Skip to main content

~To Break A Covenant Review~

 


Book Info:

Title: To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Publishing Date: September 21, 2021

 


Synopsis:

Content Warning: Gore! lots of gore/blood (human and animal), body horror (human and animal), claustrophobia, hallucinations/nightmares, death, animal death, parent death (mentioned), parental conflict (being afraid of a parent), mention of alcohol/drinking, mention of self-harm, mention of divorce, mental illness (perceived/actual), mention of child death/killing, mention of suicide, drowning, paranormal activity.

Debut voice Alison Ames delivers with a chilling, feminist thriller, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Sawkill Girls.

Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.

Clem and Nina form a perfect loop—best friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.

My Review: 


I found To Break A Covenant written by Alison Ames a great supernatural, YA horror story, as it has all of the things that a good horror story has: spooky atmosphere, a strange threat of some form, and a town struggling with it all. But it brought something different to the table and that was beautifully written friendship with great LGBTQIA representation. If you are looking for a spooky read, this is definitely the one for you.

The plot development was really good and it definitely kept you hooked as you wanted to know more about the mine. The characters were all loveable in different ways that made you feel for them because of what they were going through and the friendships between our four main characters were beautifully built from the start to the end. I did find the pacing to be slow in places, especially more at the beginning, but once it picked up it did not stop.

The way that To Break A Covenant built atmosphere and creepiness was really great and as a horror fan I really loved it. The language used to help covey that was really good in my opinion. I also loved the way that the author showed the history of the mine through the use of paranormal files between the chapters to help the readers understand the history.

Overall, a brilliant creepy supernatural young adult story that has great LGBTQIA+ representation, it's one to read during this spooky season! Thank you to Netgalley, Alison Ames, and TBRandBeyond for giving me a copy to review.

My Favourite Quotes: 

1) "The bottom of the mine was so much worse, so much hungrier. The darkness was penetrating, alive, and utterly opaque"> loved the use of personification, making the mine feel alive and hungry. 

2) "I touched the back of my neck gingerly with my fingertips, and they came away wet with blood."> It's very creepy especially when you realise that they cannot work out where it came from. 

3) "The hand was beckoning me, drawing me down into the mine, and this time the voice came much closer, and I felt something warm and rotting breathing on me"> the way suspense is built is so well done. 

My Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/13tz9vp1xfOijC0prcMXga?si=a4141c9894be43b0

Book Links:

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54860452-to-break-a-covenant

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1645672069/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sin?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_sin_ca-20&linkCode=as2&camp=15121&creative=330641

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-break-a-covenant-alison-ames/1137455968?ean=9781645672067

Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Tto-Break-Covenant-Alison-Ames/9781645672067?ref=grid-view&qid=1628791052017&sr=1-1

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/to-break-a-covenant/9781645672067-item.html?ref=isbn-search

About the Author:



Alison Ames is a writer based in Colorado. Her debut novel To Break A Covenant will be published in fall 2021.

 

Author Links:

Website: https://www.aameswrites.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/2furiosa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2furiosa/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19961118.Alison_Ames


Tour Schedule:

https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2021/08/19/tour-schedule-to-break-a-covenant-by-alison-ames/


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Edie In Between Review!

  "As it is above, so below" Edie in Between written by Laura Sibson is such a fantastic witchy read! I adore all of the witchy elements in this book including tarot, crystals, spells, rituals, magic, and finding magical items! One thing I really loved was the lgbtqia+ representation in this book, I felt like it was very well done! So if you love sapphic reads, Edie in Between is definitely for you! The relationship built in this story I felt was really well developed! I also love the way that grief is handled in this story, the fact that it is not something you just get over, but it stays with you always. Sometimes as Edie learned that grief can be a reminder of love, which is in itself is a powerful form of magic. I think the way that it was handled sensitively through the plot was really well done. I also loved the language used in this story, especially when it came to magic. It also helped to make the story more immersive which I really liked. I think my only issue was t...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Dust and Grim tour spot!

  Book Info: Dust & Grim by Chuck Wendig Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy Publishing Date: October 5, 2021   Synopsis: Miss Peregrine meets The Graveyard Book in this middle-grade adventure about rival siblings running a monster mortuary—written by bestselling author Chuck Wendig. Thirteen-year-old Molly doesn’t know how she got the short end of the stick—being raised by her neglectful father—while Dustin, the older brother she’s never met, got their mother and the keys to the family estate. But now the siblings are both orphaned, she’s come home for her inheritance, and if Dustin won’t welcome her into the family business, then she’ll happily take her half in cash. There’s just one problem: the family business is a mortuary for monsters, and Molly’s not sure she’s ready to deal with mysterious doors, talking wolves, a rogue devourer of magic, and a secret cemetery. It’s going to take all of Dustin’s stuffy supernatural knowledge and Molly’s most heroic cosplay ...
Post a Comment
Read more

~Top 5 reasons to read Lakesedge~

  Book Info: Title and Author: Laskesedge by Lyndall Clipstone Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Publishing Date: September 28, 2021 Content Warnings: Emotional and physical abuse by a parent, Body horror, Gore and blood (including a description of wounds), Emesis, Discussions of death and grief (no on-page deaths), Descriptions of drowning and deep water, Drowning-related imagery Self-injury (in the context of a curse that requires regular physical sacrifices), suicidal ideation Synopsis: A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer. There are monsters in the world. When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem. There are monsters in the woods. As Leta falls for Rowan, she dis...
Post a Comment
Read more