Hemlock Island by Kelley Armstrong

 

Oh my gosh, that was actually so amazing??? I don't understand why this has such low ratings because it is literally everything I want out of gothic horror. In fact, it actually reminded me a lot of T. Kingfisher's horror novels, in the sense that no matter how chilling or gory it got, there was something almost cozy about it because of how likable the heroine was, and how great (most of) the side characters were.

The premise is pretty simple. Laney got Hemlock House after her divorce from her rich CEO husband, Kit. She adores it and looks forward to living there whenever she can, but in order to keep it, she has to rent it out to people who are often assholes. Lately, said renters have been even more assholish than usual: someone is leaving behind creepy symbols and sick pranks. Her most recent batch of renters fled after demanding their deposit back when they found blood.

Laney goes down to the island to find out what's going on, accompanied by her niece/ward, Madison, and finds that she's been beaten to the punch by her ex-husband, his sister, Jayla, and two other people from her past: Sadie and Garrett. They agree to spend the night on the island but things quickly become tense, because all of them have reasons for growing distant from one another. And when creepy things start happening and escape becomes impossible, Laney realizes that maybe the "pranks" weren't pranks after all.

Someone might be sending her a message.

I loved this so much. I literally had no idea what was going on and even though the ending was a little cheesy, I still loved it because it worked for the story and definitely passed the vibe check. Also, as with other works I've read by this author, she's effortlessly diverse. Heroine has anxiety (never related to a character as much as I did when she said that having people in her house made her want to reach for the weed gummies). Her ex husband and ex-best friend, Jayla, are Black. Trigger warning for references to SA and pretty descriptive gore, but apart from that, there's nothing too horrific (I'm a wuss lol).

Can't wait to read more from this author. This book slapped.

4.5 out of 5 stars