Derry lives in a house in the woods with her eight siblings, and their seemingly adoptive father/teacher Frank. Frank took them in when each of their parents didn't want them because they couldn't handle the magic that was being exhibited. Or did they? He's often cruel and always restrictive, but he keeps them safe from the outside world, a world he's told them would kill them without remorse if it knew they existed. When one of Derry's sisters goes missing, she's certain into the mysterious forest, and then another, and then a third, it breaks open the life they thought they had in a way that will change their future forever.

This was a propulsive, disturbing, challenging, and ultimately hopeful book. It contained so many of my favourite things: found family, lots of queer representation (there are two confirmed ace characters, both a trans character and a trans nb character, and several of the other sisters are suggested to be under the queer umbrella, including at least one bi character); a fat main character, revenge upon an evil man. There is definitely more violence and gore than I was expecting, but it worked well with the tone of the rest of the book, was realistic, and represented real stakes, even in a world with magic. Derry was an exquisitely flawed character, making poor decisions but also invested in the safety of her family. My one big qualm is that I wish we'd gotten a little bit more meat of the other siblings' character development. At one point, the siblings are watching The Little Mermaid, and I couldn't help thinking that the siblings in this book felt a bit like Ariel's sisters, in that we don't learn a whole lot about them. I do think by the end I had a better picture of most of them, and perhaps that is fodder for future books from Hollowell, but that was my main gripe. My biggest recommendation is to look into content warnings before picking it up, so you can be prepared for some of that content. Overall, an exquisitely paced and engaging book, and a spectacular debut.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Content warnings for emotional and physical abuse, death/gore, violence, forced confinement, mentions of anxiety/depression.