A new horror from T.Kingfisher! How lucky are we! I absolutely love this author, but I love her horror novels best of all!

This is a historical horror novel set in North Carolina in the late 1800s. We follow an illustrator who has taken a job in a town with a dark past, with a reclusive doctor who studies insects. She is there to finish the illustrations for his book, after the previous illustrator left under mysterious circumstances. Our main character Sonia, has her reservations about this job, the strange doctor and the more challenging residents of the town. However, she needs the money and her circumstances won’t allow her to leave yet. She is also charmed by the sumptuous cooking of the housekeeper and chooses to overlook the odd occurrences, unusual wildlife and bug invested tap water.

This book was genuinely so scary! The author explores real insect life and some of the horrible things they can do to their hosts. There are some absolutely stomach churning moments. Slightly traumatising! There’s both body and insect horror in this book.

Insects are a key theme throughout the book, as is painting. With our main character being an illustrator, this is referenced regularly. I loved how these two themes were blended so seamlessly, and the respect shown to the reader. There’s a level of technical and scientific detail described, but it was done so effortlessly. It was described to an extent I could follow and understand, and appreciate the skill, without ever feeling like it was patronising or going over my head. This led to it being such a memorable read!

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher. Terrifying and brilliant, highly recommend!

This was an absolutely terrifying but wonderful book. It does lean more onto body horror which might not be everyone's preference, but kingfisher does it right and it's definitely worth it to pick up!

I think Wolf Worm is the creepiest T. Kingfisher book yet! I mean that in a very good way because I just binged it in one go and my heart was beating out of my chest the entire time! It starts with tension straight away because the protagonist is speaking with the benefit of hindsight - so when she says certain things right at the beginning, you know that things are going to go very, very wrong. From there, it only gets exponentially creepier, and I was just full of fear the whole time but couldn't stop reading. The faces that I must have been pulling on the train while reading this! I don't even want to say too much about the plot because going into it just seeing that little blurb and there being virtually no reviews out there at the time of writing meant that I had zero spoilers. So I went in fairly blind and just let the horror take me! I loved it!

Disclaimer: I received an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley but this is my voluntary and honest review.

I’ve come to the realisation that I will pick up and read absolutely ANYTHING that Kingfisher writes.

Wolf Worm is a stunning gothic horror that follows Sonia Wilson, a scientific illustrator who takes up a new position illustrating a huge collection of insects with the reclusive Dr. Halder in his sprawling rural manor.

Hauntingly macabre. 10/10, no notes. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

Wolf Worm was an extremely unique and interesting read. As someone who is not a typical horror reader, I was a little scared but it was honestly such a good read

I have a bit of a parasite phobia so honestly not my smartest move so it was genuinely scary and creepy to read which in this case is definitely bonus points.

T. Kingfisher is just such a good writer in terms of describing things and it definitely highlighted how good the plot was as well!!!

Another splendid book by T. Kingfisher. I might be a little biased since I’ve loved every single book I’ve read by her, but WolfWorm is no exception. It’s an incredibly atmospheric story following Sonia Wilson, a botanical illustrator who takes on a new job in a remote town, working under a reclusive and rather moody doctor. Between illustrating strange insects and navigating the unsettling environment, Sonia quickly realizes the place is anything but ordinary.

I loved how every chapter kept me on edge, there’s a constant eerie feeling, like something is watching from over your shoulder. I’m not the biggest fan of bugs, so I definitely felt for the characters and found myself genuinely creeped out at times. The plot twists were fantastic, the cast of characters wonderfully diverse, and the paranormal elements added the perfect touch to a haunting mystery.

Overall, a truly enjoyable experience for fans of horror and atmospheric mysteries.
A solid 4.5-star rating from me.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Easily one of my new favorites! 🐝🐛🪱🪰🪲
Just one word: WOW!!!!!!!
I may be biased because T. Kingfisher is one of my absolute favorite authors ever, but this was a banger!
I couldn’t stop reading it! All the plot twists, the sickening details about worms, parasites, and flies—omg, the best!!!!
It was completely addicting!
I loved the FMC, Sonia! She was anxious and self-conscious but also brave, kind, and incredibly strong.
T. Kingfisher never misses!!! And she never fails to make me emotional, may I add!!!
5 stars!!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

Sonia is a botanical illustrator, who finds herself in a strange place, strange incidents, and people.
There is something about the woods. What is lurking?
Told from Sonia’s POV, this is an eerie story about wolf worms (I did not know they were called this as well).

4.5 stars.
Kingfisher’s a master at delivering eeriness, compassion, and internal thoughts of her main character.

The setting felt very authentic, and I liked the characters and the dynamics between them.

Sonia was charming with her art, practical side, and science-based thinking.

Miss Kingfished did it again!!

The atmosphere of a decrepit manor, the body horrors, creepy disfigured animals aghh everything in this book was off the charts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its main character Sonia. She's a scientific illustrator that is hired by an unnerving Dr. Halder who studies bugs and has a special interest in parasites. His evasiveness of the topic and secret late night excursions to the woods only add to the dread she feels while staying in his manor and drawing various insects for his next publication. The mystery part of the story was very well done and the resolution was quite unexpected even though I thought I've solved it somewhere around the half way mark.

The way Sonia sees the world through water colour pigments amazed me and really added to my immersion in the story.

Another great read from T Kingfisher.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an eArc of this book!