ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What's sticking with me the most about this book is probably the unrealized potential. The synopsis reminded me a lot of the movie Labyrinth. I was hoping for something that would really lean into the horror, but that isn't what this book is. I don't think it was served well by the first person POV, either—being in Leah's head the entire time was frustrating and exhausting, and I had days where I just couldn't motivate myself to pick up the book. Up until the 80% mark, there are constant allusions to Leah's badness, something in her past that has ruined her forever, and they're all extremely vague to the point of annoyance. Yes, I get it, she's terrible. And it's not even that this ended up being a twist I didn't see coming or anything like that.

There's a mystery surrounding why all these girls went into the forest and never came out, but it doesn't feel like it's driving the plot. Instead, we just sort of meander along with Leah, and spend a lot of time inside her head, which was filled with self-loathing. I'm sure I was meant to form some kind of attachment to Leah and Tristan, at least, and I was definitely expecting to based on the author's previous works, but I just never got the idea that I got to know Tristan. The characters just felt very flat to me, and I didn't buy into the romance, either.

I understand that this is meant to be a commentary on purity culture, and I do think that was handled well, but I think it could've done so much more. It's still an easy read, however, and I think teenagers will get more out of it than I did.