This book was intense. When the Keating family go back to the island, things go really wild which is the last thing the family needs after all they've been through. The horrors that happened throughout the book really kept me reading that I finished it rather quickly. This was a lot of fun, but a heavy read :)

My first NetGalley read!

Reading a book that takes place somewhere you’re familiar with is a very particular and soul-warming experience. You end up feeling like you’re a part of the story. Rhode Island is a tiny place that I have called home now for two years. All the nods to RI that Greenwood includes - the all but mandatory scooters on Block Island, being able to see the Island on a clear day (you can), dunking on Cranston - feel like inside jokes with his local audience which, as an indie author, is a great move. There were several terrific bouts of prose that I’ll include at the end. The story itself was an interesting one that kept a steady and intriguing pace. It’s also very difficult to manage so many main characters, so many different perspectives, and guide them all to flourish into fleshed out people. Also, waaaaay higher death toll than I expected: kudos!

Now the critiques (I’m sorry!) I felt that dialogue wasn’t consistent. There were some terrific lines and pieces, but it usually felt like it was written by an outsider rather than natural spoken word from the characters themselves. That being said, many of these characters are related so that could explain why it all seemed like it was from the same source. But I think it could have used some more editing.

Overall, worth the read, especially if you’re from Rhode Island!

Thank you to NetGalley, Gage Greenwood, and Tanner’s Switch Publishing!

“If a person could create beautiful sentences from horrific events, then any person could weave their way through life’s trauma. You just had to make the grime shine.”

“Go read a book, bitch.”

I just loved this book. I had high hopes as I have read most of Gage's stuff and loved it and Block Island does not disappoint! I love his unique approach to horror, with a bit of comedy mixed in and some terrifying moments. I also appreciate the self referential parts to his other works I got super excited when I saw a reference to a short story he wrote which made me take notice of him as an author. It was a short story that has lasted a long time in my mind and this novel will too.

Greenwood has a talent for textured prose, complicated emotions, and inventive monsters. He lets that talent shine in "On a Clear Day, You Can See Block Island."

The book starts with a bang, dragging the reader into a story which digs deeper than anticipated, into trauma, grief, addiction, and regrets. But, he's got the ability to temper the big themes with moments of genuine humor.

Parts of the book had me thinking "those meddling kids" but this isn't a Scooby story. It's an intense nightmare that'll keep you guessing while ripping your heart to pieces.

Read it.

On a Clear Day, You Can See Block Island
By Gage Greenwood

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to review!

Disturbing, well written and a great supernatural horror novel. This is exactly the type of book I love. Kept me reading straight through the night.

Gage Greenwood has a way with words that will scare the pants off of a reader.

5 Stars

The Keating family had suffered more tragedy and grief than most. When the oldest daughter is killed by something monstrous, all of their lives are permanently changed. The father becomes an alcoholic, the oldest son a drug addict, and the younger siblings are left to fend for themselves. Their tragedy becomes a media sensation, but nobody really believes that there is a monster loose on Block Island.

Charlie and his two younger sisters, Chrissy and Angela, decide to go to the Island to see if they can find the truth of that horrible night. Instead of answers, they unwittingly unleash the monsters on the world. They soon have to fight for their lives in order to survive.

The story is well-written and fast-paced, with plenty of horrors along the way. It is also a story of PTSD and grief. "Grief was the ultimate detonation." You will come to love the strength and resilience of this group of kids, especially the youngest of the bunch, Angela. This is a great blend of folk horror, creature feature, and ancestral oaths that continue to haunt later generations. This is my first book by the author, but I will definitely be looking for more by him. He is a great storyteller and this book will keep you reading long into the night.

An island off the coast of New England? A history of missing teenagers? Creepy monsters? This book does not disappoint and had me turning the pages until the very end. Highly recommend to all horror fans.

Thanks to Gage Greenwood and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for my review.

One a Clear Day, You Can See Block Island was a helluva ride. It reminded me of Haunting of Hill House before taking a sharp right turn into Stranger Things. Grief is the most prevalent topic in this, becoming almost another character. Each character is dealing with some sort of extreme grief, from the Keating family after losing their mother and sister, even to the town that has been slowly wasting away. And much, if not all of this grief, centers around events that occurred on Block Island, a spit of land with lighthouses on either end and enough trauma and history to sink everyone it hurts.

I did enjoy this story, though it took a bit to read because the depictions of grief were a little too real sometimes. All of the characters, no matter how screwed up they were, I couldn't help, but feel for. And I'm going to be thinking about all of them for awhile, especially Charlie. Because (and this is a spoiler) no one really gets a happy ending. They survive sure, they go on living, but grief never just up and disappears. Even if you right some wrong, or get revenge or whatever. It's still there, it's still something to struggle with and try and find it a place in your life.

This book gets off to a hair-raising start…not with a bang, but more like a crunch…crunch…slurp…crunch. The words “Welcome Home” will never be the same to me, as they are never the same for the Keating family as they spend their first night in a new home on Block Island. What they hear and see on that night changes them forever, even after leaving Block Island vowing never to return.
Monsters aren’t just in your imagination kids.
I loved the mysterious “in and out of dimensions” quality of this story. I really appreciated getting snippets of the lives of the creatures and their loneliness and helplessness at being in the situation they find themselves in. This created a nice fully dimensional point of view for all of the characters thrust into this strange fog of horror.
Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read and review #OnAClearDayYouCanSeeBlockIsland

Right out of the gate, this book punches you in the gut with horror and gore. It just keeps going and every time you think you are safe… nope. It was a fun and creepy read. The mystery was fun to figure out. I loved the lore behind everything.

Thank you to NetGalley, Gage Greenwood, Tanner’s Switch Publishing for providing me with a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Kudos. After the holy s*@t moment at the end of chapter 1 to the nod to some pretty awseome indie authors and all that came after. This is your best book yet,

it's really hard to come across a book where every character feels relatable. each of their grief really felt like it hit home. Gage perfectly captured the dread of grief while also keeping me on edge and thoroughly creeped out.

I might be thinking about Charlie for a long time

This book completely captivated me from that first chapter. It was completely shocking! Greenwood did an amazing job at not only portraying a supernatural monster, but how grieving tragedies effect family dynamics. This book really tore my heart out and terrified me!

I wish I could have taken my time reading this, but of course, I couldn't put it down. I loved how he put other horror authors' names in the book and the references of his previous books. I loved every single character and the emotions were felt! When I finished it, I sighed so hard and wiped my eyes. I'm not going to say "F U, Gage!" but thank you so very much!

This book was beautiful. I can't decide if this is my favorite or Bunker Dogs.

This book immediately gave me Haunting of Hill House vibes in the best way possible. I loved how each chapter focused on a different family member. The flow of this book was perfect, it was addicting. Being from NE it was fun to read about Rhode Island, it surprisingly made me want to go visit again soon even more lol. I loved the connections the characters made with each other it was heartwarming for a horror novel. I recommend if you’re into indie horror!

Thank you to Gage Greenwood and NetGalley for the eARC of 'On A Clear Day, You Can See Block Island'. And wow. That opening chapter!

Really enjoyed this fast paced creature feature as it read like a novelisation of Netflix's adaptation of 'The Haunting of Hill House' before going full-on 'Stranger Things'. Highly recommend for fans of either of those shows.

I believe I devoured this book in two nights. And that, only because I had to work in the morning and sleep forced me to put it down at the halfway point.

The first half of this book quite literally had me sitting up in bed, with "holy shit!" expletives disturbing the slumber of my reading companions, the cat and the dog. The second half of the book, while not quite as disturbingly eye-popping or as well crafted as the first half, also had me on pins and needles, as I eagerly read to see which character Greenwood would throw to the beasties, quite literally. I learned early on that Greenwood the author was a bloodthirsty one.

I loved the chapter headings, and the cover art, and hell, the entire contents. I loved that I had to look up "langblass nebelbewohner" to see if this was a real beast from Germanic folklore or not. I loved the family dynamics.

Gage Greenwood, my hat is off to you. I will most definitely be tracking down your other fictional tales. Bravo!

This was my first novel by Gage Greenwood and I thought it was pretty good and I would absolutely read more of his books. I was able to read this book before its publishing date thanks to Netgalley.
For me, this was a quick and easy read. There were some sort of tough-to-get-through points where the plot was slow and the characters a bit bland but once I powered through those it was pretty good. Along that same vein, there were aspects of the plot that felt neglected, and this did cause the book at times to feel a bit unauthentic in some of the situations. An example is Chapter 36, which gives the Langblass history through a secondary character, which felt a bit awkward and like it was an afterthought. I also wonder why the Langblass were so set on killing Tiffany and Doug as they weren't from one of the family lines that promised sacrifices to the Langblass.
This book opens up with a scene that grabs you and pulls you in with the family(a recently widowed father and his five children) playing a game in their new house. Suddenly, something goes awry and the oldest daughter, Wreath, is eaten alive by a monster while the rest of the family stands by watching in horror. The police don't believe the family's story and this eventually causes them to become ostracized by not only their community but with each other as well.
Jackson, who is the absentee father of the group ends up becoming an alcoholic after his daughter's death and leaving his children to whatever fate they'll come to. I despised Jackson's character for the way he treated his children, although I understand the role he was playing in the overall story. Brian, the oldest son wasn't around for long. He had a raging drug problem and unfortunately ended up overdosing. One of my favorite characters in the book was Charlie which was pretty disappointing since he ended up disappearing pretty early in the book. Angie and Chrissy were bitchy middle school girls whose characters I thought were kind of meh, and their arcs were kind of a letdown.
Outside of the main family group we had Charlie's friends, Tiffany and her brother, Doug, whom he met at the beach looking out at Block Island one night. Tiffany and Doug were interesting characters in the sense that they only wanted to be friends with Charlie and there weren't any underlying motivations such as bullying or romance in their interactions. The friendship was nice, and eventually heartbreaking when Charlie was begging the monster not to kill him since he had friends now. I will say that having Charlie's friends survive while he did not was a bit disappointing.
While this was a "horror" novel the monster was a bit dull. The Langblass had allegedly been brought over on a ship from the Black Forest in Germany. Tall, ghastly creatures with long claws and a vendetta against the Keating family and their new friends after the kids travel back to Block Island for closure. These creatures are brutal. I was disappointed, however, that these creatures didn't actually draw from German folklore as the book said they did, but instead seemed to be purely the author's creation.
While the Langblass were the physical monsters in this book it was another monster who I felt took center stage and was overall more unsettling and frightening. For me, the overwhelming terror of this book came from how grief can destroy lives in so many different ways. Each of the characters in this book experienced and coped with grief differently and eventually allowed it to win. And even at the end of the novel, we see that for the remaining characters grief is still in control, even though they escaped with their lives.

I went into this book completely blind. It feels very similar to something I have watched before in parts. But apart from this I really enjoyed this read! It shows how people deal with grief differently and how it can affect a family , with a bit of lore put into the story. I love gages writing style and will be reading more of his books for sure!

I’m going to start by saying I was pleasantly surprised to see the setting of this book is in Rhode Island, my home state. It’s always a treat when RI is mentioned, being the smallest state we tend to be forgotten. I’ve also been to Block Island a bunch of times so it was easier to envision the setting of the story as well as events.

There are 5 main characters and the reader follows each through a different narrative/perspective. Characters in this novel are diverse and morbid. My favorite is Chrissy, and Angela. There is a ton of family drama and tension, so if you’re into that, pick up this book asap.

My only small complaint would be the family bickering even during times of survival. It seems odd to me that characters would pick fights with each other during crucial moments.

This is my first time reading a book by this author and I like his writing. I’m definitely interested in reading more by him. The horror elements were spot on and the scene in the beginning of the book really set the tone for the entire novel. Creepy, disturbing and straight out of your nightmares.

It’s refreshing to read a creature feature that isn’t too cheesy and over the top. Much like the creatures in this story, I devoured this book.