Grave Matter by Karina Halle is nothing short of brilliant. With every turn of the page, Halle crafts a story that’s equal parts thrilling, chilling, and deeply emotional, proving once again why she is a powerhouse in the world of dark romance and suspense.

From the very first chapter, Grave Matter pulls you in with its atmospheric tension, richly developed characters, and a plot that is as complex as it is captivating. The chemistry between the main characters is electric, filled with passion, vulnerability, and a sense of danger that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Halle has a unique ability to make even the darkest moments feel poignant and beautiful, making every twist and turn not just shocking, but meaningful.

The worldbuilding is top-notch—Halle’s writing is evocative and immersive, creating a haunting backdrop that draws you deep into the mystery and suspense of the story. But it’s the characters that truly make Grave Matter shine. They’re flawed, complex, and incredibly real, and you’ll find yourself rooting for them, questioning their choices, and feeling every emotion they experience. The emotional depth of this story is extraordinary, offering moments of pure heartbreak, redemption, and catharsis that stay with you long after the final page.

Grave Matter is a rare gem that combines dark, atmospheric thrills with tender, heart-wrenching romance. Karina Halle has truly outdone herself, delivering a novel that is as addictive as it is beautifully written. It’s a must-read for fans of dark romance, suspense, and complex, unforgettable characters. Halle continues to prove she is a master of her craft, and Grave Matter is a testament to her immense talent.

Yes Yes Yes and ten times over. this was my first book of Karina’s and it damn sure wont be my last because this is the wildest ride of a book I have read recently and I had the time of my life binge reading it and silently freaking the hell out bc I had no one to run and scream to about what was happening I literally cannot wait to force my friends to read this just so I can get all of their raw & unhinged reactions to this masterpiece. Dark academia with a science focus is so rare in the romance genre and I ate up the mad scientist vibes, the mycology theme, and the eco-horror. So incredibly refreshing!! And amidst the mindfuckery is fantastic neurodivergent representation, themes of genius vs. madness, grief and self acceptance, and a sexy, smoldering romance. Read it, you'll be thankful.

Sydney Denik is a graduate mycology student who’s life is falling apart. However when she is given a once in a lifetime opportunity to work at the secretive prestigious Madrona Foundation as part of a summer research program studying Alzheimer’s, shit hits the fan, literally. It`s a really creepy story with lots of twist and turns, the mood of the island and the feeling of an unreliable narrator makes this story good, but not good enough, at least for me.

The premise of this book was really exciting, but the completion of it was just lacking for me, unfortunately. But If you love the professor x student trope and some ADHD representation, this book may be for you as I`ve seen many raving reviews about it!

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“We have a saying here, don’t try to change the lodge. Let the lodge change you.”

Tropes:
🍄 SciFi x Phycological Thriller
💀 Dark Academia x Gothic Horror
🍄 Neurodiversity Rep
💀 Teacher/Doctor x Student/Patient
🍄 Women in STEM
💀 Isolated PNW
🍄 BDSM & Degradation

“I have this need to restrain you. To pin you down like a butterfly. To marvel at your beauty but to know that you are caught, that you are mine.”

If Karina Halle writes it, I'm reading it. No questions asked. And boy this one was a wild ride! It was spooky, suspenseful, thought provoking, and of course spicy. Sydney is a grad student and mycologist that has been selected to be part of the student study program with Madrona Institute, located on an isolated inlet of Vancouver island. There are so many twists and turns, you don't know if the lodge is haunted, Sydney is going crazy, or something more sinister is happening in the labs at Madrona. This story kept me on the edge of my seat and had me hooked! It's perfect for spooky/fall season with the eerie, thriller and horror aspects. Wes Kincaid is a double dose of forbidden for Sydney to fall for, he's her teacher and her psychologist. He's a neurosurgeon and works for Madrona. Is he on her side or one of them, can he be trusted? The heat and tension between them was sizzling and felt almost destined.

I really loved this book and the ride it took me on. If you want the perfect fall read, with tons of twists you won't see coming and the feeling of WTF is happening - read this!

"See, boys are allowed to be mad scientists. But when women do it? We’re simply labeled crazy. And even at eight years old, I knew there was a difference."

A perfect dark gothic romance I ate this up. The atmosphere was everything. A bit graphic and gruesome at times so only read if comfortable with that. I think I’ll re-read this in the fall/winter this year 💞

This book was so dark and twisty, but also spicy. It had everything I love in a book in it. Sydney and Wes were really intriguing to follow. I love the way this author pulls you in with the atmosphere and it keeps you invested in the characters. Five out of five stars easy.⭐️

The story was deliciously dark & twisted. Perfect for fans of thrills, dark romance and delving into the unknown. I’d also like to give props to Karina Halle for her versatility in weaving different genres into one masterpiece.

This is such a great combination of spooky, spicy, and sci-fi.

It's fast-paced, twisty, and delivers quite the horror punch.

I really liked that it had ADHD representation. It's not often that you find it well written and without any judgement.

After an incident causes Sydney Denik to lose her scholarship at Stanford, she heads to Vancouver Island to work at the Madrona Foundation. The foundation’s goal is to cure Alzheimer’s and other terminal illnesses using fungi harvested from indigenous land. Sydney hopes to rebuild her future there but once isolated on the island with some of the brightest minds in the field, strange and unexplainable things start happening, making her question not just her surroundings, but her own mental state.

Sydney is immediately drawn to Dr. Wes Kincaid, a professor and psychologist at the institute. She feels a deep connection with him and starts opening up about the hallucinations she’s been experiencing. However, the more she gets to know him, the more she wonders if he’s hiding something. The chemistry between them is undeniable and the steamy scenes are perfect.

I’ll admit, the pacing felt a bit slow at first. However, the eerie atmosphere and ominous tone of the story had me questioning everything, and there was a point in the middle where I had no idea where the story was going. What’s really happening at Madrona? Are the students being experimented on with the mushrooms? Is this place haunted? Or is Sydney just losing her mind?

Then came the twists, brilliant and shocking. I didn’t see any of it coming, and all the pieces that didn’t seem quite right finally fell into place. This story is unlike anything I’ve read before. I loved how the plot takes center stage, with the romance being only a subplot. Grave Matter combines horror, suspense, romance, and gothic elements into an intense, spine-chilling ride that’s impossible to put down. Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and Karina Mackenzie for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review!

Karina Halle is an auto buy author for me. But man this book made me say "what the actual fuck" multiple times and I absolutely loved that!

If you are looking for a book that makes your mind's gears turn, makes you confused, and makes you say "what the fuck" more times than you can count, this is the book for you🤣. I loved how different this was, and I mean DIFFERENT, and I was definitely not expecting the way this book turned out!

"I can't tell if that's creepy or romantic."
"It can be both."

I finished it over a week ago, but needed some time to mull over how a book managed to vascillate between creepy and spicy. I definitely needed time to process this before even attempting to review it. This book had my emotions and thoughts all over the place (for a multitude of reasons) in a way I thoroughly enjoyed.

Looking for a 'WTF did I just read' book? Look no further! It's here in this spicy, creepy, contemporary horror romance.

Grave Matter takes you on bewitching adventure with aspiring mycologist, Syndey, as she starts a prestigious summer internship at the clandestine Madrona Foundation, tucked away on a secluded, isolated peninsula in the Pacific Northwest - and it's 100% unplugged for the college-aged interns (no phones, no internet, no TV, etc). Madrona harvests rare fungi from leased indigenous land to potentially cure Alzheimer's disease and other terrible and/or terminal diseases.

Syndey just lost her scholarship to Stanford (and her housing) and is afraid if the foundation finds out they'll kick her out. Upon arrival, she meets a brilliant and sophisticated woman, Everly, who will become like a mentor to her. Due to the isolated, unplugged nature of this internship, Madrona requires regular meetings with their staff psychologist, Dr. Wes Kincaid, who is also to be one of Syd's professors. Syd, who has ADHD, starts to question her own sanity when she starts having highly erotic dreams featuring Wes, whom she finds herself intensely attracted to and repeatedly running into Amina, an intern Wes told her went home immediately upon her arrival.

Wanting to fit in and have friendships with her fellow interns, Syd tries to put herself out there. One sarcastic intern, Clayton, makes that difficult with his creepy, antagonistic ways. He insists that something isn't right, that nothing is as it seems, muddling Syd's already muddled mind.

Figuring out what is real and what isn't is enhanced by the near-constant fog, the maybe-sentient forest with Syd seeing and hearing things that may or may not be real - I loved not knowing what was going on anymore than the Syd.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️

📖 I found the plot wholly intriguing and loved learning some mycology. The juxtaposition of horror and romance really works for me.

Clues/hints were well placed and timed, and worded in ways that had me fully immersed. Well executed twists and turns and oh so plot twisty!

It's split roughly equally between thriller/horror/suspense and romance.

*if you know nothing about mushrooms and worried that you won't understand, I wouldn't let that hold you back from reading. What you need to know and understand about 🍄 is clealy, succinctly explained (without crossing into hand holding). I went into this knowing essentially nothing about 🍄 and don't feel like it was to my detriment.

✍️🏼 Beautifully written with rich descriptions enticing all of your senses and meticulous word choices that had me hanging on for dear life.

Dialogue read as natural and fit the characters. I appreciate the little bits of appropriate humorous dialogue, taking the edge off my nerves at times. I find timing and placing humor (and being humorous, for that matter) are works of art in and of themselves. Halle is a masterful writer with a gold certificate in using humorous dialogue [awarded by me, not a real award afaik 😆].

⏳️It starts out intriguing and moving along fairly quickly, but then felt like the pace slowed a just a tiny bit for maybe 10% of the book. Lots of pertinent info and character development going on to keep me glued to the pages. While the info contained in that small section was important and necessary, I was impatient to get it rolling again. This is why it wasn't quite a 5 for me.

👥 I found the characters to be well developed with dimension and nuance. I freaking love with authors give us a character we love one page and love to hate the next, never knowing how we're supposed to feel about them. Halle did that beautifully in this book.

I love that we get a diverse cast. 🙌🏼

💞 I love that Halle had me waivering on their relationship up until the last minute.

🌶 The spice is well timed, placed, written, realistic, with some light ➰️. The focus isn't on the spice, nor is the romance the sole focus of the book.

⚠️ Please check the author's page for CW/TW.

📚 If you like: Ninth House (Leigh Bardugo), Gothikana (RuNyx), Echo (Chani Lynn Feener), The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern),
or Sins & Needles (Katina Hale) then I think you would enjoy Grave Matters.

Thank you to @authorhalle and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

A thrilling and atmospheric tale that expertly blends mystery and the supernatural. With compelling characters and a gripping plot, 'Grave Matter' is a page-turner that will keep readers hooked until the very end.

This book was a total MINDFUCK!! I loved it. I’ve never read a book before that merged so many genres at once. The suspense, the spice, the body horror, the romance, the overall eeriness of this book, etc! It was all brought together so well. I was on the edge of my seat for at least the last 60% of the book. The twists shocked me and I audibly gasped more times than I could count while reading this. So unique and well tied together. I had a terrifying, wild time!! 4.25 stars.

Beautifully written. Very psychological and I really loved the setting, it added to the eerie-ness. I definitely didn't see the ending coming but overall, one of my favorite books I've read this year so far! Will be checking out Karina's upcoming books ♡ Really love her writing style.

I really enjoyed this book. Lots of twists and turns with a dash of spice. I had no idea that was how the book would end but I loved how it took me by surprise. Such a captivating and suspenseful read

This book is perfect for fans of the gothic inspired mystery, with a haunting, romantic storyline.
This is set in an eerie, small town where Wren returns after her own personal tragedy.
Once there, she meets a man with secrets of his own.
The author does an excellent job at building the relationship and tension throughout the book, with a mystery that will keep you interested and engaged from beginning to end.
Would recommend.

Grave Matter by Karina Halle is a haunting, atmospheric romance that perfectly blends gothic mystery with sizzling chemistry. Set in a small town with an eerie past, the story follows Wren, who returns home after tragedy strikes, only to find herself drawn to a brooding, enigmatic man with secrets of his own. As their connection deepens, so does the sense of danger, making for a suspenseful and emotional read.

Halle’s signature writing shines—moody, immersive, and full of tension. The romance is intense, the mystery keeps you hooked, and the setting adds a beautifully eerie touch. If you love dark, slow-burn romances with a hint of the supernatural

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

Grave Matter by Karina Halle is a dark and gripping paranormal romance that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The story follows a young woman, Eden, who becomes entangled in a world of mystery and danger after a chance encounter with a brooding, otherworldly man. Halle masterfully blends suspense, romance, and the supernatural, creating a chilling atmosphere that complements the book's intense emotional undercurrents. With its well-crafted characters and atmospheric setting, Grave Matter offers a compelling read for fans of paranormal thrillers with a touch of romance.