Really enjoyed this book, slow in some places however it was very uniquely written and the story line was different enough that I happily stuck with it. Was a great overall story, and the characters and story were really unique!

The story had me on the edge of my seat, gripping my chair at the whole entire time even though this was a YA book, I was completely addicted to it the whole entire entire time and I’m so glad that I was accepted to read this book. It was an amazing ride, and I can’t wait to see what other books this author has.

Though it tells rather than shows a little too often, The Dark We Know is a solid, finely observed young adult horror yarn.

Written by Wen-yi Lee, The Dark We Know comes to us from Gillian Flynn Books, so it seems appropriate that there's more than a hint of Flynn's own Camille Preaker in Lee's troubled protagonist, Isadora Chang — and, for that matter, more than a hint of Sharp Objects' ruminations on trauma and repression in small-town America in this narrative. Isadora returns from art school to Slater, the mining town where she grew up, to attend the funeral of her abusive father, and it's immediately clear that she doesn't relish this homecoming: as soon as she steps out of the car, she refers to "Slater winter smothering me like a friend," a nice bit of description that says a lot about how she feels about Slater and even more about how she feels about friends.

In fact, two of her childhood friends are no longer living, and after her alienated upbringing in this dead-end place, Isa is in no mood to get close to anybody, least of all here. But the plot has other ideas, and soon she is approached by Mason Kane, son of the local medium and her last remaining friend. There's something out there, says Mason, that killed the others and recently claimed the life of wealthy young Paige Vandersteen — and Isa needs to help stop it. But what, exactly, is it? Could it be the same presence that sings enticing songs to her in the wind? That makes her draw pictures she can't remember creating, one of which is of the departed Paige?

There is no shortage of narratives about trauma these days — especially horror narratives — and the broad strokes of this story may seem a bit familiar at first glance. And sometimes Lee bluntly states something that could have been made richer with imagery ("for most of our childhood, the four of us were inseparable") or gives her characters on-the-nose dialogue ("I can't afford to be not normal"). What she excels at, though, is something just as important: the well-chosen detail. The absence of a Bible on the mantelpiece represents how the house breathes easier without a malignant father. A lingering scent suggests his influence hasn't gone away as quickly as Isa, her mother, and her sister hoped it would.

Nothing goes away as quickly as any of the characters hope in this book. Just as nothing seems to change in Slater — still run by one wealthy family with its own demons to fight, still insular and hushed and secretive — there seems to be no rest for Isa or Mason or anybody else until the past is confronted in one form or another. I can't spoil the mystery of exactly what form this takes, but suffice it to say, it makes for a satisfying conclusion.

The Sharp Objects comparison may do The Dark We Know a disservice. It's a very different story: explicitly supernatural, geared towards younger audiences, and considerably less venomous. It is, in any case, exactly what it aims to be: Lee sets her sights squarely on the target, and hits it.

"The Dark We Know" is the debut by Wen-yi Lee and oh my what a great one!

In the past years I realized that YA Horror is actually horror that I like: Not simply gory, not simply told but with deeper themes, issues and characters. And this book fits perfectly into this realisation.

Especially how the horror is connected to events in the past and how our protagonists interact with those events and their influences on the problems at hand is something I really liked.

The connection between the characters in the now and the past a few years ago from the time of the story is richly described and I like how supernatural elements are presented. How our protagonist is a conduct for even more and how she always felt like "the song from the mountains" is not good but frightening.

How everything is put together in the end was quite amazing and I love the representation of diversity along the way. I would also love some stories with Otto! ;D

I really liked this horror story even as I had some issues with the pacing at the passage of the beginning to the rest of the plot.

Thank you, Netgalley and Zando, for providing me the eARC of The Dark We Know, by Wen-yi Lee 🦋 Unfortunately, this book disappointed me. I expected more and better. There were confusing parts, errors in the time sequence of events and the themes involved ended up being more important than the story itself. In other words, I absolutely respect and appreciate how religious, homophobic and prejudiced traumas are talked about in this book. However, the story took a back seat so that we could have these life lessons, which could have been present in the story in a much more natural, organic way, but that's not what happened, in my opinion. It is, regardless, a genuine portrait. I greatly appreciate this heartfelt exploration of such heavy and real themes. The problem is that the story got lost. I finished reading this book feeling that I didn't retain much of it. The beginning was good. We are introduced to these themes in a more natural way, but that stopped happening as I kept reading. Still, as I said, these are themes that, thankfully, are increasingly explored in literature, but here, that exploration got lost. There was more to do in this story and everything was just... scattered.

But not everything was bad, of course. The writing is atmospheric. It really is a dark read, there is something that is haunting about it, but that feeling was better felt at the beginning. For example, there is this idea of a house that could be a haunted entity, but, well, that was one of the things that got lost along the way, sadly.

There is not much to say about the writing, except that I really liked the chapters from the perspective of the Angel, the great supernatural entity in the book. Again, another thing whose execution fell short regarding my expectations.

As for the characters, it is possible to empathize with them, but I also expected more from them. They did not captivate me completely.

It is a book that suffers a lot from there being so many things that could happen. There are so many paths that could have been taken and they would have been fantastic, so interesting, but the execution was done too quickly and we lose our way while reading the book. We lose our reason for being curious about reading the book.

I give it 2.5 ⭐

This book took my breath away. Lee is an outstanding talent and The Dark We Know is a gem of YA horror.

Beyond slate, stone, and ginseng, The Dark We Know is a compelling debut that discusses grief, abuse, and sexual identity with open eyes and raw emotion. Its diverse characters are relatable and real, and I'm excited for all the lives this story will touch!

In the vein of The Haunting of Hill House Isa's homecoming is riddled with painful memories and an evil she tried to forget, but it never forgot her. An evil that uses its victims' greatest wounds to prey on them and claims their lives, like Pennywise in IT. Hill House being one of my favorite horror productions of all time, I absolutely loved the horror in The Dark We Know!

This book is a beautiful defense of what makes life worth living! Worth surviving. It's threaded with a frayed cord of self-acceptance, forgiveness, and a bolstering representation of queer identities. This is a beautiful book with a powerful message. Keep going.

A Small-Town Haunting: The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee
Wen-yi Lee’s The Dark We Know follows Isadora Chang, an art student who left her small hometown after the deaths of two of her best friends. Two years later, she returns for the funeral of her abusive father, where she encounters her last surviving friend, Mason. Mason tells her that he suspects their friends were in fact murdered by some sort of supernatural being that haunts their town, and he needs her help to stop it from killing anyone else.

In the acknowledgments, as well as on social media, Wen-yi Lee said her inspirations for this book were her love for the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening and the Taylor Swift lyric "are there still beautiful things?" And having now read this book, yeah. Those were her inspirations, very clearly.

I have to be honest--I don't really care for Spring Awakening, but I do like that Taylor Swift lyric, and I loved this book. It is exactly the kind of horror I love--queer, more emotional than scary, the haunting is real but also a metaphor--and exactly the kind of retelling I have the most success with--queer, inspired by something I have enough familiarity with to recognize the references but not so much love for that I get frustrated when the author's interpretation of something is different than mine. (Yes, this isn't technically a retelling, but, like, it’s definitely fanfiction, and I mean that as a compliment, or at least a neutral statement. I am a fanfiction defender until the day I die).

Now onto the book itself, first of all, I loved the writing. There were so many quotes I wanted to underline because they hit me so hard, and so many others that were just beautiful. The ending was just passages upon passages I wanted seared into my soul.

The characters were just as lovely. Isa, the protagonist, is exactly the kind of YA protagonist I want to see more of--angry queer teenage girl who is doing her best and doesn't always manage it, but who keeps trying. Watching her navigate her strained relationships with her mother, her sister, and Mason—not to mention the deceased Zach and Wren, on whom Isa once had a crush—could have kept me reading even without any of the supernatural mystery elements.

I also appreciated that, though Isa had little love left for the town or the people in it, the book still managed to maintain some sympathy for them. There were horrible people, and there were flawed people, misled people, but there were no caricatures, no sense that they deserved whatever happened to them and they should simply be left to suffer--but nor were they absolved of any wrongdoing simply because they had suffered too. This book managed to balance the desire to extend sympathy and forgiveness while also making it clear that sympathy is not always enough to actually earn forgiveness, and while I love books that manage to strike that balance in general, I think it matters even more in YA.

Now, I don't want to go too in depth about the ending, but I do want to say that this book absolutely nails it, and my love for it would not be nearly so strong if it had been anything but what it was. This book was so, so beautiful, and I'm so glad I read it. If you’re a fan of emotional YA horror, this should absolutely be on your list.

TAGS: *****, horror, ya, bisexual main character, Asian main character, Asian author, main character of color, author of color, Wen-yi Lee, vic

Wen-yi Lee’s The Dark We Know is a haunting and lyrical debut that weaves together elements of supernatural horror and deep psychological exploration, making it a perfect addition to the YA horror genre. For fans of atmospheric, slow-burn horror in the vein of She Is a Haunting and The Haunting of Hill House, this novel delivers eerie tension, a chilling sense of place, and a complex protagonist grappling with her own demons.

At the center of the novel is Isadora "Isa" Chang, an art student who has distanced herself from her hometown of Slater—a bleak former mining town haunted by tragedy and an oppressive atmosphere. Isa’s departure wasn’t just about finding her place as a bisexual young woman but also an attempt to escape the suffocating weight of the deaths of two childhood friends. Wen-yi Lee writes Isa as a deeply layered character, someone who is hardened by trauma yet still vulnerable in her need for connection and closure. When she returns to Slater after the death of her abusive father, she is pulled back into the darkness she tried so hard to leave behind.

The novel does a great job of setting the tone early on. Slater is a character in itself—a place full of shadowy valleys and lingering pain, where the ghosts of the past are both literal and figurative. The setting is one of the strongest aspects of The Dark We Know, with Lee’s descriptions of the eerie, oppressive town adding to the sense of dread that builds throughout the novel. The combination of Isa’s return, her complicated relationship with her last surviving friend Mason, and the disturbing re-emergence of her artistic visions creates an atmosphere of mounting tension.

Mason’s revelation that their friends were not merely victims of accidents but were murdered by a supernatural entity adds a layer of urgency to the plot. The mystery of the dark force haunting Slater is well-developed, and Lee masterfully keeps readers guessing as to the true nature of the evil that lurks in the town. The supernatural elements, while terrifying, also serve as a metaphor for the traumas and unresolved emotions that both Isa and Mason must face. As Isa begins to experience strange occurrences—haunting music in the wind and drawings she doesn’t recall making—the reader is drawn deeper into a story where the line between psychological horror and supernatural threat blurs.

Isa’s artistic connection to the entity, manifested through eerie sketches that seem to appear from nowhere, adds another layer to the horror. Lee’s exploration of art as a means of expression, but also as a medium for something darker, is both creative and unsettling. It forces Isa to confront not only the grief she’s been running from but also the sense that this darkness has been inside her all along, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

The pacing of The Dark We Know is deliberate, allowing for a slow build-up of suspense. Some readers might find the slow burn frustrating, but the payoff is worth it as the novel’s revelations come to light. Wen-yi Lee handles the themes of trauma, grief, and identity with care, ensuring that Isa’s emotional journey feels just as important as the external horror she faces. The novel’s themes—of how past wounds can fester and grow into something monstrous, and how unresolved pain can continue to haunt us—resonate throughout.

While the horror elements of the story are chilling, what stands out most is the exploration of the characters’ relationships, particularly Isa’s strained friendship with Mason. Their shared history and mutual pain create a strong emotional undercurrent to the story, giving the horror a deeply personal edge. Isa’s growth, as she learns to stop running from her past and confront the grief and fear that have shaped her, is one of the most compelling aspects of the novel.

If there’s one critique, it’s that some of the secondary characters and their connections to the central mystery could have been more fleshed out. The entity’s origins and its connection to Slater, while unsettling, might have benefited from a bit more depth or backstory. However, this doesn’t take away from the overall effectiveness of the story, which remains deeply atmospheric and emotionally resonant.

Final Thoughts:
The Dark We Know is an impressive and unsettling debut that blends supernatural horror with a powerful exploration of trauma and grief. Wen-yi Lee creates a chilling atmosphere and a compelling, haunted protagonist in Isa, whose journey back to Slater is as much about facing personal demons as it is about confronting the town’s dark forces. For readers who enjoy slow-burn horror with psychological depth, this novel will leave a lasting impression, proving that sometimes the scariest things are the ones we carry inside ourselves.

The Dark We Know is a YA horror with a bisexual Chinese American main character. The blurb reeled me in so fast because it mentioned things I love reading about like supernatural entities, creepy small towns, murder, and queerness. Add the forest cover in and it was a must-read for me.

Unfortunately The Dark We Know didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I still enjoyed it overall so it wasn't a complete bust but I didn't fall in love with it the way I thought I would with all those elements on its side.

I think one of the reasons why The Dark We Know didn't click with me completely is because the dark entity just confused me. I tried to make it make sense, I really did, but after reading the whole book I’m still confused. Keep in mind though that I read an ARC so this might have been cleared up in the final copy! But as I read it, I was one big question mark regarding this element.

One of the things I did like about the book was the queerness of so many of the characters. I was living for it!! Queer teens really do find each other a lot of the time, and I love to see it on page like this.

Overall, the creepiness of literally everything in the town from the parents to the history to the church and everything in between did give me the horror vibes I was looking for when I picked up The Dark We Know.

I want to thank netgalley, zando books & wen-yi lee for the arc & the opportunity to read this book. I want to start by saying the atmosphere on the book & the vibes around the mystery in this book were immaculate. I think it was one of its highlights, how we are living in the town next to our protagonist, the girl that brings the memories, the childhood ghosts that many have forgotten about. Wen-yi craft really shows through, the longing, the family problems, the never ending dreams of escaping what we sometimes, can not. I liked all the characters, from the mother to Mason, to the friends Isadora has already lost.
One of the main themes in the book, i think, is both the generational & religious trauma. Isadora is haunted by this entity heavily related to the loss of one indentity, this untouchable, unreachable thing. How in the process of solving the issue at hand, we get to know who she was before, where she used to go, her ties to the church, to this pastor (that i felt close to the one in the midnight mass, albeit a bit less gruesome giving this is a book aimed towards a younger audience) that has reinforced the idea that this entity is somehow 'cleansing' the town, that it will come again. As you can see, i am impressed but also wonderfully amazed by practically everything in this book.
Also, & not a thing i can overlook, is how enjoyable it was to see the characters coming to terms with who they like, with who they fell in love with. We have bisexual characters, a transgender character taking a big part towards the second half of the book. It was so good seeing them front & center of the action, how the reveal was nothing out of the ordinary or out of place. I had me kicking my feet, excited.
Again, thank you to the author, the publisher & netgalley for the arc, it was so refreshing going back to reading young adult books & finding this gem. Also, this is definitely directed to those, like me, who enjoy little to no romance at all, but still feeling the closeness & reading the different versions of love there is between characters.

I’m so sad that I didn’t love this book, it sounded like a book that I would absolutely love but I struggled with it. I tried several times but just couldn’t get invested in the story.

Wow. The first word that comes to mind when I think of The Dark We Know by Wen-Yi Lee is ‘wow’. The second is ‘obsessed’. I did not expect to be as sucked in by this book as I was. That’s honestly not even the right word. This book consumed me. I’ve told everyone I know who reads about it because I cannot think of anything else. I can’t remember the last time a book has latched on so tight.

The novel follows Isa (Isadora) Chang as she’s forced to return home to attend her father's funeral. Like all good spooky tales, Isa returns home to a dried-up mining town with a foreboding secret. Murdered teens, a lurking evil, dark mountain songs, and long-kept secrets being dragged to the surface, Isa’s short trip home looks like it’s going to become an extended stay. Alongside the only living friend she has left in Slater, Isa, and Mason set out to solve what really has been happening to the missing and murdered teens and more importantly what really happened to their best friends.

I read this book as an ARC and wasn’t sure what I was getting into. Wen-Yi Lee is a debut author and as much of a sin as it is, I picked the book based on the cover. Admittedly, I was really nervous about whether I would like it or not. The book is written in the present tense, which for me is usually a very very hard pass, but I am so glad I kept reading. Lee’s writing is beautiful. For a YA novel, I felt that the material is mature even though the characters are young.

As a woman in her 30s, I found Isa’s internal struggles relatable. They felt so familiar and deeply personal. Sometimes with YA novels that discuss heavier topics like suicide or abuse, the writing feels forced but with Isa’s story, it was so heartbreaking that some parts left me in tears.

I am so grateful that I chose this book on a whim for an ARC review because it will stick with me for a while. I will never not recommend this. Thank you Wen-Yi Lee for the absolutely breathtaking book and I look forward to reading your future novels.

The Dark We Know is a folk/ grief horror set in a small town called Slater. When part of a core friend group turn up one after the other having taken their own lives, Isadora returns to her hometown for her father's funeral, and gets drawn into solving the puzzle behind her childhood friends' suicides. 

With eerie connections popping up, genuinely unsettling minor encounters continuously providing evidence that leads Isadora deeper into the town's dark secrets, I never wanted to put the book down, it was so satisfying! Town secrets, childhood crushes, and a burried town past all come to light and Isadora and her surviving friend, along with their parents, are the only ones able to fight the Angel of Slater.

When a bisexual art student returns home to her small mining town she doesn't expect to find two of her three childhood friends dead and the other one is positive that she is the key to helping him find out who the supernatural entity is that murdered them. Isadora Chang left her small town of Slater and promised to never return, yet when she begins having haunting nightmares that impact her art and causes her to fail her recent show, she has to come home and redo the portfolio..... but that also means facing the friends she left behind. Isa comes home only to discover that two of her childhood friends had died and the surviving friend Mason is positive they were murdered. Mason knows theres a supernatural entity causing it and is determined to get Isa's help because she somehow has a connection to the supernatural.... but can they figure out what's wrong before it comes back for them next? This was a story about grief, healing, and friendship. It focused a lot on the complicated relationships between friends. It's a bittersweet read and I was hoping for more horror/tension in this book. It got confusing at certain parts and the actual plot line felt a bit wonky, but overall I liked the atmosphere/town vibes and kind of wish there was more explored between the dynamics of Isa and Mason. It's not a bad book and it's one I would recommend for spooky season. I also love that both the main characters were bisexual reps.

Release Date: August 13,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Zando | Gillian Flynn Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee did not agree with me, despite my best efforts to make it so. Personally, I am not a fan of this author's writing style, and I struggled to get into and get through this novel. I definitely see this working for some people, but it's just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Projects for this copy of "The Dark We Know."

If I had to write a blurb for this one it would be "atmospherically misty and dream-like, mysterious and haunting." It was a great debut novel and I wish it could have been longer and maybe added some more detail.

Why do so many young people go missing in Slater? Isa is an art student who escaped Slater but comes back for her father's funeral. She finds herself drawing pictures of people who later die by suicide.

But how is she getting this information? And what is the picture of the five screaming faces she keeps drawing and does it have anything to do with the town's mining history? Her childhood friend Mason thinks he may know.

Isadora Chang never planned to go back to Slater, the suffocating town where she grew up. After losing two childhood friends in tragic and mysterious circumstances, she ran as fast as she could, leaving everything and everyone behind—including her last remaining friend, Mason.

So when Isa’s abusive father dies, she finds herself reluctantly returning back home, to claim her inheritance. What isn’t expected is Mason's explosive news - their friends didn’t die by accident back in the day, they were murdered by something supernatural. As strange things start happening and eerie sketches fill her sketchbook, Isa realises she can’t keep running. There’s something dark in Slater, and it’s been waiting for her.

I found, Wen-yi Lee’s debut novel, to be a haunting, lyrical YA horror that goes beyond genre boundaries, delivering an emotionally rich and thought-provoking story. Although it’s marketed as a young adult novel, this book resonates just as strongly with adult readers.

The heart of the story lies in its characters, especially Isa, whose return to Slater is as much about facing her past as it is about dealing with the present.
For me…. the supernatural elements weren’t just for scaring…. they’re deeply intertwined with themes of trauma, family dynamics, and the tangled web of friendships. The town Slater itself, with its eerie atmosphere and unsettling history, pulls you in, making you feel every bit of Isa’s dread as mysterious sketches fill her pages.

This book really stands out to me - because it has the ability to balance the thrilling and the introspective. She tackles heavy themes like grief, shame, love, and queerness with a sensitivity that adds layers to the horror elements. I thought the plot was twisty and engaging, keeping me hooked as the secrets of Slater unfolded.

In short, this story is more than just a scary story, it’s a powerful exploration of pain and the journey to healing, making it a must-read in the YA horror genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando

Ps - The cover is pretty awesome too 😍😍

4.5 stars - A memorizing tale that takes a little while to get off the ground, this book is ultimately a hard-hitting, wonderfully written tale with some of the best characters I have read this year, and with a plot that is thought-provoking. It delves into trauma and death in a well written, and sympathetic manner, and ultimately is one of the only books this year to make me cry. The ending is slightly rushed, but ultimately this is a brilliant book, that has some horrific moments, it is perhaps more on the psychological thriller category rather than horror.

“The Dark We Know” introduces Isadora Chang, who has powers that allow her to communicate with the dead. Along with her Medium friend, Mason, she realizes why so many teenagers in their homedown have been dying.

Overall Impact: I figured out this was a YA genre before noticing that it was; it’s heavy on relationships and leans quite a lot on Isa’s temperamental narrative (not that she doesn’t have valid reason). I wasn’t involved in the story enough to not be able to put it down. It’s a slow start and has lots of names to keep straight. But the imagery is well-done. Lots of time is spend on scenery change and character description, so the reader knows exactly where they are.

<i>”The Vandersteens supposedly all have the exact same eyes - desatureated gray with silver that twins through the iris like veins to be extracted. Like whatever deal their ancestors made when they first encountered the crater of Slater demanded that every brith simply zip a new skin over ready-made insides... “ </i>

The foreshadowing is heavy - almost to a fault. I’m sure there are lots of “ah-ha!” moments if I went back to read it again, but the first time I began to feel like there was an inside joke I wasn’t a part of.

Overall, it was well written and a good story. If I was a pre-teen it would be awfully creepy. It would make a great movie.

3/5 stars.