I was super excited to read this book, but it was unfortunately a rare DNF for me at 60%. It was just SO slow paced - nothing happened in all that I read.

This was a visceral, lyrical rural gothic fairytale about girlhood, womanhood, sisterhood, identity and belonging, and ultimately, murder. I have spent more time thinking back on and digesting this story than it took me to read the book to begin with- which I love. It almost had the feel of an A24 film or a Shirley Jackson novel, blending folksy, uncanny horror with an abstract litfic tone.

Also, Sheila would LOVE Ethel Cain.

One of the best books of 2024! Atmospheric, uncanny, and deeply unsettling- Smothermoss is a gothic horror book for the ages. Its setting in rural appalachia is the perfect backdrop for all the creepy things that unfold as the story goes own. By turns part horror, part fantasy, part sci-fi, part dystopian - it has something for everyone. I loved the chapters where the mountain is the main character.

Smothermoss has my whole entire heart <3
This book is haunting, emotional, and represents girlhood in such a personal way. I'm genuinely floored by every aspect of this story; the writing is phenomenal, the characterization of the sisters shine, the setting and atmosphere is so lifelike, and the story? Don't get me started. It's so unique and yet startlingly familiar in a way that only a great gothic novel can be. And the weird girl representation? Yes please! I'm going to be recommending this book to everyone, and I'm sure I'll be revisiting The Mountain soon enough in a reread.

You better believe Alisa Alering is hot on my radar after this powerhouse debut novel.

The writing of this is beautiful and sparse, and whew is this a bleak book in the opening. I loved the point of view of the mountain, though, and there were moments of striking beauty in the midst of everything. In the end, it the genre experiment of literary horror-thriller didn't fully work for me, but I did very much appreciate the effort.

This isn't going to be for everyone but it's an interesting mash up of Gothic horror and magical realism combined with coming of age and murder mystery- all set in the atmospheric Appalachian region. Sheila, who has a rope around her neck that no one else can see, and Angie, her little sister who draws tarot cards, live a challenging life pretty much on their own. When two hikers on the Trail are murdered, Angie decides she's going to find the villain and that leads the sisters into a, well, no spoilers. Alering writes well and kept me reading even when I was frustrated with all the spikes the tale was taking. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. An interesting read.

Despite the title, Alisa Alering’s Smothermoss is not part of the wave of fungus- and plant-focused SFF of the last few years.One of the protagonists does feel a bit smothered by her family’s circumstances, and there’s certainly some moss along with other mountainous flora and fauna, but readers should set aside any expectations raised by the title. However, that should not deter anyone from reading this book! Smothermoss is entrancingly immersive, with entirely evocative language, fascinating fantastic elements, exciting action, and two very vividly drawn protagonists, sisters who have little in common and feel a lot of friction but eventually come together, with a bit of supernatural succor, to face a fearsome foe.

The book opens with a tight focus on two sisters who live with their mother and great-aunt in Appalachian Pennsylvania in the 1980s. Sheila, 17, does a lot of chores while her mother works long hours; she feels a heavy rope around her neck and down her back that appears merely metaphorical at first, and the biggest dream she can imagine is taking a trip to Baltimore with her secret crush, a girl at school who doesn’t appear to notice her. Angie, 12, runs around the mountainside fantasizing about fighting Russian invaders, frustrating Sheila by slacking on her share of housework, and constantly drawing arcane cards (the Tangle of Rabbits, the Twins with Too Many Teeth, etc.) that seem to hold special powers, including telling her where they “belong” once she’s been pushed to create them.

Then the reader encounters a killer, or rather, two Appalachian Trail hikers do. He beats them both to death, but the scene is distanced via its interpretation by the witnessing mountain:

These creatures smell like humans, but they must be rabbits because they are stalked by a fox. Unlike real, watchful rabbits, they don’t know how to protect themselves. Don’t know to circle among the briars, white tails flashing, and scoot safely into an underground warren. They are too far from home.

I really enjoyed the use of language in this book. Parts of it were dreamy, and parts of it were sharp-edged and close-up on the girls’ experiences and interior lives. I read the first quarter of the book slowly, savoring it, and kept pausing to exclaim at passages that really struck me. (The school bus bullying raised some strong feelings, for sure.) Then I raced through the rest of it in one very satisfying day.

I also really loved how sympathetic each character was, although in very different ways. Sheila is trying so hard to fulfill her familial duties,wanting to be liked by her peers but very aware of how handicapped she is by the social rules (including Don’t Be Poor), and beginning to explore her forbidden feelings about her sexuality. Angie is less admirable for letting her sister shoulder most of the burdens at home, but to be fair, she’s only 12, and I have to admire her independence, her refusal to care about what others think, her trust in her own feelings and intuitions (although this puts her in danger sometimes), and her having a Plan (escape by joining the Army as soon as she’s big enough to lie convincingly that she’s old enough). Of course there’s friction; they’re in very close quarters (sharing a bedroom), their goals are wildly askew, and their personalities are too. At one point, Sheila rips up one of the horrifying tarot-like cards that Angie has given to her, and at another, Sheila attacks Angie over reasonable suspicions that Angie has stolen Sheila’s hard-earned savings. But eventually they learn to see each other’s problems and start helping each other.

The mother is too worn down by life to be very interesting, but the great-aunt has some interesting stories that end up having some relevance to the girls’ lives. There’s also a mysterious boy who pops up in Sheila’s life later in the story; I like how his nature is explored but never entirely explained.There are stereotypical cops and a helpful neighbor, but the other character of note is the mountain.

The mountain is aware of the life dwelling upon it, and the taint that invades it. It provides guidance for the girls to try to rid itself of this corruption; Angie adds up some clues and disparate threads are eventually woven together to bring about a highly satisfying conclusion and aftermath.

Some questions remain unresolved, about a mysterious section of the asylum where the mother works (and Sheila gets a summer job there), and particularly about a certain room there and what it contains. I wonder if that will be addressed in a sequel. But I’m fine if it isn’t, because this is a minor niggle. Iit’s good to have some mysteries in life, and in a book’s plot.

Smothermoss was great. I’m going to hunt up Alisa Alering’s short fiction, and I hope to see more novels from them.

Content warnings: Brutal murder, bullying by schoolmates, sister vs. sister fights (arguments and occasional physical violence), animals being raised for sale and slaughter, poverty.

Disclaimer: I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher to review. Smothermoss is slated for publication on July 16, 2024.

Wow. What a pleasant surprise "Smothermoss" was. I love novels that take place in the 1980's. I also love novels that involve sisterhood. I've read so many great novels this year about dysfunctional sisters. 17-year-old Sheila and 12-year-old Angie couldn't be more different. They live up in the mountains near the Appalachian Trail. Sheila is reserved and socially withdrawn, and Angie is a little spitfire who loves drawing tarot-like cards and play fighting bad guys (the Russians) in her spare time. Their small community is rocked one day when a man kills two women camping on the Appalachian Trail. Angie is prepared to fight and defend her property from this unidentified murderer, and Shelia just wants to distance herself from such a heinous man. This book is part literary fiction and part magical realism. Usually, I don't gravitate novels with magic in them, but this one is so well written and razor-sharp, I just couldn't resist. Hard to believe this is a debut. I will definitely read more from this author in the future. I absolutely loved Angie. I cared about this little girl so much. She's such a weirdo and I loved her to bits. This book made me feel so many different emotions. It's so lyrical, deep, profound, poignant, and funny as hell. I loved it. Such an underrated gem!

Thank you, Netgalley and Tin House for the digital ARC.

This is one of those stories that are a mix of prose and lyrical where you’re not sure what’s real and what’s not.

For me this is a major detractor although I know many will love this writing style.

Netgalley ARC Review 4/5 stars

Viscerally weird and raw in every way imaginable. Exactly what I was hoping for when I read the synopsis: two sister's living in 1980's Appalachia. A weird little sister obsessed with hunting down a murderer through the use of her hand drawn tarot-esque cards and an older sister haunted by an invisible rope around her neck.

The entire story felt like a haunting coming of age fever dream. The deep respect for Appalachian land comes across in every page. This was such lush story-telling.

1980s Appalachia is the setting for this speculative fiction debut about two sisters (who are as different as can be), who are dealing with more than just a murder in their small, isolated community. Sheila has an invisible rope that is tightening around her neck and a secret she isn't ready to share. Her younger sister Angie (who draws monsters that just might be real) is obsessed with catching the killer. The sisters might have to rely on each other if they're going to survive.

The thing I loved most about this book was the way the girls relationship didn't magically improve after the drama of the story was over. They still didn't get along or understand each other, and that was okay! It was one of the most realistic relationships I've read in a long time and I really appreciated it.

Beautiful prose and setting, unfortunately I had a hard time following the actually story. It was difficult to tell what was reality and dream or whether it even mattered (lots of re-reading pages). I think many will really like this book, it just wasn’t for me. Thanks to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book.

This was a fascinating blend of literary fiction, folk horror, and magical realism. Set in 1980s rural Pennsylvania, it follows sisters Sheila and Angie after a murder along the Appalachian Trail. This eerie and thought-provoking book is perfect for fans of atmospheric reads.

One standout aspect of Smothermoss was its setting. The Appalachian mountains and surrounding woods feel alive and menacing, adding to the overall spooky vibe. Sheila and Angie’s relationship is authentic and compelling. Sheila navigates her queerness and heavy responsibilities at home, while Angie lives in a fantastical world, creating homemade tarot cards and preparing for what she believes is an inevitable nuclear war. Their differing perspectives add depth to the narrative.

The novel’s folk horror and magical realism elements keep readers on their toes. Angie’s tarot cards and the mysterious rope around Sheila’s neck blend reality and the supernatural intriguingly. However, these elements sometimes feel out of place in the realistic narrative, seeming more aesthetic than plot-driven.

It also explored themes of queerness and self-acceptance poignantly. Though the ending leaves some plot threads unresolved, this invites multiple interpretations. Overall, Smothermoss was wonderfully atmospheric, perfect for fans of gothic fiction.

I really liked this. I can see how other people would find it confusing or too strange but I am exactly the type of reader who enjoys a lot of WTF in what I read. I’ve seen it compared to Bunny and I think Bunny readers would enjoy this. The sisters were distinctly rendered and the nature writing was gorgeous. I particularly enjoyed the mountain perspective.

Having just finished this stunning debut novel 5 minutes ago, the last thing I want to write in this review is some short, pithy statement about how "magical" it is, how the mountain is alive, the sisters are clairvoyant, blah blah blah. Except all those maxims really apply so . . . . let me try to elaborate.

Sheila and Angie are sisters born to the same mother, but different fathers in 1980s Appalachia. Sheila, the elder at 17, is world-weary, having been bullied into sullen, quiet girl who nurses her desire for Juanita, a new girl at school, privately. The heaviness of her burdens - she cares for the family's rabbits, which they raise for meat and to sell, and for Great Aunt Thena, the great aunt with whom they live - manifests in the form of a thick rope looped around her neck, with the length trailing along behind her everywhere she goes. Only Sheila can see or feel the rope. Young Angle, at 12 (almost 13!) wiles away her days fantasizing about saving the world from multiple forms of evil - the Russians, the man who murdered two women as they camped on the Appalachian Trail, and anyone else who has caused her pain in her short life. She loves Rambo and soldiers, and the Martial arts, practicing her stealth movement so she'll be ready when she's needed. She draws a deck of tarot-like cards that she entrusts to guide her through her mission in life - to save the world. Their mother works long hours at the local lunatic asylum; the girls are largely left to their own devices,.

Appalachia -- and here I go again with the cliches -- comes to life in this novel. The streams, the rivers, the dense ferns and brambles are so lushly written that a woman like me, who grew up in a similar wild locale, can smell the greenness of it all. The dampness, the life. The phrase "mountain mama" came to mind more than once. Sheila and Angie knew, without ever really articulating as much - that the mountain was power, the mountain can give and take away on a whim. Though there was a murderer on the loose, the mountain, with her moodiness and caves, floods, rockslides and other proclivities, was not to be trifled with. One of the most stand-out themes for me was the innate knowledge one has when, having been raised on the side of a mountain (or surrounded by a national forest, as I was) is that nature will always win. As Stephen Crane's characters learned in the short story "The Open Boat," any desire to throw rocks at the temple of nature, is fruitless. There are no rocks, there are no temples. Nature always wins.

This novel isn't without plot, but it's difficult to explain without spoilers. It delivers, and it does so beautifully. I won't forget Sheila or Angie, and I won't forget this author. I can't wait to see what they do next.

2.7 stars
One Liner: Ambitious and dark but flatters in execution

1980s, Appalachia
Sheila, a seventeen-year-old, lives with an old woman, a twelve-year-old sister Angie, and their mother. Life is hard and a constant battle of bullying, lack of money, and too much work. It doesn’t help that Angie lives in her own world and draws cards that seem to have a life of their own.
When a pair of female hikers is murdered in the region, the sisters are drawn to the case. This brings danger and violence closer to their home. As things get murkier, can Sheila and Angie survive the aftermath?
The story comes in the third-person POV.

My Thoughts:
There’s something dark and suffocating about the title and cover, which made me request a copy of the book. The premise was intriguing too, especially the setting. The main characters are YA but this is an adult read. I wouldn’t recommend it to teens (unless they are comfortable with dark themes).
What I Like:
The setting is dark and intense. It shows the brutal side of nature, which aligns perfectly with the plot and the characters. The atmosphere is thick, suffocating, strange, uncomfortable, and sinister. Anything can go wrong and they do.
There’s hardly any lighter moment or a scene that makes the reader smile. Everything is tainted with suspicion. Naturally, it makes for an intense read. I enjoyed how the elements were used even when the rest wasn’t working as expected.
Despite the characters living in imaginary worlds, the situations are very much real and gritty. The MCs are poor, outcasts, and bullied. They have different coping mechanisms. The adults aren’t great either. Flawed and compelling.
The chapters' titles and the drawings are intriguing.
What Didn’t Work for Me:
There’s magic realism of sorts, and the lines between real and imaginary often blur. I don’t have issues with this since it is one of my favorite genres. However, I do need things to be a little less haphazard.
The mystery is so, so weak! I hoped for some tension-filled stuff. But nothing much happens for a long, long time and then something happens. After that, I’m not sure how the whole thing would work in reality. It’s confusing and disappointing.
While I understood metaphors like the invisible rope, I’m still not sure about ifs and what’s regarding the recurring role of rabbits. Is there even some sort of inference? No idea!
There are a few more themes like sexuality, gender orientation, eating disorders, dysfunctional family, etc. These weave in and out of the narrative but don’t always make sense. The whole thing feels elusive and hazy.
The ending is okay, decent. There is some progress but this feels largely like a slice-of-life narrative that doesn’t provide any answers. All those bits and pieces were underdeveloped and went nowhere.
The POVs jump from one character to another and from reality to make-believe. It is easy to lose track if we don’t give it 100% attention. In fact, I’ve had to reread some paragraphs even when I was fully focused on the narrative. It feels like a fever dream in many places.
The book is just 250+ pages but packed full, though nothing much seems to happen. This is a strange mix of everything and nothing and further weighs down the reader (unless you enjoy such styles).

To summarize, Smothermoss sounds great in theory and has some worthy elements. It works great in parts but ends up a bit undercooked as a whole. The results will be case-sensitive. So, if my nays are your ayes, give this a try. I know I’d want to read another book by the author. Good potential.
My thanks to NetGalley, and Tin House Books, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
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Other links will be updated later.

This book is creative and very well-written - the author absolutely nails the Southern Gothic mood with this one. It’s a great mix of vibe and character work.

Even though the vibe was impeccable, the plot was thin and convoluted - in an effort to make things “spooky”, we got long inner monologues instead of moving the plot along in any way. The ending felt really unsatisfying, ending with an adventurous high that then fades to almost nothing.

Overall the mood is perfect but there could be a better mix of vibe & plot. Would definitely look out for more work by this author, especially more Southern Gothic writing!

Thank you to NetGalley, Alisa Alering, and Tin House Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Smothermoss is Alisa Alering’s debut novel, set in rural Pennsylvania in the 80s and following sisters Sheila and Angie in the aftermath of a murder along the nearby Appalachian trail. This novel is a wonderful blend of literary fiction, subtle folk horror, and magical realism, and I appreciate Alering’s ability to pull from each of these genres without firmly cementing their book in any one of them. I would recommend this creepy and thought-provoking read for readers who enjoy Shirley Jackson or dirt-smudged depictions of girlhood and sisterhood.

There were many things to love in this novel, and it has certainly brought Alering to my attention as an author to keep tabs on as they continue in their career. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric story, with the mountain itself and the surrounding woods looming large in Sheila and Angie’s lives. I also loved the folksy and occult-adjacent elements, including Angie’s semi-sentient deck of homemade tarot cards and the rope around Sheila’s neck, tying her to the mountain. Many of these supernatural aspects of the novel occupy a transient space between fiction and reality, which creates a really interesting tone. I especially appreciate the way that Sheila’s queerness and her resistance to being perceived as a lesbian are explored in the story, navigating themes of visibility, conformity, desire, and self-acceptance.

The omniscient narration works really well in this book's favor as well, highlighting both Angie and Sheila and illustrating to the reader the ways in which the sisters diverge, the differences that will grow to be points of tension. In Angie, we get an almost idealistic and fantastical perspective of life on the mountain (always on the lookout for Russian spies, making plans for a seemingly inevitable nuclear war), and in Sheila we see a more adult and tempered perspective on life. The scenes in which the sisters interact, their perspectives twisting around one another, are made all the more rewarding for the fact that the reader has gotten to know them as discrete individuals.

My only complaint is that sometimes the book almost felt unsure of itself, either in its exploration of genre or in the direction in which it brings its characters. For the most part, this reads like realistic literary fiction, and the odd horror or supernatural element that gets thrown in occasionally feels a bit out of place, or like it could have been excluded without altering the direction of the novel. Both Angie’s tarot cards and some of Sheila’s experiences feel like boxes to check in the creation of a specific aesthetic, or vehicles of a dues ex machina moment near the novel’s end. I would have liked to see Alering lean into the weirdness and magical realism of it all a little more, in the style of Mona Awad or Juliana Lamy. I also loved Sheila’s arc, but by the end of the novel she was very much the focus, leaving me feeling like Angie’s story was somewhat incomplete.

In the end, however, this was a lovely summer read that I would recommend for anyone wanting to pick up an ecological, literary thriller or who is looking to scratch that Appalachian gothic itch. I’m looking forward to seeing what Alisa Alering has in store!

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House for the e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

I was interested in this because it was marketed as an Appalachian horror/mystery. After reading, I would say this is actually a queer coming of age story with gothic elements and magical realism.

I didn’t find the ending to be as satisfying as I wanted it to be, or rather, I wish a question I had about the older sister, Sheila, was more clear.

Though this book wasn’t what I expected it to be, which is usually a big turn off (I can’t stand when something isn’t marketed correctly), I still found this book to be an engaging read, despite plot lines ending up unresolved by the end.

All in all, worth the read imo.

Thanks to NetGalley & TinHouse for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Atmospheric, absorbing, and unputdownable, Smothermoss is the perfect small-town horror if you’re craving something like Stranger Things but a little more cryptic.

Smothermoss is set at the periphery of civilization, with people who are outsiders. In this regard, the characters are so well-developed. You understand and sympathize with Sheila instantly. While it would be nice to be liked, she just wants to escape. She’s coming into her queerness too, and like most elder daughters of single moms, she has so much responsibility dumped on her shoulders and is never appreciated for all she does. She is shown to be loyal to a fault, as well as quite the martyr. But when your family is all you have, you do everything you can to keep it together, even when all you want to do is leave.

Angie is the chaos to Sheila’s extreme self-control. She runs quite literally wild, exploring the woods, stealing stuff, and is often lost in her own world where she’s a commando (she would have loved Fallout the game)

Their story is both a coming-of-age and a bringing together of two disparate sisters who often don’t seem to like one another. It’s a sisterly bonding novel, though it does it in the weirdest way possible. As someone with two sisters, this aspect really resonated with me.

I also really loved the story because I had no idea where the hell it was going, but in the best way. We are not sure how much of what is happening - the supernatural aspects - are real events or interpretations of a lonely little girl who puts stock in ritual to explain her life and a young woman whose self-starvation is messing with her brain. While these two aren’t exactly unreliable narrators, at least not at the start, they definitely don’t hold the reader’s hand. I love this approach in novels.

Tied to this, not a lot is explained in the story. The book is layered with nuance and subtle meaning, where symbols, like rabbits, appear again and again, leaving you wondering what they signify if anything at all. In this way, you can draw out meaning based on your own interpretation. The richness of the oral history of the area is also expressed by Angie and Sheila’s general knowledge of the place, but also their great aunt, who tells some pretty wild tales. In fact, we almost feel liek we’re being pulled into this shared knowledge of the area, and have witnessed a legend by the end.

Part of this is the writing style. It’s absolutely lyrical, with lines like - and this is an ARC, so it may be changed or altered in the final version - “What is days to humans and generations to Mayflies is a mere flash of lightning to the mountain.

The book is rife with detailed and visceral descriptions, yet is never verbose, and moves at a wonderful pace. It knows when to slow down and when to speed things up, and while Sheila and Angie have it pretty tough, it’s not a book about despair or even a book really about class. There is a moment when Angie starts to clue into their lower economic status, but the story is almost about how people who live on the outskirts are more in tune with nature, which still affords them a lot of their sustenance. It's cheaper to grow food than buy it, and the girls do a lot of farmsteading.

The book also has some creepy parts to keep it a horror, but mainly what it has is, as the young people say, vibes.
(Am I using that term right?)