Review By: Stephanie Kenific
Published: 2024
Genres: Horror, Suspense
Audience: Grades 9-12; Young Adult
Goodreads Link: The Dark We Know
Content Warnings: Suicide; violence; swearing
Publisher’s Summary
Art student Isadora Chang swore never to return to Slater. Growing up, Isa never felt at ease in the repressive former mining town, even before she realized she was bisexual—but after the deaths of two of her childhood friends, Slater went from feeling claustrophobic to suffocating. Isa took off before the town could swallow her, too, even though it meant leaving behind everything she knew, including her last surviving friend Mason.
When Isa’s abusive father kicks the bucket, she agrees to come back just long enough to collect the inheritance. But then Mason, son of the local medium, turns up at the cemetery with a revelation and a plea: their friends were murdered by a supernatural entity, and he needs Isa to help stop the evil—before it takes anyone else.
When Isa begins to hear strange songs on the wind, and eerie artwork fills her sketchbook that she can’t recall drawing, she’s forced to stop running and confront her past. Because something is waiting in the shadows of Slater’s valleys, something that feeds on the pain and heartbreak of its children. Whatever it is, it knows Isa’s back… and it won’t let her escape twice.
Review Text
I chose this book because I am trying to read a good amount of horror-adjacent literature this fall, and I also noticed that the book was promoted to fans of Stephen King and The Haunting of Hill House. I am a big fan of both, so I was eager to read this story for a while.
I really enjoyed the premise–an art school student, Isa, learns of her abusive father’s death and is compelled to return home to the family and town that she left without a backward glance two years ago. Immediately upon her return, Isa encounters a supernatural force which sounds like an unsettling song to Isa but changes its form for her former friend, Mason. Mason and Isa haven’t spoken since Isa left town, but they and two other teens were exceptionally close friends from childhood. I am very drawn to horror books where abuse and trauma are metaphorically represented by monsters, so I was initially really attracted to this story.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few characters who are not fully developed throughout the story. There are several “villains,” including Isa’s late father, the Vandersteen family who controls the town, and “The Angel,” Isa’s name for the mysterious and nefarious entity that haunts her and Mason. I found the multiple villains, especially the Angel, confusing and not especially compelling due to their vague backstories.
Since the book is this author’s debut novel, I would definitely be willing to read other stories by her. I thought the premise was excellent but the character development was a bit lacking.
