I was trying my best to play this out in my head, and I was able to. However, it was missing a few things and was slightly bland for me.

Something in the Walls fell a little flat for me. I was expecting something a little more paranormal, or something similar to The Exorcist, but the supernatural elements were pretty weak, and I felt like a lot of the characters had very weak characterization. I did enjoy the first third or so of the book, but after that the plot seemed to sort of fall apart, and it just wasn't scary.

Ohhhh this book was kinda creepy! In the best way! I loved the character development and their story. The eeriness kept me from putting the book down!

Newly graduated as a child psychologist, Mina and a journalist try to find the truth about a young girl’s trauma. Is she just pretending or is she really a witch? Creepy townsfolk adds to the darkness of this story.

When Mina, a recent graduate of psychology, gets called by her new friend, Sam, to investigate supernatural happenings in a small town, she stumbles into something she can barely describe, much less escape.

What I loved most about Daisy Pearce’s storytelling style was her poetic way of describing in detail the events that unfolded. Beautiful and haunting storytelling at its finest.

A tense, truly terrifying horror folktale, Something in the Walls is for fans of The Haunting of Hill House and Midsommar. Maybe even a pinch of The Exorcist. This book will make you want to selfishly save chapters in hopes it won't end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Something in the Walls started off solid. A mystery with some witchcraft, it started as a pretty unique premise. I'm not sure what happened, but this book went off the rails a bit and turned into something completely different. It lost me halfway through and the ending left me scratching my head. 2 Stars for me.

Thanks to Net Galley & St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book!

A page-turning thriller, that will keep you riveted until the end!

Mina is a newly-graduated child psychologist who finds herself swept up into a story of a young woman who is posessed by a frightening spirit.
Mina wants to believe that there is a rational explanation but becomes more uncertain as the story develops. She is eventually part of a hundreds years old story of a an entire village that is enthralled with superstition and ridding young women of the devils within them.

As a main character, I would have loved to have seen Mina lean more into the trope of "scientist who tries to explain away the eldritch monster." For the most part, she just felt to me like she was just observing and not doing much to move the plot forward.

This book is frightening but I couldn’t put it down. A perfect book for those who love the fine line between the supernatural and the very human evils that truly exist.

the perfect mix of suspenseful, creepy, witchy, dark, and fast-paced that kept me hooked. i genuinely was surprised at every turn and thought the ending was excellent.

The premise was promising, with a house that seems to have a malevolent presence lurking within its walls, and Pearce creates a genuinely creepy vibe. However, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, and the pacing dragged in parts. While there are some tense moments and unexpected twists, the plot didn’t fully deliver the punch I was hoping for. It’s an interesting read but didn’t leave a lasting impact.

I’m a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to all things spooky. Watching the news is horrifying enough for me! However, I do have one exception: I’ve developed a fondness for folk horror over the years, as it often feels akin to dark fairy tales, which is right in my wheelhouse.

That’s why “Something in the Walls” immediately caught my eye. It’s described as a story brimming with tension and folklore, and for the most part, it lived up to that description. The plot follows Mina, a newly minted child psychologist, as she travels to a small British town to help a young girl who seems to be possessed by a witch. As Mina delves into the town’s history and its residents, she uncovers truths that blur the lines between her scientific background and something otherworldly.

The author does a wonderful job of creating an oppressive atmosphere that enhances the ever-present feeling of evil lurking on every page. The pacing is swift, keeping the story engaging. However, I have two qualms: first, I found some elements a bit predictable, and second, the folklore shared throughout was so compelling that I simply wanted more of it.

Overall, I consider “Something in the Walls” a worthy addition to anyone’s spooky season TBR, particularly if you enjoy history woven into your horror.

I’m fairly certain Daisy Pearce’s Something In the Walls was engineered in a lab specifically for me. The supernatural 90s-set creep-fest revolving around an English teenager claiming to be haunted by a witch has shades of some of my favorite horror movies — The Conjuring, The Witch, and Midsommar — as well as the real-life Enfield haunting in the late 70s. On top of that there are great characters and the prose is *chef’s kiss*, written in such a way that certain sentences have continued to echo around in my brain long after I’ve finished reading. So, dab yourself with holy water, say a prayer, and let’s dive in, shall we?

While on the surface this book (due out early next year) is about a child psychologist agreeing to investigate a potential haunting in a remote town on the English coast with a handsome (if not entirely ethical) journalist, it’s actually a cautionary tale about what can happen if you settle for a painfully boring fiancé: your life will eventually become so dull that you’d rather hang out with a demonically possessed teenager than marry him. (Just kidding.) (Well, kind of.)

To be fair, Mina, said child psychologist, also agrees to join Sam on his trip to the tiny, sheltered (and fictional) village of Banathel for an article in his newspaper because of her own tragic history — she’s never quite gotten over the death of her younger brother, and she hopes taking Alice’s case will help her come to terms with it, whether she’s conscious of that rationale or not.

Usually witchy haunting stories are all cloudy weather, pouring rain, and damp, cold rooms. Something in the Walls is the opposite — a brutal, sweltering summer setting that beats down on you while reading like the unrelenting sun. The descriptions of the endless heat are such an effective way to amp up the pressure — you’re hot, sweaty, irritated, waiting for the action to boil over. Pearce’s descriptions in general are so visceral and specific, I felt like I could almost take a big, rancid bite out of them, tearing into the scenes myself. (“Sweat bites into my skin, stinging my eyes. The smell in here is clotting, turning greasy.”)

Not only that, but I really found this book genuinely scary. Witches don’t always strike me as ~horrifying~ in general; that’s usually a space reserved for demons or ghosts, which more reliably freak me out. But man, this novel makes a case for witches being scariest of all. Two scenes in particular — one in a gross, rundown house where Sam and Mina are investigating the folk origins of the witch, and the other during Mina and Alice’s fraught conversation about whether or not witchcraft is real in the latter’s boiling bedroom — were so tense that I didn’t realize I’d been holding my breath, stock still, until they were over. Even now, as I type this, I can see in my mind’s eye the nightmare fuel that both invoked in me. Rest assured I’ll never look at chimneys the same way again.

Now, I have a few, teeny-tiny bones to pick about the ending and its big ‘twist’. But — but!!! — for the record, I was very into the Midsommar turn it all takes. Especially the very last scene. I’m just confused by the abrupt pivot away from Alice’s possession, as I thought we were going to get more details about what (or who) might be haunting her. There is so much great horror preceding the final handful of chapters, that it felt just a smiiiiidge anticlimactic in regards to the witch, specifically.

Even still, pretty much a five-star read for me. Skip this book at your own peril.

(Also a little fun fact for you: the word “Banathel,” the name of the village, appears to to mean ‘brooms’ in the Cornish dialect. Hah.)

Something In The Walls is available on Feb. 25, 2025. Shout out to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Something In The Walls started out with a strong creepy vibe which I was really into! Mina, a young,
inexperienced child psychologist, is asked to travel to a small town to tell Alice, a young girl who seems to be haunted by a dangerous witch. Alice says she sees here through the slats in the walls. The whole beginning is face paced and very creepy. But about 3/4 of the way through it felt like I was reading a completely different book. All of a sudden there was a crime and that became the sole focus of the story and we never find out what happens to Alice. The ending felt rushed and disconnected from the beginning and main storyline. I ended the book confused and disappointed.

This was the perfect spooky read. It kept me hooked since the beginning. I love a good witchy book, and this book gave me all the creepy vibes. The description in some scenes had me looking over my shoulder. I can't wait for this book to come out and for everyone to read!

I enjoyed this book! I was very invested in the witch and alice story. I will say that story line ending did fall a little flat for me in the end. I did not see the twist coming at all though and was really happy with that! also loved the justice ending!

Thanks to SMP and netgalley for an early look, sorry it wasn't a winner for me.

Really bad first person narration that is all tell and no show. As often happens in these situations that narrator comes off very juvenile and not a fully-formed woman capable of being a social worker.

The writing features zingers like "his cheeks are like razor blades" the same character has a very long nose and fingers apparently, why these details are included is beyond me. I have never in my life been describing anyone and mentioned their long fingers.

I DNF'd it.

Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce is an attempt at the haunted house genre that has good ideas but fails to expand or expand on them.

This started out as a compelling story and caught my attention right away. I was intrigued to see where the witch and ghost aspect of this plot would go and was hoping for a creepy story. The first half of this book I was given exactly that, but about half way through the story completely shifted into something else. Plot points that were made in the beginning were just left to never be explained and the entire story and characters became very confusing. I think if the author would've stuck with the original plot and kept this as a paranormal story this easily would've been a 5 star for me because the writing was phenomenal. Unfortunately, this book fell victim to too many things happening and not enough explained.

I loved the first 3/4 of this book but then it went off the rails for me after. The story centers on Mina, a newly minted child psychologist who is asked by a new friend to weigh in on a case where a teenaged girl seems to be possessed by a witch. Both Mina and her new friend Sam have personal reasons for wanting to get involved as well.

There were some definite creepy parts in the book where the young girl Alice experiences what may or may not be supernatural possession. The way the author described the dread that Mina feels gave me goosebumps more than once. I also really liked trying to decipher the question mark around the family’s motivations. Later in the book the storyline takes a bit of a turn and while there was potential in this new storyline, it left a lot of unanswered questions with the original storyline and also created new confusion in itself. The book lost me a bit at that point, and when it ended I was still left with questions. My other wish in this book was to get a little more info into Mina’s and her fiancé Oscar’s relationship- I didn’t feel like I really understood how they got to the point where they were.

Overall, this book had a ton of potential with a 5 star start, but lost me as it continued and I walked away with unanswered questions. Major kudos to the author on the creepiness factor though- I am hard ro scare! Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Something in the Walls started off with an eerie vibe but the more the story went on the less atmospheric it became. Personally, I thought the creepiness factor was lacking and the story overall became predictable.

An excellent tale! I enjoyed the references to the Enfield Hauntings, that as a lover of paranormal investigations, made this seem much more realistic. The author was able to create an incredibly tense atmosphere that kept me on my toes. It was a bit of a slow burn but when the action took off it did so at breakneck speed. I was completely invested in the plight of the main character and absolutely loved the ending! A big thank you to NetGalley and the author for allowing me to access a ARC of this title free of charge. My review is being left voluntarily and all opinions are my own.