Evocative Appalachian Gothic
A terror-spiked thrill ride of a novel that leaves room for tender moments of raw beauty and bittersweet nostalgia. Andrew K. Clark examines the nature of good and evil, and how closely they intertwine as a young woman with hidden powers confronts the persistent, returning darkness in her mountain town. Settle in and get comfortable, because once this story takes hold, it doesn't let go.
Picking up decades after the events in the first book in Clark's series, Where Dark Things Grow, young Gabe lives with his grandparents, Leo and Lilyfax, after being orphaned in a tragic accident. But it's his classmate and crush, Mina, who forms the main point-of-view perspective in the novel. Bullied by her peers and burdened by her troublesome, impoverished upbringing with a daddy who drinks too much and a mother addicted to religion, Mina longs to build a new life far afield from Asheville. But she's also hiding a dark secret--she has magic running through her veins, and can call forth an uncanny force of supernatural creatures called the Shadow Faces.
When her best friend, Erin, disappears after attending a truly horrifying Christian conversion therapy camp, Mina and Gabe must work together to rescue Erin from the clutches of a sinister preacher with malevolent intentions. While reading Where Dark Things Grow first will certainly enhance the enjoyment of this novel, and I recommend doing so, readers will still be able to track the story and characters without any issues if this is their introduction to Clark's work. I especially loved all the 1980s callbacks--this is a great book for Gen X-ers, and one that anyone who grew up on the fringes and felt like an outsider will appreciate.
Religious trauma, generational curses, folk horror, and themes of found family create a compelling Appalachian Gothic narrative shot through with magic and touches of surrealism. Clark's characters bear their bruises and broken hearts with ennobling pride and a fierce, poetic grace. Where Dark Things Rise mesmerizes completely.
