Unique in its premise and magic, the author’s writing made me feel like I was on that train. The mysterious carriages being carted along had a gothic feel to them. The author did a great job at creating a vivid atmosphere, that I would describe as dark. The characters aren’t entirely trust worthy and no one aboard is safe. The reader, or at least me, is constantly wondering what is going to happen next. The mystery drew me in and the magic and eeriness hooked me in for the long haul.
I enjoyed the pacing of the story, a slow burn, and the jumps back in time to get the story of Lara’s past and why she embarked on this journey. She was hoping to start fresh, but her former best friend band unrequited crush just happens to be aboard. I wish these two would have both just spoken up right away, but yeah, teenagers, the was a good amount of tension.
I would recommend this book as a good October/spooky season because of the horror elements and overall dark atmosphere. I would advise one to check out the trigger warnings because there are flashbacks to an abusive relationship (manipulation) and it includes some gore as well.
Many thanks to Random House Children’s (via Penguin Teen Canada) and NetGalley for a digital early copy of the book. The opinions expressed are given freely and are honest and my own.

Thank you Delacorte Press for the ARC!

EAT THE RICH....seriously, I am always down to eat the rich but especially the rich in this novel.

The FMC is so understandable and her struggles make you just want to hug her. I loved the horror aspect of this novel was not just the plants, but the rich men who are allowed to get away with anything. The FMC is fighting to be taken seriously and believed throughout the whole book, both on and off the train, and I just loved this commentary. The rich will really destroy the world if we let them.

I feel like if you liked the plant aspect of Overgrowth you are going to love this one.

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.

Loved this twisty, atmospheric book! I loved the setting and how haunting the details were. I also found the characters realistic and easy to connect with. A great addition to any classroom library!

Predatory Natures tells the story of young Lara Williams who gets a job on a luxury train named the Banebury. Lara plan to escape her past is cut short when her ex-friend, Rhys, ends up as a co-worker who sleeps in a neighboring room. Lara and Rhys have history, and that is evident really early on.

This was a book I wanted to love, but as the story progressed it became harder to continue on. I switched from the physical book to the audiobook within the first couple chapters, and stayed with the audiobook until the end.

The cover art is stunning. The blurb is very enticing. The book has all the makings of an eerie botanical horror story...but the characters and their actions are very juvenile. The miscommunication trope runs rampant through this one...to the point of exhaustion. The supporting characters are likeable. The mystery and horror are there. But, the FMC has some serious issues that only worsens the miscommunication in the book.

I think this book has a home in the young adult realm. It seems very fitting for the 13-15 year range, and I am sure it will be well received and loved by many. It just wasn't what I expected it to be, and left me feeling a little flat.

60/100 or 3.0 stars

This was a disappointment, as the premise seemed great, but the execution was not there. The writing wasn't as strong as I was hoping for a story like this and it took so long for anything really interesting to stay happening. The flashbacks didn't really add a lot to the story and was taking a little away from the current timeline. It didn't work for me, which is so sad, since I thought I was going to love this.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. It was a little bit too slow, the characters were a little too frustrating, the dialogue was a little too strange, and the botanical horror was just a little bit too much for my preference.

3.5 stars
The synopsis for this book really drew me in. I haven't read many books featuring Welsh mythology and I really liked how this book incorporated it while maintaining the mysterious, eerie vibe.

Lara is a "troubled" teenager recovering from a difficult schoolyear. She has little work or life experience but wants to travel and accepting a job on luxury train the Banebury is the perfect way to leave her town and past behind. Unfortunately she can't outrun everything as ex-friend/situationship Rhys joins her on her journey. Also included on the journey are the minor (and forgettable) side characters like a stuffy baroness and annoying rich kid skiers. The journey takes a turn for the weird when twins Gwen and Gwydion join the train in the middle of the night along with their train car filled with plants. This is really where the story gets going.

The novel gives us glimpses into Lara's "troubled" past which I found to be not as dark as the novel made it seem. However, this is also a YA book so it may be some readers first time encountering the situation she went through. I also thought Lara was a little too naive at times and her relationship with Rhys was pretty dragged out for kind of no reason.

I did enjoy the mystery part of the book and unraveling the secrets of Gwen and Gwydion. I also appreciated once the drama got going it was pretty consistent throughout the novel and the conclusion felt earned.

Overall I enjoyed this novel and I found it to be a fast and engaging read.

I thoroughly enjoyed PREDATORY NATURES! The set up was so well-crafted, I was completely sucked in to drama before we even got on the train. It was everything I loved about Agatha Christy's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS in a fantastic YA horror setting. I don't usually enjoy a romance between ex's, but this one had to be loved. The horror elements intertwined beautifully with the suspense and trapped-environment elements. And the cover is, of course, gorgeous.

Thank you Delacorte Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. It was tough to get into. The plot twists were obvious to the reader while the main character, Lara, seemed lost. The premise is great, but it fell a little short.. I really liked the plants and the way they were described and discussed in this book. I still had a good time reading it.

I really wanted to love Predatory Natures. The premise sounded eerie and promising, and let’s be honest—the cover is absolutely gorgeous. It practically begged to be displayed on a shelf and Instagrammed into oblivion. But sadly, the story inside didn’t quite live up to the visual packaging.

The pacing dragged like wet moss through most of the plot. I kept waiting for that “aha!” moment—the twist, the chill, the something—but it never really arrived. Characters felt flat, and the atmosphere, while trying to be lush and sinister, came off more soggy and repetitive. I found myself checking how many pages were left more often than I care to admit.

Not the worst book I’ve read this year, but certainly one I won’t be revisiting. A beautiful shell that just didn’t have the sharp teeth I was hoping for.

Thank you Delacorte Romance and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

This was an interesting book. I had trouble getting into it, but there were definitely aspects of it that I liked a lot.

THINGS I LIKED:
1. The plants. The entire plot basically revolves around them, and it was the reason I decided to read this book. I’m so glad that this was the part of the novel that I enjoyed the most. It’s so unique to have plants that grow and then suddenly disappear, and it’s all tied into some mythological being. It made the atmosphere scary and intriguing at the same time.
2. I didn’t see the purpose of the flashbacks at first, but as the story progressed, I found them to be a great insight into Lara’s current mindset. As I kept reading further, it began to make sense why she acted the way she did.
3. I couldn’t put the book down in the second half, I just wanted to keep reading! I wasn’t a fan of the book originally, but once the plants started acting up it got a lot better.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE (AS MUCH):
1. This is weird, but I kept misremembering key details about the book for some reason?! I don’t know why, but I thought that the main character read like she was done with college instead of high school. At the beginning, it mentioned that she ended school and I guess that I took that to mean college. Her age just seemed a little off to me.
2. Same as the first point, but sometimes I thought it was a historical fiction novel until the occasional mention of a phone. I don’t really understand this, but I think that maybe the whole idea of traveling on a luxury train across Europe with eccentric wealthy characters reminds me of murder mysteries and the whole vibe felt old to me, not modern day. I also honestly think it might have been better as a historical fantasy novel, though I don’t think the flashback scenes would’ve worked.
3. Lara getting gaslighted (gaslit?) by literally every single character. Gaslighting was happening in EVERY SINGLE SCENE it was so annoying as a reader to see things going on that nobody in the story can. In the past by Beckett and in the present by Shoshana, and also by one of the main love interests???!?!?!??!?! It was overwhelming and intense at many moments.
4. I also didn’t enjoy seeing the plot twists and all of the weird things happening before Lara did. Maybe this was on purpose, the author wanted to write her as not believing the events were happening, but I didn’t like that. I want to find things out when the main character does, not before.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Predatory Natures follows teen Lara as her summer job turns deadly when the luxury train's strange cargo breaks containment.

This was a fun little horror-fantasy locked-room mystery! Nothing really panned out the way I expected, but I found myself quickly growing fond of Lara, and ever more intrigued by the plants on the train. I won't argue that this book wasn't relatively predictable, but it was just juicy enough in terms of interpersonal relationships, atmosphere, and the botanical mystery at its core that it kept me pleasantly entertained. Readers may get bogged down by the flipping between present and past timelines, or the slower pace that the book starts with, but ultimately this is a fun little atmospheric fantastical mystery that is certainly worth giving a go.

I'm starting to think that I'm just a sucker for anything set on trains. (This book was no exception). I really enjoyed this book---the writing, the characters, the plot, were all so good. I'm normally not a huge fan of flashbacks, but in this instance I actually thought it served the plot pretty well and added to the intrigue and compelling nature of the story. The world is vividly described alongside characters that feel real. Overall, I really enjoyed this story. This was my second read from this author and I will absolutely be picking up more as they become available!

Whilst waiting to resit her exams, student Lara takes a Summer job aboard a luxury train (The Banebury) travelling through Europe, only to find that the train’s unusual clientele & their strange cargo are more than she bargained for. I read most of this in a day, finding that I was instantly hooked by the easy-flowing writing style & the incredibly relatable narrator (“A bold move, but as hot fox Robin Hood once said, faint heart never won fair lady”). I loved the use of flashbacks inserted throughout the narrative, meaning that alongside Lara discovering more about both the central mystery of the train’s passengers, we were teased with details of what had transpired between Lara & her former friend Rhys (also working onboard the train), & Lara’s ex-boyfriend Bennett. The descriptions of the train’s interior & the landscapes The Banebury passes through are vividly detailed, but the later descriptions of the mysterious extra carriages take this to another level & are intoxicatingly, almost overwhelming, brought to life by Goldsmith’s lush prose. The insidious infiltration of the train by the cargo onboard is mirrored perfectly in the revelations about Lara’s ex, & infuses the narrative with a growing sense of dread. The added layers of Welsh mythology & botanical/body horror make for a decidedly creepy, yet still fun & refreshing, read that I would definitely recommend.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. Ms. Goldsmith can do no wrong, I loved this one just as much as Those We Drown, and Our Wicked Histories. The characters and environment were well-described, and I genuinely was engaged the whole time I read through! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

“I was slow to learn that beautiful things keep their dangers well hidden.”

✨Talk about atmospheric✨
I was throughly engrossed by the creepy, gothic-like setting of this book. This book gives you everything from botanical horror to Welsh mythology. I have been dipping my toes into the horror genre this year and this was a perfect read for someone who is new to the genre but doesn’t want to go in full force. The story and atmosphere are unsettling and creepy but not so much that it will keep you up at

The time jumps were not my favorite but they were ok and I can see where they helped paint a picture of Lara. Overall though, the plants were the star of the show and what kept me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Children’s | Delacorte Press for the digital copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Press for this ARC Copy!

The cover sucked me in and I was completely obsessed from the moment we stepped foot on the train. What a unique and interesting plot. I love how the past and present were woven together, I wanted to know what happened in the past so bad, it kept me reading so obsessively, until I realized that suddenly I had stayed up way too late multiple nights in a row. I absolutely love plant horror books, but sometimes they can rely too heavy on the creepy plants and not enough story, but this one kept you a little creeped out for a good portion of the book, while also keeping you on the edge of your seat because there are two different stories that are just captivating and beautify written.

I’m a sucker for books about killer plants, and this is a really fun and creative spin built around some very sinister flora.

I’m also big on train books, and that aspect of this story was also well rendered and l loved the way the author blended the two.

The mystery itself is just ok and there really isn’t a lot to figure out that is of consequence that doesn’t make itself obvious pretty quickly, but that didn’t really take away from the reader experience given that the setting was so well drawn and the action also very well done.

But it’s the creepiness of the plants that really makes this one a winner. I didn’t actually care that much about the folktale backstory that supports how the plants operate, and I didn’t like the protagonist’s supernatural link to it. That said, these things felt minor when weighed against the delightful eeriness of a bunch of menacing plants slowly taking over a moving train with nefarious intent.

In all, an original story and a fun one. Highly recommend reading if you’re big on atmosphere and how sinister nature can be.

3 stars

An atmospheric and gripping story.

It wasn’t 100% for me because I found the FMC a bit annoying or maybe I just couldn’t fully see her POV the way we are expected to. But I do think it is a book many will enjoy. The author’s writing tho… love it, that’s what mainly sold me.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this ahead of time.