I had such great fun with this book and I truly loved the writing style. I was engaged from the very first page to the last.

I feel like the ending was rushed in my opinion and I would’ve liked if it was panned out differently but overall, that’s how I felt personally and that could differ for others!

I would love to pick up more works by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando for the ARC.

I was very intrigued to give this book a go, given that it's written by a fellow Singaporean. While the premise is indeed highly intriguing and Lee's prose is able to do the necessary job for a horror/thriller atmosphere, by the 45% mark, I felt my interest wane. I was unfortunately bored as I pushed myself to finish the latter half of the novel. The redeeming factor is that I do think that Lee's main character Isa is a well-fleshed out protagonist, and I liked her voice.

Thank you to Net Galley and Gillian Flynn Books for the ARC. Unfortunately this book was not for me. I found it difficult to care about the characters and the plot bored me.

I absolutely loved The Dark We Know! I'm a huge Spring Awakening fan, and loved seeing all the influences and nods in this :)

Not sure how I'm so out of sync with the vast majority of reviews here but I did not vibe with this book at all, I almost DNFed it and probably would have had it been any longer. It reminded me of Summer Sons (which I was also a rating outlier on, to be fair) - I think it can just be tough for me to engage with a narrative where a best friend/love interest is already dead, and this book had TWO of those.

The writing certainly had its moments; the monster here was truly unique and the revelation of why it's called the Angel was the highlight of the book in its startling grossness. But I think the strident lyricism of it all ended up being to its detriment more often than not as the actual thread of the narrative sometimes got lost, like one of those AI home interiors where it looks pretty at first but then when you zoom in it turns out a lot of things are just eldritch blobs. And I'm honestly still not sure why everyone was so willing to stay in a town with a long history of dead children. Given the not very satisfactorily resolved plotline about the main character's terrible father and submissive mother, is this supposed to be a story about how people enable monsters?

This one wasn't for me, but maybe I'm just missing something!

My thanks to Zando | Gillian Flynn Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wen-yi Lee’s debut novel, The Shadows of Slater, is a very gripping addition to the YA horror genre that will captivate fans of Stephen King’s IT, and even The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson This lyrical tale follows art student Isadora Chang as she rather reluctantly returns to her eerie hometown of Slater, a place marred by her unsettling past and the unexplained deaths of her childhood friends. This book is a narrative that explores themes of trauma, identity, and the lingering grip of the past.

This one was pretty solid, and very fun to read.
There was not a single moment where I felt bored or distracted, and I actually forced myself not to read the final twenty percent, so that I can buy the finished product and read the last part while actually holding the book.

4.5 rounded up!

Thank you to the author for sending over a physical ARC!

Read this if you enjoy:
- Psychological Thrillers/Horror
- Supernatural (vengeful spirits)
- Chilling, horrific descriptions
- Queer representation
- Singaporean Literature (singlit)

*Please check the TWs for this book before you get started!*

I thought this was a beautifully written novel. Admittedly, I am not the most well-versed in this genre. No, I really am not because this is perhaps one of my first few thriller/horror reads. Yet, this book showed me why there are so many fans of these genres. <i>The Dark We Know</i> is a gripping tale about navigating grief, loss, and other past traumas set in a small mining town infused with mystical elements. This is a tale of generational trauma and abuse, topics that I felt were intimately portrayed and explored by the characters. It is a tale that closely deals with the macabre and the intricate examination of the religious and the supernatural.

Isadora Chang makes for an interesting female MC. From the start, Wenyi's mastery of her craft allowed me to experience and sympathise with Isa's dread and reluctance to return to her childhood town. I felt all the emotions Isa felt, especially her desperation to escape, to run away from Slater, a town that very literally haunts her. Her dread and reluctance is in part guilt and grief over the death of her best friends as well as her decision to leave (read: escape) the town as what I suppose was her form of coping mechanism.

And as we know, running away from our problems is never the solution and this is precisely what the novel explores-the importance of facing and overcoming one's fears. Fundamentally, it always seems easier to give up and succumb to our desires but is this really the answer? TDWK thus convincing declares that <i>"I think we can choose not to become what hurt us because what that's how you know the world is chooseable and if it is chooseable then it is makeable and if its makeable then we can make something better of it"</i>.

I thought the resolution/conclusion was something rather profound and beautiful. I especially appreciated the contrast between the dread and reluctance, the deep desire to escape that was so strongly felt at the start of the novel, to the sense of hope and the innate belief that the world can be beautiful. I found this quite comforting.

Lastly, as alluded, the writing here is phenomenal. It is truly intimate and vivid, a perfect example of what it means to "show, don't tell". I love the portrayal of the characters, especially the dynamics between Isa and Mason as they navigate awkwardness of a rekindling friendship marred by loss and misunderstandings. I loved the unique layout(?) structure (?) where the black pages that viscerally detailed the inner struggles and deepest fears of the characters as they were hunted/haunted by the Angel sent chills down my spine.

With all mysteries, I think it is normal to be in a state of utter confusion as you wonder "wait what is going on" until everything clicks and you're like "oh, I know what's happening now". Fortunately or unfortunately, this moment of realisation only occured when I was about 80% into the read. The mystery and the suspense kept me going but it also left me somewhat frustrated as I tried to figure out what on earth was happening.

Nonetheless, this is hands down a fantastic debut. And yes, <i>we all deserve to dream of beautiful things again</i>.

Absolutely phenomenal. scooped me out and left me empty (but also whole and also crying a little). Come for the knife-sharp prose and eerie mystery that turns into full-on dream-horror, stay for the unexpected and wonderfully nuanced portrayal of leaving a church community, of the ways guilt and shame can kill, of the grief that comes with leaving childhood behind; of finding reasons to stay despite it all.

If you enjoyed the jagged edges of Sawkill Girls and Hell Followed With Us, the healing arc of Tess of the Road, and/or the lush atmosphere & strangeness & rage of the Raven Cycle/the Dreamer Trilogy, don't sleep on this one!

Many thanks to the author for an ARC (but also smashing that preorder button so I can read it again and be destroyed again).

How do I compliment accurately without keyboard-smashing my utter derangement post reading this book?

Basically, I'm obsessed. I don't know how else to explain how I feel, honestly. The prose is beautiful and left me very raw and hungry and hurt? I felt transported to Isa's head the whole way through (by the way, the use of second person is absolutely phenomenal here; it felt like the best kind of AO3 submerge, and finding skill and beauty I've never seen before), and she is a great protagonist for this kind of haunting melody of a story — she is raw and compassionate but also steely and sort of covered like sandpaper. There's so much in this setting as well, an eerie small town with plenty of horrifying secrets in its underbelly. The relationships Isa has with her family, in particular, was a draw for me. It felt very honest and very traumatic and very uncomfortable, but in a good way, kind of cathartic and so very human!

This is just such a beautiful, unrestrained story. I'm gushing about it to everyone I know, and I can't wait for it to come out into the world!

I definitely see the haunting of hill house and IT influences in the book , which i loved as well . The writing was wonderful and I greatly enjoyed it .
Thank you for the eArc .

It takes a lot of convincing for me to read anything even remotely spooky—I have enough things in real life to be scared about. But every time I do, I find that the book draws me in instantly and leaves me hooked until the end, and The Dark We Know is no exception. Isa and Mason’s mission to discover what’s taking their town’s people is full of twists and at times genuinely terrifying circumstances, and I couldn’t put it down.

Wen-yi Lee's debut, The Dark We Know, beckons readers into the eerie depths of Slater, a town brimming with secrets and supernatural mysteries. Isa Chang's reluctant return home unveils a chilling series of events that blend spine-tingling suspense with profound introspection.

Lee crafts a narrative that seamlessly intertwines supernatural elements with heartfelt exploration of identity and resilience. Isa's journey to confront both the town's dark past and her own ghosts unfolds through Lee's evocative prose, painting a vivid portrait of a community haunted by its history.

The Dark We Know stands out not only for its haunting atmosphere but also for its depth of emotion and unpredictable twists. Lee's storytelling grips from the outset, delivering a tale that keeps readers enthralled until its gripping conclusion. This novel is a testament to Lee's skill at blending the supernatural with raw human experiences, offering a gripping and thought-provoking read that lingers in the mind.

I think I read this in some kind of fever dream trance state because I cannot remember a single thing about it, except that it consumed me and I was having a great time letting it do so.

The Dark We Know is a haunting and atmospheric debut, with an emphasis on LGBT+ representation in a suffocatingly small town, religious-induced horror elements, and how trauma shapes our present. It's achingly beautiful, and I look forward to my preorder arriving so I can reread is a more present state of consciousness.

As I read The Dark We Know, I follow Isa’s inner thoughts and witness her processing the world, her emotions, this place that’s trying to destroy her and everyone she loves. The first-person approach allows me to get to know Slater—this haunted town of interwoven family histories, narratives, and secrets—and feel what it’s like to be a young adult trying to survive grief and heartbreak and violence. I most admire the author’s ability to submerge us in the liminal space of wraiths and phantoms through such sharp and gorgeous prose; in the end, we’re given something so tangible. The Dark We Know is a place-based story that allows readers to truly understand how place shapes us (“I’m so made of this place, it feels like if I cross that border, I’d just fall into nothing”) and provides a new way to understand themes of belonging. Lee humanizes young adults; the author treats her characters like persons and avoids infantilizing them through powerful reflections of the inner and outer conflicts they face (“Jesus, that’s embarrassing to say when we have such bigger problems. But isn’t that the point, that we were—are—kids with stupid problems that feel like our whole world, and it doesn’t mean we deserve any less?”). Lee tackles YA literature tropes such as we’re in charge of our own destiny with a refreshing twist (“But we get to choose what we do with the hurt”). The chapters where the monster is voiced and the page darkens and my hand is scared to keep turning, to insert this chilling voice in my brain, are brilliantly done – I, like Isa, am fully submerged and feel the horrors of this place. A truly ingenious and exquisite debut.

I struggled a little bit with the writing in this one, but despite that I think it has a lot of merit. It absolutely feels like the most literary thing I've read, while still appealing to teens and weaving some beautiful lessons about grief and moving on into the book. The plot is a new take on teens take on a small town monster (an angel! in this case) and there were some good twists that I didn't see coming. It's beautifully written and almost made me cry (a feat). I can see why it's getting starred reviews and I look forward to what Lee does next!

This was such a wonderful, spooky, and liberating book. It has so many details that I love, the Appalachia setting, ghosts, dark angels, spooky old houses and families, and one awesome heroine. Definitely recommended for older teens and up.

The Dark We Know will be out on August 13, 2024. This is a YA lyrical horror standalone perfect for fans of She is A Haunting & Nestlings. I am someone who doesn’t read the synopsis before going in, so the turn of events was unexpected. Small towns and thrillers are my thing, and yet I never expected how dark this would be.

This was a perfect read for Pride Month as TDWK has a bisexual Chinese FMC and is moreover a book that allowed the characters to explore their sexual identity. The journey into reading this book is similar to spiraling into a certain darkness, with its creepy atmosphere and deep writing that analyzes grief and specifically depicts religious trauma. Wen Yi-Lee was able to write a book about innocence and childhood with a deliciously sinister turn. I highly recommend for others to add this to their TBR and read it in the future!

I saw one of Wen-yi Lee's tweets about this book being inspired by Spring Awakening a couple weeks ago and immediately requested it on NetGalley and added it to my TBR. I'm a big fan of haunted narratives, characters, and hometowns and this book absolutely captivated me from the start. It's not just haunting though; it's intimate, painful, jarring, full of grief, and a little unsettling in the best way. Lee's writing style absolutely lends itself to these feelings, and there are some beautiful, lyrical reflections on the self, family, and relationships threaded throughout the horror and mystery aspect. This book is tearing open old scabs of childhood memories and pain, haunting imagery, weird ghosts and angels, and navigating grief and horror. While horror has a tendency to be viewed as needing to be at the edge of your seat and waiting for a scare, Lee does a great job of building the tension slowly, and showing us that horror isn't always big scares, but can be something more overarching and a slow burn that leaves you aching to know what's going on and how it will be resolved.

A harrowing, haunting, and thrilling debut with lush, beautiful prose and an exploration of grief that will stay with you long after you finish reading!