“Labyrinth meets folk horror in this darkly romantic tale of a girl who wishes her baby brother away to the Lord of the Wood
Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn’t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn’t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she’ll disappear like so many other girls before her.
But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won’t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that’s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon.
Filled with shame and the weight of the town’s judgment, Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood’s domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn’t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back―for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write.
It’s a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she’s been taught to fear.”
I got an ARC of this book.
I remember watching The Labyrinth as a kid. It was already old. It was wild. It had puppets, contact juggling, and David Bowie in that outfit (you know what I am talking about). So when I saw a horror version, I was ready.
The thing was, this book was not the same at all. This book can stand on its own. This is my preferred version. There was so much here that was more engaging. There was the purity culture, there was the dead bodies, there were the ghosts, there was the romance. I was here for ALL of it. By the end I was calling it the sexy goblin book and getting super into everything.
It was beautifully written. This is both a good and bad thing. It flowed and it was gorgeous. It was clear that every word was intentional. But there were so many weird throw away parts that it felt off to include them when it felt so intentional. The twist was so obvious. The amount of foreshadowing was excessive for that twist. The twist was great and really fit the horror of the book, but with all the foreshadowing it felt more relieving to not have to read another scene about it instead of being shocking or exciting.
LoW was amazing. He made the story more approachable. It made some of the horror more real, which alone made the idea of making him appear to be around the same age more fun and less of a “let’s have sex with monsters!” feeling. It made him more exciting and made him more dangerous in a way that felt less horrific.
This is not the 80s movie, but its own unique and complex view of purity culture and the pressures on women to conform. It was pretty darn fantastic.
4.5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this book.
You can buy the book here.
~Isaiah
MI Book Reviews 