This is pretty different from the first book, which I enjoyed. It’s not contained to one mysterious location this time. Mina is pretty smart for the most part, but does make a couple of frustrating mistakes. (If you knew the truth about The Watchers, would you really expect people in authority to believe your story? Mina apparently does.) The overall premise of this sequel was not as interesting to me. Since we now essentially know what we're dealing with, the suspense isn't as strong. However, the parts of the story involving the creatures were good. Creepy, suspenseful and frightening. Those were by far the best scenes. The problem was, there weren't enough of them.

The writing itself was dense and a bit tough to follow. It felt like it was written specifically to sound good when read aloud, like the focus was mainly on how nicely the audiobook would flow. There were quite a few times that I had to go back and read a few sentences more than once because I didn’t quite understand what I just read. Shine also did something repeatedly that annoyed me just like it did in the first installment, formatting sentences like this: “Flanagan was seen to grin.” Why write like this? Just say that he grinned.

But, aside from the effective parts with the creatures themselves, I was also somewhat invested in Sean's storyline even if it was a bit weighed down by exposition in places. I also appreciated getting more insight into Madeline, and there were good details there. (Her appreciation for free water, the story behind her appearance, etc.) She's an interesting and complex character, and her interactions with everyone else were great, too.

I like pretty much anything that involves doppelgangers or a being that can shapeshift/mimic someone's appearance, so the concept of The Watchers is very cool to me. I think this story went a little TOO deep into their backstory, though, if you can believe it. Sometimes I like a monster more when I know less about it. The third act suffered a little bit from Villain monologuing, as well, which always bothers me and lessens the impact of a good reveal.

I guessed part of the ending but there were some nice surprises that I wasn't expecting. I'll probably read part 3 just to see what happens. (Yes, there was set-up for another one!)

One request, though. I am BEGGING you, Mina: Just give your damn parrot an actual name. I can't read "The Yellow One" again. If you're going to lug a giant cage with you everywhere you owe it to him to give him a moniker.

3.5 Stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this novel. I highly enjoyed it and will be recommending it to others.

I absolutely loved the book "The Watchers", so I was extremely excited to start this book, especially considering how the last one ended. I was not disappointed! In fact, I actually think I may have enjoyed this book a bit more than the first. I love how Mina is looking for the others as well as not being believed by anyone about what is going on. Granted, it does seem farfetched, but I was clearly rooting for her to make people aware. I especially recommend this for your spooky season TBR!

I picked up my first AM Shine book in the Dublin airport. “Stay in the Light” is a great sequel to “The Watchers.” The less you know going into this one, the better. Can’t wait for his next book.

First and foremost, I *adore* A.M. Shine. His books are masterfully crafted Gothic horror classics, enriched with captivating elements of Irish lore.

Having thoroughly enjoyed “The Watchers,” I was eager to see how the group would fare upon their return to civilization in “Stay in the Light.” The book begins with Mina, who is understandably traumatized by her experiences in the woodlands. However, I felt that the first part of the book dwelled too much on her trauma, making it slow-moving.

Once Mina’s hibernation phase was over, the storyline picked up significantly. The tension surrounding Sean’s anticipated actions was masterfully built, keeping me on the edge of my seat. The inclusion of mythological stories as hypotheses for the construction of the stone caverns added a fascinating layer to the narrative.

***Spoiler Alert***: The book features two major twists. While I found the first twist to be somewhat predictable, the second twist was truly spectacular and took me by surprise.

The ending hints at a potential third book. However, I feel that the story has reached its natural conclusion and doesn’t need further continuation. Overall, “Stay in the Light” was an engaging read, despite its slow start.

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 Let me start this review with a warning that this may contain spoilers for the first book in the series, The Watchers as this book takes place after the ending events of the previous book.

I truly enjoyed reading The Watchers and I have to say as a sequel this was just as incredibly engrossing and creepy. Stay in the Light’s plot takes place one month after Mina has survived her ordeal with the Watchers, only to now be left hyper vigilant to every person she comes in contact with. And for good reason, for just as the Watchers powers begin to grow people begin to disappear forcing Mina to confront the horrors she just escaped. While this sequel takes the reader back into this twisted world following Mina, Ciara, and Madeline it differs from its predecessor in the fact that we are now spread out over multiple story locations rather than just the woodland forest one. Pacing wise the multiple locations do cause for a bit of a slower go, as you watch these characters acclimate to their new normal. However, this allowed the author to build amazing tension that had me holding my breath many times. Although this lacks the element of mystery that the first book had surrounding the Watchers, we are instead given a greater expansion on their mythology/history which I really loved unraveling. Honestly I found the Watchers to be even creepier in this book, so the mysterious “who are they” element wasn’t something I personally missed. And while the first half was slower the second half most definitely makes up for this. The ending is something I could see being a point of contention tho, it’s one of those you either love it or hate it kind of ones. I myself enjoyed the ending and as it seems there may even be a third installment. Overall this was a highly effective sequel and I absolutely recommend this series to horror fans and anyone wanting a bit of introduction into the creepy side of Irish folklore.

Stay in the Light comes out October 22nd, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Book one spoilers below, don’t read unless you’ve read the first book.

This was SO damn good, far better than I was expecting it to be honestly. If you were like me and had qualms about reading book 2, read it. I was hesitant at first too! I was expecting this to be an unnecessary sequel and almost didn’t read it, but I’m really glad that I did because the blurb really doesn’t do this book justice.

So, I read The Watchers back in 2021 and what made it memorable for me was the mystery aspect of it all. The whole, what is the explanation behind it all and how are they going to escape. My worry going into this sequel was with the mystery aspect being taken out because everything was revealed in the first book, would that take away that urgency in the sequel and make it less tense and scary? Now that we know the secret behind it all being changelings, now what? I had qualms that this would become a thing where the sequel isn’t scary or interesting because the big reveal is gone. But, if anyone else who read book one has similar worries like I did, this sequel is DEFINITELY worth the read. Once you get to about 40% in, the book is unputdownable.

The book starts with an archeological excavation revealing a find at the Burren, a historically significant series of tombs in Ireland that have been around for thousands of years. Underneath the stone is a system of caves that have never been explored, and researchers made the discovery of a man made vertical shaft that connects the surface to a hidden cavern. A shaft that clearly was not supposed to be found. So they fly a drone into the caves and find deep markings on the walls, written in the ancient language of Ogham. And upon further discovery, stairs going deeper into the cave system. but of course, when they try to fly the drone down the stairs, it loses power for no reason when it all should be operating normally, so it looks like they’re going down into the caves themselves. And of course, even after hearing creepy voices coming from the shaft, they still are gonna go down there because it’s probably just “the wind”. More creepy stuff happens, more people hearing strange things, yet they still plan to explore the caves. After reading that part, I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down. I eventually had to stop reading to go to sleep and it was HARD. This is definitely a one sitting type of book. I was not expecting this book to go into the Irish mythology route, which is something I am not familiar with at all, but the mythology of this book is based on actual Irish folklore. I looked some of the stuff up as I was reading and had zero clue that according to Irish mythology, the origins of fairies stem from a mythical race that was one of the first tribes to arrive in Ireland. This book made me realize how little I know about Irish folklore but the root of what these changelings are in this book is based on actual Irish mythology.

I also wasn’t expecting this book to be scary at all but it actually was kind of creepy! I don’t think the blurb does the book justice because it sounds so uninteresting and barely like it would be horror, but the actual book is so much better than the blurb and has a lot more to it than advertised. So I’d say, if you liked book one, you’d like this too! It’s also a super fast read, and felt more like 200 pages than 300 which is a good thing.

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

A fantastic read for those who loved the watchers. I appreciate the continual story and can’t wait for book 3

Wow, what a ride this book took me on!
It started off slow for me. But when it picked up, I could not put it down…I craved to know what happened next!
This book was so well written, as always I love A.M. Shine’s writing style. It’s almost, dare I say, poetic?
Anyways, the storyline was so intriguing about the history of the faeries and Morrigan. There must be a third book coming with that ending… right? Please don’t leave us hanging!
4 stars for me.

In addition to the wonderful paranoia of not knowing who is what they appear to be, we get a second storyline in which Sean Kilmartin, unaware of his father’s actions in the forest near Connemara, is funding an archeological dig to find evidence changelings were real. I love a good bit of archeological horror and this certainly fit the bill.

It does end with a bit of a cliffhanger and an interesting setup for more action. I look forward to the next installment.

While it’s entirely possible to read and enjoy this book without having read The Watchers, knowledge of the previous book does add to the overall suspense and creates a richer experience.

I loved The Watchers so much, it’s a favorite of mine. But unfortunately, I don’t think it needed a sequel. I felt bored for most of it, because we were getting backstory on things from the first book and a lot of the suspense was taken out of the story for that reason. This felt more like a prequel than a sequel. It wasn’t bad, I just had such high hopes and was let down.

I love when a sequel lives up to (or even surpasses) the first, and this one’s does that. I love that this picks up right where The Watchers left off. The eeriness and dread are prominent right from the start, and my god is the story bleak. I love Shines style, his writing flows beautifully and is so enjoyable to read. Mimic creatures and caves are something I find so unsettling, and this gave me the claustrophobic creeeeeeeps. Like any great book, there were characters to love, and characters to hate, and boy did I hate one character in particular 😒 All in all, I really loved this and it definitely seems set up for a third book - which I cannot wait to read.

i might be biased because i love a. m. shine, but i loved this book. just good, solid folk horror. if you liked the watchers, this one is worth picking up!

I loved the first book by A.M. Shine I'm still thinking about it 2 years after reading it so I was thrilled when a new part of the series was coming out. I love that they story still follows Mina. I wish it had more of the creatures involved in the book, but overall was still a great sequel!

Thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for an advanced copy of Stay in the Light in exchange for an honest review.

I rated this 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars.

I read The Watchers a couple years ago, and absolutely loved the creepy atmosphere, the slow burn of horror and the somewhat ambiguous ending, which gave me chills. I still think about that book to this day. I was extremely excited to have received an ARC for the sequel, and I was definitely not disappointed.

Stay in the Light picks up a couple years after the events of the first book. Mina has definitely been struggling with everything she learned and escaped from. I loved the multiple POVs throughout - there were a few twists I didn't see coming, and this one was definitely had more of a high-stakes feel to it. I absolutely loved the history and detail about the changelings, which answered a lot of questions we were left with at the end of the first book. The new characters were fantastic as well. Parts of the book involving the new characters had a bit of "The Mummy" feel to it. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger, so I feel certain there will be at least one more installment in this series. If not, the ending is much bleaker than that of the initial book (and the ending to this would work either way - another installment or not). I'm absolutely loving the slow burn of the story and world-building, which has started to pick up the pace with this book, and I feel like the next novel (if there is going to be one) will be even more exciting.

If you loved The Watchers, you are in for a treat with Stay in the Light!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Stay in the Light was an absolutely INSANE continuance of The Watchers. Once you get through the first couple of slower chapters, the action and chills are non-stop. A.M. Shine's writing style is so alluring, I read this entirely in one sitting and didn't want it to end. Can't believe I don't hear more people talking about this series!!

It took me a bit to remember the events of the first book; as a result, the story didn’t catch steam until the second act. But once it found its footing and steam-rolled into the third act, this book was a lot of fun, good horror and worth reading if you enjoyed its predecessor. My only gripe is that it felt very trilogy-focused. But I love what it did for the subtle apocalypse genre.

I was so happy to receive an ARC of this sequel, and it didn't disappoint. While it did start of slow (just like the first novel), once it picked up it was non-stop. I found this one more scary. A.M. Shine is great at world building and making some very eery scenes. I was also happy with how it ended- hoping it means there will be a third installment!

I was so excited to get this ARC! I loved The Watchers, and couldn't wait for the movie. I was so happy a sequel was coming out. I absolutely devoured this book within two days, I think. I loved how it ended and IF there is a third, I will be requesting that one as well. (Not trying to post spoilers). I loved getting to read more into the lore and seeing all of the characters back again (especially the yellow one). I hope this sequel gets turned into a movie as well. I also loved Mina and Madeline's back and forth banter in this one. Once again, thank you to A.M. Shine, publisher, and Netgalley for this ARC. If you loved The Watchers and wanted more of Mina and the yellow ones story, this will definitely be for you!

It took me a while to get up to speed because I didn’t remember exactly who was who and this sequel didn’t offer any recaps. There are also new characters and, well, the ones that didn’t make it to the end of The Watchers may not be here, but the consequences of their actions still cast long shadows. Once I remembered the main plot points of the original novel, this one started to make sense. The urgency, the creepiness and the truly horrific terror of the creatures grows almost imperceptibly. Yes, Mina’s life is pretty awful, but nothing bad is really happening. Or is it? The tension grows and grows until I couldn’t bear it. Some chapters underground are really scary - and I don’t scare easily. The first volume was so perfect that I wasn’t sure if a sequel was a good idea, but I think it works well. The polished writing and thought out plot elevates this from a regular horror novel to a truly great book. I can’t say I enjoyed this read, because it made me suffer right along with the characters. Excellent!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Bloomsbury USA | Head of Zeus.