Briar WestIf you know me, you already know my shelves are overflowing with romance. Give me emotional damage, unresolved tension, and a happily-ever-after, and I’m happy.
So when Mr. West and I joined the “Everybody Scream Horror” book club at our local indie bookstore, I made myself a deal. Whatever book they picked each month, I’d read it—even if it landed far outside my comfort zone.
This month’s pick was This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer.
It also happened to be my first horror novel.
I won’t lie, I expected to struggle with it. I don’t watch horror movies, and gore has never appealed to me. I figured I’d spend most of the book wishing I were reading kissing scenes instead.
That…didn’t happen?
What hooked me wasn’t the horror itself so much as the atmosphere. From the opening chapters, there was this lingering feeling that something wasn’t right. The deeper the characters ventured into the wilderness, the more uncomfortable I became right alongside them. I kept telling myself I’d stop after one more chapter, and then another, because I needed to know what was waiting around the next bend.
Reading it reminded me of one of my little quirks: My brain REALLY likes rules.
As someone who’s neurodivergent, I instinctively start piecing together how everything works. If a character is injured, I’m wondering what that means three chapters later. If there’s something supernatural happening, I want to understand the boundaries. When a survival decision doesn’t quite click for me, my brain refuses to let it go until I’ve turned it over from every angle.
None of that ruined the book, it just meant I occasionally paused while my brain tried to solve a puzzle the story wasn’t interested in explaining.
By the time I finished, I was glad I’d pushed myself to read something I probably never would have picked up on my own.
Will I suddenly become a horror reader? This could definitely be that timeline, LOL!
Will I keep saying yes to books outside my usual lane? Definitely!
I think there’s something healthy about reading beyond your favorite genre. Sometimes you discover a story you never would have found otherwise. Other times, you come away understanding a different kind of reader a little better. As someone who writes books, that’s never a bad thing.
I’d give This Wretched Valley 3.5 out of 5 stars.
For me, that’s a book I enjoyed and would recommend to readers who love slow-building, atmospheric horror with a strong sense of place.
Now I’m curious.
Have you ever picked up a book that was completely outside your usual genre and ended up enjoying it? Tell me what it was, and I might just add it to my TBR.
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