TOUR: Direwood by Catherine Yu

 

Direwood by Catherine Yu

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Publishing Date: September 20, 2022

 

Synopsis:

In this velvet-clad 1990s gothic horror, Aja encounters a charming vampire who wants to lure her into the woods—just like her missing sister.

No one ever pays attention to sixteen-year-old Aja until her perfect older sister Fiona goes missing. In the days leading up to Fiona’s disappearance, Aja notices some extraordinary things: a strange fog rolling through their idyllic suburban town, a brief moment when the sky seems to rain blood, and a host of parasitic caterpillars burrowing their way through the trees. Aja’s father, the neighbors, and even her ex-friend Mary all play down this strange string of occurrences, claiming there must be some natural explanation. It seems everyone is willing to keep living in denial until other teens start to go missing too.

Aja is horrified when she meets Padraic, the vampire responsible for all the strange occurrences. His hypnotic voice lures her to the window and tells her everything she’s longed to hear—she’s beautiful and special, and he wants nothing more than for Aja to come with him. Aja knows she shouldn’t trust him, but she’s barely able to resist his enthrallment. And following him into the woods may be the only way to find Fiona, so she agrees on one condition: He must let her leave alive if she is not wooed after one week. Though Aja plans to kill him before the week is out, Padraic has his own secrets as well.

In the misty woods, Aja finds that Padraic has made his nest with another vampire in a dilapidated church infested by blood-sucking butterflies. Within its walls, the vampires are waited on and entertained by other children they’ve enthralled, but there is no sign of Fiona. Before her bargain is up, Aja must find a way to turn her classmates against their captors, find her sister, and save them all—or be forced to join the very monsters she wants to destroy.

Content Warning: body and bug horror, death, on-page violence, and racial microaggressions

 

Book Links:

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Annotation Art 

REVIEW 

now this was UNSETTLING! 

Aja’s perfect sister goes missing and blood rain is falling from the sky. No one seems to be taking anything seriously, from the mysterious disappearances to the strange bugs and red rain— everything in Glen Hills has a reasonable explanation. When Aja hears a strange and lovely voice calling outside her house she takes a chance and follows him: Padriac, the beautiful vampire. He takes her to an unholy church in the forest, promising that she will be safe and free to leave anytime for seven nights. But can she really trust a vampire? 

I loved this! It was super weird and creepy. (If you hate bugs or bug horror you may want to avoid this one to be honest.) It was frustrating to see the gaslighting Aja received, as no one believed her and the perfect (and white) small town didn’t go out of its way to welcome her. I really liked her dynamic with Padriac, they were bound enemies with an undeniable bond. I thought it was the perfect amount of angst and tension! I love vampire stories and this one was so unique in my opinion! If you want a short, captivating horror with angst and 90s gothic vibes this will be your perfect read! 

About the Author:

Catherine Yu writes dark speculative fiction. She was born in Nanjing and is now based in New York. She is a graduate of Odyssey Writing Workshop. Direwood is her debut novel.

 

Author Links:

Website: https://catherineyuwrites.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/bluish_orb

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catherineyuwrites/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19221383.Catherine_Yu

Check out the rest of the tour HERE:  

Tour Schedule:

https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2022/08/09/tour-schedule-direwood-by-catherine-yu/