So, when I say WTF… I mean what the actual F.

I am so happy I got to listen to this ARC as an audiobook.
I think for me, the book started off one way and I thought it was going to be a slow burn.. but things took a turn and everything seemed to switch directions. In the best way.
At one point listening to the narrator, I was literally on the edge of my seat and almost panicking at what was happening. It was read so well.
The ending was satisfying and the main character didn’t suck. It’s so much better reading a book when you root for the main character instead of constantly rolling your eyes at them.
Overall, Daisy Pearce wrote a fantastic novel and I’m super glad I got to listen to it off NetGalley.

I wanted to like this one way more than I did. The description sounded great but it was too slow of a story for me. It started out strong then kind of fell off and by the end I wasn’t very interested anymore.

Narrated by Ana Clements whose voice is good for this spooky book but the whispery softness does kind of put you in a trance and I felt like I missed something and had to rewind.

Slow and confusing and the ending was unsatisfying.

3 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

Daisy Pearce delivers a gripping tale in Something in the Walls that had me hooked from the very beginning. This is typically a genre that I don’t pick up when it involves horror and witches. However, the atmosphere she creates is undeniably chilling, with a creeping tension that builds page after page. The characters' fears are palpable, making it easy to get lost in the eerie twists and turns of the story.
I couldn't put it down for the first three-quarters of the book. The pacing was spot on, and every chapter left me eager to read more. Pearce masterfully blends psychological suspense with creepy elements, keeping readers on the edge of their seats.
However, as the story approached its conclusion, it took a turn I didn’t see coming—and not entirely in the way I expected. The ending ventured into a direction that felt a bit different from the tone and buildup of the earlier chapters. While it wasn’t quite what I was anticipating, it still had its own unique conclusion.
Overall, Something in the Walls is a thrilling read worth picking up, especially if you love a hauntingly atmospheric story. Just be prepared for a surprising twist as you near the end!
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the early copy of this book. Keep a look out for its release on Feb, 25 2025!

A fave f0r 2025 already! I was consumed and the narrator did a phenomenal job bringing the story to life! I could not stop listening!

Something in the Walls is the definition of ooky spooky. I was totally creeped out the entire time and was fully invested on what was truly going on in this story.

Our main character, Mina, is engaged to a scientist and just recently got her degree in child psychology. After attending a grief group to help her process the loss of her brother, she meets Sam, a journalist who just lost his daughter. After finding out that Mina has a degree in child psychology, Sam invites her to a case he is working about a 13 year old girl who is accused of being possessed by a witch. Mina, of course, has to tag along because, one, there is no way she is possessed by a witch, and two, if she is... can she contact her brother?

Wow, I was enthralled in this one. This is such a spooky little mystery that has you guessing until the last second. A complete tone of dread and ominous, eerie energy is crawling throughout this story with a lot of disturbing, thrilling moments. There were a few times, though, I'd find myself getting a little lost and having to track down what happened or where I was in the story, and I'm not sure if that was a me problem or a book problem, to be honest. Either way, I thought this book was super unique with a dash of the Salem Witch Trials, a pinch of The Exorcist, and a skosh of Midsommar.

The narrator, Ana Clements, had a perfectly haunting voice for this book, and I absolutely loved listening to her!

I'd check the triggers on this one, especially if mentions of animal death is a no go for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and Daisy Pearce for allowing me to listen to this advanced copy!

SPOILERS!! (***instagram review contains no spoilers while goodreads review contains the following review with spoilers, with the spoiler filter on)

1 sentence review: A tense and suspenseful thriller full of witchcraft, but with quite a few plot holes.

The beginning of this really had me hooked. The haunting/witchcraft aspects of this story really unsettled me and gave the story an eerie and mysterious tone. Unfortunately, the end lost me. I feel like the character relationships lacked development, some plot points seemed useless, one of the twists was easy to spot, and the main twist just didn’t make any sense to me.

My biggest issue with books like this is that the ending never explains the rest of the book. I really dislike when authors write seemingly paranormal stories that are explained away by sinister, yet very real, events. This twist didn’t explain any of the paranormal events that happened in the beginning and middle of the book. There were so many instances where the characters that were seeing things that weren’t there, or hearing voices on recordings, knowing intimate details about the characters lives, seeing Alice’s face change into the witches, the deaths of the kids, etc. None of this was explained by Burt’s horrific behavior with the girls. It’s also very unclear as to if the witch was even real or not?

Also, the plot with Mina’s fiancé was very strange and random to me. It didn’t aid the story at all and it didn’t create any character development for Mina either. Sam’s relationship with Mina was also strange. He started out as someone I thought would be a main protagonist and maybe even a love interest, but he derailed into a complacent side character who almost stood by and watched Mina get killed. I guess that aided into the whole “witch trial bystander” effect, but I just don’t think his character needed to be involved in that. He also immediately turned back into the doting side character after the events unfolded and wanted to know how she was doing? It just seemed very off.

The twist with Mina’s brother was also poorly executed. It was alluded to so many times throughout the story that it wasn’t as shocking as it was intended to be.

Read This if You Like:
🏠 Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
🧙🏼‍♀️ Withcraft and folklore
👻 Eerie and slow burn haunting

I really liked this narrator — she did a great job of voicing different characters and as the story is told in first person, I felt like she really captured Mina’s tone.

I love how this book wove together witchy folklore, mystery, family and relationship drama, and horror. The horror elements were creeping and grew throughout the story, creating this deep sense of unease as readers went through the story with Mina. I also found the family relationships to be well-done, and the way the author explored grief and how it connects people was visceral and moving. The twists in the story genuinely surprised me and kept me listening.

This was fun! Enjoyed the narrator - her voice was clear and reflected the eerie mood of the novel. The suspense was well built and the atmosphere of the village and houses added to the overall creepy mood. The ending felt rushed & unsatisfying, could’ve leaned a bit harder into Wicker Man-like energy, Will absolutely read this author again!

Book Review: Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce

I’d rate Something in the Walls a solid 3 out of 5. The story follows Mina, a complex protagonist juggling her unresolved past trauma, a shaky engagement, and the challenges of her first job as a psychologist. The main plot centers on Mina trying to uncover the truth behind a young girl’s apparent possession by witchcraft, which sets the stage for a supernatural mystery with plenty of twists and turns.

While I appreciated the layered storyline and the surprising twists at the end, the supernatural elements felt overwhelming at times. There were so many moving parts—Mina’s personal struggles, the unsettling atmosphere, and the witchcraft subplot—that it felt like the book was trying to do too much at once. That said, the ending delivered enough intrigue to leave a lasting impression.

If you enjoy supernatural thrillers with psychological depth and a few surprises, this might be worth a read, but it may not hit the mark if you're looking for something more grounded.

This was definitely a book that took some time to settle in, and make an impact, but once I got into the story, it picked up.

I enjoyed the narrator's depiction of the characters, with a smooth transition amongst the personalities in the book.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the opportunity to be able to read this.
This was a great book!! The story was phenomenal!! My only issue with this book was the narrator, she was monotone to me. So that made parts of the book definitely drag on a bit, but all in all, it was great!! Just when you think you know what’s happening, guess again!!

I found this book to be quite unique and unsettling. It is a quite disturbing book, and I'm still undecided on whether I truly liked it or not. Some parts felt a bit predictable too. But on the positive side, the narrator did an excellent job bringing the story to life.

DNF

I have nothing sassy or negative feedback. I just was not feeling the book in the moment nor do I feel motivated to pick it up yet again.

This was a mix of Horror and Thriller which is 2 of my favorites! It makes for a great nail biting read. This kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know what is to come! chapter after chapter kept the whole book suspenseful. I was able to finish this in one day and I am so glad I did! I will definitely be adding Daisy Pearce to my favorite authors list!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio (#MacAudio) for the ALC, and St. Martin’s press and Netgalley for the ARC!

“You didn’t ask me what it feels like when dead people talk to me…it feels like biting into ice…”

This was not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it! The real star of this book was the atmosphere - it was so heavy and menacing, permeating very bit of the story. Our FMC wasn’t easy to relate to for me, but I was very interested in her work and what she was trying to do with Alice. As the story went on, it only got darker and creepier to the point where I would’ve been looking over my shoulder if it was night time! The witchy vibes/history also played a big part in this story. The majority of the book had me on the edge of my seat, but after all the suspense, the ending felt a little bit abrupt. But I still really liked this one!

This review will be shared to Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this audiobook for review. Well, that was fantastically creepy!! I loved it! Mina is a new child psychologist and is desperately trying to get experience in her field. She is still haunted by her brother’s death and meets a journalist at a bereavement meeting and he has a case for her. Alice, a 13 year old girl, is being haunted by a witch. Here is a chance for Mina to get experience as a child psychologists and Sam will get a great story and Alice will get better— wins all around. But as Mina speaks with Alice and tries to figure out what is going on with the child, her behaviors get worse, not better. This book is super creepy and super awesome on audiobook!!

I guess my issue with this is the description sets this up as a really unsettling paranormal story and it wasn't like that at all. I found the beginning of the book to be an amazing set up but there were so many underdeveloped elements that by the end, you're just left hanging.

Thank you for audiobook ARC! This is a slow burn for sure but the last few chapters are very intense. It has a cottage-witch vibe that is perfect for a spooky read! I appreciated the realism intertwined with the dark spiritual aspects.

Mina is a newer child psychologist who is thinking about her upcoming marriage. Her brother died years ago and she is still mourning his death. She attends a grief group to help her with her brother’s death. That is where she meets Sam, a journalist. Alice is 13 and the town thinks she is possessed. Sam wants Mina to help Alice and in exchange he will get a great story. Mina agrees thinking she will be able to help Alice, but instead she gets worse.

This book was creepy. A good creepy. If you like the abnormal, witches, creepy/scary, then this book is for you. I can definitely see this being turned into a movie.

I enjoyed the narrator and thought she did a great job, but I had to listen to it at 2x speed.

I was very excited when I read the description for this book. I listened to the audiobook and I liked the narrator. This story felt like something that would build into something exciting and creepy and great and it just never got there. The book was ok, but it was highly predictable. The only really firmly met horror trope was that I wanted to yell at the heroine for missing every clue. There is some interesting folklore and the characters had potential. Mina has just graduated as a child psychologist and she has her first “job” going with a person she met in a grief group to try to help a girl that seems to be haunted. She and Sam go to this small town to try to help Alice and her family, but the town is strange and while she doesn’t believe Alice is a witch some strange things are happening. The story was ok, it was creepy and definitely disturbing, but I found it to move slowly and be very predictable.