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.

Anna Kellogg has always felt different. Growing up in Hartwood, New Jersey—where frequent disappearances are attributed to an urban-legend-like beast that dwells in the walled-in swamp at the center of town—can have that effect on people. But for Anna, it’s more than that. Since she was a child, she’s been plagued by episodes where she sees things others can’t see. Feeling different is one thing, but actually being different is another. If it weren’t for her best friend, Olivia, Anna’s not sure where she’d fit in.

But any hopes of having a normal senior year come to a halt when Olivia is attacked in the woods, bitten, and left for dead by a whirling cyclone of claws, fur, and teeth. Though Olivia survives, a sinister entity makes it clear that the mark had been set on Anna…and the miss has set in motion a catastrophic shift that will change Anna and her friends’ lives forever.

Short and Sweet Review

Things in Hartwood, New Jersey, aren’t completely normal. The town has a wall surrounding the swamp to keep out the beast which is either an urban legend or the truth. Anna has always felt different, she could see things no one else could, the only thing that keeps Anna feeling like she fits in is her best friend Olivia. While on a field trip Olivia ends up getting attacked by the beast who was supposed to have Anna as the target. Now Anna and her friends lives are starting to change especially when they have access to a world beyond theirs.

The whole premise of this book sounds great but it’s another case of the execution failing. There was a lot going on but mainly it revolves around Olivia getting bitten and Anna, Alex, and Lou discovering there’s the otherworld and a swamp witch and other things. I wish I could tell you more but I feel like I was a bit lost while reading this and frankly not all there. I don’t think this book held my attention the way I thought it would. The book is just filled with a lot of back and forth between the regular world and the otherworld and trying to learn information about why things are the way they are, like why was there a beast and why did the town sacrifice people? The characters are very one note and not ones that I connected to. Looking back I think the story was very basic and I could see why it would be compared to The Hazel Wood or Stranger Things, but it just didn’t have the wow factor that those two things bring. Like I mentioned earlier there’s a lot going on but I think things could have been better if there was more detail or if things were fleshed out a bit more. It just felt like we were moving along because we had to but there was really no purpose for us moving along.

Overall, this book was okay and usually my okays are like 3 stars but this okay is leaning towards 2.5. I really wished this was a book I loved but unfortunately that wasn’t the case and I won’t be recommending it.