of Velkwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars)

What Worked:
- Visually, Kistie was able to weave a story that had many moments I could see perfectly. Like, Sophie playing with her horses and the neighborhood’s physical grasp on the survivors and the boundary around it.
- The premise was creative, which piqued my interest and made me want to see what was going to happen next.
- I always love a good queer storyline. The author did a great job of adding many layers of complications (past and present) to make it feel like an integral and important part of the story.

What Didn’t Work:
- I didn’t really love Talitha as a character. Though we got to see some of her backstory and context for the choices she made, I found myself feeling a bit exasperated with her. On the other hand, characters like Brett and Enid shined the whole way through and I found myself very invested in their stories.

Recommendations/Final Thoughts:
- If you’re looking for a book that isn’t TOO scary, but has a unique and interesting premise, this is the book for you. You’ll get a good dose of how things rooted in real life, rather than the paranormal or unexplained, can truly be the scariest things of all.

An original and creepy story that looks at how secrets can destroy our lives. I really loved the creepy paranormal aspect to this tale.

Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for the opportunity to read and review The Haunting of Velkwood from Gwendolyn Kiste. All opinions are my own.

This was a very unique story about a possible haunting of an entire small town/street. It appears that 20 years ago something resembling a fog/mist/dome/wall has segregated a street of houses from the rest of the world. Many individuals and organizations have studied it, but no real progress has been made. Only three young women escaped including our main character Talitha and her two close friends. All their loved ones were left behind to become possible ghosts. Velkwood does not allow anyone to enter except those three same women. A researcher has contacted Talitha to go in and investigate. Will she? What will she find? Are her family ghosts, alive, or simply gone?

This book was very interesting in that I've never read anything quite like it. It's very atmospheric, creepy, with a gothic feel. The characters are haunted by their pasts and moving on without their families for the last 20 years. If you would like to read more pick up your copy of The Haunting of Velkwood on March 5th. Happy reading!