ALA Booklist (Mon Nov 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Since Wil's mother went missing a year ago, her father has disappeared into addiction, and Wil has become consumed with the single-minded obsession of finding out what happened to her mom, alienating both the local police and her best friend, Elwood, in the process. The son of a powerful local religious leader, Elwood has always known that he will have to give his life over to the congregation when he turns 18, but as that birthday approaches, he begins to realize how literal that sacrifice might end up being. The dual-voiced narrative takes a while to pick up steam, but by the time our protagonists (re)join forces, a frightening and deeply rooted town secret has been revealed and a genuinely tense game of cat and mouse set in motion. As Wil and Elwood go up against a sinister and dangerous plan that has been generations in the making, readers will follow their personal and literal journeys with bated breath, making this debut novel a solid choice for fans of supernatural horror and gothic romance.

Kirkus Reviews

When a religious cult threatens everything they know, former friends Wil's and Elwood's purposes collide.In the small Michigan town of Pine Point, 18-year-old Wilhelmina Greene's mom has been missing for a year, and everyone, including the local police, thinks she left voluntarily. Wil, on the other hand, is certain that her ex–best friend, Elwood; his father, local preacher Pastor Clarke; and Elwood's ultrareligious family and church are involved. Channeling her journalist mother's investigative skills, Wil refuses to give up, determined to find answers on her own. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Elwood has done his best to follow the path his parents have laid out for him even though it meant losing Wil's friendship. When he finds out that his parents have never truly loved him and in fact have been planning to sacrifice him for their cause, he flees, joining forces with Wil and their friends to find answers. Together, Wil and Elwood learn that everything they thought they knew was a lie, and they are in more danger than they could have imagined. Arndt's sparkling prose deftly explores the complicated nature of loyalty and religion against the lush background of the forests of the Upper Peninsula. The mythology of the town and its founders is compelling and convincing, setting up the history for the story at hand. Main characters are cued White.Haunting and spellbinding. (Horror. 13-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Former best friends Wilhelmina Green and Elwood Clarke must work together to save their small Michigan town from a terrifying religious cult in Arndt’s spine-chilling debut. Teenage Wil’s mother has been missing for over a year. Though local police insist that she skipped town, Wil is certain there’s something sinister at play. Her solo investigation leads her to believe that the Garden of Adam, a religious organization run by her town’s most influential family, has something to do with her mother’s disappearance. Seventeen-year-old Elwood, meanwhile, has been doing his best to live up to his preacher father’s expectations, especially knowing that he’s expected to leave school at 18 and take up his father’s mantle as the head of the Garden of Adam. But when Elwood discovers that his parents intend to sacrifice him to a mysterious entity in his town’s surrounding woods, he flees. Wil agrees to hide him in exchange for help in proving that the Garden of Adam is responsible for her mother’s vanishment. A meandering plot is buoyed by likable supporting characters, Wil and Elwood’s snappy banter, and eerie, brooding atmosphere. Main characters read as white. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)