I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I know how to find her. Don’t follow me. I mean it. It will break Dad if you do. I love you, Em.
P.S. Stay away from the Sedge Man. He won’t stop, like a hunter, until there’s nothing left of you.

A year after her sister Eve’s sudden disappearance, Emma returns to the small town of Scarrow in northern Maine. The police have no leads, the neighbors spread rumors about her father’s involvement, and the vast bogland known as the Moss lies in wait beside the house like a hungry beast.

Darkly familiar shadows and specters fill her dreams and the quiet spaces between her thoughts. Something is following her, pulling her to the Moss, and it’s growing stronger by the day. Could it be what called to her sister? Or even to their mother, when Emma was only a child?

Haunted by the ghosts of the past, Emma knows she is the only one who can uncover the truth and save her sister…unless she gets lost herself.

Short and Sweet Review

Emma is from a small town in Maine called Scarrow but for the past year she’s been away in California. After her mom and eventually her sister Eve disappeared, her dad sent her away but Emma is back. There’s a bog near their house also called the moss and Emma can hear it calling to her. Emma knows the townspeople are suspecting her father has some involvement in the disappearances but she’s determined to figure out what the moss wants and bring her sister back home.

I love books that take place in small towns because the weirdest things happen there. Emma comes from a small town where there’s a big bog where she believes her mom and sister went into but the police have never found anything. After her sister’s disappearance, her father sent her away to keep her safe but she came back with a determination. Emma doesn’t appreciate the way people are talking about her dad but there’s really nothing she can do because the idea that the bog took her sister and mom is way out of the realm of possibility for the townspeople. Emma reunites with an old friend Jordan, and they had a slowburn romance but I did enjoy seeing their scenes together and he never doubted her and her ideas about what was happening. In the book we also get some chapters that are flashbacks to when Emma and Eve are younger and we can see how the moss begins to have an influence over Eve. In the present time we see the moss start to influence Emma’s thoughts, but she’s a lot more strong willed and is able to resist most of the time. I’ve read a few books about a body of water having an influence on people and taking them to the other side, but I think this is the first one that involves a bog. The book has an eerie vibe and we all know Emma is going in but what she finds on the other side is the best part. The ending was good and I liked how everything was wrapped up.

Overall this was an engaging book. I enjoyed the plot and seeing how the moss works to get its victims, and the history of it. Emma was a good character and I liked how she came in with a goal and she wasn’t leaving without the prize. October or spooky season is coming up and this is the perfect book to set the mood!