Ohhh what a disappointment! I wanted to love this, but sadly, I did not.

It feels like a story that is going to gain momentum and exciting things will happen, but neither of these are true. It feels very sluggish, we keep waiting to find out what's going on, but we never get any answers. The majority of the book feels different than maybe the first 20% and this left me confused and trying to understand if I missed something. What happened with the witch? That part of the plot was dropped and I just didn't get it.

I'm sorry, I had hoped for a creepy read, but was really let down with this one.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

The narration of the audiobook was done beautifully, bringing the story to life in an engaging way. This was my first witchy read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The characters were all incredibly likable, each adding depth and charm to the story. The author did an excellent job executing the plot, keeping me hooked from start to finish. I’m excited to read more from her in the future!

I had no idea what to believe during this whole story. I didn't know if the witchcraft was actually real and supernatural things were happening in the book or if it was all a mass delusion. For fans of Midsommar, this horror audiobook was very easy to listen to and disturbing.

Mina is a newly graduated child psychologist in need of experience. When an opportunity for a job to evaluate a thirteen-year-old who claims she is being haunted by a witch, Mina travels to the remote village of Banathel with Sam, a journalist who is writing a piece on Alice's condition. Mina must figure out what is causing Alice's behavior while dealing with the town's deep roots in witchcraft.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the story lost momentum around the halfway mark. Some of the characters decisions didn't make sense to me and the plot felt a little confusing. I did enjoy the narration and was glad that I pushed through to the ending as the story ended on a high note. This is a book I might be tempted to reread in the future to see if I can catch more from the story.

Something in the Walls comes out February 25th.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review Something in the Walls. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It’s the late 1980s in England. People are smoking indoors and using landline phones. Our narrator is Mina, a young child psychologist who lost her brother as a teen and is now driven to help other adolescents dealing with grief and trauma. When Mina temporarily moves in (?!) with a family to help their daughter, Alice, who seems to be either possessed or haunted by a witch in her chimney, she becomes entangled in a mess of secret history, insularity, and the supernatural, and it all becomes more personal than she ever intended.

Mina’s character development blossoms nicely throughout the book, and as we learn more about her personal history, flaws, and demons, she remains realistic and likeable. Every man in this book, however, sucks. Mina’s fiancé doesn’t love or respect her, and started dating her when she was 20 and he was 30. Alice’s dad is a suspicious weirdo who naysays everything to the point of hypocrisy. Sam, who is also staying with Alice’s family (?!), struts around telling them what to do in their own home, and they listen to him for some reason even though he’s just some guy. For a while I suspected there was going to be a twist that revealed Sam had a deep connection to the town and family, the way everyone just accepted him without question while simultaneously being so skeptical of Mina.

A couple elements of the setup didn’t make sense to me. Why does the family want a reporter staying in their house? A documentarian I could understand, if they want him to be able to capture events as they happen. But a print journalist? Is there no shabby-but-quaint bed and breakfast in town that could have served the same purpose? There was also an unrealistic amount of exposition near the end, where the villain monologues for a crazy length of time about the past 30 years or so. While this plot line is explained in detail and therefore wrapped up in a satisfying way, there are other phenomena that happen throughout the book that aren’t overtly explained or solved. Some readers may enjoy the experience of being left to decide for themselves how much was “real,” but I was left with lingering questions that I would have preferred to have been addressed more directly. Also, one quirk about the ARC audiobook specifically is that the narrated chapter numbers don’t match the titles.

Those details aside, overall, this is an enjoyable and spooky story that really is scary at parts. This book will make a good screen adaptation as a horror movie or Netflix limited series with a stylized 80s aesthetic sprinkled with jumpscares. I liked that it took place in an oppressive summertime heat wave, which felt original and lent the story a claustrophobic creepy atmosphere while also avoiding the cliché of a Halloween/October setting for a witchy haunting. The audiobook narrator, Ana Clements, also does a good job voicing all of the characters in an engaging way.

Something In The Walls will be appreciated by those interested in witch hunts, mass hysteria, and small town folklore. Trigger warning for implied CSA and elder abuse. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan, and Daisy Pearce for the ARC.

Something in the Walls is a solid 4.5⭐️ The only reason it doesn’t hit 5 stars is because I probably won’t read/listen to it again. I really enjoyed it. It was a chill ride to get to the destination. I knew who the problem was as soon as we met them, but everything that was happening was super f*cked up, which made for a great journey through the story.
Definitely recommend reading! ❤️‍🔥

Title: Something in the Walls
Author: Daisy Pearce
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Ana Clements
Publisher: Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books
Genre: Paranormal Mystery.
Pub Date: February 25, 2025
My Rating: 3 Stars!
Pages: 304

Mina recently got her degree in Clinical Child Psychology so has very little experience.
While attending a grief group to help her process the loss of her brother she meets Sam a journalist who has lost his daughter. He tells her about a case he is working on in a remote village where a thirteen year old girl named Alice Webber is accused of being a witch. He wonders if Mina as a child psychological might be willing to travel with him to speak with Alice.

Sam and Mina are trying to find out what is going on behind the scenes, what is causing these symptoms and how much is true or fake.

I am okay with ghost stories and this had me curious.


Want to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books for granting me this early audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 25, 2025.

This book was just too hard for me to connect with I couldn’t quite get into it. I really wanted to and I do wish this author all the luck.

Thanks to MacMillan Audio & NetGalley for providing an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I ... was not expecting to like this as much as I did! I'm pretty picky about suspense novels that dabble with the supernatural; it's not usually well done. But this was the real deal.

Mina, age 22, is engaged to Oscar, 10 years her senior and kind of a controlling dullard, if you want the truth. Mina has recently graduated university with a degree in child psychology but has no real world experience and is marking time, starting to plan her wedding to Oscar (to be overseen by his upper crust, snooty mother). Then she meets Sam at her grief support group (Mina's brother died of pneumonia 6 years previous, and a photo of her and Oscar from a Greek holiday seems to have him appearing in the background, and Mina is low-key obsessed). Sam gives her an opportunity to use her degree in the village of Banathel, where a teenager is thought to be a witch; Sam gets the opportunity of a scoop for the newspaper he writes for into the bargain. But is the girl, Alice, a witch? Or is she just a weird teenager?

This book is largely comprised an unsettling vibes, and while I was a little irritated at Mina not really interacting with Alice (how can she figure out what's going on if she doesn't talk with her?), this book was so creepily entertaining that I didn't mind. The tension builds and builds, and when it finally flares it's really something. The pivotal scenes where everything goes kerfluey are disturbing but incandescent - a fire you can't look at straight on but don't really want to witness. Lots of things that happen go unexplained (also irritating) but I'm definitely interested in what Pearce writes next. The voice acting is pretty great, too (although I'd've loved more Cornish accents to differentiate between female characters).

4.25 stars!

I listened to the audiobook - the narration was done very well. Easy to understand, kept my attention. Great tone, pronunciation, and speed. I felt like she performed the work beautifully.

This was a modern take on an old witch tale and I loved that. It is not something that is done or touched on very often - I find witch stories are typically set back in the salem 15th century times. I enjoyed the characters - namely Mina and Sam. I enjoyed the way they met at a grief group after both experiencing tragic loss in their lives. This bonded them together to investigate a seemingly paranormal situation with a young girl, Alice. It had a good pace and kept me engaged throughout the entire book. I loved the mystery and almost "cult like" mentality of the town.

I wish the witch part of the story had been more detailed and "scary". I did feel like a few things were left unanswered as well. But overall a very entertaining book I really enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley, MacMillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press for the ARC and ALC and chance to give my honest opinion!

You know those books that you cannot put down because you’re so intrigued by the story but at the same time not really sure if you’re enjoying it? That’s this one for me. I read Something in the Walls quickly, only to find myself feeling a bit disappointed (and confused) by the end. It was extremely compelling with great narration and an interesting plot point until things just got… well, weird.

If you’re looking for something entirely different, that reads part thriller/part paranormal, this might just be your cup of tea. Well written and original, but perhaps too out there at times for me.

Thank you to Daisy Pearce, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This was one of those books that almost got to where it wanted to be, but just didn't quite reach it. The setup was typical enough, and it started out promising with Mina and Sam. Yet the story kinda went in eight different directions but never landed a spot. The title was great, the plot touched on that note a bit, but never really heightened the scare to where it could have been great. It just kind of flatlined for me midway through.

I just kept thinking - stick with 2 or 3 great characters/plot line because you could tell that the author can really amp up the scare. But then the focus shifted and the adrenaline was diffused and we were back to Mina and her mindless approach to the case. The story kept me interested just mildly then.

Thank you to NetGalley MacMillan Audio for a copy of this. All opinions are my own.

A tense mix of horror, witchy folklore, and modern day fiction. I enjoyed the creepiness and vivid descriptions within the tale— as someone who generally doesn’t enjoy scary stuff, this was a perfectly digestible level of darkness and suspense.
A book with a few major twists and turns, I found it very satisfying to correctly predict the ending— however, some readers may find the ending land a bit flat. Decide for yourself and give Something in the Walls a read!

I keep being drawn to thrillers, the synopsis of this one was great, and I saw some early reviews of this one as being a 4-5 star read. However, I just didn't love it and I cant give a good reason other than the fact that me and thrillers just don't mesh anymore. I'll probably keep reading them and being disappointed because thats who I am. So I am rating this one a 5 because it's not the authors fault that I continue to make poor choices.

Mina has a degree in child psychology, but no experience in the field. That is until Sam, a guy from her grief counseling group, propositions her: come with him to investigate a girl whose parents claim has been showing signs of possession.

When Mina and Sam arrive they find a poor family with a surprisingly normal looking teenage daughter, Alice. Sam informs Mina of his suspicions that the family has exaggerated the extent of Alice's experiences in the hopes of getting media attention and money. However the longer they stay in the small town of Banathel the less they can explain away...

First and foremost I should mention that I kind of just skimmed the description (one might even argue I simply gave it a cursory glance) and kind of came into it thinking of a yellow wallpaper sort of thriller story, and was not prepared for it to be horror

But man o man was it a good horror! There are really rattling scenes that the author did such an amazing job at describing, I could literally see the story playing out, and the terror that the MC experiences you also feel. I spent last night snuggled up in my bed jumping at shadows like a little kid and then had to go to work the next morning. Like i was normal.

In all I thought it was a really well told story, I love books that have this perfect level of detail where you as a reader can fall into the story without having an ornate amount of descriptors that distract from the plot (looking at you Dan Brown).

Overall a very entertaining read that seriously just flew by, I recommend to anyone looking for a fun horror.

By glancing at the title, readers are immediately drawn into the intriguing possibility of the paranormal lurking beneath the surface, or perhaps even a touch of horror. I’ve always had a taste for a good scary novel, embracing the thrill it brings—even if it means I’ll find myself sleeping with the lights for the foreseeable future. “Something in the Walls” offers precisely that kind of spine-chilling experience, promising to weave a tale that lingers in the dark corners of the imagination.

Mina is a young child psychologist at the very beginning of her career. You might expect her to have lofty career and life goals, but she is just muddling through. Her future marriage is hanging by a thread, and she has never been able to overcome the death of her brother and the role she played in it. Mina feels a supernatural connection to Eddie, making her see him in newspaper articles and all around her. To navigate her grief, she attends grief group sharing sessions intermittently.

During her latest session, she meets Sam, who also feels a supernatural pull toward his daughter. He shares a unique case about a young girl in a remote village who claims a witch is haunting her and her family. The town has a colorful history involving witchcraft and witch-hunters. Mina agrees to meet Alice, which would help with her research for her budding career. Her fiancé thinks this is a bad idea that could jeopardize their relationship, but Mina decides to go anyway.

Upon meeting Alice, Mina is struck by how genuinely supernatural the situation seems. The locals have a strange vibe, and everyone appears on edge. Could this be an elaborate plot to bring fame to a small town and money to a poor family? Mina is determined to find out and expose any such plot to get Alice the help she needs.

Plot aside, the execution of the story could have benefited from another round of editing. I found the timeline confusing; the events unfold in what feels like the present day, yet some references seem almost Victorian. For example, a little girl is wearing a Ninja Turtle shirt, while her brother died from pneumonia over a period of three days and yet didn’t have access to health care or at least a round of antibiotics. Some of the descriptions were overly dramatic, which took attention away from the main story.

The audio production did not help clarify the time setting of the plot, as Mina's voice sounded quite mature for her young age, which added to my confusion. However, the novel held my attention throughout, and the creepiness factor really picked up halfway through, which was enjoyable.

I was excited to receive this as an ALC! I went in blind not knowing what to expect and absolutely loved this book.

Brief summary: child psychologist Mina is given the opportunity to observe a young girl, Alice, who claims to be haunted by a witch.

At first, I was thinking it was giving Yellow Wallpaper vibes (IYKYK); however, it soon transformed into some religious witch hunt horror story! I could not listen to this book at night because I got so spooked. This could be a great spooky time read, even though the setting is a heat wave in Britain.

The audiobook was absolutely fantastic! I was on the edge of my seat while listening.

This will be a great fit for fans of creepy horror books combined with a whodunit mystery and rich atmosphere.

Mina, a newly licensed child psychologist, meets Sam, a news journalist, and after hearing about a haunting in a remote village, they set off to help the young girl who is being afflicted and figure out what is going on. The village seems to have turned on the young girl, Alice Webber, who claims to be haunted by a witch. Sam and Mina are there to help Alice, but ghosts from their own pasts come back to haunt them as well. What really is going on in this village?

Thank you Daisy Pearce and Macmillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for a thorough and honest review. All thoughts here are mine and mine alone.

This book really freaked me out. The author perfectly set up each scene with enough ghostly happenings and real occurrences that gave me a claustrophobic feel in just about every scene. As the story progressed, the fear squeezed me more and more until the big reveal. The big reveal was perfect for the story and I know I will be thinking about this book for weeks.

The narrator was excellent. I liked how the story flowed as she voiced each character and added her vocal interpretation of the moment.

I gave 4 stars few plot holes but already a really really good darn book! Man! Had me biting my nails! Looking over my shoulders! Bert was very freaking creepy man!!! What the heck was happening in that town! What hold did he have over that town! Why couldn't they see it? What happened to his wife!?! So many unanswered questions! And who the heck was watching Alice! I still have questions but I still give the book a good rating because it was a really great creepy! Book and I'm all for creepy! It would have made good Spooky season read