Labyrinth is one of my fav movies and I love folk horror. This i sa sort of romantic horror: even if the plot has echo of other stories it surprised and kept me hooked.
The romance was not the best part as I found too much insta-love but the plot and world building were excellent.
Tori Bovalino is an excellent storyteller and this story is recommended.
4,5 upped to 5
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

My Throat an Open Grave is a dark YA fantasy with horror elements and filled with questions surrounding myth and reality, as well as religion and the way it impacts a small town.

Leah is tasked with finding her younger brother after he has been stolen by the lord of the woods, and we follow her attempt to try and save him. For a ya fantasy, Leah was complex enough for me to like her whilst still understanding her as a person - she is a teenager in a small town in America where religion plays a large part. The questions raised surrounding religion really pushed this book, and we see Leah question the things she has been told and how she should act. This religious questioning was definitely my favourite part of the book, it helped develop Leah as a character and make her almost feel more normal and grounded in reality.

The romance was slightly insta-love/could have had more development but for a shorter book i thought it worked fine and i did like seeing them together.

There’s non-binary rep in here, as well as a queer-normative world within the woods and mention of multiple queer relationships. Fletcher immediately introduces themself with their pronouns which made a large contrast to Leah’s hometown, and her friendship with Fletcher was so sweet as the story progressed.

The twist at the end was very welcome, and Leah’s growth and strength shine through!

If you’re looking for a shorter fantasy book with horror elements and a slightly atmospheric wood this is the read for you!

As a lover of the Labyrinth I just had to read this book and was not disappointed. I had an idea of what was going on but had to keep reading to find out for sure. Then ending was perfect. Really enjoyed it.

This book blew me away. I can’t even put into words how much I loved this story. I was obsessed from start to finish!

Immediately I was captivated by the stunning writing. Despite the dark and eerie events happening in the book, the writing drew me in and kept me turning the pages. The story was unique and fascinating and kept me guessing.

I couldn’t work out the intentions of the Lord of the Wood, but as a character, he was fabulous. It was easy to fall under his spell. There was so much character development from several of the major characters, so the entire story and ending were so satisfying.

I wasn’t clear about who the antagonist was, but that just made the story even more mysterious and engaging. I suspected everyone and everything and nothing was as it seemed. I loved the mystery of what happened to Maria, and trying to figure out who the true villain was. It was a fantastic representation of who/what evil really is. And how often it hides in plain sight and the real villain isn’t who we think it is.

I loved Leah as a protagonist. She was complicated. She was torn by guilt and the desperation to prove herself, but she also had contrasting feelings about her relief that her brother was taken. I also loved how it highlighted that someone who has conflicted thoughts doesn’t make them a bad person. It shows that they are flawed, just like us.

I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me this book in exchange for an honest review*

This is a gothic tale that will make you stay up late. The world building was excellent and I didn't want to put it down. It's been marketed as YA but I'd say it's for upper teens, borderline NA. The romance was good and I was rooting for Leah. Loved it.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 - My Throat An Open Grave - Tori Bovalino (release date 20/02/2024)

MTAOG (shortened because I don’t want to type it 20 times) is a modern story of sacrifice shown through a folk horror lens.

The novel follows the story of a small town teen, Leah Jones, under immense religious pressure to be a ‘good girl’ and not fall victim to sin. When this inevitably doesn’t go to plan, a series of events leads Leah to being sacrificed to the Lord of the Woods - a creature Leah had believed to be a fantasy used to strike fear into the hearts of young girls and women. There’s not much more I can say about the plot without fear of spoiling stuff but I promise it is gripping!!

Poetic and well thought out, I devoured this book in less than 24 hours - and I think it’s an incredible feat for a
stand-alone YA fantasy, as I’ve found myself thinking about it constantly since I turned the last page.

The book fell from a 5 star to a 4 star read as I felt as though the author sometimes spelt stuff out to us that didn’t need to be spelt out, as she’d already done a wonderful job of immersing us into the novel - and the spelling out and repetition kind of drew me back out.

Although MTAOG is a YA novel; there’s definitely elements within that should be considered before buying for a younger teen. The trigger warnings can be seen at the start of the of the book but include gore, animal gore, and suicidal thoughts - there’s also MILD spice.

I really recommend reading this book - it really does share an important message and I felt it was relayed extremely well and with the right amount of sensitivity!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for an honest review!!

#reading #review #readingnow #arcreader #arcs #arcread #newbooks #netgalley #titan #folkhorror #fantasy #YAfantasy #whatimreading #whatiread

A gorgeously visceral forest-based YA horror which has an unexpectedly heart-warming plot. Influenced by Labyrinth, and with compelling reflections on family, love and trusting yourself, I absolutely devoured this in one sitting!

I was totally enraptured by this gorgeous, new dark fantasy novel from Tori Bovalino. Part Labyrinth retelling, part examination of the impacts of religious trauma, My Throat an Open Grave follows Leah, a young woman living in a small town in Pennsylvania who must venture into the forest to find the enigmatic and supernatural Lord of the Woods, who has taken her baby brother Owen. What unfolds is a story of a young woman’s strength, the power of friendship and found family, and the disturbing secrets of a small town.

I love Bovalino’s gorgeous, atmospheric writing - she brings the woods to life and captures the sense foreboding and mystery Leah senses throughout the book. She does a great job of balancing the dark fantasy and horror elements with a dash of romance - one that even a cynic like me felt was believable. She keeps the story from feeling too dark but still communicates her message well.

The cast of characters are three dimensional and complex - no one is perfect but every one is deeply compelling. I loved Leah’s strength and the way she grows as a person throughout the story, as well as the relationships she forms and maintains throughout the book. From her other work I’ve read, one of Bovalino’s great strengths is writing compelling women and it is definitely on display here.

Dark, lush, and compulsively readable, My Throat an Open Grave is a great new fantasy tale. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy steeped in folklore (and anyone who had a crush on Jareth, let’s be real).

This was a really interesting read, I binged it and loved it and would definitely recommend for fans of the movie Labyrinth. The story starts out with Leah, a teen girl from Winston who feels overwhelmed with taking care of her baby brother, Owen, as well as the pressures of living up to the expectations of the church and her mother.

During the course of the book, Leah goes to seek The Lord of The Woods, an evil figure who plays torment on the town and its children. I really loved the woods and how everything worked within that other realm beyond the river, where time doesn’t work the way it usually does.

The romance in this book was unexpected but lovely, I loved the dynamics and how it came to be.

This book was full of atmosphere, romance and secrets. Perfect for fans of YA reads with a dark atmosphere!

In an act of extreme shallowness I asked for this book from NetGalley on the basis of the cover alone!

Wasn’t totally sure what I was expecting but I’m willing to give most horror a chance.

This is light on horror but uses it to good effect when needed.

We’re introduced to a small town which is subjected to the rule of The Lord of the Woods, a mythical being who takes babies wh were offered to him due to a transgression of an ‘unpure’ girl, and the girl is tasked to seek out and return with the child.

Let’s just say all is not as it seems.

Got to admit it felt all a bit Labyrinth to begin with but as more was revealed and more characters added it moved past this (though a good folk horror take on that wouldn’t be shunned) `nd took on a life of its own.

An intriguing take on many a fairy tale and folk horror trope, the romance part was written well, as was the explanation (sort of) of the mechanics and rules behind the Lord of the Woods and the offerings.

I was expecting full on folk horror but got horror of a more human size, kept me gripped to the end.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Labyrinth is one of my favourite films, I may have a love for the Goblin King and of course the infamous Worm from the film. So when I learned that My Throat an Open Grave was like that movie meets folk horror and romance I was intrigued. By the first page I was hooked.

Bovalino creates a world that is both enchanting and deadly. The themes of this book vary so much from grief and trauma to love and acceptance. I also think that she deals with all the topics with respect. I dislike spoilers but the way Bovalino highlights the hypocrisy often prevalent in those who claim to be the most religious and protectors of faith is dealt with a lot better than I would. This is paired with the subtly of the sin belonging to only one person not a pair. Given the current views around purity culture and such it is an interesting way of viewing how the idea of shame and guilt alters depending on numerous factors particularly gender but I digress.

In terms of story this is lushly gothic with a touch of folklore and fairytale about it. I adored the juxtaposing of the Wood realm ran by The Lord of the Woods (LoW) and the town of Winston in Pennsylvania. One is full of happy and free individuals who live their lives mostly free of shame and regrets while the other is held under the shadow of everything potentially being a sin or at least bringing shame. The prose is beautiful and haunting. You could vividly imagine the woodland kingdom and its inhabitants. Pacing wise I adored this tale happens over a month or so while our protagonist (I’ll mention more on her shortly) is tasked with providing a song for the return of her baby brother. I loved the mixture of them beginning to find freedom and acceptance but also carrying the weight they must return.

In terms of characters I loved Leah and of course Tristan. In Leah Bovalino shows how conditioning can alter someone so completely. It was heart-breaking and also rewarding to see Leah slowly learn to accept who she was and how she wasn’t broken or used. It was also wonderful to see her and Tristan’s relationship grow and blossom throughout. Fletcher was probably my ultimate favourite character followed closely by Ruth but by the end of the book I felt like I knew all of them.

The twists and turns in the novel are also revealed at a good pace and made the reading enjoyable if not infuriating (at the ‘bad’ characters and situation not the novel) at times and I am glad some characters got just what they deserved!

I would recommend this to any fan of gothic horror, gothic fantasy and folk horror. Do be sure to check your triggers because some of the content is darker but it is worth making it through, if you can, and Bovalino is respectful of all issues raised.

I really loved this one and cannot wait to get a physical copy!

This was definitely out of my comfort zone but I really did enjoy the dark, creepy woods vibes this book gave out!

Leah was a good main character to follow, and this was very much a YA read.

Highlights
- YA romance
- Labyrinth style book
- Dark, creepy woods setting (perfect for reading in dark, stormy weather!)
- Explored women's fears in a realistic way

Small towns are often portrayed as good, homely, and decent communities where everyone knows each other, neighbours help neighbours, and things are like the 'good old days'. But small communities tend to hold secrets and darkness, especially when ruled by religion and fear. Tori Bovalino's latest book is a look at the darkness that such communities contain, of the hate bubbling just beneath the surface, and how old fashioned values can lead to cruelty and bloodshed.

My Throat An Open Grave tells the story of Leah, a teenage girl who's spent her entire life in the small, hyper religious town of Winston. Leah has grown up under the teachings of the church, where she and other teenage girls have been taught that sex, or even lustful feelings are a terrible sin. Made to take abstinence pledges, and to wear rings that show that they're still 'pure', the girls of Winston are treated as objects rather than people. Leah is growing more and more resentful of her small town, a town where she's treated as an outsider, where she doesn't have many friends, and where her parents treat her with disdain. Forced to look after her younger brother, Owen, Leah is treated as little more than a servant in her own home.

But religion isn't the only thing that the people of Winston have grown up believing in. There's also the Lord of the Wood. A mysterious, shadowy figure said to rule the woods on the other side of the river just outside of town, everyone in Winston knows that he's real, that every few decades he appears and takes a child away. But the Lord of the Wood can only take what he's offered. When Leah has finally had enough of her life, when she's fed up with everything, she makes an offer to the Lord of the Wood, and Owen is taken. Now, forced into the wood to retrieve him by the angry leaders of the town, Leah must find a way to save Owen and bring him back safely.

My Throat An Open Grave is advertised as being like Labyrinth and whilst that did pique my interest at first, I quickly found that that comparison kind of falls apart very quickly. There is a deal made with an almost fairy-tale-like figure who steals away a younger brother, which spurs on a quest to save him, but the tone and the content of the story that comes after is completely different. My Throat An Open Grave isn't some colourful, wondrous adventure filled with magical characters, it's a story about a hurt, abused, young woman learning to understand the trauma that she's been through and moving through it.

Tori Bovalino has written some dark work before, and I'd say that Not Good For Maidens is much closer in tone to Labyrinth than this book, but it also feels like My Throat An Open Grave is her darkest work yet. There are parts of the book that are genuinely chilling, not because they're fantastical, but because they're the parts that are very much grounded in reality. There are parts of Leah's story that are heart-breaking to read, but they're parts that will feel familiar because they're stories that we've all heard before. We've heard of the kind of familial abouse Leah deals with, with the abusive religious upbringing, because people who've lived through that have told their stories. There are times where the book is hard to read, and even though there were parts of the story that I saw coming pretty early on their full reveal was impactful not because it was a surprising twist, but because Bovalino filled the moments with such pathos that it was hard not to feel moved by them.

Whilst My Throat An Open Grave never feels completely original, with many of the story beats being predictable, or the world building having moments that feel borrowed from other stories the way in which Bovalino puts the very human story at it's centre, and the life that she puts into Leah makes the book worth reading. It was this emotional story that kept me hooked, and the way in which it was brought to a conclusion in the final chapters that elevated the book to the score that I've given it. So even if you feel like you've read this kind of book before, pick it up and give it a try, because there are some truly spectacular moments to be found in here.

creepy. romantic. sexy. CREEPY. a bit insane. may very well be one of my favourite books of 2024. felt like labyrinth meets house of hollow meets midnight is the darkest hour !!

My Throat is an Open Grave is a spooky/gothic/folklore-y delight following Leah who wishes her baby brother away to the Lord of the Woods in a moment of desperation, and then sent to retrieve him by her creepy church town, who have been cursed by these woods for generations. The writing was gorgeous and atmospheric, the story well paced, and while the plot was fairly predictable, I didn’t really mind. The romance was very insta-love, and the love interest very generic YA, but again, I didn’t mind because I enjoyed the rest of the story so much, and its exploration of religious trauma.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titanbooks for the free e-arc in exchange of my honest opinion.

“My throat an open grave” is the story of Leah. She lives in a small and weird town, very religious, and when she’s not at school or work or church, she takes care of her brother, Owen. She’s not happy, but it’s just life. But there’s something in the forest next to this village, Lord of the Woods, and it is said that if you’re not good, he’ll take you.
But one night, Owen doesn’t stop crying. And Leah does one thing she knows she shouldn’t, she wishes Owen away. And he’s taken.

That’s the plot of the book in a few words, without the twists and turns that will happen.

“My throat is an open grave” is actually a verse from the Bible, and I did not knew that. After finishing this book I searched for its meaning.

“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

I am a lover of creepy stories and creepy forests. I am a sucker for strange creatures and ghosts. While this wasn’t scary or horror, it was very enjoyable and entertaining. Also sad. It has “Labyrinth” vibes and explores women’s fears. It’s starting a little bit slow, but it’s very captivating.

There are one main character, Leah, and while it was a little annoying to see how many times she talks about herself being broken and bad, I understood her in the end. But throughout the story, we find out more about her and we see how people influenced her to have these opinions. She’s just a girl who made mistakes, but she always been seen as something rotten. It was sad to see how much she despises herself and I hate her mother for never standing up for her daughter. I liked to be by her side while she understood that she deserves love and peace and happiness.

“That’s what we’re meant to fear, isn’t it? Not the things that look evil, but the ones that look just as sweet and nice as honey, the sins that come back to bite you like a viper lying in wait. It’s to easy to trust a beautiful thing, to let yourself go deeper and deeper until you take a breath and realise the oxygen has been all sucked out and you’re suffocating.”

I don’t want to say a lot about this, it was a good book. My expectations were really low, being disappointed by so many gothic/horror books, but this one was a pleasant surprise. It has short chapters, easy and understandable writing, good and developed characters, I liked the twists even if I figured it out some of them, I was still surprised. I hate the town Leah grew in, I hate his residents, I hate what the men did to these women. The religion is playing a huge role in “My throat an open grave” and being in Leah’s place, it would be hard to believe in something bigger than everything.

“I wish I had some name, some religion that I believed could save me. I wish I could look to the stars and whisper the name of my own personal god and be whisked away somewhere new, somewhere that didn’t hurt so much.”

I’m very happy with the ending, but this book left me with some sad thoughts. It’s hard to be a woman, anything you do is not good. And Leah’s story in a good example.

I really don’t know what I was expecting when I went into this book as it’s not a genre I usually read a lot but I really loved it.

This was an absolutely captivating story following Leah who is sacrificed into the woods when her baby brother is taken by the Lord of Woods himself. She has been taught all her life to fear him and the place he rules over however when she gets there all is not as she expected.

As Leah beings to explore the new realm and unravel the mysteries and secrets of the girls that went before her she learns that her town has been keeping a bigger secret than she could have been prepared for!

Spooky folklore vibes, a mystery that needs to be solved, a misunderstood villain and a twist that I didn’t see coming!

This was quite a dark, subtly emotional and meaningful read, wrapped up in an entrancing YA package.

I really enjoyed the dynamic of Leah and Tristan, and her journey of opening up to him after living a life of religious oppression. As a protagonist, she is admiringly strong-willed, spirited and independent. Although she has friends and romantic interests around her in both her old life and the new, her narration makes her seem so starkly alone. Which, I guess, is the whole point of this book!

The beginning had me hooked, from the moment Owen was taken and a pile of twigs left in his place. I wish there was more darkness to this story, but that would be at the risk of making it less teen-friendly.

This was my first Tori Bovalino novel, and now I want to read more! Massive thanks to Titan and Netgalley for the gifted e-book.

Thank you to Titan Books and Netgalley for providing me an eARC to review!

Sadly I think Devil Makes Three may have been a one-hit-wonder for me and Bovalino, cause I really haven't enjoyed her two latest releases.

This one just didn't draw me in - I feel we didn't get enough of Leah's life pre-forest for the sake of a reveal later, and her relationship with the Lord of the Wood was just boring? The atmosphere wasn't giving either, and for a short book there wasn't much happening for the first half.

I also think that the 'reveal' being related to teen pregnancy and purity culture is a bit strange, as it seemed the author wanted to address recent happenings in the US but this isn't mentioned anywhere in the blurb or the content warnings. It just kind of seemed like a weird choice to use these topics as a twist in the story, and it put me off continuing.

I'm glad to see people enjoying this book, but I think I just am not gelling with Bovalino's stories at this point :(

Although The Devil Makes Three was a lovely book, it was Not Good for Maidens that put this author on my auto-buy list. This book has therefore been in pre-order ever since I discovered it was gonna be published and I really couldn't wait to get it. And then I discovered that it was also available through Netgalley. I had to request a copy and I was insanely happy when I got the email that Titan books had decided to grant me a copy.

Once I started reading it was impossible to put this book down. I was only gonna read the first few chapters and before I knew it I was halfway. The atmosphere in this book is wonderful. The writing is very fitting for the world this book takes place in, for the characters we're getting to know and for the kind of story that's being told. The book constantly balances on the line between reality and fantasy and it's very relatable and otherworldly at once.

I also loved the heroine in this story. She presents herself as flawed, as a bad girl, as someone who has broken all rules, as someone we should hate. Throughout the story we discover that her opinion on herself is heavily influenced by the people she grew up with, by the morals and unwritten rules of the town and by how people behave towards her. And there was nothing more beautiful than watching her discover she's still worth all the love she can get.

It's not the only heavy theme the book deals with. I don't want to give too much away of course, there is a reason the book keeps a lot of its secrets until the very end, but once I discovered what is truly going on even I felt a little sick and that happens to me rarely. I therefore really advise, if you have certain triggers, to check if this book is for you. This is not just a supernatural horror story. It's way more than that and the book can therefore hit very close to home.

I'm already looking forward to the next book by this author. No matter what it will be about!