Luxury train and botanical horror, yes please. I do enjoy a good plant horror tale and this was a amazingly done one. Well written and well executed. And who doesn’t love a set of creepy twins. Of course there are the attempts as a slow burn like in most books these days but luckily it is more of an afterthought with a few flashbacks that I could take or leave. I prefer the focus remain on the dangers and the mystery behind the twins and the plants.

Book Review
• Spoiler-free •

I really enjoyed Predatory Natures! It was one of those novels that, especially towards the end, I kept gravitating to pick back up. I appreciate the layers and topics this book explores in one unique setting. The loaded background of the main character, Lara, added to the botanical horror elements happening on the page. The romance between Lara and Rhys was easy to root for, and the friends-to-lovers trope was done so well!

Overall, I gave this a 4.75! Perfect for those who like YA botanical horror like Don’t Let The Forest In. I’m absolutely going to check out her other works.

Thank you to @netgalley and @delacortepress for the ARC!

Qotd: are you a fan of botanical horror?

the premise sounded really cool, so I decided to request it.
let's just say it did not disappoint
the setting, plot, and characters were all very engaging.
i think it was just a little out of my comfort zone

Though I don’t read a ton of horror, sometimes I feel the urge to pick one up - especially if the premise sounds interesting as this one did.

The train setting was perfect for a horror story. It let a claustrophobic feel to the plot and made the horror elements inescapable.

Some reviewers have said that they enjoyed the horror story in the present but not the flashbacks, but I would disagree. I loved them both. Lara was very much shaped by her experiences in the past and the past events definitely affected how she interpreted events in the present.

This book was definitely creepy and unsettling, but I wouldn’t call it scary, and between the subject matter and setting it definitely felt unique.

This would be a good read for someone who doesn’t read a lot of horror but wants to explore the genre more. I really enjoyed it!

Predatory Natures had me hooked from the beginning! I stayed up way too late a couple nights just to read this book and finish it. I'm honestly sad that it's over.
Amy Goldsmith does a fantastic job at setting up the characters and keeps most of their motives up in the air. Throughout reading, it is hard to tell who is in on the activities on the train and who is genuinely evil. There is a sweet romance between two of the characters that I enjoyed watching unfold. The overall theme about trauma and how it affects us long after its over paired with a horror element allows the message to be driven home that much harder. Lara's memories in addition to the current events makes the book compelling and draws you into the story that much further, just so you can see what happened before and how it led up to the current happenings along with what drives the characters' relationships with each other. The mystery of the train and Lara's life will pull you into the story. You will not want to put this book down!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this.

The premise of this and the cover are what first drew me to this novel.
Our MC, Lara, is running from a horrible year of high school and gets a job as staff on a train. However, things get a little strange when partially into the journey additional train cars are attached and staff is warned not to go into them.

I thought this had so much potential but started dragging at times. The flashback sections really pulled me out of the creepy atmosphere of the present, which I enjoyed. The creeping sense of wrongness the characters were feeling was what really drove the story for me.

All in all a solid 3⭐️ read.

Love the vibes!! Definitely going to try and find more books that have Little Shop of Horror vibes woven into the themes. Engaging, and really enjoyed the dynamics between Rhys and Lara.

Fun! A dark, mystery that gives Little Shop of Horror vibes with an interesting setting - a high class train - and mysterious MMC. This book has an interesting FMC and follows her story with two timelines (the past and present). Flashbacks help fill in the FMC and round her out, showing how she is who she is now. I really enjoyed this - it's the perfect weekend read!

I received an eARC from Random House Children's on Netgalley! This is my honest review.

This was a twisty, suspenseful read that kept me guessing until the very end. Goldsmith does a great job of creating complex, morally gray characters, and the plot is full of surprises. If you enjoy thrillers with plenty of secrets and betrayals, this one's definitely worth checking out.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House Children's for accepting my request for an ACR of this book!
3.75/5
There's no escaping it anymore, no more pushing it under the rug. We're not paranoid. Something aboard the Banebury is badly wrong.
To everyone who sees this book and picks it up because of the cool cover, you are in for a treat. The book to me is honestly a YA Little Shop of Horrors meets Murder on the Orient Express. The amount of body horror in this book, I cannot downplay how unprepared I was for it, but it isn’t for the worse, because of it being so unexpecting it made for a very impactful thriller with lots of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. I loved following Lara and Rhys in their journey throughout the book. The horror aspect was VERY well done! My main critic for the book though, is that I personally didn’t care for the flashback scenes throughout the chapter. Yes, they told more about the characters' relationships but I feel like it distracted from the tense mood in the train, which is what I was more drawn to at the moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for sending me an eARC!

After reading the synopsis, I realized I needed this! The plot takes place on a train (Amy, thank you).

It was incredibly atmospheric, vividly described, and easy to read.

The story is told from the perspective of the FMC and has two timelines: the present and the past, which explores the heroine's history and why she stopped communicating with her friend.

💬 She needs a job, and she becomes a stewardess on a luxurious train, but it's not that simple, as at one point they add cars filled with plants, and the new passengers bring an air of mystery...

I found more of a thriller with secrets and a dark atmosphere, rather than romance between the characters, so if you're looking for romance, this book isn't for you! But I recommend it to fans of dark themes and plants! It would be great to read on a train.

The heroine annoyed me so much 😭 At times I understood her, sometimes I didn't; I felt her pain, but I didn't get attached...

The MMC was more likable, but not very undisclosed (for me), wanted him more🤭

The ending came so quickly that I didn't even realize it was the end of the book...

I wasn't shocked by the plot; everything was pretty clear from the start.

Overall, I liked it; I love stories like this, and I'm grateful to the author for combining trains and plants.

• From friends to lovers
• Second chance
• Train conductors
• Killer plants
• Confined space

❗️Warning: Toxic relationships

Hi, hey, I loved PREDATORY NATURES. This might have been one of my favorite books this year. I could not put it down.

This was a perfectly YA, YA book. It was not trying to be more, or less and I appreciate that. I was entertained, but felt like there was a lot more misdirection in an effort to prolong the mystery, than needed to be. It did the opposite and on a train with few suspects the “who dunnit” becomes too apparent when we are told they are such a misunderstood good guy, too many times, too many knowing winks, to not give it away. The secondary story was also kind of annoying how built up it was and really wasn’t anything, and wasn’t even started to be addressed until 20 % in, even though it referenced a half dozen times before that. There were some pretty obvious plot holes and people behaved in ways that weren’t really believable, but overall the book was fine.

very mysterious and well-designed. i love a good botanical horror and this one definitely provides. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I became a huge Amy Goldsmith fan after devouring Our Wicked Histories last summer. There is something comforting and familiar about the way this author handles certain tropes, and I think YA has become so congested with adult-leaning content that it's refreshing to see characters depicted through a lens that doesn't feel skewed by an older readership.

The premise of this book had me in a chokehold from the announcement, and Amy definitely delivers on the botanical whimsy of it all. The writing is crisp and engaging and you can feel the author's genuine passion for the story throughout the prose.

The only thing that drops the rating for me is the excess of time spent in the backstory. I felt the pacing was often disrupted and there were times when I really wanted to stay focused on the present narrative. But I feel this is a personal preference and something that others may feel much differently about!

I look forward to seeing more of Amy's work in the future!

Wowza! So so much fun! There's something super catastrophic about a train (though it's my fave way to travel) and thought Goldsmith's sense of place and setting was extraordinary. I also thought the idea of men abusing a woman's power and turning them into these horrible things was done well. Lara's journey of reclaiming her life didn't feel cheesy but rather earned given she was still beating herself up in the present over her ex controlling her life.

Minus a star because I thought the pacing felt off in some places which left a rather abrupt ending.

Although set in the present, this book has a delicious vintage vibe thanks to the luxury rail train, the Banebury, and the mysterious, rich siblings who join the journey along with their greenhouse carriages. Lara and Rhys, former friends, find themselves having to work together in a small space to serve the wealthy passengers in what seems like a dream job, but things start to change with the plants begin popping up on the train in strange places. The mystery continues as Lara finds that she has a special communication with something in the greenhouse, reminding her of the Welsh folktales of her childhood. She and Rhys have to face their past issues in order to come together to save themselves from a very out-of-control situation. What I liked about this book: A little taste of Murder on the Orient Express, a whole 'world' in a moving train, an amazing description of Banebury that makes you want to ride on it, and an interesting Welsh folk tale entwined. What I didn't like: The backstory between Rhys and Lara (and her ex-boyfriend) doesn't come through and impact the story in the way it should, but makes it a distraction from the main story and feels rather secondary. The ending is also less than: lots of strange things happening, but little offering as to why. Basically, I believe the entwining of the backstory and the folktale are weak and that the book would be better if those stories were more craftily braided with the main action. Still, it's a fun read and YAs will enjoy it.

Much like a real train, it takes a little bit to get the botanical horror engine of this book up and running. The amount of exposition and environment shoveled into the opening chapters

I also think their might be some cultural barriers that would keep readers from an area like mine from really understanding the protagonist and other characters. The independence of young adults in Europe far differs from that of those in America.

There are parts to this like I enjoy, everything about the train and mythos itself is interesting but is overshadowed by the past of Lara and her messy relationships. From a YA perspective though I think it would be a great reccomendation to teens who enjoy dark fantasy themes and a mystery more compelling to their age group.

I think the only thing holding this book back is the presentation of both sides of the plot feel like there is a lack of emotional or shocking weight to them. I chalk it up to the pacing and presentation.

If you love books that are equal parts beautiful and terrifying, with a creeping sense of unease that blooms into full-blown horror, Predatory Natures is a must-read. It’s a mesmerizing, one-way ticket into a world of secrets, danger, and botanical nightmares—and trust me, you won’t want to get off.

Amy Goldsmith proves once again that she is a queen of YA supernatural thrillers in Predatory Natures. A luxury train, predatory plants, and Welsh mythology combine into a book that is thrilling and haunting in equal measures.

When Lara Williams starts her new job aboard the luxury train The Banebury, the last thing she expects to find is a greenhouse filled with beautiful, strange flowers, overseen by a mysterious pair of siblings. Lara soon finds herself drawn to their alluring cargo; but as the journey continues, she discovers that the beautiful plants hide deadly natures, and everyone on the train is in danger.

I love any sort of botanical horror, so I was immediately on board as soon as I heard about this book; and sure enough, the plants were my favorite part of the story. Another thing I really enjoyed was the use of mythology; the way Amy Goldsmith incorporates myths & folklore into her books is one of my favorite parts of her writing. Welsh mythology is not something I was familiar with prior to reading Predatory Natures, and it was fun to learn about their folklore through the story. I also loved the descriptions in this book; the writing really builds the atmosphere and gives the reader a strong sense of place.

I didn’t find myself as invested in the main characters of Predatory Natures as I did in her former books, Those We Drown and Our Wicked Histories; but the characters and relationships are well-written.

Overall, I really enjoyed Predatory Natures, and fans of Amy Goldsmith’s work are sure to love this new story from her! I would recommend this book to fans of botanical horror, “locked room” stories, and YA supernatural thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley & Random House for the arc! All thoughts & opinions in the review are my own.