instantly hypnotic. Bovalino possesses that rare talent of grabbing the reader and dragging you straight to the heart of the scene - immersing you in the moment and holding you down perhaps a little too long…

the kind of tale you have to consume in small chunks because digesting it piece by piece hurts enough. it’s about the gaps where love should be. it’s about the cradle where the baby should lie. it’s about the eyes watching you in the dark where no eyes should be. the burdens placed on girls. the constant weight of fear and of guilt. wishing you could disappear and all your mistakes could be erased with you. It’s about the history of what we’ve done and what we are continuing to do, the lawgivers that we don’t stop. the prices we pay to be part of a community.

With all the ominous mystery of a rural cult horror, and all the weird eldritch fantasy of Labyrinth, this is an absorbing, powerful and beautiful story. Bovalino does not pull her punches. Read this book because it is important.

2.5

Really cool concept, I enjoyed the writing style, and of course I loved the gothic horror vibes.

But sadly that's where it ends, I felt no connection to any of the characters and the 'twist' wasn't anything worth talking about. It wasn't necessarily bad though, don't get me wrong.

The messaging behind the story was about overcoming trauma, especially religious trauma and facing your fears. All of which I can appreciate but also didn't find myself that intrigued by it so see how these characters would end up and where the story to go.

It does have a dark atmosphere and I know a lot of people will love this!

It reminded me of The Thorns Remain by J J A Harwood - which I gave a similar rating so unfortunately maybe I just need to realise that these types of stories just aren't for me, sadly!

Thank you to NetGalley + Titan Books for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

-Sarah

I've tried to write this review a hundred times over and nothing I have to say comes close to expressing how extraordinary this book is.

Full disclosure, the TWs for this book are long. Please look these up. This is a book built around traumas, on and off page. But this is a story that focuses less on the what has and more on the what next. This is the true north in My Throat An Open Grave; hope.

This book follows Leah, a young woman living in a god fearing small town she's resigned herself to for the rest of her life. She's looking after her little brother and living with her emotionally difficult mum and has a partially absent father, all in all not the most emotionally nourishing environment! Oh did I mention that an ominous evil demon lord lives in the woods next to the town, and he gobbles up missing young women and children? Yup. That's a thing.

When something awful happens to Leah's brother, she is cast out into the woods to save her brother and finds more than she bargained for...

What I have loved most about Bovalino's writing in previous works is the various ways journeys of self discovery have been teased out in some of the darkest moments and settings, never letting that small flame of hope be dowsed. My Throat An Open Grave is no exception to this format; this I feel is Bovalino's rawest, most honest and gut wrenching one yet. I cried tears of sorrow, I cried tears of joy. Congratulation Tori, this is a masterpiece.

Read. This. Now.

I have been a fan of Tori Bovalino since her fascinating debut The Devil Makes Three (2021) a supernatural tale in an exclusive school which has a cool library with occult leanings. Tori backed that up with another captivating read, inspired by Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, her second novel Not Good For Maidens sent a teenage girl from a family of witches into the supernatural dimensions below the ancient city of York. Before her third novel My Throat an Open Grave arrived Tori edited the superb The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror (which we reviewed last month) although I am unsure of the timeline of when these two books were written and edited, her latest novel leans towards the general area of Folk Horror, so perhaps they influenced each other. As with all her previous fiction, My Throat an Open Grave is mature YA, aimed at older more thoughtful teenagers as it is rather slow and there is little action for long periods. That is not to say it is boring, but those looking for a more gripping in-your-face horror read might find the long periods set in the Lord of the Wood’s domain slightly tedious and somewhat of an anti-climax after the early buildup.

The initial setting, the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania, was terrific and it could be argued it held more intrigue that in the forest. This is a very religious, near puritanical (did anybody say cult?) town, which although seemingly Christian has this weird relationship with the Lord of the Wood, an entity which according to legend steal unattended babies, leaving enigmatic tokens of wood and bone in their place. When the novel opens no children have disappeared for many years, but early in proceedings the baby brother of main character Leah Jones is snatched. The town erupt in outrage and Leah is blamed and shamed, with this being one of the strongest parts of the story, also the complex relationship with her mother which has a big traumatic twist near the end (I figured out the twist after fifty pages). Leah heads across the river (is not really given a choice) to trade with the Lord of the Woods to retrieve her younger brother, where most of the book is set. Too much of the novel is set there, which is dark, brooding and romantic as more about Leah’s past is revealed, connected to shame, trauma and the lengths that the village will go to any lengths to ensure its maidens stay good and pure. My Throat an Open Grave picks up in the final fifty pages for a big finish and Leah’s return to town, but it took too long getting there. AGE RANGE 13/14+

This is a remarkable entry in Bovalino's growing list of lyrical horror. Teeming with cult roots and an immersive setting and isolationist communities, My Throat an Open Grave follows Leah's journey to steal back her baby brother, who was taken by the mysterious Lord of the Wood into the forest. Leah was an interesting protagonist, clearly traumatised by her upbringing and relationships with her family — although you have to imagine how much of a toll the Lord of the Wood must have on the ability for kindness and empathy in a town like Leah's. I loved the writing itself. Bovalino's prose is gorgeous and expressive and melodious, pun unintended. There's so much theme underlying this story as well, and it really delves into the pressures we place on young girls and obsession with their virginity, parentification, abuse, and religious trauma. If you like YA books that read a bit like a fever dream, you'll love this one!

The description of Tori Boliviano's newest work reads enticing: a small town in the middle of nowhere, an eerie forest and its mysterious Lord of the Wood who steals our protagonist Leah's little baby brother. Right from the beginning we can feel the doom and gloom atmosphere that surrounds Leah, and her home town of Winston is ruled by its deep commitment to Christian religion, including a purity culture that clearly divides women into good girls and sinful whores. There is no inbetween, and very early on we see how Leah struggles with conforming to this strict belief system. At its core, this book is about religious oppression and trauma, and the more we learn about Leah, the more we can see why the author decided to write this book. The big twist is one that hurts and reminds us of current happenings especially in the US. I really enjoyed the themes and the folklore inspirations.

Apart from the themes, this book is just very mediocre all around. The writing is great but kept me detached from the characters, and the characters themselves are mostly forgettable. Leah is a good protagonist but Bolivano doesn't delve deep enough into the complexities of her trauma. I also would have loved for this book to be focused on the friendship between Leah and her best friend since childhood, because there is so much to say about a friendship between girls growing up in what is basically a Christian fundamentalist town and the trauma they share.
Instead, this book turned out to be mostly a typical ya romance. Of course, the mysterious Lord of the Wood turns out to be a really pretty boy around Leah's age, and of course he's just super nice and sweet. Of course there is instalove on both sides. I sighed so loudly I woke my dog when he appeared and I suddenly knew where this book was headed. There would have been so many much more interesting things to explore because the setting of Winston and the themes of the story are great! The mystery surrounding the missing girls from Winston is intriguing, but loses most of its steam as soon as we know that the accused entity is actually the love interest. Ah, the potential...
Take this with a grain of salt though, because obviously I'm not the intended audience of the book. I'm not in the ya age range and most ya romances make me skimread because they rarely venture beyond popular tropes. I was also simply hoping for something else.

So in conclusion? This is an okay book and a rather typical ya romance but the important themes turn this into a recommendation.

I really enjoyed the premise of this and some of the details. It was well written for the most part. I did however find the love story clichéd and tired and overdone.

a gorgeous, dark & atmospheric YA horror novel inspired by labyrinth. even though I don't usually read YA I absolutely had to nab a copy of this! it follows Leah who's brother is stolen by the Lord of the Woods, a creature who steals babies and demands a trade in order to take them back. leah must enter the woods and win her brother back, but it's so much more than that, it explores love, the societal pressure put on young women, purity culture and religious trauma and healing from both. I so enjoyed reading this and unraveling the story <3

thanks to netgalley & titan books for an arc of this book, out on the 20th of february<3

I haven't read anything by Tori Bovalino yet and don't know if I'll gravitate to get more of her books. I'm done with this arc for a while know and can't really make up my mind on wether I liked it or not. It's just a very in the middle read for me. The "quests" and adventure were quite fun, yet the book was a bit too much ya for my liking.

Save for a young girl wishing an evil being would take her baby brother away, I wouldn't say there's any other likeness to The Labyrinth- which is what drew me to request a Netgalley of My Throat Is An Open Grave. That and the beautiful cover.

This was my first Tori Bovalino read and probably my last only because it was a bit too young for me. As a YA novel this story is wonderful, an extremely powerful and important message for young teens- even if main character Leah had to be seriously bludgeoned with it.

The plot is fairly simple and for me took too long to get where it was headed, although I did enjoy the worldbuilding and diverse cast of loveable characters.

Told in first from Leah's perspective we follow her journey into the wood to rescue brother Owen from The Lord. But, as is always the way with small towns, there are some heavy secrets waiting to be uncovered.

Tori Bovalino is one of my favourite auto buy authors since The Devil Makes Three, all of Tori's books are absolutely phenomenal!

My Throat An Open Grave has such a powerful story. A small town with horror stories of the Lord of the Woods who takes away children.

It's a labyrinth inspired horror (which I haven't yet watched even though I've been meaning to for years!) where our main character Leah needs to go and rescue her baby brother who was taken by the Lord. She must cross the river and go into the woods and make an offering to get Owen back, she has a month and uncovers secrets about the previous girls who never went back to Winston.

I highly HIGHLY recommend Tori Bovalino's books in general but you must pick this one up. Incredible plot, great characters, Tristan was such a good love interest, it was well written and I cannot rave any more about this just go pick it up when it's out!