This review first appeared in Booklist on March 4, 2025.
After her identical twin sister, Ada, dies in a lurid accident, Evie Laurent is swiftly sent to Northcroft, an elite boarding school, and away from prying eyes. Located on a remote island, the mysterious school is plagued by increasingly disturbing phenomena, all apparently connected to Hemlock Woods—the vast old-growth forest that surrounds it. Amid these strange occurrences, Evie meets Holland Morgan, a young TV star, and the two feel an instant connection. But their burgeoning romance is beset by challenges wrought by painful pasts; dangerously jealous friends; Northcroft’s sinister, cultlike secret society; and, of course, the eldritch forest itself, which seems to have a mind and will of its own and is intent on drawing the two young women deeper into its impenetrable darkness. This slow-burning thriller successfully combines contrasting genres such as romance and body horror to deliver a dark, distorted love story with enough shocking revelations to induce whiplash. Ideal for fans of Kate Alice Marshall’s YA horror, such as These Fleeting Shadows (2022) and, in particular, The Narrow (2023).






