And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Publication Date: September 6th, 2016
Rating: 3 Stars
Source: Purchase
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 352
Summary (from Goodreads):
A stunning, terrifying novel about a house the color of blood and the two sisters who are trapped there, by The Dead Houseauthor Dawn Kurtagich
When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt's home, it's immediately clear that the "blood manor" is cursed. The creaking of the house and the stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too--the questions that Silla can't ignore: Who is the beautiful boy that's appeared from the woods? Who is the man that her little sister sees, but no one else? And why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer?
Filled with just as many twists and turns as The Dead House, and with achingly beautiful, chilling language that delivers haunting scenes, AND THE TREES CREPT IN is the perfect follow-up novel for master horror writer Dawn Kurtagich.
When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt's home, it's immediately clear that the "blood manor" is cursed. The creaking of the house and the stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too--the questions that Silla can't ignore: Who is the beautiful boy that's appeared from the woods? Who is the man that her little sister sees, but no one else? And why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer?
Filled with just as many twists and turns as The Dead House, and with achingly beautiful, chilling language that delivers haunting scenes, AND THE TREES CREPT IN is the perfect follow-up novel for master horror writer Dawn Kurtagich.
I downloaded the audiobook of AND THE TREES CREPT IN to listen to on the four hour drive to my dad's house for the weekend. I thought this would be a great book because I had heard some pretty good things about it and because it's fall, which is ideal for a creepy book!
I liked the beginning of this book. Fourteen-year-old Silla and her four-year-old sister, Nori, are leaving an abusive household to live with their strange aunt who lives alone in a huge old house in the middle of the woods. Seeing Silla and Nori explore the house and form a relationship with their aunt was interesting. Seeing how their aunt kind of slowly spiraled into insanity and locked herself in the attic was interesting.
But somehow everything went downhill from there for me. I am very much in the minority on this one, but I just didn't like this book that much. I was only like an hour and a half into this book and was certain it should nearly be over because it felt like Silla had been going on and on forever about how she felt like she was going crazy or something like that. But actually I had like 7 hours left in this book.
The middle of this book is just so boring and repetitive. Silla's always talking about how she feels like she's lost her mind or how they don't have any food. There's always scary noises inside the house that never turn into anything. I mean, I understand why now, but it would have been so much more interesting if there was actually something scary in the dark. Then there's the near constant mention of how the trees are closer and closer and closer and I just don't care anymore.
The main relationship in this book is about the love that Silla has for her little sister. Everything that Silla does in this book is for her sister. I love a good sister relationship and this book definitely delivered that.
The ending of this book really made up for how much the middle sucked. I didn't understand why anything was happening in this book until the big reveal at the end. I thought the big reveal was really interesting and loved how it brought everything together. I also loved that all of the predictions I made were wrong because at least this book wasn't predictable on top of being boring.
The best part of this audiobook was definitely the performance of it. The narrator was fantastic. Quite possibly my favorite narrator I've listened to so far. I would definitely listen to another audiobook by this narrator. I loved the sound effects in it as well. The creepy music and background whispers along with the narrator whispering and making sound effects really added to the eeriness of this audiobook and I really enjoyed listening to it.
Overall, I didn't love this book. But according to Goodreads, I'm very much in the minority on this one. If you like horror stories, you would probably enjoy this book. It kind of reminds me of the movie The Others with Nicole Kidman. If you liked that movie, you might like this book as well.
What's your favorite horror book? I need something that will actually make my pulse flutter.
Hmmmmmmmm. I've been thinking about getting this one because the sampler on audible was just so... it was really good so I'm glad to at least hear that the audio lives up to what they have as a sample. I'm going to think about this one some more...
ReplyDeleteThe listening experience is definitely worth it. But the story is just meh. And there is a point in the story that kind of seems to make light of eating disorders if that's something that you would hate. I didn't even think about it when I listened to it, but I saw other people talking about it on Twitter.
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