The Restless Dark by Erica Waters is an engrossing young adult gothic horror and supernatural thriller.
The Cloudkiss Killer died two years ago and the entire landscape of Cloudkiss Canyon has been tainted by his heinous crimes. And now, believe it or not, an unscrupulous true-crime podcast is hosting a competition to find the serial killer’s bones.
Lucy is haunted by the fact that she could have been one of the serial killer’s victims. Carolina is a die-hard true-crime fan who is afraid that she is harboring a violent and uncontrollable monster within her. Maggie is a brilliant psychology student with a questionable past.
They are searching for closure, a new way to live and a place where they can dispose of the skeletons in their closets.
But bones are not the only things that have been concealed in the darkness… some people are rotten to the core and the evil that resides in them is way more terrifying than malicious spirits and local legends combined.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
The Restless Dark is the perfect spine-chilling sapphic thriller of my dreams! This captivating novel blew my mind because it’s the first time that I’ve ever read a book about a camping event centered around finding the bones of a serial killer. I got sucked into this story because the atmosphere in Cloudkiss Canyon was beyond disturbing and sinister and the ever-present fog took on a life of its own. Plus, the author did a fantastic job of portraying the main characters as unreliable narrators and this added the right amount of tension and intrigue to the story because I didn’t know who to trust or what to believe. Do you want to know what made me love this awesome book even more? I just love the fact that this story has a love triangle (drama galore!) and it was told through Lucy and Carolina’s points of view. Both characters’ conflicting emotions and traumatic memories came across strongly and I felt as though I was experiencing everything they went through. After devouring this literary treat, I can’t wait to see what Erica Waters does next!
Cons And Heads Up
There are graphic descriptions of murder, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, post-traumatic stress disorder, abduction, sexism, misogyny, religious bigotry, fatal accidents, fat shaming, toxic relationships, bullying, arson, child abuse recounted, violence, blood, abandonment, alcohol consumption by minors, strangulation and suicide.
The Conclusion
If you’re in the mood to binge read a well-written supernatural thriller and folk horror with a haunted forest, sapphic romance, deadly secrets, a bizarre true crime contest, manipulations and mind games, then this is definitely the story for you!
Excerpt from The Restless Dark by Erica Waters
What does a serial killer think about as he plummets to the earth?
Did he think of me, the girl he broke, the girl he ruined, without ever touching my skin?
I shake my head. I can’t sit around like this, thinking of Kincaid, or I’ll never make it through the week. I get up off the ground and brush the dirt from my hiking pants, stretch the cold stiffness from my limbs.
I turn my back resolutely to the canyon and wander into the woods instead, along a trail lined with pine needles. Once the trees close around me, blocking out the sky, I realize how alone I am. This is exactly the thing I’ve avoided for the last two years. I always surround myself with people—my family, my softball team, my classmates—even though a part of me longs to be alone.
Well, for the first time in two years, I am. Alone in the place that made me afraid to ever be alone again. My pulse ratchets back up, and I feel once more like I’m hanging halfway into the canyon, annihilation only a hairbreadth away.
The trees lean toward me, and the fog rises up around me, alive in a way that doesn’t feel quite right. There should be birds flitting and chirping in the trees—tufted titmice and cardinals and blue jays—but there’s only the steady sound of the wind blowing through the branches. I’m alone in the fog of Cloudkiss Canyon.
A branch snaps behind me, and I spin, my heart in my throat.
There’s no one there. I let out a painful breath.
“Lucy,” a man says, somewhere to my right, his form hidden in the fog. I recognize that voice. But it can’t be him. He’s dead. Is it someone else—someone playing a trick on me?
“Who’s there?” I call, squeezing my fists so tight it feels like my fingers will break. I peer into the gloom, though I can’t make out so much as a silhouette. But I can feel someone there, just beyond my sight, waiting and watching. Chill bumps erupt across my arms.
My heart is lodged in my throat, blocking my voice, my air. The trees lean in closer, a wooden cage.
A heavy breeze blows through the trees, and the fog thins, revealing empty woods. No one’s here. I’m alone. It wasn’t a prank. It wasn’t anything at all.
It wasn’t real.
Get It Online
When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra
Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-0063115903
Publisher: Harper Teen
If you enjoyed The Restless Dark by Erica Waters then you should also look at
Note: I received a free review copy of The Restless Dark by Erica Waters. No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site
