I was given an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books for my honest review.
The Dark We Know has tons of creepy small town atmosphere. Wen-yi Lee really lets the reader into Isa's head with her descriptions. In the beginning, these somewhat confusing, but once the book progresses, they even out. The writing is quite lyrical at times. A solid YA horror novel, Lee should gather many new fans for this outing. 4 stars.

This book was not so dark in the horror sense as I expected but, it does have mentions of very dark subjects. There are a lot of suicides in the town of Slater. Why are so many children hurting themselves in this abandoned mining town? Is something sinister luring them with dark thoughts? I found the pacing of this story to be a bit slow at times and sometimes keeping up with the different names and founders of the town got a little confusing. I found the overall theme beautiful and inspiring. To me, the Angel was a metaphor for depression and the battle we all must choose to win each day. "...perhaps we become what hurt us, take on its curses. But we get to choose what to do with the hurt."

3 stars

Come to this book for Lee's stylistic prowess, but do not expect the level of suspense typical of most YA horror.

Isa has a complicated relationship to her now deceased father, her hometown, and, frankly, herself, and from the jump, she's thrust into facing all three. While the book begins with a compelling setup and maintains an intriguing setting and sinister tone, the pacing slows a bit too much for my taste. Quicker pacing and added suspense would have enhanced the thrills beyond just the noticeable creepiness.

I enjoy this writer's style so much that while this plotting isn't my favorite, I wouldn't hesitate to read more from Lee.

Readers should be aware of the TWs before jumping in, suicide/suicidal ideation and self-harm, especially.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wen-yi Lee for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Dark We Know coming out August 13, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love spooky and horror books. I’ve read a lot of them. I haven’t read too many with an Asian MC, so I really enjoyed that aspect of the book. I think the writing was really descriptive and lyrical. I loved the atmosphere of the small town and the creepy things that occur. I liked the book, but there were some elements missing for me. It wasn’t as scary as i thought it would be. I thought there would be more horror based on the title and summary. I think some things seemed more metaphorical and I didn’t quite understand it. There were also things that Isa went through where it seemed like only she could go through those things. I was hoping for a little more from the other characters. So I liked it, but wanted a little more. I would check out other books by this author.

isadora chang never planned on returning to slater. between her bisexuality and her two of her childhood friends dying, the former mining town doesn’t feel very welcoming to her. but when isa’s abusive father dies, she comes back just to collect the inheritance. while there, though, she runs into mason, the local medium’s son, who says their friends were killed by a supernatural being, and the two need to put a stop to it before it claims more of the town’s children.

first, i want to highlight that this book was no light read (not that any horror book is). content warnings include suicide, violence, child abuse, child death, religious trauma, and transphobia. i think the author gave each of these topics respect. i also want to say that i appreciate that, while deadnaming is present in this book, the deadname isn’t found on page. rather, the part of the dialogue containing the deadname is replaced by an em dash. i thought this was a great way of showing the injustices that character faced while still respecting him.

the horror aspect was very unique. as i mentioned before, this book includes depictions of religious trauma, and the religion (more like cult) followed by many in the town is directly tied to the horror aspect. i loved seeing how this element unfolded.

i’d recommend this to ya horror readers, and i’d be interested in reading more from wen-yi lee!

THE DARK WE KNOW by Wen-yi Lee is a dark young adult horror novel. It's definitely a slow burn with a poetic, almost hypnotic style. It's in keeping with the plot and themes, which also get quite dark. This book might not be for everyone, but it's well written and captivating.

I loved this one! Wen-yi has a pitch perfect YA voice that makes me hunger for more stories from her. And as a side note? That cover? AMAZING.

Gorgeous gorgeous writing that so accurately captures the painful wavering between hope and hopelessness of being a teenager. Of bearing the burdens of different kinds of legacies and secrets. I could not put this down and life kept getting in the way!

This is moody and beautiful.

Isa returns home to Slater to bury her awful father and it strengthens the supernatural entity that haunts the town and steals its children. Including two of her best friends. Together with the remaining friend, Mason Kane, they have to chase down what hurts and haunts, diving deep into their town’s history. The real monsters are always people.

Mystical, profane, raw, and real, this book will creep around in your brain until you finish. Even then, a mark remains.

The book is dark and atmospheric. Characters are interesting and the setting is dark. Isadora returns to her town. But there is something sinister going on in it. Young people are going missing and dark entity has taken over the town. Before also she lost her two childhood friends. Spirits are trying to communicate with her. She is getting close to the truth and mystery. While the book was unpredictable. If you like atmospheric book with supernatural elements, generational trauma, mental health rep and sexual orientation diversity, read it.

Thanks to the Author and Publisher.

This is a tremendously enjoyable book, despite the confusing pacing and the harrowing description of mental issues. Although it's marketed as YA horror, it can easily be appreciated by adults too. The writing is both exciting and insightful, employing supernatural themes to convey deep thoughts on trauma and family relationships, as well as incite strong emotions on the intricacy of friendship (thankfully there's no real romance). The mystery element is well placed, driven by good characterization and a solid, twisty plot. The confusing pacing may be just my own (false) impression, not being accustomed to the short attention span of the internet generation!

This was pretty good spooky YA horror! I thought it was a really good exploration of trauma and had some good characters. I enjoyed the complication friendship dynamic and how that relationship developed. And of course I always enjoy a book with no romance (there is past relationships here but no romance subplot).

I didn’t find myself super engaged with the main plot/mystery - some of the elements felt a bit random and not meshed together enough for me? I also wanted a bit more exploration of her relationship with her parents. But overall I enjoyed it!

Biblically accurate angel 😬

This was HEAVY. A supernatural entity is driving struggling teenagers to end their lives, so there is suicide, suicide attempts and ideation, along with (of course) the death of loved ones and the related miasma of grief and guilt. This was a deeply emotional and personal read for me. There were so many painful and accurate depictions of mental health, the almost comfort? of depression and hibernating in misery, the struggle of finding joy and purpose but how there is still immense good in the world. The best horror has a message, not just violence and jump scares, and this one definitely does. I cried.

The atmosphere of Gothic Appalachian horror was also expertly done, though some parts jumped around a little for me and some scenes ended a bit abruptly. I wouldn't say this book is scary, but then again I was reading this at midnight and had to get up during an intense scene to turn a light back on, so there's that.

Also LOVED the bisexuality discussions between the MC and her friend and in her own thoughts.

The Dark We Know is a unique twist on small town horror. Isa has to return to her small, terrible town in order to claim her inheritance from her recently deceased, very abusive father. It's a town she was more than eager to escape, especially after losing two of her closest friends to apparent suicides. This is a small town where the children are taken too often, and Isa wasn't going to stick around. But now she's back to attend a funeral and finish her art project, after her midterm was sort of denied because it was way too freaky (some dead kids that she knows from her hometown). She finds out that Paige, one of the girls she drew and also heir to the town's aristocratic founding family, is now missing, her only remaining friend from childhood, Mason, is the only suspect, and he's been seeing ghosts and Isa is the only person who can help him break the cycle of violence and ghosts in this town. Are you still following? No? That's fine. It's a weird book.
It starts off a little slow, but it definitely picks up. There were a few things that felt like loose ends throughout the novel, just the smaller haunting things that seemed to fall back into the background, but for the most part it was good. I really liked the weird cult angle, even though it's never too overbearing on the plot. The little details were just weird and off enough that about a third of the way through, I went, wait, this isn't normal church, there's something weirder here. I liked how casual the queerness all was. Also, the way that Lee wrote the backstory woven throughout the book was in such a way that, even though I logically knew that what was done was done, I was still somehow hoping for a happy ending for Zack and Wren. The ending was maybe on the slightly anticlimactic side, but it was still a satisfying close. I have already put Lee's upcoming book on my TBR list.

Isa swore she would never return home to Slater, but once her abusive dad dies she heads home to collect her inheritance. At the cemetery, she is greeted by Mason, the one friend she left behind. Mason claims the rest of their friend group was murdered by something supernatural and Isa agrees to help him find out what happened to them.

This is out my typical genre, but overall I still enjoyed it. It was a lot darker than I expected. The writing was very pretty, but a bit more descriptive than I prefer. I usually like when things are written straight to the point, so all the flowery descriptions of everything was a lot to get through. While I liked Isa and Mason, Mason was a true favorite. He was always up front and was very smart and likable. Isa was strong and smart as well, but the way she spoke felt so unrealistic that it was tough to believe her as a character.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not sure why people are calling this lyrical? It's certainly atmospheric. The mystery of what happened to the young people in Slater kept me interested and the reveal in the end was satisfying. Overall, a solid debut with a great, sharp voice.

The prose is well-written, but I never managed to find a toehold in this book. The characters and setting could be more developed. My knowledge (read: teenage obsession) of Spring Awakening may have worked to my detriment, because it often felt like a story grafted on top of Spring Awakening. But if you are looking for gothic young adult horror with evocative writing, give it a try.

This book surprised me in the best way possible. I did not believe that a YA novel will make me feel so strongly. But this book did it. The story within is powerful and will definitely move a person. It was a beautiful albeit dark ride that I would like take again someday. This is a great book which is really worth rereading and discovering new facets to it after each re-read.

The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee is a hauntingly lyrical YA horror novel that will leave you on the edge of your seat. The tension between the characters is intense and gripping, creating a heart-stopping experience. Lee’s masterful writing ensures a consistent flow throughout the story, with an atmospheric style that vividly brings each moment to life. This is a must-read for anyone who loves thrilling and emotionally charged horror.

It was very fortunate that the moment I swore off pre-ordering books from Gillian Flynn’s imprint, I was granted an ARC of its next upcoming book, The Dark We Know! This YA story follows Isadora as she returns to her hometown to receive an inheritance from her father’s death, only to find out once she gets there that an old friend, Mason, needs her help taking down the evil spirit that is suspected of causing the deaths of children in town, including two of Isa’s and Mason’s best friends.

My favorite part of this novel was the atmosphere. I kept picturing an abandoned town in Appalachia with views of the surrounding forest and ancient houses. This pairs well with the horror elements, which were also extremely well done. It had rat attacks, bloated bodies, decrepit libraries and more! There is also great gender and sexual orientation diversity in this book, which we love to see in a YA book. I would describe the writing style as lyrical, especially the portions of the book from the Angel’s POV. Because of the writing style, I would consider this a slower paced book so keep that in mind if you decide to pick it up.

On the downside, I felt that the flow and pacing of the novel were off. I was so interested in the main storyline that the growing number of side plots and adventures started to tire me out, not to mention that everything that happens in this book feels like a major surprise. I wanted to feel like I knew where the story was headed but the twists and turns didn’t allow for that.

*Thank you to NetGalley for exchanging an e-ARC of this book for an unbiased review!

here is a lot of suicide in this book. While that suicide might be driven by an outside supernatural force, it's still a heavy read. I think there could have been more aftercare or healing for the surviving family members. I felt like for such a heavy topic there could have been a resources page either in the front or back of the book. Heavy topic aside, there were two other big issues I had with the book. The first was the timeline and the second was the vague location.

At the beginning of the book, it's mentioned that Isa runs away at 16 with a full-ride scholarship to art school. It's made to seem like this book takes place in the United States and if that's the case then she would still be a minor. She wouldn't have been able to attend university at 16 without parental consent. Throughout the book, it mentions she's 18 but is close to graduating. She's only been gone 2 years! How could she graduate? Also, the history of the town continuously references a plague in the past of the town. Which makes it seem like that event happened in like the 1800s, but it ends up being much more recent. It just bothered me, why not add dates to flesh the story out?

The second issue was a matter of place. Slater is the town and Isa goes to university in "the city", but they never say WHERE that it. Like no state or country. It pulled me right out of the story. I could tell it was a mining town by a body of water and mountains. So maybe Virginia? Maybe Pennsylvania? Maybe Wales? It was just frustrating. There was so much care and detail given to the lore and horror, but the actual details of the place/timeline were sloppy. I get that this is meant for young adults, but still. It wouldn't have been hard to flesh out.

The actual psychological horror aspect is good and the trauma of losing people you love in complicated ways was well done. But I just couldn't get past the glaring issues above. It's a no for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zando Gillian Flynn Books for the ARC, all opinions are my own.