And the Trees Crept In ~ Dawn Kurtagich (audio) review [@dawnkurtagich @lbkids]

And the Trees Crept In
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 06, 2016
352 pages
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Stay away from the woods…

When Silla and Nori arrive at their aunt’s home, it’s immediately clear that the manor is cursed. The endless creaking of the house at night and the eerie stillness of the woods surrounding them would be enough of a sign, but there are secrets too—questions that Silla can’t ignore: Why does it seem that, ever since they arrived, the trees have been creeping closer? Who is the beautiful boy who’s appeared from the woods? And who is the tall man with no eyes who Nori plays with in the basement at night… a man no one else can see?

Prior to actually reading, well listening to, And the Trees Crept In, I thought that the US title was a definite downgrade in comparison to the UK title, The Creeper Man.  That cover and title seemed to be . . . creepier than the US version. After reading the book, though, And the Trees Crept In, is a pretty perfect title. I don't think I have ever been happier to be not surrounded by trees as when I read this book.

This novel is fantastically creepy and weird and frightening and kind of gross and mystifying and strange. Starting from the girls' journey to La Buame, the manor house where their aunt lives to their arrival there and life with  their aunt, the edict that they must not go into Python Woods, the woods surrounding the house, it's all kind of off, weird and unsettling, somehow.

There are several mediums used in telling the story - flashbacks, journal entries, epigraphs, and the main narrative - that keep the story moving, add in new developments that sometimes make things more confusing and also help keep that sort of 'horror' feeling.

I listened to And the Trees Crept In and I definitely think that helped to enhance the creepy, spooky, scary aspects and overall mood. The sound effects, the voices, and all of the different effects used really made it into a scary story. This is a book that I absolutely recommend listening to, if at all possible.

The ending of this novel was not one I saw coming, even as we got right up to it, but things all fell together perfectly. It made earlier parts of the story make more sense and made for a good conclusion. There were a few relationships in the book that I had been somewhat unsure of before (their progression or if there was really anything there) but the ending made them fit much better. The ending was a surprise, but not a bad one.

While I wouldn't recommend listening to (or reading) this book in a densely wooded area, it would make a great Halloween read/listen.

The Dead House ~ Dawn Kurtagich (earc) review [@dawnkurtagich @lbkids]

The Dead House
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
September 15, 2015
432 pages
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Debut author Dawn Kurtagich is dead on in this terrifying psychological thriller!

Over two decades have passed since the fire at Elmbridge High, an inferno that took the lives of three teenagers. Not much was known about the events leading up to the tragedy - only that one student, Carly Johnson, vanished without a trace...

...until a diary is found hidden in the ruins.

But the diary, badly scorched, does not belong to Carly Johnson. It belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, a girl who shouldn't exist Who was Kaitlyn? Why did she come out only at night? What is her connection to Carly?

The case has been reopened. Police records are being reexamined: psychiatric reports, video footage, text messages, e-mails. And the diary.

The diary that paints a much more sinister version of events than was ever made publicly known.

The Dead House has a really great concept: Carly and Kaitlyn are two girls who are either sisters who share the same body thanks to some sort of paranormal or otherworldly occurrence or the product of Carly's dissociative identity disorder.

Through diary entries, messages between the girls, transcribed video footage, emails and IMs, interviews and therapy notes, we begin to get the story of what happened at Elmbridge High.

I like that The Dead House gives us the story both prior to the 'incident' and after it, alternatingly. It is an interesting mix of what is happening to Carly and Kaitlyn, snatches of their past, and what happened after the fire, in the investigation.

I did not get as much out of most of the 'post' incident parts of the book as I would have liked. They do a good job of balancing not giving away what's coming, while still hinting at it nicely. Still, I never felt like the officer doing the questioning had an understandable theory. His larger view was easy to see, but there wasn't as much there as I wanted.

The romance was weird or 'off' for me but it's hard to tell if that was on purpose, due to the character's possible mental state, something only I didn't like/get, how it was written or some combination of any or all of that. As that wasn't the main focus of the story, though, I didn't really care.

Some of my favorite parts centered on Naida, Carly's roommate and friend and the voodoo-ish Mala. I thought Naida, her past, what we learn about her and where the story takes her, were excellent - and very original. She has an unconventional background and sees things differently than you'd expect. I loved what she added to the story and her influence.

I do not think The Dead House was particularly terrifying or scary, but it does, absolutely, leave you with something to think about. Carly and Kaitlyn's mind(s) are a complicated, confusing, twisted place and in The Dead House we get a bit of a peak inside. Whether one is the product of the other's mind or they are two, originally separate beings, well, that is the question.

The Dead House did not completely work for me, but I love the concept (and its uniqueness) and am absolutely looking forward to what the author publishes next.