This was an interesting book. I really liked it but didn't at the same time. I felt like there remained some information on backstory missing to keep the plot coherent.

Thanks to NetGalley and Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press for the ARC.

It was a little slow to get into at first, but it was so intriguing. There is a very fine line between the modern world and the folk magic of the Appalachians that the family subscribes to; even when the true background of the Haddesleys comes out, there's still something in the bog that lingers with them. If there's one thing, I noticed that it explored gender roles/performances with Charlie's treatment by the family even before he's physically disabled, and I wish there was a bit more explored with that.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Haunting and Beautifully Written

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister is a mesmerizing and atmospheric novel that weaves folklore, mystery, and lyrical prose into a haunting tale. Chronister’s writing is beautifully evocative, immersing the reader in a world that feels both eerie and enchanting. The story unfolds at a slow, deliberate pace, drawing you deeper into its rich, unsettling atmosphere.

The characters are intriguing, and the novel’s themes of love, loss, and transformation are handled with a delicate, almost dreamlike quality. However, the pacing may feel a bit slow for some readers, and certain plot points leave room for interpretation, which may not appeal to everyone.

Despite this, The Bog Wife is a beautifully crafted story that lingers in your mind long after you’ve finished. If you enjoy dark, atmospheric tales with a touch of the uncanny, this book is well worth the read!

While the premise was nice, the writing was... not what I expected. I wanted more from the characters because I felt that what was on the front cover and the front flap was not what we were given.

I value the opportunity I was given to read this in advance, but I still haven't read this. With so many books ahead of me, I cannot return to this title.

I really wanted to love this book, but I found the writing to be hard to get into. The way it was written made it difficult to connect with the characters, because we weren't really invited in as the reader and just made to watch.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister!

I went into the book blind and feel it is difficult to review without revealing major spoilers. But, this was wild!

The bog had belonged to the Haddesley family for years ever since their ancestor was throwing into the bog as a punishment. This punishment led to a bargain made that would last for centuries. He resurfaced with a woman, his wife, and the bog now lived within him. The tradition continued where the oldest male gets a bog wife and other siblings cannot marry.

The tradition threatens to come to an end as another elder passes, unsure if his son can keep the promise to the bog.

Folklore vibes, unsettling, and very different from what I thought I was going to be reading, but in a good way!

Thanks to NetGalley and Counterpoint LLC for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very atmospheric - eerie and creepy. Good elements of family legacy and environmental degradation.

More horror-adjacent than true horror, imo.

I just finished The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister and was enthralled with this ethereal, fantastical fairy tale. The story follows the lives of 5 siblings living in Appalachia on a cranberry bog. They have a complicated family history and relationship with one another. I loved the connections with the natural world and beautiful prose. It is a story that will linger in my mind long after reading

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC.

"Appalachian noir" was enough to grab my interest, but an ancient, mystical cranberry bog that produces a "bog wife" upon ritualistic sacrifice? OBSESSED. Such a strong sense of place, haunting tone, and a complicated family full of messy characters. I absolutely loved this one.

An Appalachian folk horror full of creeping and uncomfortable dread. It might not make you jump out of your seat but there is something so deeply unsettling to me about a home being reclaimed by the elements while it's still inhabited. Consider this a 3.5 star rating from me, it's one of those stories where a lot of the separate parts are engaging and interesting but after finishing it I'm not sure it stuck the landing for me.

3.5 stars rounded down

Thank you to NetGalley and Counterpoint Press for providing me with a review copy of this title. I feel like this book didn't know if it wanted to be a dysfunctional family character story or a fantasy-driven folk horror, and ultimately didn't stick the landing on either. While the setting of West Virginia's cranberry bogs was atmospheric and immersive, I didn't immediately connect with the cast of characters, which ultimately is the selling point of the book.

The plot twist at the half way mark took the plot in what I thought was a new direction, but then dovetailed to veer back into the fantasy and folkloric aspects, which felt misguided to me. Bonus points, however, for the imagery of a disgraced family squatting in their run-down ancestral manor, which is always so gothic to me.

This was exactly the flavor of creepy that I love in a horror novel. We are following a family who lives apart from the modern world, in a house being taken over by the surrounding wetlands. These wetlands have not only given them food and shelter for generations, but it has also apparently given the eldest male in the family…a wife. This was a story that gave you a sinking feeling from the very first page and it only got worse (in the best way!) It gave me a similar feeling to that of The Village which is one of my favorite horror films and is an atmosphere that I am always looking for more of! Thank you so much for this!!

I really wanted to love this book! Parts of it were really well done, like the atmosphere and the physical descriptions of the bog and the dilapidated house. The family of characters were all so odd, but of course they would have to be to live the way they do. The entire book had a dream-like quality to it, almost like looking through a haze that only gets thicker as the story goes on.
Something just didn’t line up for me to absolutely love it, but I am looking forward to reading more from Chronister.

I have to admit that I took a little time between reading The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister and writing this review. I read it during the busiest time of the semester both as a professor and as a PhD student so I wanted to give it time to sink in and marinate a little. Now that I’ve had that time, I have to say that I loved it.

The book was very unique and I do think that how Chronister approached the topic of collective family trauma was wonderfully done. I’m absolutely a sucker for broken narratives and how Chronister jumps from one sibling to another seamlessly was addictive. It reminded me of Tommy Orange’s There, There (which was one of my required books for this semester, hence the comparison).

Kay Chronister’s The Bog Wife follows the Haddesley family and the cranberry bog that they’ve tended to for generations. Their continuous care for the bog is what helps provide for them and allows them to remain separated from the rest of the world. The bog also provides a “bog-wife” through a ritual where the patriarch of the family is sacrificed so that the next patriarch can carry on the family line. However, this time the bog refuses to honor the bargain and this generation has to figure out the next steps of how and why the bog has failed to provide for them after all this time.

Reading the perspective of five siblings: Eda, Charlie, Wenna, Percy, and Nora offers a different approach to why the bog did what it did and how to fix it. Wenna is the only one who has seen and lived in the outside world and can try to heal the wounds left by the trauma of generations before.

The story is beautiful and haunting. It’s a reminder that we as humans not only need to take care of ourselves but also take care of nature as well. While nature can provide it is equally as capable of destruction, especially the longer we neglect it. The shared experience of natural destruction and the different approaches for how to “amend” the situation is so unique. I firmly believe that Chronsiter presents something wholly original and unseen before with The Bog Wife.

I highly recommend The Bog Wife to anyone regardless of what their preferred reading genre is and honestly, I would probably read this one again. There are so many different perspectives that I believe there’s stuff I certainly missed during my first read-through.

This book was fascinating. I found the plot and characters to be very interesting, compelling, and engaging. I was invested throughout the whole narrative. The setting was unique and interesting. The family history was a fascinating backdrop for the story.

I did enjoy reading this book. I love the premise of folk horror intermingled with myths and mystery. The characters were interesting and well written, and the family dynamics were heartbreaking. I think it was an interesting book, and I would definitely recommend it. I can't wait to see what the author will come up with next.

Thank you Net Galley ARC

Super creepy and filled with Gothic allure, this novel is absolutely unique, yet not totally my cup of tea.

The Haddesley family lives next to a bog in an environmentally impoverished part of WV. They have a mystical relationship with the bog. They care for it, and, in return, it provides them with a "bog wife" after the family patriarch dies. This "wife" propagates the family line. However, even though it's now time for another bog wife to come forth from the bog, she doesn't appear--and the family is scared of what's to come.

We get chapters from all four Haddesley kids' POVs, but I never felt that I really got to know any of them all that well. Wenna stood out, mostly because she was the only one who escaped the house and had intriguing stores to tell about that experience. Still, their individual personalities don't really come through all that well, so when the ending came, I was confused more than intrigued by their fates. Their characterizations are overshadowed by dense natural description and family discussions that don't add much to the overall narrative.

While this novel wasn't really my type of book, it would absolutely be enjoyed by those who enjoy modern Gothic tales, especially ones with an overall supernatural tone.

Though this book didn’t fully keep my attention, it’s a very solid piece of folky horror. Myths, mysterious happenings, tragic family dynamics. I didn’t like it quite as much as I expected, but I enjoyed it!