A review by lit_vibrations
Curdle Creek by Yvonne Battle-Felton

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Special thanks to the author, @henryholtbooks for my gifted copy & @macmillan.audio for my ALC‼️

Drawing readers into a world where murder is a means for control and disagreeing can get you killed the author’s imagination went wild with this one. This book was weirdly interesting I was left confused and intrigued at the same time. I still have so many unanswered questions like why did they choose to live like this. In the beginning it wasn’t made clear what “Moving On” meant but after a few chapters I realized what they were doing. 

This town did some odd things like women competing in foot races for marriage. Being punished to the well and nearly beaten to death. But the Moving On was their craziest ceremony which was a purge type of event and Osira was against all of the towns customs. When her father’s name is called to move on but he runs away she begins snooping and searching for forbidden knowledge surrounding Curdle Creek’s sinister history. Soon Osira finds herself punished to the well and transported into the past. 

The town was like a dictatorship society stripped of all common sense and everyone was in purgatory. The author was very detailed except when it came to world building. I wanted more when Osira time traveled to the past, into the Underworld for judgement, and England before time traveling again. The author did great capturing the emotions of all the characters but I still wanted more of an understanding of what was happening and why.

Overall, the book was okay idk about that ending but if you’re a fan of Hunger Games, Kindred, or LoveCraft Country you’ll enjoy this book‼️