Emma.catherine's Reviews > Grave Matter

This book has been on my list FOREVER, the excitement of finally getting to read it is real 😆 That combined with the fact it comes under multiple of my favourite genres, is almost too much to bear 😈

This epic story is full of dark academia, gothic romance, thriller AND science fiction vibes; it is EVERYTHING 🙌🏼

“Lying to ourselves is more deeply ingrained than lying to others”

Sydney Denik is a graduate student from Stanford university, and she is in with a second chance. Syd has been accepted by her dream opportunity, at the Madrona Foundation, to do promising Alzheimer's research. She is one of only 12 lucky people to have been chosen for this opportunity. However, the catch is this unique place is an isolated lodge hidden away in a remote, fog-shrouded inlet on Vancouver Island - completely cut off from the outside world. Yes, that means no phones, no wi-fi. Total isolation!

"If you ever feel at odds with this place, you just have to tell yourself: don’t try to change the lodge, let the lodge change you.”

In light of this isolation, people tend to go crazy 🤪 or at least, that is the excuse given to her…That is when things get WEIRD! Syd starts seeing things, discovering lies hiding around every corner 😵‍💫 A student disappears, and no one but Sydney seems to care. Ghosts walk the halls. Snow falls in the middle of summer. Dead animals move like the living. The more Sydney uncovers about the foundation, the more she begins to question her own sanity.

Enter: Professor/Psychologist - Dr. Kincaid… 😈🫣🤐

"Someone has been watching me. Listening to me. Spying on me. Stalking me. And in the depths of my heart, I know who it is. Kincaid." 👀

In her time in need, she turns to the ever present Dr. Kincaid…from the very beginning he seems just as intrigued by Syd as she does for him. But, everyone around her is hiding a terrible secret-including said resident psychologist she's falling in love with.

When Syd first started, she wanted to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. Wanting to avenge her grandmother at all costs, to stop feeling so helpless over her loss…"Grief is funny like that. It lives alongside you, sometimes in silence, and then a random thought, or memory, or smell will punch through you like a fist, your bleeding heart in its grasp, and you have to relive it all over again." But, she got sidetracked by something even greater—the cure for death. Something there should be no cure for. She lost her way. Lost herself. Lost her life 💔

Things get super gruesome at times and I was very glad I was reading the book rather than watching the movie! Then, they get sci-fi weird…as Syd tries to find out the truth, she uncovers more than she could ever have imagined 🤯

"I know the lodge is just a bunch of buildings, but some days, particularly at night, I feel it has a personality of its own—and it’s not a nice personality. Moody, perhaps. And tonight, I feel like it wants us gone, like we’re not supposed to be here."

This book is WILD! There are some MAJOR plot twists…and the last 20% - I AM SPEECHLESS 😶 - added an extra star to my rating! 🌟 It was SO unique and the gothic vibes were so profound. And despite its creepiness, it was SO FUN to read. On a completely different note, I also loved the added ADHD representation; I have no doubt that it made many neurodivergent people feel very seen and heard. Safe to say my first Karina Halle book was a huge success, and I look forward to reading more of her work.

"I have no idea what the future will bring for us. I just know we have to keep moving forward, one foot in front of the other. “The past is past,” as Wes always says. “We only have now and tomorrow.” 🥹💖✨

4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟✨