Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce is an atmospheric folk horror / thriller with supernatural and witchcraft elements set in the 1980s. Truly chilling and thought-provoking. I highly recommend!

Mina is very new to the child psychology field. One day while attending a bereavement group to mourn the loss of her brother years ago, Mina meets Sam. Sam is a journalist struggling with his own grief over losing his young daughter. When Sam offers Mina a job investigating and interviewing a young girl who everyone seems to think is possessed, Mina thinks this is a great way to put her degree to the test. But when Mina meets Alice she realizes that there is something dark lurking in the town of Banathel and it might have found a home inside Alice.

I absolutely devoured this book! I was instantly captivated and could not stop reading. The way Pierce writes is truly brilliant, weaving beautiful prose with a spine tingling and ominous tension throughout. The characters were very well written but also flawed and are all hiding something whether that be secrets or something much darker. This was a slow burn type of read but the way it is written does not feel like it is being dragged out. Definitely keeping an eye out for more by Daisy Pearce.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daisy Pearce, and Minotaur Books for this ARC. Expected publication date is February 25th 2025.

This book kept me guessing until the end, but the payoff was not as satisfying as I expected it to be. It's a story of possession in the countryside outside London. Mina, has a freshly minted psychology degree, but no job yet. She's engaged to Oscar, a successful scientist, albeit a bit dull. Her brother died young after trying to save her from a childhood accident, and she's haunted by the fact that the death could be her fault. While attending a grief group, she meets Sam, a journalist, also grieving over the death of his daughter. He's working on debunking a story about a girl, Alice, who says she's haunted by a witch. He convinces Mina to go with him and analyze Alice as a psychologist to determine what is really going on. She agrees and they both set off for Banathel. First of all, would you go off on a trip with someone you barely knew, and stay overnight at the family's house whose daughter is possessed? I'd probably pass. Once there, they meet Alice and start to observe strange occurrences in the house, many of which Mina can explain away, but many cannot be explained. Alice starts talking in strange tongues and tells Alice things she couldn't possibly have known. As things come to a head and the towns inhabitants participate in the yearly 'Riddance' festival, to rid Alice of the witch, Mina gets a better perspective of what's really happening to all the young girls in town. There are lots of scary parts of this book, exorcist like scary, and the author cranks up the tension and creep factor, so that was all well done. I love the ending, however there was no explanation of what was really happening to Alice, so I guess you are supposed to determine that on your own. Some hints of what was to come would have been good.

Oh. My. Gosh. CREEPY alert! I was so thrilled to score an ARC of this book, because the plot sounded incredible, I love the author, and the cover is cool (the trifecta). But mannnn, let me tell you: this book is even better than I expected. It is disturbing and hair-raising, packed with old European folklore, supernatural phenomena, and just a hint of feminism. The ending is a real shock, so I won’t go on, but you’ve gotta read this book. It comes out in print on February 25th (next Tuesday!), and as always, a huge thank you to @kaiki3000 , @minotaur_books , and @netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! Will TOTALLY be snagging myself a hard copy next week!


SYNOPSIS: Mina is in a rut, trying to break into the tight community of child psychologists as a new grad and simultaneously still grieving her brother’s death. At her bereavement support group, she meets journalist Sam Hunter, who approaches her with the opportunity of a lifetime. Sam is investigating the apparent witch haunting of 13-year-old Alice Webber, an otherwise normal teenage girl living in the small rural town of Banathel. Mina is tasked with assessing Alice and offering therapy where appropriate, and she’s convinced that she can help Alice and escape her routine. But Alice’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic, and eventually Mina can no longer ignore the possibility that something much more sinister could be at play in Banathel.

📚 E-ARC BOOK REVIEW 📚

Something In The Walls By Daisy Pearce
Publication Date: February 25, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded Up To 4⭐)

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this #gifted e-ARC of the book in exchange for my honest review!

📚MY REVIEW:

Something In The Walls gave me SUPER creepy vibes from the moment I saw its cover! I waited a while to read it because I was anticipating it would terrify me, and I made sure to read it ONLY during daylight hours.

The first half of the book lived up to what I expected. There was an overall creepiness and a heavy atmospheric vibe. The book takes place in a stifling heat wave, Pearce wrote magnificently detailed descriptions of putrid scents and feelings of hopeless despair in so many of the characters. She crafted moments of perfect creepiness in these pages.

And then the story shifted. What felt like a creepy paranormal vibe became a whole witchcraft vibe, and the book started feeling almost like historical fiction to me. It kinda took a cultish turn that seemed as if I was reading a re-telling of Salem's witch trials, which surprised me given the paranormal vibes in the first part of the book.

The storylines continued to take a lot of super dark turns that were unexpected, and honestly, the last 20% of the book was just super tough for me to get through. Super dark, super unexpected, super what-the-witchcraft is happening here. Lots of 'supers' because it just wasn't what I thought I was about to read.

If you're expecting this book to be spooky with paranormal ghosts, you may feel the same sense of surprise about this book as I did. This was not the creepy and scary book I expected, and I wished someone would have said l, "Hey, it's creepy witches, not ghosts," and maybe I wouldn't have been so scared of it for so long. To me, the title and the cover of the book ended up giving off creepier vibes to me than the actual book did -- which left me feeling a little disappointed.

What I've learned is this: stories about witches and witchcraft are not my vibe. And I'm just one person with one opinion. If you're a fan of atmospheric witchcraft reads, or if witches are your vibe, you'll probably LOVE this read and should absolutely give it a try!

#SomethingInTheWalls #DaisyPearce #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #booklover #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

Something in the Walls can be considered a psychological thriller but it also has some supernatural elements. The main character is Mina and she is a new psychologist so she is thrilled when she gets an opportunity to review the case of a 13 year old girl named Alice who is apparently displaying signs of being possessed.
The book had some haunting moments as Mina and Sam (who is the reporter that invited her on the case) do research on the case.
Mina finds herself questioning whether what is happening to Alice is psychological or if there is something more sinister going on.
Overall I enjoyed the book and the storyline.
Thank you St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books. All opinions are my own.

A great thriller, full of intense imagery and suspense. I read it quickly, not wanting to put it down. When a young girl becomes seemingly possessed by a witch, child psychologist Mina Ellis is brought into the mix and uncovers an ugly truth about the small community, years in the making.

Hooked from the beginning, but as the story progressed, the details decreased. Specifically when it came to Alice and determining why she was so impacted by the energy of the house. No relation to anything in Midsommar, more like the Conjuring.

My thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Publishing for the ARC of 'Something in the Walls' in exchange for an honest review.
True admission - halfway through this book, I experienced a genuine jolt-you-awake nightmare, a rare occurrence for someone who's consumed untold quantities of horror movies, books and TV shows. So how's that for a glowing recommendation for a scary read to keep you up nights?
Author Daisy Pearce envelops you in an atmosphere of dread that maintains the sense of unease and impending doom right to the very end.......all leading up to final pages that spring even a few more dark, ironic twists.
The ink has barely dried on Mina's psychology degree when she's recruited by journalist Sam Hunter to help him either confirm or debunk a so-called paranormal haunting possession. In Banathel, an economically crumbling little remote village, a 12 year old girl shows signs of possession by a witch. Or does she? Do the strange, disturbing events surrounding the child signify a supernatural entity or just the grounded in reality symptoms of mental dysfunction? Or even nothing more than an elaborate hoax designed to generate publicity?
Mina and Sam's attempts to probe these terrifying mysteries quickly spiral out of control, traumatizing them both....... because whatever torments young Alice, it knows THEIR most agonizing guilty secrets as well.
Everything a horror aficionado craves in a page turning frightfest is all here. My only quibble - it dawdles a bit before finally arriving full force to its gruesome conclusion, a grand mixture of 'The Exorcist', 'The Wicker Man' and every book and film you've ever read or seen about awful weird doings in sleepy English villages.
Have a horrific good time with this one......keep all the lights on and avoid any fireplace.

This was incredibly atmospheric. The setting adds as much to the creeping sense of dread as the plot. The main character, Mina, wasn't my favorite, occasionally her actions seemed out of character, but the story and the vibes kept me reading late into the night.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the eARC of Something in the Walls & Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook!

For me, Something in the Walls< is incredibly forgettable. I wouldn’t necessarily consider it boring & I didn’t mind my time with it, however now that it’s over it’s just — whatever.

Alright, this book starts a little slow, I'll admit that. It took me some time to get into, BUT I ended up really enjoying it and flying right through once I was in.

I really liked the concept of this one and the writing is great! So atmospheric and unsettling - the creepy factor is definitely here with this one. There is A LOT going onion this book and to be honest, some of it seemed a little bit unnecessary (the plot with the fiancé? Why? What purpose did it serve?) and I'm going to be honest, the ending was a little vague for me.

You think you're getting one thing (paranormal), and then it's a whole different thing, but then the first thing might still be a thing? It was really unclear and I would've liked a little cleaner of a wrapup with the witch/paranormal aspect of this book. However, the ending also gave a little unexpected brutality that made me cringe and that was quite the little treat for me.

I don't know if this book is for everyone, but I do think a lot of people will really enjoy it, myself included!

A unique psychological thriller. Somewhere between The Exorcist and Supernatural. The story unfolds with a bit of family and neighborhood drama.
A very interesting and quick read.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Is Alice possessed? Mina, an inexperienced child psychologist teams up with Sam, a journalist, to explore this - and the creepy town of Bathanal. Mina has her own issues; she mourning still mourning the death of her brother and she's not certain she's meant to marry her fiance. This has a good start, with of the ominous stuff that makes this sort of novel work, and then there's a twist. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

**3.5 stars**

So I had really high hopes of loving this one. It has everything I usually love: supernatural occurrences, small town, plucky female lead, is it mental illness or is it witches? While it started slow I ended up liking it not loving it. As a horror fan this was marketed more as horror but it’s very light horror in my opinion. And I correctly guessed what was really happening very early on, so it loses a star for that.

If you like folk horror or is it supernatural or is it mental illness type dramas then you will enjoy this one. It has a couple creepy moments but if you’re expecting really scary skip it. While it wasn’t exactly what I expected I would read another book by the author.

**Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**

You could just feel the claustrophobia creeping off the page on this one. It was so eerie. It was such a fun and spooky read. Highly recommend for anyone into horror or scary books.

Okaaaaayyyyyyy!!! 👏🏼👏🏼

From the moment I saw the cover of this book, I knew I had to have it. Sometimes covers fail me, but definitely not this time!

This is the witchy book I didn’t know I needed. It’s a cross-over between witch and possession. It was fascinating!!

I loved everything about this story from the vivid descriptions of the heat wave making me not able to breathe to the superstitious witch rituals taking place to the unruly hordes of people trying to rid the town of witchcraft. It was atmospheric and suspenseful!

I wanted more possession or paranormal activity near the end, but it kind of ended rather abruptly.

This one is worth the read!

This was a weird one, it felt *incredibly* slow and choppy. The ending feels like it kind of came out of nowhere? Unless I missed clues in the story that pointed to this ending? Not much to say about it honestly.

Scary, dark, ominous, psychologically disturbing, rattling, and heart-pounding—these are the first words that come to mind after finishing this thrilling wild ride. This was probably one of the scariest books I have ever read. This book had moments that genuinely terrified me, like the scene with the unknown entity crawling out of the chimney, which made me the book and take a breath. The dark and chilling elements chilled me to the bone. While the pacing slowed a bit in the middle, the final quarter ramped up the suspense, delivering a thrilling conclusion.

I gave this one dour stars. I am a reader who like the what's and why's explained to me at the end, and that is not this book. However, that does not deter how good this book was, I was just left with a lot more questions that I cared to have.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It started off a little slow for me but I started to get really into it the creepier it got. My main issue with the book is I feel like we got no answers for what was truly going on with Alice. Some things were explained but not everything and it annoys me.

I also figured out the "twist" (let's just call it that) as soon as we found out the sister said she hated the basement.

After seeing some questionable reviews I decided to give this a try but sometimes reviews are reviews for a reason. The story started out strong, with new child psychologist Mina being hired to try to help a young girl that people think is possessed. The problem comes in that the beginning sets up a novel that is not the end of this book. It’s almost like it’s two separate entities.

Thank you though to Netgalley and to St. Martin’s press for allowing me to read this copy in exchange for my opinions