Disturbing, and intriguing and absolutely captivating!! Geez you are sucked right in. I will say that horror is not my normal genre, give me a good psychological thriller any day but horror - not so much. I don't enjoy nightmares and fight or flight adrenaline rushes, I guess I'm abnormal. Or maybe it's past trauma that makes it hard. But this book was worth the read - mysterious, strange and disturbing on many aspects. Can you read it and look at your home the same way? I suppose that is the challenge. And for those who enjoy a good horror/psychological thriller this is just the book for you.

Rating: 3.75 stars? 4 stars?

Ill start with "dang." This book had so much potential. The horror elements had me afraid to go into dark rooms alone. The witch's bottle, the long snakey fingers in the fireplace, the death. If the first 70% of the book carried its vibes all the way to the end, the book would have easily been a 5 star for me. The ending felt like every other "horror book" ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio/St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to #NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Daisy Pearce’s Something in the Walls starts with an intriguing premise—a woman moves into a house where strange noises and eerie occurrences suggest something sinister lurking within. Unfortunately, while the setup is promising, the execution leaves much to be desired.

The novel leans heavily on familiar haunted house tropes without offering anything particularly new or memorable. The protagonist’s descent into paranoia is initially compelling, but her characterization lacks depth, making it difficult to fully invest in her fear. The pacing is uneven, with long stretches of repetitive internal monologue that slow the momentum rather than build suspense.

While Pearce’s writing is atmospheric, the scares feel predictable, and the resolution is underwhelming. Instead of delivering a shocking or satisfying conclusion, the story fizzles out, leaving many questions unanswered. For readers looking for a truly chilling horror novel, this one might not quite hit the mark. I really wanted to like this one too.

Spooky, fun. A little bit of looking over your shoulder, a little bit of what’s gonna happen next. It’ll keep you hooked.

Spoooky and I wasn't anticipating the horror trope the book ended up heading towards. I thought this was a fun new horror book.

There is a lot of horror going on here! There’s haunted house, possession, a little bit of gore, and a healthy dose of mental health concerns and PTSD. It all rolled into a lovely scary story. With a beautiful cover. I enjoyed it!

Mina and Sam head to a remote village to investigate a haunting. The village on Banathel has a long history of witches and witch hunts. Alice is a teenager recently acting very weirdly after interacting with a witch bottle. Mina is convinced that Alice is struggling with her mental health. Sam is convinced that Alice is possessed. If they all want to survive, they’re going to have to find the truth.

“Something in the Walls” by Daisy Pearce follows Mina who is a recently graduated child psychologist as she investigates a suspicious case involving a young girl named Alice. Mina agrees to take this job after she is presented with the offer from a journalist named Sam after their first encounter at a bereavement group that she attends because she is mourning the death of her brother. After agreeing to this job, these two head to the remote town of Banathel to attempt to help a young girl who claims to be haunted by a witch and is supposedly experiencing disturbing symptoms. However, it quickly becomes clear that the town is not innocent and has its own, unconventional, ideas about how to deal with Alice.

This was definitely a solid and spooky, mystery thriller/horror and one aspect of the book that I especially enjoyed was the atmosphere. Additionally, the build up in this book is very good and I especially loved how it felt more and more disorienting as the story unravels and some of the final scenes had me sitting there like “what is even going on right now?” in the best way possible. I will say that I guessed what was going on relatively early in the story, but I do not necessarily think this is a bad thing. Overall, while this was not my favorite, it was a solid and enjoyable reading experience and I would recommend this to others who are fans of this genre!

Thank you Minotaur books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

TLDR: This was creepy but I wish it would have been creepier and definitely more paranormal. Or at least had a blurb that described this book as more dealing with the reactions of people to the possibility of a local girl being possessed by a witch than actual paranormal happenings.

This was a slow moving book for me. I felt like it brought in certain aspects that really weren't necessary to the story (certain fortunes and relationships). The relationship that didn't really add to the story didn't really take away from it either, but the fortune did in a way. It seemed to be a way to try and distract us from the main story, but then nothing else seemed to go along with that fortune.

There was a twist I didn't exactly see coming in this book though. And I liked that it blurred the lines of what we thought we should believe about Alice's story. The descriptions of scenes throughout the book were also so well done. At times I really didn't want to keep going because it was almost too much.

Something in the Walls isn't a bad book, but it wasn't what I was expecting either. If you go into it expecting less of a paranormal thriller, I think you'll enjoy it more.

Mina is a newly licensed child psychologist, but needs real world experience. While attending a bereavement group to cope with the grief over the death of her brother, she is approached by a journalist named Sam Hunt. He brings her to a small town where 13 year old Alice Webber has been exhibiting strange behaviour. As Mina spends more time with her, Alice claims a witch is haunting her.

I wanted to like this, but I was bored with this story for the majority of it. I did become very invested within the last 100 pages, when things started to actually happen but up until that point, I didn't really care. There were some creepy scenes, which is why I continued reading. I didn't feel connected to the characters at all, and I felt that the story dragged because of this. I also didn't really understand why there was so much talk about Mina and her fiancé, as it didn't seem to really add anything to the story.

The book had so much potential to be something great, but unfortunately, it fell short for me.

This suspenseful and haunting story deals with grief, the supernatural, and tragedy. Mina, a freshly graduated child psychologist meets journalist Sam at a grief group. Sam asks her to help him discover if the story surrounding the supposed possession of young Alice Webber is legitimate. Despite the protests of Mina's pragmatic fiancée Oscar, she goes to the small town of Banathel, which is steeped in folklore surrounding witches. While staying with the Webbers, dark strange things continue to surround the family, and Sam and Mina's motives beyond helping the young Alice become more apparent. The excitement and mystery surrounding Alice's predicament, as well as a heatwave sweeping the area, has tensions running high in this creepy book.

Im kind of on the fence with this one. There were parts that felt eerie and creepy but there were moments that I didn't feel much of anything. Not creeped out or scared. The writing was solid, though

Many thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

When I read the premise, I was like sign me up. This sounds scary and fun in a not so good time kind of way. But I found myself disappointed with the ending. It felt like it didn't conclude the questions that were raised with Alice..

“She watches me through the cracks in the bricks. She’s in there now. That’s why we can’t talk about this.”
The dark, creepy vibe in this book is real. If you like horror, folk horror, witchy vibes, creepy old houses, feminist vibes, weird neighbors, this book is probably for you. Do you know what witch bottles or hag stones are? I didn't until I read this book. And those made this story even creepier. Pearce set this book in England in the 1980s, which is important. You feel the lack of technology, the different way things were back then. Pearce was able to capture the sticky heat of the summer, the darkness of the people living in the town, and the desperate feeling of Alice's family while they are trying to figure out what is wrong with her. While I didn't have all of my questions answered at the end of this book, it made me want to seek out more books like this that completely immerse me in the setting and the story.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Net Galley for the advanced reader copy.

While reading Something in the Walls it was like watching a movie in my mind. The story was dark and deep with meaning. I really enjoyed how the truth unfolded and in the end there was justice.
Thank you for the advanced copy and giving me an opportunity to read and review!

So let me start by saying I thought this was going to be something completely different than it was 🤷🏼‍♀️. That is what I get for going to in blind. It was more witchy and had exorcist hints within it. The beginning did hook me and keep me wanting to know what was going to happen but it just wasn't what I had expected, I do feel like the FMC relationship could've been left out of the book as for me it didn't add much and the last few chapters just didn't do it for me but did make you go "so that's how it all clicks together", so that helped put some of the story together which was nice.

This dark, psychological thriller is a wild ride that combines the unsettling vibes of *Midsommar*, *The Exorcist*, and *The Witch*, leaving readers rattled and heart-pounding. Mina, a grief-stricken child psychologist, teams up with a journalist named Sam to investigate a mysterious 13-year-old girl, Alice, who claims to be a witch in the eerie town of Banathel. As they uncover the town’s dark secrets, Mina must confront her own demons while facing a sinister force that may be targeting young girls, leading to a chilling, spine-tingling conclusion.

Meet Mina: A Woman on the Edge of Something Dark
Mina, the book’s protagonist, is a freshly minted child psychologist who’s desperate to prove herself in a field dominated by experts. Instead of feeling empowered by her career choice, she’s stuck—adrift in a stifling heatwave in Britain, trapped in the bubble of her impending marriage to Oscar, a methodical and precise researcher who couldn’t be more different from her. The only solace Mina finds is in attending a local bereavement group, where she wrestles with the grief of losing her brother years ago. Her life is small. Safe. Predictable.

That is, until she meets Sam Hunter at the grief group. Sam, a journalist, offers Mina the opportunity of a lifetime—an investigation into a haunting.

Enter Alice Webber, a thirteen-year-old girl who claims to be haunted by a witch in the rural, remote village of Banathel. Alice’s disturbing symptoms have left her family desperate, and money is tight. The chance to help Alice could give Mina the experience she needs. It seems like a win-win. But Mina doesn’t know it yet—what’s about to unfold will not just challenge her professional skills; it will drag her into a nightmare where folklore, superstition, and the darkest parts of her past collide.

The Witch in the Walls
Alice’s condition doesn’t improve. Instead, it spirals out of control, pulling Mina deeper into Banathel’s twisted history of witchcraft and superstition. The village is a place where ancient traditions dictate life. People believe in evil—and they have their own disturbing methods of “dealing with” it. As Alice’s symptoms grow stranger and more intense, Mina begins to unravel a web of secrets that has held the town in its grip for generations.

But Banathel isn’t just a setting. The town feels like a character in itself—its oppressive, eerie atmosphere wraps around you like the heatwave that seems to suffocate Mina at every turn. The folklore, the chilling rituals, the belief in something far darker than Mina ever expected—each layer of mystery beckons you to read on, even when every instinct tells you to step back.

Folklore, Superstition, and a Haunting History
What makes Something in the Walls so terrifying is its grounding in folklore and superstition. Pearce doesn’t just rely on the typical horror tropes. Instead, she builds a world where the supernatural feels real, where witchcraft isn’t a distant myth but something alive and present. It’s a place where people believe deeply in what they can’t see, and those beliefs influence every action.

As Mina digs into Alice’s haunting, she finds herself not just uncovering the town’s sinister traditions, but also confronting her own past. The deeper she goes, the more she begins to wonder: Is there something in the walls of Banathel that even she is unprepared for? The town’s past isn’t just a relic—it’s active, alive, and waiting to claim its next victim.

A Slow-Burn Thriller That Gets Under Your Skin
The magic of Something in the Walls lies in its ability to make you feel both disturbed and fascinated at the same time. Pearce expertly creates a sense of mounting tension that builds from the first chapter and doesn’t let up until the very end. Every page is laced with dread, every twist is unexpected, and every step Mina takes into Banathel only leads her—and us—deeper into the darkness.

But what’s even more compelling than the supernatural elements is Mina herself. She’s vulnerable, relatable, and struggling to find her place in a world where grief, fear, and doubt constantly threaten to overwhelm her. As she tries to help Alice, she begins to question everything—the boundaries between good and evil, what’s real and what’s imagined, and how far she’s willing to go to uncover the truth.

The Unforgettable Final Act
By the time you reach the final act of Something in the Walls, you’ll be racing through the pages. Pearce doesn’t just deliver on the creeping terror she’s built; she delivers a conclusion that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew. The mystery of Alice’s condition, the secrets of Banathel, and Mina’s own tortured past all come crashing together in a finale that is both chilling and deeply emotional.

Something in the Walls is a book that demands your attention, and once it has it, you won’t be able to let go. The uneasy, weird vibe that lingers through every chapter will keep you up at night, long after you’ve finished reading. If you’re someone who loves a good slow-burn thriller with a psychological twist and just enough supernatural creepiness to make you second-guess the shadows in your room, this is a book you must read.

Something in the Walls by #DaisyPearce is a mind bender.

Alice is a young woman who seems to be haunted by something. The townsfolk say that she is possesed by a witch ever since the night that she went to Tanners Row. Something awful happened in one of he homes there, something that has now affected Alice so badly that she can no longer function normally.

Sam lost his daughter to a horrible disease and now is hopeing that he can touch base with Maggie again. He finds himself at a grief meeting where he meets Mina and feels a connection with her. Mina is getting ready to marry Oscar the man that she thought was meant for her but as the wedding day gets closer and plans become more permanent Mina finds herself flailing. She comes across a photo of she and Oscar on a trip and swears that she can see the ghost of her brother Eddie who died from Pneumonia when she was younger. Unbidden the thought " Tell me about the ice" comes into her mind and she flees tot he comfort of a grief meeting.
Here she meets Sams who is a journalist, when he finds out that Mina is a child psychologist he asks her opinion on a case with a young woman who claims to be haunted by a witch.
Mina and Sam finds themsevles embroiled in something that neither of them are truly prepared for. Mina can't figure out whether or not Alice is truly being possesed by a witch. There is something not right within the walls of Alice's home, something watches through the cracks in the bricks of the chimney. It scuttles through the chimney and snuffles outside closed doors, black sllludge drizzles and oozes form the chimney.
Will Mina and Same make it out of this town intact and will they be able to save young Alice from the horrors that surround her or will the Riddance and the witch hunt take her first?

I want to thank #Netgalley in return for the chance to read an eArc of #SomethingInTheWalls by #DaisyPearce in return for a fair and honest review.
I don't have all the words to explain how much I loved #SomethingInTheWalls1 Its an amazing novel full of suspence and a strong underccurrent of terror. If you haven't read it yet then go out and either check it out from your local library or go buy it! You won't regret it!

Let’s talk about Daisy Pearce’s writing…sensory, satisfyingly visual and evocative, visceral, emotive, nuanced, unique, atmospheric, chilling. I fell in love with this author’s voice and prose, This 1989 folk tale embraces medicine and psychology pitted against folklore and superstition and does a fine job of building anticipation, dread, and instilling a subversive tension that haunts each page. I was up and down throughout this story due to some plotting lags, but it was the author’s enticing writing style that drew me back in each time to continue. I’m glad I did continue as this is a solid witchy, small town secrets story with a few twists I didn’t see coming. And some I did. Enjoyable 4/5 star read with distinct witchy, eerie, suspenseful vibes. Lovely writing.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book moved at a somewhat slower pace than I expected, but it wasn’t too slow to detract from the story. It actually helped to build the suspense. I liked the characters for the most part. I did figure out some of the story ahead of time, but I still liked it.

3.5