Thank you HTP for the advanced copy of A Step Past Darkness, I read and enjoyed Kurian’s previous thriller and was hoping to enjoy this one as much. I liked the premise and how the book started, but as it progressed and you got closer to revealing what was going on, it felt like the book changed. The added paranormal element felt off to me, I wish the book went in a different direction. I liked the characters and their development, and the way the book weaves between past and present. I will definitely read from this author again.

This is sad, I loveeee Never Saw Me Coming, so I was excited for this one, but unfortunately it's not for me.
Disappointed with a lot of things. It's kinda dragging at the beginning, I don't feel connected to these many characters, it felt weird and confusing, and I keep comparing it to that famous book from that legendary author. The paranormal part is kinda okay. The mystery is predictable. The suspense is none. The ending is rushed. So yeah not for me, which is sad, because I do want to love it, I just didn't enjoy it at all in the end.

Rating: 4/5 Stars
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When I came acoss this one on NetGalley I was actually super shocked to see that this wasn’t talked about more on booksta. I absolutely loved Never Saw Me Coming so I immediately hit that request button. When I was approved I opened up that ebook and was like wowwwww she THICCC – coming in at 502 pages. Well of course I had to dive in.
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I was so pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this one. It was very different from Never Saw Me Coming. This book centers around the Capstone Six - a group of unlikely friends who had a summer of hell and decided to keep eachothers secrets by going their separate ways. Not until one of them dies, do they come back together to finish what they started. Told in multiple points of view and through a dual timeline of the summer of 1995 and the present – 2015, you really get to know each of the characters
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This one gave me so many different vibes while reading it. I got like a Breakfast club / Culty / Vampirey vibes from this one. I was instantly intrigued and needed to know what the hell was going on with Golden Praise. The pacing of this one was pretty steady throughout. There were points that were much faster paced than others and there were also some super thrilling parts. This whole book was an adventure while facing something that just wasn’t right. I loved the character growth of each of them throughout this story and I really fell in love with each of them. I was instantly sucked into this story and it kept me intrigued until the very end. I loved what Kurian did with the ending and felt like everything was wrapped up nicely.
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Overall, fantastic read; a bit long, but addicting enough that you don’t even notice. A Step Past Darkness was released on 2/20, be sure to check this one out. Definitely recommending it to all of my cult / thriller / mystery fans. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Vera Kurian and Harlequin Trade Publishing and Park Row for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers & Vera Kurian for the ARC. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish this book. Too many characters and it read too YA for my tastes. I'm sure this will be a hit though!

I normally don’t do paranormal mysteries, because I get freaked out. That being said, I was totally captivated by this book. And despite my fears I’d be hiding under the covers, I had to keep reading. I love that we learn a little bit at a time so that things are kept a mystery until you absolutely have to know. This book explores our want for prosperity, for having it all, and shows us how someone with charisma can bring out the inherent evil in us all. And if you doubt that, at the end of the book ask ‘Did he ask for that?’

As a fan of Vera Kurian’s first book, “Never Saw Me Coming,” I will admit, I went into this one expecting something completely different than what was here. Which, honestly, isn’t fair to the book itself’s fault, but the back blurb and my expectations of a thriller like her debut left me a little let down.

This is not a thriller. This is not a novel set only in the real world.

This book is a character study and an homage to the book “IT”, which after finishing makes so much sense.

So my review is really to warn others who have read the previous book.

What I did love was the cast of characters and their relationship. The slow build creepiness. The lore of the mine.

However, the dual timelines and length of this novel were a struggle. I’d get confused at who was talking and what time period. This book could have been a little shorter and tighter than it was.

But, still an enjoyable read and I definitely recommend to anyone looking for a character-driven, cult-like horror book.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review ecopy of this book.

Vera Kurian caught me with her last book Never Saw Me Coming and I have been itching for her next release. I was so excited to see A Step Past Darkness that I instantly knew I had to read it.

The story follows Jia and friends from Wesley Falls as they come back together after decades apart when one has mysteriously died and there are so many questions about their hometown.

First up, this book gives major cult vibes. I never used to like books about cults because they made me uncomfortable, but I’ve learned to love them and all their twisty ways. Golden Praise is the epitome of a cult and the obsession the townfolks have with it triggered all my red-flag warnings right away. Kurian knows how to get you instantly intrigued by a story and desperately needing more information. The six friends in this book were so fun. I think what people will like is there is someone for everyone. There are the popular kids, the stoner, the book nerd, the shy girl, and so forth. Everyone can relate to someone in this story. I think that helped me connect.

The only thing about this story that kept me from giving it five stars was that it had a bit of a fantasy twist to it and I was not expecting it. It is labeled in the genre of mystery and thriller, and having read Kurians previous work I was expecting that. It is that, but I was not expecting that supernatural twist. So if you are not a supernatural fan, maybe this won’t be for you. But before you decide that I will say I don’t read many supernatural-based books because it’s not my thing, but this book was still really, really good. I just wish I had a bit of a heads-up to that.

Even with that said, Kurian again has delivered a stunning piece of writing with deep, interesting characters that you honestly cheer for throughout and a dark, intense antagonist that you don’t see in too many stories. I’m impressed, yet again, by Kurian’s talent and will be waiting desperately for the next book.

I loved this book. I did think it dragged towards the end, but this book stayed with me far after I finished it. The characters, the setting, all parts of this book did it for me!

The best thing about this book is the page count.

A Step Past Darkness takes you by the hand and slowly leads you in. You know the characters - strengths, weaknesses, fears, and hopes - both past and present. You see relationships evolve throughout time. You know the town - the families, the parks, the store fronts. You're there. You're involved. You're a witness, maybe a victim.

Honestly, there were parts of this plot that were a little out there for me, a little silly. But, I left the book feeling like I had an experience, met some people, visited a town. It was engrossing. The author sold me on what she was trying to do, even though I didn't always agree with her choices.

I would recommend to anyone that is sick of the 300-page horror novel with no personality characters that you can't keep straight, and some poorly described evil entity that is either too unoriginal, or too confusing, to be scary.

First, thanks to @netgalley for an early review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This released on 2/20.

This book should have been a good read for me - I love murder mysteries, small town drama, and group dynamics. It could have felt like The Goonies or any other similar story with a group of misfit outcasts. But it wasn’t.

This suffered from too many characters and for needing a good editor. It was unnecessarily long, and the number of people you have to keep track of feels unmanageable. Beyond that, it just wasn’t anything groundbreaking or deeply interesting.

To be honest, I didn’t realize that this was the same author as 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐰 𝐌𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, which was also underwhelmed by in 2021. I now know this author isn’t for me, and that’s okay. She clearly has super fans out there, and I hope if you’re one, you give this book a try.

This is definitely a "WTF did I just read" type of book, and I'm not entirely sure how I felt about it. I was prepared after Vera Kurian's debut for this to be a bit of a wild ride, and it definitely was, but I found the ending to be a little unsatisfying, and with a book as long as this one was, it felt like a lot of a commitment to feel that way. I thought that the setting and characters were great- the author isn't afraid to explore the grittier parts of personalities and environments.

I love stepping into a book completely blind, but sometimes it throws me off a bit.

Vera Kurian does her research. We learned this from her first book where she understood the psychology of psychopaths SO well that she even shocked experts in the field.

So I went into this book blind expecting it to be a psychological- or science-focused book…and the last thing I expected was a paranormal element! And yet, once I wrapped my head around it, I truly enjoyed the world she created (and yes, she did her research on everything involved to make it as realistic as possible).

Six kids bonded one summer as kids when they were placed in a group together for a project, but the bonding didn’t really happen until the trauma occurred. Then they were forced to stay apart in order to avoid people questioning their involvement in the crime. So 20 years later, they all come back together when one of the original six has been murdered unexpectedly in their home town where everything started.

Dual timelines and multiple perspectives shape this paranormal thriller meets amateur detective story into one you’ll be flying through.

It’s a bit outside of my usual genre, but I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend it—especially to anyone who enjoys paranormal thrillers!

It's so hard when you love one book by an author, and then you have certain expectations for their next book. Reading this book, I knew how much I enjoyed this author's book, Never Saw Me Coming, and that definitely affected how I felt about this one.

I found myself bored with this book and had to get the audiobook to get through it. The audiobook did help move it along but didn't make the story any more interesting.

I really don't feel like the storyline was unique. It felt like an amalgamation of many stories I have read or watched in my lifetime (the Buffy episodes with the preacher kept coming to mind IYKYK). Sidenote:The real-life PA town of Centralia, I'm sure, was a big inspiration for this book, too.

I wanted so much to like this, and it really wasn't all bad. I enjoyed a couple of the characters and their back stories. I enjoyed some of the descriptions and the family dynamics that were very realistic.

All in all, I gave this 3⭐️. While this book wasn't completely for me, I know I will keep reading this author's work.

As always, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to have an advanced ebook copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Vera Kurian proves she can write about much more than psychopaths in her newest thriller, A Step Past Darkness. This book was a totally different feel than Kurian’s first book, but no less captivating. Picture I know What You Did Last Summer mashed up with Stand by Me and The Breakfast Club and a dash of Stranger Things. But even that doesn’t really capture how twist-y this book is!

About the Book | A Step Past Darkness

Setting

The small, idyllic town of Wesley Falls seems like it should be a great place to grow up. But underneath the surface, the town is full of shady practices and sinister cover ups that are hidden beneath the veil of the town megachurch, Golden Praise. The most devout members of the church have the best status, while the people who are furthest from the church are known as the burnouts. The most elite girls in school are called the Circle Girls, and they wear necklaces with small gems that relate to some unknown hierarchy in the Golden Praise church.

Characters (the Capstone Six)

Maddison is a devout member of the Golden Praise church and a Circle Girl. Kelly is a quirky, brainy girl who recently transferred to the high school from a local Catholic church after it shut down (presumably by the Golden Praise church). James is a burnout from the trailer park who sells marijuana and is secretly best friends with Kelly. Padma is a smart and driven Indian girl who secretly works at the Golden Praise church to save money for college. Casey is the golden boy, loveable football player who is kind-hearted and well-liked. Jia is an eccentric girl who happens to be clairvoyant and works at her mother’s crystal shop.

Plot

Summer, 1995
Six high school students who go by the Capstone Six are brought together to work on a project the summer after their sophomore year. They couldn’t be more different—a devout member of the local megachurch, a quirky bookworm, a cynical burnout, a kind-hearted athlete, a shy brainiac, and an eccentric clairvoyant. They are attending a party in the town mine to examine the old chambers for their project, when they witness something unspeakable. In the wake of the crime, the six vow to take care of the perpetrator of the crime, never speak on it again, and leave the town, the secret, and each other behind.

Summer, 2015
Jia breaks the pact they made twenty years ago to bring the Capstone Six back together. Only now they are five… Maddy has been found murdered, leading to more questions than answers. Was her death linked to the incident that happened that summer twenty years ago? The five remaining gather back in Wesley Falls for the funeral, and are forced to return to the mine and confront the person they thought was dead…

Review | A Step Past Darkness

It’s rare for a sophomore novel to outpace the author’s debut, but in this case I think Vera Kurian accomplished it. I loved her first book Never Saw Me Coming about a student enrolled at a psychopathy study at a university, only someone seems to be murdering the study participants one by one. That book was more of a heart-pounding thriller where you are in the mind of the main character.

In A Step Past Darkness, the story has so much depth and complexity. The dual timelines and the six narrators may sound messy, but this story is tightly plotted and expertly paced. Coming in at 450 pages, I was intimidated by the length, but the story flew by (especially on audiobook!). There wasn’t a single slow moment, and I was at the twisted-finale before I realized it.

The bulk of the story takes place in the timeline in summer of 1995. We are introduced to the Capstone Six as individuals and how they came together. One thing I loved about this book was that the short descriptions of the characters make them seem like stereotypes for high school students from different groups. However, the characters are anything but stereotypical. Each of them surprised me in different ways. I was also pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t a story of six teenagers forced together through tension and unrest. The six may not have selected their group, but they are immediately open-minded and supportive of one another. This was so refreshing!

The 90s lovers out there will also appreciate the fun nostalgia pieces. At one point they are discussing the OJ Simpson trial. At another part, one of them references The Firm workout videos. There are so many moments like this that oriented me back in time to the mid-90s and what it would have been like as a teenager at that point in time.

The setting was steeped with small town lore. The teenagers grew up essentially in this bubble where the Golden Praise church is the powerful part of town. Any rebelling happens quietly, or they face the consequences. The rumor mill is prominent throughout the book. And the mysterious church at the center of it all becomes more ominous the more we learn about it. I’d go as far to call it a cult or at least cult-lite.

The conclusion is twist-y and shocking when you learn exactly what has been going on with the Golden Praise church and the town of Wesley Falls! These six students may be the exact people to change the trajectory of their community, once and for all. I know you are probably wondering how the story wraps up and how much suspension of disbelief is required. And I’m not going to be the one to answer that. You’ll have to read it to find out!

I really enjoyed this book by Vera Kurian. My first read by her and it did not disappoint! I absolutely love multiple narrators and varying timelines! The story took a paranormal turn and I was not sad about it! A bit of a slow burn in the beginning but I didn't mind because the character development was so complete. I really like the descriptive narrative that the author brought to life. The ending could have been better but I still enjoyed this read!

A Step Past Darkness started out incredibly intriguing. The 90s nostalgia was fun, and all the characters are likeable, especially Jia (starting out and ending with her perspective was the best choice). It's marketed as a supernatural thriller, but I would say it rides that line of being marketed as horror as well. Either way, it was quite the slowburn. I think the book was overwritten in the middle by probably about one hundred pages, to the point it almost felt like to me the author didn't know where she wanted to take the story and wrote until she found her way.

It's unclear to me whether or not this book's supernatural elements and church elements are a representation of the author's opinions of church communities. It doesn't matter to me either way because I had my own not-so-great experiences growing up in a church environment, but this could turn off people who enjoy their particular church environments. Where Kurian's beliefs would be important is the middle. If this is a treatise on a church's potential for brainwashing, cult-like behavior, and false idols instead of simply general human greed and power manifested within a church-centered town, then the drawn-out middle part of the book would make more sense considering Maddy's downward spiral post-brainwashed-golden-child-turned-exile—she's nothing without the church. Otherwise, Maddy's life post-teenager didn't need to be mentioned. I would have preferred more explanations about the pastor, especially his origin story, what he is, and his powers, as well, but again, if this book is more about the church, then it wouldn't matter because the way they used the pastor matters more than going in-depth with who and what he is. In that case, he's just a means to an end (a "thing" and not a character), and they would have used anyone or anything else in his place to get what they wanted.

All in all, I liked it, but didn't love it. Slowburns aren't my jam, and with it being marketed as thriller as opposed to horror, people are going to expect it to be faster-paced and more dramatic. However, considering I'm seeing "slowburn" come up the most with the ARC reviews I've seen, and I think someone's enjoyment in this novel would ultimately come down to if they like slowburns or not, I think it's going to be pretty easy for a potential reader to decide if they'll like the concept of this book enough to buy it. Since ARC readers have less to go by with what they're getting into, I'm expecting this book to have steady sales and have a nice following after the ARC reviewing period is over and only people who bought the book/borrowed it from the library submit their reviews.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book!
I LOVED this!
A coming of age tale with a touch of the supernatural.
I have to admit, the description, cover and title don’t do this book justice. I wasn’t too enthusiastic going in but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the characters and their dynamics.
I only took 1 star away because there were so many (about a dozen) spelling or grammatical mistakes. Made the book seem a little sloppy. But nothing another pass through an editor can’t fix.
I’ll be looking out for this authors other books

I absolutely love the way this one starts out. Jia has to travel home to help find a body. I love books where someone escapes a small town and then has to come back. So she comes back and immediately leads the cops to a corpse. It is a girl she knew in high school. Then we start learning about Jia and her childhood. Her mom sounds like the coolest mom ever! There is also a creepy mega church. Love that for us readers.
This was a lot for me. There are a lot of perspectives and the dual timeline. I think I would love this as an audiobook.

A small town mostly run by a church. A group of six unlikely friends. A summer spent studying a mine, church corruption, and the supernatural. Then 20 years later, six become five when one of the friends is murdered. After witnessing a horrible crime in 1995, Maddy, Casey, James, Kelly, Padma, and Jia decide they need to split up so as their involvement isn’t found out, but now Maddy is dead. The rest of the group now need to come to terms with what they witnessed and find out how it got Maddy killed all these years later. Vera Kurian has created a character-driven plot with real emotional scenes that the supernatural elements feel real too. The reader gets perspectives from all of the characters as each chapter switches point of view, and the timelines are interspersed enough that the reader only gets information at the most pertinent part of the story. The only downside of this otherwise magnificent story is the length. Kurian allows readers to know every character intimately, but to the detriment of the overall plot. Ultimately though, any mystery reader who likes some supernatural twists should read this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a fast and exciting read, following 6 friends who witness something terrible and come back together twenty years later when one of them dies from a supposed accident. I could see this book being for adults or YA or new age readers. What I really could see would be it as a Netflix or Hulu limited series.

Thank you for my copy and for having me as part of the tour!