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!