Thank you netgalley for the arc ❤️

4.5 ⭐️

Wow what can i say about this book
The pacing of this book was perfect for me, i normally lose interest easily, which il be honest around the middle mark i started feeling that way but then it all picks up again & had me drawn back in.

The chapters were perfect length for me as well as they weren't long which i also struggle with in some books.

I loved Melody so much. I felt so sorry for her when she didn't have any self confidence in herself because of Jimmy 😡 It broke my heart reading it.

I hated Jimmy so much
Andy gave me the creeps & i also hated him
((Thank you to Matthew for doing what you did to them!))

The ending was NOT ok though
again it broke my heart & had me tearing up 💔

Overall this book is amazing & would be such a fun book to read whilst camping or if there's a storm outside.
I can't wait to pick this up when it comes out 🖤

4.0 Stars

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was such a good Horror/Thriller book about ancient monsters that lurk in the woods. This creepy story will keep you up at night!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was exactly the kind of atmospheric horror I love. Unsated takes the familiar idea of a mother searching for her missing daughter and drops it deep into the wilderness, where something ancient and deeply unsettling is waiting.

What really worked for me was how the horror goes beyond the supernatural. There is so much woven into this story about motherhood, trauma, abuse, family secrets, and the things we inherit from the people who came before us. The idea that some forms of pain—and even some kinds of hunger—can be passed from one generation to the next gave the story an emotional weight that I really appreciated.

The setting also added so much to the tension. The forest felt isolated, unpredictable, and increasingly sinister as Melody searched for Sara. I loved that feeling of being surrounded by something you don't fully understand. The deeper Melody goes, the more the line between the horrors of her past and the horror hunting her becomes blurred.

This is creepy, dark, emotional, and unsettling, with a strong supernatural element and a story that kept pulling me further into the woods. I especially enjoyed the way the horror is connected to the characters rather than simply being there for shock value.

Matthew Flagler has definitely made an impressive entrance into horror. Unsated left me thinking about inherited trauma, survival, and just how far a mother will go when someone she loves is taken from her.

If you like atmospheric supernatural horror, wilderness horror, family secrets, and stories where the monster is connected to something much deeper, this is one to watch.

A haunting debut with plenty of darkness beneath the surface. 🌲🩸👀

Unsated was a fun quick thriller. It was perfect read for thriller season. I enjoyed the authors writing style very much. It was so easy to get into.

Thank you to Matthew for letting me read this book.

I´m happy i got the chance. I really liked it. The first 30% was a bit slow first, but after that things slowly started to happen. Towards the end i just wanted to know what´s going to happen. The characters has some flaws and maybe not so likeable. But i think they are written like that. And i also like to read about characters who aren´t "perfect"

The story:We are following Melody who is a mother to Sara. Melody is looking for a fresh start, after years of an abusive relationship. So Melody and Sara is going away camping, she hopes that this camping trip will make her and her daughter to come closer to each other. But things takes a turn when they come to the woods. And it becomes dangerous, because what if the thing in the woods is waiting and it´s hungry.

Unsated is a is an atmospheric supernatural horror novel

𝕀𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥…
Unsated by Matthew Flagler
Publication date ~ 1st December 2026
Publisher ~ Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op
Chapters ~ 51
Rating ~ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Not all hunger is physical… ⚠️

Melody Brooks is searching for a fresh start.
After years spent carrying the scars of an abusive relationship, a camping trip with her daughter, Sara, is supposed to offer something simpler: time together, far from the past, surrounded by nothing but forest, water, and wilderness 🏕️

Instead, it becomes a descent into madness.
When Sara vanishes, Melody's desperate search leads her deeper into the woods and toward something ancient that has awakened there. As darkness closes in and long buried family secrets claw their way to the surface, Melody is forced to confront not only what is hunting her daughter, but the horrors of her own past… 😱

Because some things are inherited. Some hungers are passed from one generation to the next. And sometimes survival means deciding that the darkness stops with you… 🧬

#ARC #book #bookreview #horror #trauma

This novel is reminiscent of early Dean Koontz. It's a complex story full of angst, hatred, desperation and revenge.

Missing something from her childhood that she searched for in one bad relationship after another desperation leads Melody back to a place where she once thought herself happy only to find deep-seated hatred coming from a source she could never have imagined.

Danger lurks in the wooded sanctuary she had hoped would be a respite from her dreary, difficult life but unbeknownst to Melody an ancient evil, born of unbelievable hate has risen to do the bidding of a twisted soul.

This is not a light horror read. It will make you sad and make you think about what drives people to do evil and you will reflect on hatred that can't be satisfied.

Thank you to Matthew Flagler for providing this copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Melody Brooks and her daughter Sara head off on a camping trip, hoping for some much-needed time together, but things take a terrifying turn when Sara disappears. What follows takes Melody deep into the wilderness and towards something ancient, hungry and very dangerous.

I honestly found this one incredibly engaging. Once I got into the story, I was completely drawn in and found myself wanting to keep turning the pages to see where Melody’s journey would take her. There was something about the atmosphere that really pulled me in, and Matthew Flagler has a way of writing that lets the dread creep up on you slowly rather than throwing everything at you at once.

And that atmosphere is probably what I enjoyed most. Black Wood Lane and the surrounding woods feel so isolated and cut off from everything else that you get that horrible feeling that there is nowhere to run and no one coming to help. The deeper Melody goes into the woods, the more unsettling everything becomes, and I loved that constant feeling that something was lurking just out of sight.

Matthew Flagler really knows how to build that sense of unease. The dread gradually works its way under your skin, and before you know it, you are looking into the darkness with Melody and wondering what could possibly be waiting there. I could almost feel the woods closing in around her, and that made the whole reading experience so atmospheric for me.

And then there is the monster.

This is not your average creature hiding in the shadows. It is terrifying, it is hungry, and those razor-sharp teeth are enough to make you think twice about wandering through the woods at night. There is something particularly frightening about being hunted by something that knows exactly what it wants, and I loved the way the creature added another level of tension to the story.

What I also appreciated was that the monster wasn’t simply there for the horror. There is more beneath the surface, and I liked how it became connected to the darker themes running through the story.

Melody really stood out for me too. Her desperation to find Sara gives the story an emotional heart, and her determination as a mother felt completely believable. She isn’t simply trying to escape something terrifying. She is willing to put herself in danger because she refuses to stop looking for her daughter, and that made me feel invested in her journey.

What surprised me most was the theme of generational trauma. I went into this expecting a supernatural horror about a frightening creature in the woods, but there was more beneath the surface than I expected. The idea of trauma and darkness being carried through generations gave the story another layer and made the monster feel like more than just a physical threat.

For me, the central idea of Unsated is how far a mother will go to save her child when an ancient evil comes hunting for her.

I really enjoyed the way Matthew Flagler combines that emotional storyline with the horror. His writing kept me engaged, the tension continued to build, and I never quite knew what was going to be waiting around the next corner. There is a real sense of isolation throughout the book, and the slower build-up of dread made the frightening moments feel even more effective.

I do love horror set in the woods because there is something about being surrounded by darkness with nowhere obvious to run that gets under my skin, and Unsated definitely played on that fear. It was atmospheric, unsettling and, most importantly for me, it kept me turning the pages.

If you enjoy supernatural horror, creepy woods, monsters, slow-building dread and a story with something a little deeper beneath the horror, this one could be right up your street.

But would you be brave enough to take a camping trip anywhere near Black Wood Lane?

Thank you, NetGalley, Tredecim Press and the author Matthew Flagler for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publishing date: 1 December 2026

I love a good spooky book, so this cover had me hooked. I love a good horror entity creeping in the woods!

Unsated follows Melody and her daughter as they go to a family-owned campsite to get away from their abusive and debt-ridden life for a weekend. But Melody doesn't remember what was hunting her the last time she visited as a child, and now she has to protect her daughter from not only the thing in the woods, but also her past catching up to her.

This tale is the perfect late-night spook and will leave you feeling enraged, haunted and thoroughly creeped out. I appreciated how dark this book was, and it didn’t hold back on the body horror. It had high stakes where you truly felt like anything could happen to any character, which can’t be said for a lot of modern horror in media.

It follows a few different perspectives which helped this novel feel deep and meaningful. You get a true understanding of the whole story rather than just experiencing it from one person. The lore behind the horror mystery also made this even spookier and gave it a nice history.

The thing that made this book special was that Melody was not only fighting a stereotypical ‘being in the woods’ horror, but also her life. It challenges the everyday horrors of abusive ex’s, tough financial situations, stranger danger and estranged familial relationships. It gave the book a new level that made you understand Melody more deeply.

I’m kind of annoyed with myself for not guessing what the entity was – since, looking back, all the signs were there – but I think the subtlety of it made it even more eerie.

This book should be on your tbr if you love a spooky, dark novel with high stakes – I will be keeping an eye out for Mathew’s future horror books to add to my collection!

Wow! I was sleeping under the covers for this one! Love the indigenous aspect of this book. It made me question what was real and what was fiction.
I fell in love with the characters and did not like others, but that is all of the fun!
Thank you for the chance to read this ARC!

I absolutely LOVED this! I read this so fast, it had me HOOKED. Genuinely I love a good thriller & I had high expectations for this book and it did not let me down. This was just fun, eerie, & had me on the edge of my seat!