Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - All the Dead Lie Down

I've been in a reading rut and this sparked my joy again. I absolutely love the haunting feeling every chapter brings. It feels like a lovely mix of Netflix show "haunting of bly manor" and Erin A Craig's book "House of salt and sorrow" but with its own twists and turns. Perfect book to get into the spooky vibes!

Content Warnings

_teoeo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The first half of this book...meh. really slow and you couldn't quite see where the story was heading. But the second half?? Yes!! Loved the atmosphere and how thrilling it got!

Massiv tw for animal death btw :')

Content Warnings

enchantressreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Maybe memory was a kind of haunting in itself.”

All the Dead Lie Down is the gothic haunting story I didn’t know I was missing.

Marin Blythe has recently lost her mother, the only person she really had. After living a life of constantly moving, she has the chance to settle down at Lovelace House in coastal Maine, owned by Alice Lovelace, an acclaimed horror author. Alice is not some random woman, however; Marin’s mother Cordelia and Alice actually grew up together. Marin, anxious to a fault, tries to use this to keep a connection to her mother.

Alice’s two youngest girls, Wren and Thea, keep Marin on her toes with seemingly harmless pranks. Soon, the eldest daughter, Evie, comes home, and things move more into scary territory. Not only does the house seem haunted, but the very land itself. Marin sees some things she can’t explain, and doesn’t want to explain. As she grows closer to Evie, Marin has to face her fears in order to stay with this ethereal girl she’s grown fond of.

I originally requested this book because of the cover, but as soon as I read it was being marketed as similar to The Haunting of Bly Manor, I knew I would enjoy it. I didn’t realize it was YA at first, and while I have no issue with YA, I feel it could have gone a little further had it been adult. It still doesn’t shy from the horror, though. Be aware, this book contains a lot of animal death. If you’re squeamish, I would maybe sit this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katherine Tegen Books for the chance to read this advanced review copy. I look forward to reading more Kyrie McCauley in the future.

CW for death, animal death, animal cruelty, death of parent, blood, gore, body horror, panic attacks, mental illness/anxiety, stalking, and emotional abuse

Content Warnings

gorejoyous's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

A queer gothic horror novel that explores grief and trauma set in (what is essentially) a haunted house? This book sounded exactly my speed.

The first half begins with creepy or unsettling occurances around the house but after we find out the cause in the second half—that's when the true horror begins (and where the story really hooked me). The relationship that blooms between Marin and Evie is touching and you really understand how deeply they care for each other. The writing is a little boring and clunky at times (not unexpected given that it's YA), but then you also get lines like:

"The way Marin's arms formed parenthesis around her. When Evier sighed against her neck, it was an apostrophe—in the possessive. And Marin knew all the words. She had been memorizing them for months."

Which is just *chef's kiss* the kind of romance perfect for the gothic horror genre. Aside from some pacing issues, I found the story compelling—it had me, in equal parts, on the edge of my seat and sighing forlornly, wishing that I too lived in a giant weird house full of dead things.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Content Warnings

More...