Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Horror Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Erin A. Craig
Publisher: Pantheon
Release Date: September 2nd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child comes an irresistible blend of dark fairytale and romantic fantasy.

The town of Mistaken has a secret…and it’s up to one woman to uncover the truth, confront her past, and save the man she loves.

Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious lumber merchant, the village is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.

Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Determined to rescue Ellis, she figures out a way to defy Mistaken’s curse and begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But there, Greer is hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding and her own origins.

Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and seize her own future.

WHY THOUGH?

I didn’t know how I felt about this book for most of the story. It was some amalgamation of horror and young adult and romance and mystery? But I guess I thought it would end a certain way and when it didn’t I was left rather bereft.

And now I’m just noticing that this was an adult debut? I did not think that for but maybe two seconds (during an almost love scene) that this was older than YA. I’m honestly surprised and think that was the problem too. The writing didn’t feel adult.

There’s some good scenes and what not and I didn’t hate reading it, I just wasn’t fully engaged either. Not my favorite from this author.

Overall audience notes:

• Adult Horror
• Language: moderate
• Romance: 1-2ish open door
• Violence: moderate

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph