This was spectacular! Such a thematically complex subversion of a traditional gothic/women's bildungsroman. The horror is slow, creeping, and deliciously dark—it feels exactly like a gothic novel should. The slow integration of supernatural horror alongside the real horror of domestic violence is brilliantly done, and the voice and tone is such a pitch perfect mimic of Bronte and the like. I particularly loved the courtship narrative subplot.

Literary horror can be one if the best subgenres but it's hard to nail. I often enjoy queer horror with a literary bent so I was hopeful this would be a favourite of 2024.

From the start, this one read like a traditional piece of historical fiction. The queer and feminist elements felt rather subdued and didn't particularly uplift the narrative. This is case where a story just isn't for me. I simply did not find it interested because it focused on the historical elements I didn't particularly care about.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

Very glad I decided to pick this one up again. This book was quite good and unique in its horror lit fic sense! First of its kind. I will definitely be recommending.

Back on the British Gothic treadmill, no big house here but a school-teacher with a shadowy (queer?) past, some unruly kids and "something in the woods". This is a "mysterious force of nature" gothic horror, which will drag our prim and proper heroine to the edge of being feral, to drop her pretensions and civilized mask to end up wild and unwashed (there is a long period in the book where quite how unclean she is feels like the most visceral horror in it).

The title refers to a part sighting of this creature in the wood, but is also a slightly off-brand depression metaphor. And the book plays its first two-thirds pretty close to its chest, its not gothic without the heroine second-guessing herself and thinking she is going mad after all. That said the queer undertones do stay pretty much in the shadows, and its feminist tracts on women being able to study natural history if they should so wish doesn't really mark the book out as anything different from the seventies. It charts her breakdown well, but she is a frustratingly drippy lead for much of the book and the incidents are so mild that even with a rapidly unraveling last act it brought nothing new to the party for me.

I’m so glad that I decided to pick this ARC back up and give it another chance. Though it took a while for me to get into it, (the first fourth of the book was a lot of setup and repetition), the story eventually got more exciting and the horror kicked in. It still kind of felt like a long read, but I ended up enjoying it.

I stand by my stance that the journal format doesn’t work in long form. After a particularly long paragraph of dialogue, Ada writes that she “transcribed the speech from memory.” Actually, you’ve transcribed all of this dialogue from memory. The entire book. There are a couple of things that happen that are difficult to picture Ada picking up her journal and writing about immediately after. (The ending specifically comes to mind.) But I digress.

This is a very, very slow burn. It’s also one of those books where the narrator constantly alludes to the mysterious and dark things that happened in her past and teases you with that information, but takes forever to give you any details. Though you finally start to get the tea about halfway through and it’s interesting.

The strongest point here is the language and descriptions. This author is wonderful with prose. The scary scenes are a bit sporadic at first but well written. Once Ada begins to see things that don’t appear to actually be real, they are visceral and atmospheric and frightening. When the story eventually picks up, it’s worth the wait. I do think that things are a little repetitive as far as Ada’s experiences with her visions, but they are scary and varied enough that I liked reading about them.

I was also interested in how things were going to play out regarding Ada’s blooming friendships with the mysterious and interesting women in this new town. The characters are set up in a way that drew me in and made me want to know more. This story can be frustrating at times, especially if you’re aggravated by reading about women being mistreated by men and betrayed by the friends they thought they could trust.

The author tried to make all the school children into interesting characters but I couldn’t keep track of them and I wasn’t terribly interested, either. But only one of the children is sort of important to the plot and she does stand out from the rest, at least.

I did love the ending. It was cathartic and worthy of everything the story had been building to. In fact, I think the ending added a full star to my rating.

This is creepy, snowy woods horror. Good for Winter reading. There’s a touch of folklore, and it’s filled with unsettling scenes of a woman losing her grasp on reality.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and to the publisher for the early copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

TW: Domestic abuse (physical and psychological), Insects, Religious bullying, Bodyshaming, Animal harm (quite a bit), Sexism, Miscarriage

this. book. is. phenomenal.

Grey Dog follows Ada Byrd, a young woman who has just accepted a new teaching position in the very remote, small town of Lowry Bridge. Ada begins to form friendships and finds herself quickly adapting to life in the small town, but all the while, something lurks in the background 👀

This is a beautifully written, haunting, and tense gothic tale of slow burn horror, feminine rage, trauma, and coming home to nature.

I was absolutely entranced by this book from the first page. I found Ada to be such an interesting character to follow & found myself feeling heartbroken for her during many moments. In addition, the friendships (and more) she formed with other women were delightful to read. There is no 'in your face' intense moments of horror but rather an unsettling, ominous undertone throughout the whole story as we follow Ada's descent into madness.

The writing was SOOOO beautiful and I will definitely be looking out for more from this author. I would highly recommend Grey Dog to anyone who is interested in slow burn, feminist literary horror. Think Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine or The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

"Every women is full of tragedies. She is obliged to share them with nobody but God."

I fell into this story. I fell into the comforting mundanity of Ava's life, and hoped right along with her that this time It Would Be Different. But, of course, we know that it's never different.

The standout aspect of Grey Dog is the seemingly effortless prose. Elliott Gish writes in a way that feels extremely natural and easy-to-read. Ava is fully realized and other characters have life, even when interpreted through Ava's eyes. Ava's past is revealed slowly, but at enough of a clip to keep you invested.

For the first 1/3 of this book, I genuinely forgot that I was reading a horror novel. To call this a slowburn would be to undersell it. The pace of the horror is glacial, often to its detriment. You're nearly 2/3 of the way through before the horror really starts to hit. Slow burn is fine, but it lacked the adequate anticipation and tension to support it.

Despite that, I enjoyed myself throughout. The themes and messaging are strong. This story knows what it wants to say, and it's worth taking the time to listen.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

A lot of horror books claim to be literary, but Grey Dog is the first one I’ve read that is truly literary. I wouldn’t call it a slow burn because the text is super engaging, and the plot never really picks up. Reading this felt trippy, like I was experiencing the madness and uncertainty as well.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press for my ARC! I loved this slow burn historical horror. I’m not a big horror reader but I do love female rage and a descent into madness and this definitely delivered. The beginning was slow but it was done well, I felt the dreariness of this new town and the world building was not overwhelming. Everything truly went crazy towards the end so it’s worth it to hold on tight and ride this book for what it is.

Grey Dog's compelling central thesis is this: that being a woman is enough to drive anyone mad.

To prove it, elliott gish blends elements of historical and literary fiction with gothic horror, resulting in a convincingly bleak, oppressive early-20th century small-town atmosphere. It is slow and skillful work that reminds me somewhat of Burial Rites by Hannah Kent; though not moored by any one true historical event in the same way that Burial Rites is, it shares those characteristics, languishing through journal entries in the everyday, the routine - the mundane - to paint a portrait of ultra-realism.

However, I did find this ultra-realism a hindrance at times. There was an emotional and even temporal distance to the narration that I did not enjoy; there was no immediacy, something that seems obvious given the format, but that robbed the narrative of any tension. Much of what propelled the plot forward were revelations by other characters, initially delivered via monologue to our protagonist, transcribed later in her diary. Perhaps this is a matter of taste, but I do think there were choices that could have been made to more accurately reflect the stakes for what is really quite an existential, dramatic novel.

I'm a fan of horror and ghost stories around the Christmas time as I've previously mentioned. Grey Dog gave me The Woman in Black vibes (either the book or movie version). The suspense and build up is an integral part of this novel, and there is a lot to unpack as you are learning more about Ada Byrd. A trigger warning that (that I don't think gives anything away) domestic violence is mentioned and described in the novel, so a heads up if you are not keen on a novel that includes that topic in the plot.

The book starts out with a young woman, Ada Byrd, exiled to a small backwater town to teach for behavior the reader is not quite privy to at the beginning. We get the sense that it was something that embarrassed her father, and she's being given one last chance to prove herself to him or her future is going to become very uncertain. Ada's sister has also recently passed prior to her move to Lowry Bridge.

Things begin fairly without incident for Ada as she adjusts to life in a new town as the local teacher of a small village school. She begins to slowly acclimate, but while she acclimates she begins processing her repressed emotions and thoughts both from recent traumas and those from the past. As this is happening, strange occurrences begin taking place around Ada. This continues to ramp up throughout the novel. While in the beginning of her time at Lowry Bridge Ada seems to fit in and make friends or at least be friendly and companionable with the locals, Ada begins to not know who to trust and act strangely, sowing distrust among those who welcomed her.

The story follows Ada as she begins to truly realize she does not fit into the future determined for her as to what is expected of her in her time. The reader is left not knowing exactly how sane Ada is, and we follow Ada through all the eerie and haunting occurrences that she experiences. I finished the novel in about a day. This is a book in which there are many themes to unpack and talk through. I really did enjoy it, and felt it was above 4 star, so rounded up to 5.

Please be advised I received an Advanced Readers Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Grey Dog by Elliott Gish is set in 1901,and follows schoolteacher Ada Byrd in her new teaching assignment in Lowry Bridge. After a controversy that ruins her reputation, Ada is sent to isolated Lowry Bridge when the previous teacher leaves without a word. Ada starts to have strange visions, and feels like she is being watched by something in the woods.
I struggled through the first half of this book; written in a first person POV in the form of journal entries, we get a lot of the mundane daily activities Ada partakes in. I did consider dnf'ing this one at times in the beginning half - I only didn't because of the exceptional writing. This was one of the most well written books I've read in a really long time. I am glad I finished, though, as the second half of the book was so good. This probably would have been a 5 star read for me if the start was as great as the end was.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Grey Dog in exchange for my honest review.

If Jane Eyre and Aldo Leopold had a lesbian schoolteacher child who was sent away to the country a la Tess of the D’Urbervilles and that child then met a wealthy, widowed witch, a nearly feral woods child, and an arcane, eldritch presence, we have the basis for this book. I was charmed immediately.

I will say that this is a VERY slow burn and while I didn’t mind the journal format, I did find it difficult to sustain interest over long periods. I found that the violence of the ending was well worth the wait, but I was slightly disappointed by the lack of closure. Overall I enjoyed it!

Grey Dog is told in diary entries and deals with a schoolteacher who, disgraced in her past teaching position, has nowhere to go except a small, one-room-schoolhouse town. The mysteries to unravel are why her predecessor left in such a hurry, what the story of the mysterious, ostracized widow is, and why our protagonist has started to feel so off and have nightmares. This is one of those books that is so atmospheric and tense that you can almost feel yourself in the sunless, grey days. Although I felt the ending was a bit curt, I loved reading this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a spooky read that is more eerie than scary.

“Grey Dog” made for an intriguing read, albeit a mildly frustrating but interesting one. At its core, this is a horror story of feminine rage, with the latter being highlighted, and the horror seemingly left on the back-burner. A handful of scenes with surrealist elements makes not a horror story, so I was left a bit disappointed that the horror aspects weren’t leaned into as heavily. I’m not terribly sure that styling this story as journal entries was the most effective way to tell this story - rather than gaining deeper insight into the lead character Ada’s mindset, it read like a standard narrative that needed to be broken up somehow. This story easily could’ve been broken into three parts, each told with minor time jumps and would have worked much better than the journal entries. Though I had some problems with the novel, I still found it to be highly interesting, which made for a quick and entertaining read. I was unsure where the plot was going, which left a lot of room for guessing, resulting in a very fast-paced read, as I wanted to know what was going to happen next. For a debut novel, this certainly is far from horrible, I just wish there were some tweaks that would have made this story stand out and flow better.

In Grey Dogs, we meet Ada, a school teacher who has moved to Lowry Bridge to escape a horrible indiscretion in the hopes of rebuilding her reputation. She moves in with a childless christian couple named the Griers and learns they had boarded the previous teacher, who left in the middle of the night to return home to care for her ailing mother.

As Ada begins to settle into her new routine, she starts to experience odd things that defy explanation - a swarm of crickets that disappear almost as suddenly as they had appeared, a dying rabbit in the middle of an undisturbed blanket of snow, and a deer that appears to birth a deformed human child before expiring. She also swears there's something out there in the woods, stalking her, just out of sight.

Intially, she keeps these peculiar encounters to herself for fear that the Griers and the rest of the towns people will think she's gone mad, until she uncovers a bizarre sentence scribbled into one of the old teacher's book of poetry, and learns that the Grier's once had a son who died under strange circumstances. These discoveries, along with the increasing terrors she keeps falling victim to, find our Ada quickly unraveling.

It sounds pretty good, right? While it's not a bad read, it's not a great one either. The book is saturated in grey - grey skies, grey faces, grey clothes, grey everything. I'm not kidding. The color grey was used to describe EVERYTHING in those first handful of pages.

Putting aside the grey overload, though, the breadcrumbs that Gish left for us to follow were just enticing enough to keep me reading, even beyond the few points where I was seriouly beginning to consider DNFing. I wanted to know where this was going, if what Ada was experiencing was real or all in her head, if there really was something deeper and darker going on in that place...

Do I regret seeing it through? I'm not really sure. I don't know what I was expecting but the ending we got certainly wasn't it.

I... liked this? I didn't get full-on horror feels, definitely heavily on the gothic side. It's definitely weird, or maybe I should say strange. The universe/magic/origin isn't full described, but that seems ok for this type of story.

eBook from NetGalley.

I enjoyed this book. It is definitely more of a slow burn with a lot of creepy ambiance. Personally, I was also hoping for a bit more romance. What it had was in line with the book - sort of a distorted, dark view of romantic instances. The historical timeline felt accurate and I loved the focus on all the female relationships. I would recommend this if you’re looking for a slow burn, creepy, lgbt+ friendly book and don’t mind it not having a pronounced relationship in the telling.

I’ve been consuming Ada’s diary for months now, on and off, and yet all of its flavour arrived in the final mouthful.
Grey Dog is a rather pedestrian disciple of the movement of religiously traumatised, cannibalistic, ‘feral’ women storming through literature and film today. Its bulk is made up of chapters and chapters of the usual period genre, repressed lesbian touchstones of almost intimacies, chalkboard scribbling, and meat and potato supper descriptions. These deeply ‘grey’ bricks of story are interspersed with tantalising, disturbing recollections, and happenings, spurred on by preternatural forces. This gets rather repetitive, and left me waiting for answers for far too long.
However, its final passage, post-conversion, is rich with the blood of generations of unruly women. With a refreshingly immoral and muddy twist, the good woman becomes bad, and in the process makes love to the natural world. Ada is granted the succulent feast that is rewarded to the possessed, emboldened, and broken. Lesbian undertones become overtones, disturbing occurrences become a lifestyle.
Overall, if you can sift through the inane and useless normality of Grey Dog’s many entries, like Ada, you will be rewarded by a freak literature lover’s idea of total gluttony.

From the moment I read the description and saw the cover I was sold ( what beautiful illustration!!) an absolutely breathtaking novel I couldn’t put it down once I started it! I will definitely be buying a physical copy once it’s released!!!!