And the Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich Review

Hmmm, there are some good and some not so good in here.

And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich, narrated by Polly Lee

Audiobook Dark Fiction, 9+ Hours
Released September 2016
Goodreads | Buy A Copy Here 

When Silla and her little sister, Nori, escape London and their abusive father, Aunt Cath's country house feels like a safe haven. Leaving the smog and fear behind, the girls have the love and freedom they never had in their violent home. But slowly, ever so slowly, things begin to unravel.

Aunt Cath locks herself in the attic and spends day and night pacing; every day the surrounding forest inches slowly towards the house; a mysterious boy appears from the enclosing wood offering friendship, and Nori claims that a man watches them from the dark forest. A man with no eyes who creeps ever closer. . .

These Are My Thoughts

This is a difficult book to review because it was a difficult book to read. Much of the story was repetitive, confusing and dreamlike and honestly I think I was too distracted at this moment in time to allow myself to fall into its world. I also had difficulty connecting to the characters. It felt like reading a pitch black fable of yore.

Here's what it's sort of about: two young girls and their aunt are trapped in a house infected by madness. They cannot leave as the woods won’t allow it and they are slowly starving to death. There is a love interest that bravely makes his way into the house who may or may not be a nefarious character. I admit I groaned when he entered the scene because I was not in the mood for any teen angsty romance but I quickly grew to appreciate his character and it didn’t go the way I feared it might.

This book has some truly haunting images within and a reveal that makes sense of the confusion that I suffered through for most of the story. This is why I'm so afraid to DNF a book. Once in a while a book will turn around and prove me all kinds of wrong. This one did that.

If you enjoy dreamy writing and ghastly images and can go with the confusing flow, you might enjoy this as much as most of the other reviewers here did. Me? I’ll have to try again when I’m less distracted by life.

3 out of 5

About Author Dawn Kurtagich

Dawn Kurtagich is a writer of creepy, spooky and psychologically sinister YA fiction, where girls may descend into madness, boys may see monsters in men, and grown-ups may have something to hide. Her debut YA novel, THE DEAD HOUSE, was called "an evil and original story" by bestselling author R.L Stine and ""...a haunting new thriller..." by Entertainment Weekly. Her second novel, AND THE TREES CREPT IN (US) / THE CREEPER MAN (UK) received two starred reviews and was called "A must-read for horror fans everywhere!” by bestselling author, Susan Dennard, while Kirkus called it "frightening and compelling".By the time she was eighteen, Dawn had been to fifteen schools across two continents. The daughter of a British globe-trotter and single mother, she grew up all over the place, but her formative years were spent in Africa—on a mission, in the bush, in the city and in the desert.

She has been lucky enough to see an elephant stampede at close range, a giraffe tongue at very close range, and she once witnessed the stealing of her (and her friends’) underwear by very large, angry baboons. (This will most definitely end up in a book . . . ) While she has quite a few tales to tell about the jumping African baboon spider, she tends to save these for Halloween!

Her life reads like a YA novel.

Visit Dawn Kurtagich at her website:  http://www.dawnkurtagich.com/