In Something in the Walls, Daisy Pearce weaves a chilling tale about a young, inexperienced child psychologist named Mina, who finds herself drawn into a mysterious and unsettling case. The novel opens with Mina, who, despite her professional aspirations, is stuck in a rut, coping with a heatwave and the stress of an upcoming marriage to her meticulous fiancé, Oscar. Mina’s life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Sam Hunter, a journalist at her grief support group. Sam presents her with an opportunity to help a young girl named Alice, who believes she's being haunted by a witch in the remote village of Banathel.

The book's eerie atmosphere is its greatest strength. Pearce expertly builds tension with an unsettling sense of dread that permeates every chapter. The village of Banathel, with its isolated, superstitious community, provides a perfect backdrop for the supernatural elements. The creeping sense that something malevolent lurks just out of sight keeps the reader on edge, especially as Mina becomes more desperate to uncover the truth about Alice's haunting.

However, while the creeping horror works well throughout, the pacing of Something in the Walls can feel uneven. Overall, Something in the Walls is a haunting and atmospheric read that explores the intersection of psychological trauma and superstition. Despite some pacing issues, the book’s ability to evoke unease and keep the reader guessing about the truth behind Alice’s haunting makes it an engaging, if occasionally slow-burning, horror novel.

This book started off really strong, but unfortunately, fell short. The ending had me wanting so much more and left me confused.

This book was my first real dive into the horror genre, and I can confidently say it won’t be my last. From the first few pages, it pulled me in and refused to let go, making for an experience that was as chilling as it was captivating.

One of the standout elements of this novel was its unforgettable cast of characters. Each significant character felt distinct, with their own unique personality and motivations, making it easy to form strong opinions about them—both love and loathing in equal measure. This emotional investment kept me hooked, eager to see how their individual stories would unfold.

Despite the ARC containing its fair share of grammatical and formatting errors, they were never distracting enough to take me out of the story. The pacing was masterfully done, with just the right amount of suspense and tension to keep me flipping pages late into the night. Not once did I feel the urge to put it down—every twist and turn kept me engaged until the very end.

Overall, this was a gripping and immersive read that solidified my newfound love for horror. I’m beyond grateful to have experienced this story and can’t wait to recommend it to my horror-loving friends. If this book is any indication of what the genre has to offer, I’m ready for more!

I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. I’m always up for books that involve the history of women accused of being witches. The small town cult element made this one especially creepy. I also found Mina’s backstory to be interesting and well developed. This book echoes Paul Tremblay’s “A Head Full of Ghosts” and the movie Midsommar. I look forward to reading Daisy Pearce’s other books as she is a new author to me. Highly recommend for readers looking for an unsettling, witchy mystery.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Real Rating: 3.5* of five

Psychological horror/thriller novels really do scare me. This one, in a lot of ways, was scary; its only issue for full, effective scare factor in my eyes is the journalist/tyro child psychologist tie-up. I'm really oversensitive to that kind of cruel, manipulative relationship, having been abused by jesus freaks with the truly horrific tale of god and the devil making a bar-bet that Job wouldn't buckle under extreme psychological torture. It didn't help that the male journalist scraped her acquaintance in a group for grieving loss sufferers, a true predator move.

For those reasons I could never get all the way into the story, hence my seemingly ungenerous rating. It *is* effective in its creation of a spooky atmosphere, with icksome details and sensory evocations. Lots of body horror that feels very...bodily...so squeamish souls are duly cautioned. Effectively claustrophobic, emotionally sharp-edged horror read that has some serious flaws.

Minotaur Books wants $14.99 for an ebook. I say it's a good library borrow.

A modern day witch hunt! First, a huge thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the complimentary copies in exchange of my honest review.
This book was a slow burn. And when I normally say slow- I mean it took me forever! Mystery-Horror set in 1980s, a mix of folklore, psychological thriller without the thrill if its up to me. It was catchy in the beginning and it eventually just die down. I refuse to DNF because I was far ahead on the story and pushed through to finish. But, it was a struggle.
Writing is good, characters are somewhat okay- the narrator was unreliable and kinda annoying sometimes. I am definitely not closing my door for Daisy Pearce. I think, even with my love for witch stories that Something in the Walls and me just did not connect.

A supernatural thriller that will have you questioning if you should maybe leave the hall light on at night. Mina meets journalist Sam Hunter at her grief group. When he asks her to join him in traveling to a small town where a young girl is supposedly being haunted by a witch, a part of her says yes in the hope she may find something otherworldly. As a newly licensed child psychologist, the other part of Mina knows there has to be a better explanation for what is going on in this superstitious little town. As she tries to get closer to the truth, she starts to see the town and its inhabitants for what they truly are.

Something in the Walls is not the kind of book I typically gravitate towards, and I liked it a great deal more than I was expecting! I appreciated the combination of characters who are driven to investigate a situation for both "legitimate" reasons (i.e., journalism and science) and also for very personal reasons that are hard for them to articulate (i.e., ongoing grief). I'm also always intrigued by stories with witch trial vibes, so that aspect of the book definitely appealed to me. Pearce did a great job of building tension. As a reader, I was always evaluating the possibility of the rational explanations against the happenings that seemed far from normal, and the depiction of the community made this balancing particularly challenging.

What an adventure. What started out as a creepy story soon turns into a mystery worth solving. Poor Alice suffers and Mina and Sam try hard to figure out the secrets of the town. Sam is obsessed with communication from beyond and Mina is obsessed with figuring out what is going on and how to stop the young girls from being victims of the Riddance that the townspeople and Bert are pushing for. The twist at the end throws a curve ball, and I didn't see it coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press and Minotaur Books for providing this eARC for me in exchange for an honest review.

Well this was odd and I am not sure how to feel about the book.
The book started really slow, I had a hard time getting engaged and the main character was overall just a really sad character who needed some emotional support. Then the pacing picked up when she went to go investigate a possible ghost/demonic possession, and even to the end of the story I am not sure what was real and what was not so that was very well done. There was some plot twists that I could guess but the correlation between them and the possession was not clear so I kept reading for more. And then there was the ending. I have no idea how to feel about all the crazy that went down in the last few chapters, it was a whirlwind of trauma, reveals, torture, secrets and then the book ended on an action that I have no idea how to take in- and then it was over, no answers or resolution, and I feel floundering.
Do I recommend this? Um, no? Did I keep reading and was intrigued? Yes? I guess pick this up at your own discretion but keep in mind that there is no satisfaction to be had here, just heartache, questions and uncertainty.

I was given the opportunity to read this as an arc and this story had me on my toes. Trying to figure out if it was some sort of supernatural/possession or if there was more to the story kept me engaged. I enjoyed the main character, Mina, and it got to a point where I was sure we had an unreliable narrator on our hands. I felt for her with what she was going through throughout this book and the way her story was written made me empathize with her for many reasons. I would recommend this book if you are into witches and folklore in a small town that likes to stick to its traditions and beliefs.

This is an atmospheric and spooky novel, reminiscent of the gothic stories of Barbara Michaels. You'll want to read this one with the lights on and not in the house alone!

First off, props to the creepiest cover I have seen for awhile! Very unsettling and that got me so excited to read this! And for the first part, it was all that I hoped for. Many creepy hints that something was wrong and it definitely seemed supernatural, especially with Mina and Sam searching that abandoned house and finding what they found. Plus Alice did a fantastic job of seeming off, and when the body count started rising, I had to keep reading to see what the truth was and if anyone was going to get out alive and sane. Sadly though the story took a sharp turn and fizzled into something that was not what I expected and also vaguely disappointing after all that build up. That was a real shame.

So I rate this four stars for the first half and 2 stars for the ending (except for what Mina does at the very end which was kinda satisfying.)

I absolutely adored this book and was pleasantly surprised by how entranced I was with the story. I was very excited when I heard it was compared to The Shining and Midsommar, two of my favorite horror movies. After reading this book, I understood what people were saying about the vibes of the book matching up.

This story is witchy and reminded me of one of my favorite authors Camilla Sten. The writing gives spooky and creepy vibes that kept me wanting to know what was happening.

This story starts with a complicated main character, who is going through her own mourning experience. She teams up with a journalist to find a young girl, adding an element of mystery and secrets. I personally love stories that take place in small towns and this story held that troupe.

I recommend this book for people who like the vibes of Midsommar and The Shining, or Camilla Sten's books.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was a quick listen and read, (yes I read it and listened to it) that went by supper quickly. I overall enjoyed this book, and was pretty entertained by it, however I do have a couple of thoughts that my brain has latched on to.

While I did in general enjoy this book, I feel like it was two separate ideas put together. You have the front part of the book, that is this thriller with a journalist and new psychologist trying to figure out if this girl is really seeing this witch/ possessed or if it is a psychiatric disorder. There's this mystery element to it, while also being like deeply emotionally because both the journalist and the Psychologist have a level of wanting the girl to beagle to communicate with the dead. You meet this whole community, quirks and all, and you have a sense of where it's all going. And then you have this almost occult fever dream side/ idea. * SPOILERS AHEAD * this whole town being down for this ritualistic torture, of girls for years, when seemingly it all steams from this one guy who really just comes off a creepy creepy dude who is working towards becoming a serial killer.
The two ideas could really really work together if they were more blended together. They do work in a way now, but they also feel so separate from each other, and leave the reader with so many more questions than answers. Like how and why did all the things in the beginning half of the book happen, like the maple syrup pour down the wall, was that staged? Maybee if there was more answers at the end the two ideas wouldnt feel so separate. Also I had to suspend quite a bit of disbelief to let go and just be like yeah the whole town no questions asked is okay with it all. Like did they think it was just a show? Do they all deeply believe this witch was possessing people, and that it all of a sudden moved from this girl to the psychologist? The two kids that were killed are we supposed to believe the old man killed them? Are we supposed to believe the witch was partially real? Did the family stage some things?
I’m okay with books not wrapping up in a neat little bow, and being left with questions, but I feel as if I have too many questions, and as if I don’t know what way the book was trying to make me lean.

Overall I thought the writing was done really well, and the characters that we got to know felt real. I cared about the characters and what happened to them, I felt sympathy for the journalist and honestly the girl and her family and everything they were going through. It’s always a good thing when I want to continue seeing characters on the page, and there were multiple characters that I kept wanting to recur and got excited about when they did reappear. I am looking forward to more books by this author, and am excited to see where they go next writing wise.

Thank You NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Minotaur Books, and the author for this eARC and AudioARC.

I’ve devoured my fair share of horror novels but Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce is one book I could not read before bed, It was so creepy, like I didn't WANT to know what would happen next, but I NEEDED to know!

When journalist Sam Hunter suggests he and Mina investigate the strange claims of 13-year-old Alice, who believes she’s being haunted by a witch, Mina is hesitant. As a child psychologist, she’s convinced there’s a rational explanation behind Alice's terrifying experiences. But what they uncover is a town immersed in superstition and dark secrets, each more chilling than the last.

I was captivated by the creepy, atmospheric Cornish village—every corner of it oozed unease. The townspeople themselves grew more suspect by the minute. And Alice's dad? He gave me serious chills. Honestly, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong with him, and I loved how that added to the sense of dread

The setting in this book is just one of the many creepy things about it. I usually don't read books in this genre but this one sounded so interesting I decided to give it a try and it certainly didn't disappoint! I can't get these people and their creepiness out of my mind. The writing is so realistically done I could picture every thing in my mind. Just a great book all around. I definitely would recommend to anyone.
Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Twisty, way for a witch story. This was so messed up be oh so good. Felt modern and historical at the same time.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book for review.

The book definitely captured the eerie/creepy Midsommar atmosphere of the small town. Unfortunately, the plot dragged a bit for me and it took me until almost 75% into the book, as things finally started to connect together, to really get invested into the story. I think one of the main things that held me back from feeling invested in the narrative is that many of the main characters are just not that likable and hard to read. Also, as a licensed psychologist, the things that Mina was doing as a recent graduate seemed highly unethical and unrealistic in her approach to helping Alice and her family.

Okay, so aside from thinking, the title doesn't really fit the book(Something in the Chimey doesn't have a good ring, though, so I get it), this book was pretty dang good.

I liked the weird town, I liked our main character(despite her having some majorly bad choices in men), I just liked the entire atmosphere of the book. Grief is such a strange thing, and dare I say, maybe even stronger than love.