This story was interesting, I loved the concept and mystery behind it. 

And the Trees Stare Back is set in Soviet Estonia, 1989. It follows sixteen year old Viktoria (Vik) whose life was changed when five years back, her sister Anna went missing beyond the bog. One day, Anna comes wandering back from the woods, but there’s something off about her. Vik starts to wonder if this truly is her sister that came back or if it’s something else. Vik is determined to find the answers.

This story is shrouded in mystery and I had absolutely no idea where this story was going as I was reading. I kept trying to figure out the mystery, but in the end it was something completely unexpected.

I loved the characters Vik and Liis. I thought they were well crafted, lovable characters. I also adored Kaos. Who doesn’t love a story with a pet fox? This story felt darkly whimsical and I appreciated the bits of history tied in. I thought the twist at the end was unique. I expected something completely different from where this story ended up but I wasn’t disappointed by the route it took.

The only thing I really struggled with and what ultimately landed me at 3/5 stars was the pacing and the ability to draw me in. While I loved the characters and loved where this story ended up, I felt like this story struggled to entice me. The pacing felt unbalanced. While there was a lot of drama and mystery surrounding Anna, I also felt as though not much was happening until around 70% of this book. Once I hit this point, everything started to fall together and the story really picked up.

I am still grateful to have read this book and thank NetGalley and the publisher for the arc. All opinions are my own.