Graveyard of Lost Children

I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review. On that note, I was honestly engrossed, unnerved, and moved.

"She'd liked listening to podcasts like this because, though the stories were awful, they felt like preparation. The more she listened, the more she learned. The more she learned, the better she could protect herself. Now she knew that was ridiculous. There was nothing that could protect you from the world. Nothing that could protect you for the ways the world, and your own body, would betray you."
Olivia just had a baby with her wife, Kris. She'd been raised by her grandparents after her mother attempted to murder her as an infant.er grandmother wasn't particularly maternal. Olivia soon has reason to fear that whatever, or whoever, plagued her mother is coming for her. We're told this story from Olivia's POV, but also through journal entries from her mother, Shannon. For various reasons, neither is a reliable narrator.

I chose not to have children, but you can't be perceived as being a woman without fully understanding what's expected of mothers. In fact, the choice to not have children instantly gives you a failing grade. But if you do have them, then the real pressure begins.

Stephen King writes in Danse Macabre that the real horror in Amityville Horror is economic unease. The house is a money pit, destroying the family financially. "Here is a movie for every woman who ever wept over a plugged-up toilet or a spreading water stain on the ceiling from the upstairs shower; for every man who ever ever did a slow burn when the weight of the snow cause this gutters to give way; for every child who every jammed his fingers and felt that the door or window that did the jamming was out to get him." ... "Think of the bills," a woman sitting behind me in the theater moaned at one point ... but I suspect it was her bills she was thinking about."
The real horror in Graveyard is maternal/parental unease more than the supernatural angle. Giving birth starts the ultimate gamble -- of mind, body, and spirit, and the fun is just beginning. Will the child be healthy? Happy? Not set fire to the neighborhood pets? What is the instinct to love the child that we're supposed to all have just doesn't show up? What does it mean if you can't nurse? Nothing and perhaps everything. And almost always one parent is the primary caregiver for a variety of factors, societal and practical/

Olivia has questions and fears, nursing is agony, and everyone is wondering if she might be prone to do what HER mother did. As she struggles, she wonders that too, and feels safe telling no one. A black-haired woman is stalking her that no one else sees? Who would you tell if you suspect your baby is an imposter? And who would you tell if you were her if your mother were institutionalized for the same beliefs?

The book is about fear, pressure, pain, doubt, postpartum depression and psychosis. Child or not, if you suffer from depression, anxiety, and/or intrusive thoughts, the black-haired woman comes with her own soundtrack, and that soundtrack is "Hello, darkness, my old friend."

This is a heavy read, and I had to balance it with a romance novel. I didn't think anything could top They Drown Our Daughters in terms of angst, but Katrina Monroe actually succeeded in this book upping the ante. Please be advised in case the topics Graveyard concerns are detrimental to your well-being.

Like They Drown Our Daughters, for all the fear and pain, it's also a story about mothers and daughters, and the choices we make in the name of those bonds.  

4.5 stars. The resolution, if I'm going to nitpick, seemed a bit rushed.

A superb fast paced thriller. I absolutely loved the story and couldn’t stop reading it. It’s perfect for all readers, especially thriller lovers.

Another stunning and spellbinding novel by Katrina Monroe. Kept me awake for nights on end, turning the pages and keeping the night light on.. Couldn't ask for a better book to help occupy the long nights. Scary and satisfying.

After They Drown Our Daughters, I had high expectations about Graveyard of Lost Children, and let me tell you right away that they were not only met, but surpassed. Katrina Monroe threads an eery story about the significance and the expectations of motherhood, the silence(d) trauma of depression, and she does it in a very thoughtful way; no scene feels out of place nor morbid, an adjective I was terrified I might have to use because of the theme (thankfully, it was not the case, and that is an absolute triumph bearing in mind the scene with which the novel opens with).

Again, she is thoughtful and thorough, each moment important, each conversation a labyrinth you know you will end up finding the key for. The reader feels the whirlwind in Olivia’s mind, the fear of her spouse, suddenly facing something she can’t understand; And Shannon’s journal-like letters to her lost, then found, then lost again daughter were a portal to another part of the mind and the way they evolved made me shudder.
Everything related to mental health is still kind of a slippery slope nowadays, but it is easy to feel the change coming, people realizing its importance and its darkness if not treated correctly.
And, even with all the triggers in the novel (perfectly summarized in the beginning, which some readers might like or not, but I feel they are as good as an introduction to the journey you’re about to take), the angst and the lump in my throat every time the black-haired woman was around (or wasn’t, but you could feel her presence anyway), I ended up with the sensation of having found a light in the heart of all the darkness; hope, somehow. There’s always an ending to a long-feared nightmare.
I can’t wait to read whatever Monroe brings us next.

So dark and delicious read. I love books like these. Been a good while since I’ve sinker my teeth in these kinds books. Loved it. Couldn’t put it down. Hands down one of the best books I’ve read a while.

This book,GoLC by K. Monroe, published by Sourcebooks, PPPress, is a full-length, stand-alone that makes you want to take a peek under your bed.
A dark read, heavy and heartwrenching its a masterpiece in history repeating itself.
Olivia is a young woman with a difficult past. And now that she's a new mother she has diffuculies adapting.
This book is nothing what I expected, it's a dark read that deals with some sensitive subjects, not for the faint of heart. A tearjerking, unputdownable read, 5 stars.

Oh my GOD this book! It completely captured my attention from start to finish. Are there paranormal goings on, or is it generational mental illness? The unreliable narrators (two of them!) will leave you guessing, and the deeply dark tentacles of story weaving, love, loss and fear will sink deep into your psyche. This is an amazing book and definitely worth the read.

Thank you for the ARC!
This is going to be a long review.
This novel is visceral. Reading it was like 1000 tiny cuts to my soul. As a woman who has battled postpartum depression with a distant mother I felt all of it. I had to read it over several days because I needed breaks from the pain.
It was too realistic.
I really felt for Olivia. She is adjusting to her mom body and the new routine and confronting her own feelings about her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother. Motherhood is the hardest thing a person can do and this woman is dealing with it.
I have been dealing with motherhood for 20 years now and I have no idea who I even am. The intrusive thoughts were dominating my life until I found an effective medication. I still have no idea how normal people do things. I mean how other mothers manage. I feel like these kids are feeding off of my life force.
Anyway, this incredibly painful book was really good. It was absolute perfection and I may never recover, If anything it is a good example of the complications of motherhood.