gorgeous, well-written, southern gothic horror about strange events and grave birds. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I had previously enjoyed In the Hour of Crows by Elmendorf, so I was interested to see what Grave Birds had to offer. As with her previous work, this one offered a really fresh and fascinating premise with the concept of the grave birds and those who can see them. The tale also incorporated a bit of a murder mystery linked to family secrets, and ended with a twist I hadn't seen coming. Overall, it was a very enjoyable paranormal Gothic tale, even though I didn't love it quite as much as In the Hour of Crows. I think the element that didn't 100% work for me was the romance element. Cain was a noticeably underdeveloped character whose personality suddenly did a full 180 without any real justification, and the romance between him and Hollis felt forced and lacked spark. But in general, the fun mystery elements of the plot outweighed any issues with the romance subplot, so I am giving the book 4 stars.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Elmendorf writes jump-off-the-page southern vibes and it’s everything. Every page is dripping in southern gothic. That is my first takeaway from this book. Number two, the idea behind this is so fascinating to me: GRAVE BIRDS!!!! Birds as manifestations of unsettled spirits and a girl who can only see them because she had a severe brush with death… that tickles my brain.

Hollis is just doing her best. She has big plans that are almost in her grasp, but the arrival of some new folks in her small town bring some serious upheaval. One of them is Cain. He is handsome and he is sweet, but terrible things seem to happen after his arrival and Hollis sees the tales her grandfather told her as a child coming to life. Is the devil here in Hawthorn? Could Cain be fooling her? Or could there be something even more sinister at play?

Elmendorf writes smart women and enticing romance plots, but I feel she really shines with the more paranormal aspects. All together, though… a really suspenseful gothic tale that would be great for cozying up with a blanket or reading at the beach.

I loved it! The title prepares you for a dark mystery involving death, which it is, but the grave birds are actually lovely. I looked forward to Hollis spying one and releasing its secrets. Hollis has a confidence about her and an assurance that things will work out and by the end everything had but not in the way I expected. That was excellent. Great author!

I feel like I literally melted into this story.. the way Elmendorf is able to use her writing to effortlessly put you exactly where she wants you is incredible. I grew up in the south and just all the little nuances she incorporates really had me right there creeping through the Spanish moss with Hollis. The vibes are spooky and ethereal perfection. I also can’t get over how much I enjoyed the whole concept of the grave birds, it is so unique and interesting. Old southern charm, dark family secrets, twisty mystery, spooky, paranormal, side dash of enemies to lovers and who did this to you.. I mean you really can’t go wrong with this one
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I do feel like I’m just rambling but this is definelty one of my favs so far this year!
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I really loved how the mystery came together here- it was very complicated and seemed to come from all sides, yet the writing was so smooth and easy to follow that it made it a very enjoyable ride! AND a satisfying ending to top it all off

Imagine seeing a bird that's semi-transparent tethered by a near invisible cord. The cord attached to their grave or attached to a person walking by that had passed but was resuscitated. That's what Hollis sees every day since she survived the accident that killed her grandaddy. She has always had guilt because if she wasn't trying to steal a hair comb, grandaddy and her would have never been on that road.

Royce Gentry pulled Hollis from the water she was drowning in and brought her back to life. He realizes that she is seeing the same birds that he is. He begins to teach her about them, the grave birds, and helps take care of Hollis's family over the years. He becomes Uncle Royce to her. When Uncle Royce passes, he puts a clause in his will that gives Hollis 1 year to find funding to purchase his property before his daughters sell it off. All was going well until the devil himself showed up.

Cain Landry is the new stranger in town that has women drooling over his good looks. Hollis thinks he's quite handsome but his grave bird jumps on her and shows her a scary vision. He had been dead before too. Paloma, his godmother who is like his mother, is in town with him but something is not adding up. That's when Cain swoops in with a large cash offer and buys Uncle Royce's house before Hollis can secure funds.

The Hawthornes who own and run the town of Hawthorne, SC are throwing a big gala to secure funding for their church and missionary program. Hollis is chosen to be the gala planner but the more she learns, the more fearful she becomes. The Hawthornes have secrets, and some of them could take down the entire town.

Through Hollis the grave birds begin painting a picture for her and leading her to clues. Maybe Cain isn't the devil but why is there such mystery around him? And Paloma is even more secretive and speaks in riddles. The Hawthornes aren't paying their gala bill, and the town is turned upside down by firenadoes. Something is wrong and Hollis is going to get to the bottom of it and hopes she can make it out alive.

I absolutely loved this book! The mystery, suspense, and the southern gothic lore had me flipping pages so fast. Just when I thought I had it figured out there would be a plot twist and I was sure I had Cain figured out halfway through and I was totally wrong. Everything about this book is 10 stars!

Thank you so much to @danaelmendorf and @netgalley for my copy to read in exchange for my honest review!

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

I read my first Dana Elmendorf book last year, and what called to me then is a recurring theme with her writing; 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴. I was so intrigued when Dana announced her next book, Grave Birds.
The mystery and suspense of it all had me on the edge of my seat. I absolutely loved this one, and well, I can only hope that my grave bird would be the most beautiful Raven.
I highly recommend this one, and am looking forward to seeing what's next for Dana!
As always, I'll leave you with a few fave quotes 👇🏻

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯— 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯—𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥’𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴.

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦.

𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘳, 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘦. 𝘝𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and @dana for the ARC!
(4.5 stars)