Overreliance on metaphor to express Juliette’s jaw-dropping surprise wears thin: “My mouth is sitting on my kneecaps. Fast-paced action scenes convey imminent danger vividly, but there’s little sense of a broader world here. The ending falls flat as the plot devolves into comic-book territory. But Adam belongs to a resistance movement he helps Juliette escape to their stronghold, where she finds that she’s not the only one with superhuman abilities. Unfortunately, he’s a soldier under orders from Warner, a power-hungry 19-year-old. Adam, it turns out, is immune to her deadly touch. After months of isolation, her captors suddenly give her a cellmate-Adam, a drop-dead gorgeous guy. Juliette’s journal holds her tortured thoughts in an attempt to repress memories of the horrific act that landed her in a cell. Juliette was torn from her home and thrown into an asylum by The Reestablishment, a militaristic regime in control since an environmental catastrophe left society in ruins. Ellerie’s family and most of the town default to White.Īn engrossing combination of the supernatural and human psychology.Ī dystopic thriller joins the crowded shelves but doesn't distinguish itself. The biggest twist may be obvious, but the escalation to the wild climax provides a fun ride to an abrupt ending.

During the plot’s slow build, Ellerie’s interpersonal storylines (a budding romance with a young trapper, growing distance between her and her twin, and more) ground readers between the escalation of outward dangers. The nonspecific historical setting and creepy woods are well used, be it in eerie moments or in the details of beekeeping and the homesteading lifestyle. Amid the claustrophobic atmosphere, acts of sabotage sow mistrust among the townspeople and uncover every last grudge.

Meanwhile, aside from the monsters in the woods, other bad omens like deformed animals and ruined crops plague the town and add to its struggles to prepare for winter. When monsters in the woods, long thought gone, prevent supply runs, the town faces crucial shortages of things like medicine, ammunition, and general store goods. After an emergency draws her parents away, Ellerie’s left taking care of her family-her twin brother and two younger sisters. An isolated mountain town faces inhuman threats and a reckoning.Įighteen-year-old Ellerie is the beekeeper’s daughter in Amity Falls, a town with a curious past-legend has it the founders were plagued by monsters and so hung Bells along the forest line to keep them out.

Erin craig small favors