This 5-star-read is packed with the Southern charm, magic, intensity, vivid emotionality, strong women, magical realism and - curses.
Susana Prather believes she is going to die. There is this generational curse, right? Women from her family have been cursed and she starts to show the signs - sleepwalking, waking up drenched, feeling the call of the swamp...and her dreams are vivid. She might be watching the history of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn. The one with the hard life and the cruel experiences. The one with two men in love with her. The one who might be the cause for the curse. And young Susana does not want to die, even if she feels that the death is inevitable. So she tries to live. And her zest for the living in the fullest might break the real curse - the generational trauma, the pain that is hidden in secrets, the hard burden of hurt, hate, silence and just pain.

This is a beautiful, fulfilling, in a good way hurting read. The topic is so real and as the authoress says, she knows from her experience and her family history all too well what she is writing about. There is much pain present in this life. Racism, cruselty, violence, sexual violence. If there is a way out, it might be the way that Susana is exploring. Realization, compassion, forgiveness. Healing. Freedom.

Brutal, honest, beautiful. A recommended read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, let me start off by saying that I read this in audiobook format, and perhaps some of my issues with this book stem from my apparent inability to concentrate with audiobooks (thanks adhd!)

Curses and other buried things follows a teenage protagonist who is dealing with a generational curse. With little information from her grandparents, the curse takes a very strong hold of her life and disrupts her love life and friendships.
The writing was fantastic, everything flowed nicely together with the differing perspectives and timelines. I did find myself a little confused sometimes as both perspectives have the same name, but I think that’s more to do with the time I leave between listening sessions. I have learnt from this book that despite how cool it is to listen to books (especially with the accurate accents etc) I just cannot focus with them. I think I would have preferred this in written format.

I would recommend this book to anyone with a love for YA mystery with a side plot of romance, and anyone who needs a reminder that some people have it worse, because what could be worse than a generational curse? ;)

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

The idea of this book was very interesting. However, the execution didn't work for me. The pacing is very slow. I wasn't drawn into the story or any of the characters. I tried to push through it, but ultimately couldn't find the book that enjoyable.

I went in with one idea of what this book would be and found something very different...and not to my liking. I just did not find this book interesting. Other than the genre and overall plot (how sleepwalking was handled was...ridiculous), I disliked the protagonist. She was whiney, made poor choices, and seemed much younger than she was supposed to be, especially how she handled romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was unable to completely finish this book. I simply could not force myself to continue. My review will be for the portions I finished.

This story starts with a young girl on her 18th birthday as she and her family fear the curse that has taken a woman from every generation, who perish in the swamp.

The premise is interesting and intriguing but I just could not dig into it. All the women who die are given the same name, which gets a little frustrating trying to remember character storylines when they each have the same name! If distracted me and I just could not dig in

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

This took me a little bit to get into but I enjoyed it overall! I think I would have liked it more with the switching time frames if I was reading a physical copy- it wasn't confusing per say, it was clear when it switched but I think it would have been more seamless if I was actually reading instead of listening. Still good though, and the narrator did a good job.

An absolutely stunning tale that did my heart good.It's truly the kind of story to savor, and I'm glad I took my time. You truly get to know both Susana and Suzanna, and I cared about both of them so deeply by the time we reached the end.

It was just okay. Not the best in writing or story for what I enjoy. Maybe genre is what didn't work for me. Unsure.

Even though this is for YA I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook and the cast of characters. The dual timelines woven together was seamless and the story was about generational trauma, family and destiny. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.

I actually didn’t finish this book. It wasn’t my favorite. It didn’t catch my attention. It was slow to start.

I found this one interesting and the writing style was easy to vibe with. It didn't pull me out of the story at anytime and I enjoyed the characters.

I'm torn on this novel for a few reasons. I enjoyed it overall, but I was expecting something a little different by the blurb. I was expecting a darker, more horror-esque novel rather than an intergenerational-curse with romance. It took me a few chapters to acclimate to differences. That being said, there were a lot of positives about this story. It was beautifully descriptive. I felt like I was deep in the Okefenokee Swamp, sweating along with the characters and feeling that oppressive heat. The story was engaging and I found myself waiting for Susana to take action, but each time she made a decision I outwardly sighed.
For someone who was surrounded by lies, she did a lot of lying herself. I felt like Mississippi would have helped her without question, and certainly wouldn't have exposed her to her grandparents if she had asked her not to. The dual timelines were interesting and I did like that they were reflections of the present in a lot of ways. I did feel like the ending wrapped up SO quickly and in such a a weird way. It wasn't what I was expecting at all, and it felt like an easy, quick way to end the story with a big surprise! that I felt wasn't really needed. There was so much beautiful storytelling that it felt a bit clunky to me at the end. Overall, I did enjoy the story and I loved the narrator.

I would recommend for anyone new to audiobooks though, not start with this one. It was really hard to keep the Susana's straight while listening, especially if I had to stop mid chapter for any reason. The narrator's voice was superb though, it felt authentic in a lot of ways.

Recommend for anyone looking for inter-generational trauma/story, contemporary mystery vibes with deep Southern roots and a YA voice. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for new books by Caroline George.

I love a good deep south story. This hits all the right places with family pain and curses and hatred, but also has a good story about forgiveness. I will recommend this to my book club online!

This book didn’t resonate with me as much as I wish it had. I got a bit busy after initially finishing the book last week, and now that I’m getting around to reviewing it ai find myself struggling to remember much about it.

What I do remember that I liked was the dual timeline and the ending reveal. I am a sucker for a dual or multiple timeline, especially when it’s generational women. I find that flipping back and forth from one timeline to another can be such a powerful way to add depth and explore the effects of one’s actions on someone else’s down the road. And this went so well with this book since it focused on family curses and sins carried over the years.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

As for the ending - while I was expecting some powerful, dark, and potentially monstrous reveal at the end based on the amount of vague curse talk throughout the book, I did feel that the end reveal of the curse turning out to be the power that the family put behind their previous sins was quite powerful. It really outlined how our willingness to put power behind perceived negative outcomes can hinder our ability to move on from them and force a repeating cycle onto others out of secrecy and fear.

I am still torn when this book was marketed well though. I was left feeling like I didn’t get what I expected. But then again, expecting a real monstrous curse did set me up for the surprise ending.

Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC of this audiobook.

It took me a bit to get into the story. I didn't know what to expect going in but I ended up finding a beautifully written history of a young womans deep southern roots. It was witty, hilarious and just a joy to read.

This was such an interesting story. I enjoyed learning the history of the curse that claimed the first born female of each generation and how each woman struggled to break it. I especially appreciated the author’s personal comments on her own life and her insights on how to overcome generational trauma at the end of the book.
My one complaint is that the end of the story seemed rushed and a bit unexpected to me. There were hints of magical realism throughout the book, but once I got to near the end, it dived straight into the magically fantastical. The change in tone was a bit jarring for me. However, it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the story.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#CursesandOtherBuriedThings #NetGalley

Caroline George, takes readers down south where a generational curse is after another daughter:

How does one combat a generational curse, when you know that the curse is coming for you next. Susana knows that when her 18th birthday hits, the swamp will come to take her, just like it did her momma before her. But she does not want to die, she wants to find a way to break the curse so that she can live a full life and be with the boy that she has always wanted to be with.

Well this book did not go as planned. I will say that it is well written and George's description in regards to the swamp are excellent but I thought this book was going to be a dark horror or psychological thriller but it was not. I think I would classify it as southern gothic romance, maybe, I'm not really sure, it just was not what I was expecting based upon the premise.

I found I was never actually in the mood to read this book, it felt too trying, confusing and just disappointing in not getting what I thought the book was going to be about not to mention slow as well. I picked this book up many times and would find i would be putting it to rest a few chapters later as I just didn’t feel engaged enough to continue on and then would try again a few days or even weeks later. I mean I finished it but I cannot say I enjoyed the task of getting there. I did the audiobook version of this book and this is not to say that the narrator was lacking, she was amazing but it was the content and the flow of the story that I was unable to get into.

I did not like that the two timelines had main characters with the same name and other than in the beginning of the book, it was hard to differentiate between the two as similar aspects and events were happening in each timeline. I get that George was trying to point out that the curse had not changed even with the passing of time, but still there needed to be some way to differentiate the two other than some verb differences.

Susana in the present time literally does nothing to prevent her sleepwalking into the swamp, which she knows will kill her. Even when she confides in someone about it and then a safe guard is put in place she refuses to use it. Like what? You want to die? Also where are the family in this book, I mean she lives with them and they know about the curse but they really do nothing to see if Susana is okay? Are they okay if she dies, like so many have before her and they have to know that she is thinking about it as well, so where is the Love?

There is no doubt that George can write and create a story. I do not know if the fault lies with George with the premise as the book is sold as something that it is not, or mine and never being in the right mood to read this book. I know I’m in the minority with my review so make sure to check out other if you are thinking of reading this book.

Cheers!!!!

I felt like this was a 150 page story told over 400 pages. There were a lot of parts that dragged and felt like they weren't that important to the plot. The book is told in two timelines and while I understood why we were seeing Susana's ancestor, her life kept going in circles and I got bored of it quickly. I think if some characters had communicated even just a little, the whole thing could have been solved in a few chapters.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the copy.

This is an incredibly interesting and intricate story about a generational curse. I also loved how there was a personal aspect from the author, which we learn at the end. I did really enjoy listening to this and I felt completely immersed but I do think this was slightly too long and parts felt unnecessarily dragged out. I think if this was shorter I would have enjoyed this a lot more however I do believe this is a great story which a lot of people will love.

This was a very long story of a curse.
I appreciate the personal side of the story for the author. There was so much detail in the book that I guess it took some time for research. Respect.
The story includes love elements, some dark happenings, an unbreakable curse, prejudiced town people, a frightened Susana Prather.
The book is nicely and smoothly written, as I mentioned there are lots of details, which might become overwhelming at times. When I became overwhelmed I had to take a break from reading.
The narrator had a very slow and depressed style, which made the book sound more negative and depressed than it should be.