Add to your TBR if you like...
-Folklore horror
-Midsommar/The Haunting of Hill House
-Witchy/possession vibes
-Cult mentality

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur books for the gifted copy!

When I first saw this cover months ago, I KNEW it was a must-read for March. When I got the acceptance email from Netgalley, I couldn't download the book fast enough... This story is unnerving and unsettling in all the best ways, making the hair stand up on the back of your neck.

The story has you constantly questioning what is causing Alice's behavior. Is it possession, psychological issues, the heat wave, or small town herd mentality?The only reason I can’t give it five stars because the story never truly reveals what is happening with Alice. I was left with more questions than answers at the end.

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce
Mina, a recent graduate, child psychologist, is green and in need of experience. She spends a lot of time contemplating her upcoming nuptials to Oscar. She also attends a grief support group to help with working through old scars from her brother’s death. She meets Sam at one of the grief sessions and Sam offers her a job to gain experience. There’s a thirteen-year-old, Alice, that claims she is haunted by a witch. Living with her family, Alice’s symptoms get worse. Mina thinks she can help Alice.
Things go awry in a town full of superstition and witchcraft. They believe the world is filled with evil and have their own ways of dealing with it. They don’s welcome outsiders.
This was full of suspense and I enjoyed it. I did get lost a few times. The paranormal elements were great. I felt it was a little incomplete, wanting something more. Overall, it was good. 3.5/5 ⭐
I would like to Thank NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

Thanks SMP and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

Oooh this was creepy. I loved the incorporation of psychology in this story, and the unspoken struggles all women go through. It was dark, scary, and horrifying. There were points I had to stop because it was actually so messed up, which is why it's a perfect horror book. Yes, I know it's marked as thriller, and it is a thriller, but I also think it belongs in the psychological horror category.

If you enjoyed Roanoke Girls, Rosemary's Baby, or female rage stories, I'd recommend this one.

I was given an advanced readers copy by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was a fast read and the insidious nature of what's going on in Banathel kept me reading and guessing. The ending left me so disappointed, though. We get no answers about what is going on with Alice and the "twist" was predictable and unsatisfactory. A 5 star start, and a 1 star ending.

Such a good read. It’s a little disturbing what keeps happening to Alice as her symptoms arise but that’s half the fun of the story! The book really was able to capture my attention from start to finish, and the characters were well thought out and I felt like the story flowed very smoothly

"A chilling page-turner following a child psychologist's treatment on a troubled young girl and the shocking thread of inexplicable events that begin to unfold. This one will make you sleep with all the lights on."

Daisy Pearce’s Something in the Walls is a psychological thriller that builds tension with an eerie atmosphere, following a woman who moves into an old house and discovers dark secrets lurking within its walls. The novel is compelling and unsettling, with Pearce's writing effectively creating a haunting environment. However, the pacing feels uneven, with the first half engaging the reader but the latter half slowing down. The protagonist’s descent into paranoia is well-done, but the lack of depth in character relationships leaves the emotional stakes feeling weaker. This book was an atmospheric and intriguing read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

The first half was solid. It was a Warren investigation. It was suspenseful, dark, scary. The 2nd half fell flat for me.

Mina, a child psychologist, and Sam, a journalist, investigate the claims of 13-year-old Alice Webber, who insists she is being haunted. As they dig deeper, they uncover a dark past and the town’s deep-rooted superstitions.

There were definitely moments that captured my attention, but the pacing felt slow, and some plot points were not super believable. While it had its highlights, it didn’t fully deliver on its potential. Fans of supernatural thrillers may find it an enjoyable read.

This 👏🏻 Book 👏🏻

I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while and I finally got access to it on @netgalley so I picked it up immediately. There was a lot happening and it got darker and darker as it went on, to the point that I was gasping. It was witchy, it was creepy, it was possess-y, it was perfect. Do I still have questions about some things? Absolutely - but, I enjoyed this book so much, it gave me heart palpitations. I wish this was coming out prior to February, because this would be perfect for spooky season!

🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝/5

Now available!!!!!!

Love the cover.

Supernatural/witchy/creepy vibe for a good percentage of the story.

Did not have me keeping the lights on at night or anything.

Mina is a newly graduated. Child psychologist asked by a journalist to come and investigate Alice a 14-year-old girl who they cannot seem to figure out exactly what is going on with her. Is it a hoax? Is she possessed? Is she just deeply disturbed?

Mina does a great job investigating the child, the scenario and of course the surroundings.

I did not find this work to be confusing or hard to follow. I enjoyed the story. Did it have me thinking about it when I wasn’t reading? No, not really. What I recommend this to everyone? No but definitely if you are interested in The witch or supernatural scene. It had an underlying mystery that was well written as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for my electronic advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

My favorite quotes from this book:
"I came to Banathel because I felt hopeful, Mina, but maybe hope is just desperation dressed up in fancy clothes.."

"Yes, I think, everyone loves to look into the darkness."

This started out really good, was certainly creepy but moved a little too slowly and the ending left a lot of questions unanswered. Overall it's 3.5 ⭐️ for me.

The cover, the title, the blurb all sucked me in immediately for this one and I knew I had to read it! This was another fast read that I couldn't put down. The hot, arid climate in the (fictional) small town of Banathel was as oppressive as any malignant force in this story and really set a tone of desperation. Many scenes in this book were genuinely scary to read, which I think is a fun experience as a reader- though of course it may not be for everyone. The topic of the book took a sharp turn at about 75-80%, and unfortunately many questions were left completely unanswered. The ending is also quite abrupt.

All that said, I did enjoy reading this book and would definitely read more from Pearce in the future. I give Something in the Walls 3.5 stars and recommend it to horror readers (this is comparatively light for the horror genre). Thank you MacMillan Audio and St Martin's Press for the ALC and ARC of Something in the Walls, which is out now.

Daisy Pearce pens a captivating portrayal of an up and coming Child Psychologist who is working hard to build a trustworthy base for ongoing work. Sufffering with demons of her own past and in the midst of a not-so-happy engagement to a man who really doesn't deserve her she is invited into the inner workings of a strange case with a possibly possessed young girl. Finding herself totally immersed into their own family drama (fact or fiction) she befriends a handful of characters along the way. Something in the Walls reminds us of the secrets we hold within and how in the strangest of circumstances they can be released for better or for worse.

This book was an enjoyable read for me and was not what I was really expecting. I enjoyed learning a little more about witches and how they are perceived and how certain places try to protect themselves from their presence by hanging hag stones and the like!

This book was, to put it lightly, an absolute trainwreck. At one point, we took a sharp left turn into WTF-ville and never found our way back. It could have been a deliciously creepy, gory addition to the horror genre, but instead, the characters Pearce just collapsed, the plot dissolved into nonsense, and any hope of coherence was left for dead. And don’t even get me started on Mina (our disaster of an FMC)—by the end, she was making one brainless decision after another. I found myself actively rooting for her demise because, honestly, if she had zero self-preservation, why should I care? This was a hard, unapologetic NO from me. 🚫 Character development went down the drain and so did the plot.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC, 1.5 stars.

This started off strong with an unsettling, haunting feeling. The author crafted the perfect atmosphere in an isolated town set in the 1980's with an almost cultish like community in their beliefs. The characters were fully formed, and the parents, among many, were bordering on aggravating with some of their actions. Without giving spoilers, I will say that when a storyline takes a turn, what had occurred beforehand should still have some kind of explanation or closure. I left this story with mixed feelings, enjoying it but feeling like there was something missing and questions gone unanswered. Overall, I would still recommend this one and say to keep an open mind going in. Three and a half stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

Daisy Pearce's "Something in the Walls" is an evocative tale brimming with psychological and supernatural tension.

The novel follows protagonist Mina Ellis, a fledgling psychologist still grappling with the profound loss of her brother six years earlier. Pearce deftly combines the unraveling of Mina's personal psyche with the eerie mysteries of the Webber family, particularly Alice, a bedridden teenager convinced she’s possessed by a witch. The bucolic yet unsettling parish of Banathel, with its haunting history of occult tragedies, serves as the perfect backdrop for a story that keeps readers gripped from start to finish.

The pacing is masterfully handled, pulling readers through a narrative marked by unrelenting intrigue and a creeping sense of dread. Pearce keeps the tension simmering, balancing Mina’s internal struggles with the external pressures of a community clinging to its dark past. As Mina’s skepticism about Alice’s condition evolves into chilling doubt, the arrival of Vicky Matherson catalyzes a shocking turn of events that leaves readers reeling. The blend of psychological depth and suspenseful plotting ensures every page is rich with uncertainty and fascination.

The novel's true strength lies in its characters. Mina is a deeply empathetic yet flawed protagonist, and her interactions with the enigmatic Webber family—particularly Alice’s protective yet strained siblings, Tamsin and Billy—are as compelling as the mysterious affliction itself. Pearce’s ability to intertwine psychological insight with supernatural horror results in a taut and immersive tale. "Something in the Walls" is an enthralling debut that will captivate fans of suspenseful, character-driven storytelling.

This novel was perfectly creepy and dark! The pacing was on point and the tension well-crafted through its entirety. This folk horror tale had me guessing until the end, filled with twists and turns. I highly recommend if you enjoy a disturbing story blending psychological and supernatural horror.

**4.5-stars**

Mina has been educated to be a child psychologist, but she lacks real world experience. Unfortunately, this makes it challenging for her to secure a position in the field. It's one of those odd circumstances, where people only want to hire individuals with experience, but how are you to get experience if no one will hire you?

Thus, Mina is stuck, just spinning her wheels. That is until Mina is suddenly presented with an unusual opportunity while attending her local bereavement group, where she goes to help process her grief from her brother's death. She meets another member, Sam Hunter, who happens to be a journalist and he asks for her assistance with a story he's currently working on.

In the remote village of Banathel, 13-year old, Alice Webber, lives with her family. After unsettling behavioral changes, Alice reveals that a witch is haunting her, causing various disturbing occurrences. Sam and Mina travel to Banathel to stay with the Webber family, to see if they can get to the bottom of what is going on with Alice. Sam is hoping for the scoop of a lifetime, while Mina is hoping to help Alice, whilst also gaining the experience she so desperately needs.

I loved the way this story was set-up. I had listened to 47% of the audiobook before I even came up for air. I was absolutely engrossed. The narrator was a perfect match to our MC, Mina, and I felt like she succeeded in bringing the story to life. From the start, this loosely reminded me of The Wonder by Emma Donoghue, but much creepier and more atmospheric.

I just felt like Something in the Walls was so good. It's chilling and gripping. I raced through it, needing answers. The various scenes and things going on in Banathel, it got under my skin; genuinely creepy AF at times. While it wrapped up too quickly for my tastes, after the reveal, I still think it was so hella good. It was intriguing and horrifying in a very human way. I also loved Mina and Sam working together, digging into the history of Banathel.

Overall, this story had me absolutely hooked throughout. It had all the things I need to love a story and I appreciated the author's ability to write some truly chilling horror imagery.

Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I am so stoked to read more from the author in the future!

Thank you, Net Galley and St. Martin's Press, for a copy of the audiobook.

Overall, I enjoyed the quality of the audiobook. I felt the reader did a great job with voices and making characters easy to distinguish. Pacing was also enjoyable - wasn't too fast or too slow.

Story wise, I really enjoyed the premise of this book and sped through it pretty quickly. I felt as the story went on though, it kept shifting focus - was it a haunting, a possession, or a cult!? Why not all three! The ending somehow was anticlimactic for me and that may be because it wasn't really in line with the build up to that point.

I'd still suggest this to anyone looking for a horror book that isn't too graphic and has good lore built in.

This was scary, like heart pounding, needing the lights on scary. This is the definition of eerie and horrifying, and I did not see anything coming.