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I picked this up after seeing the trailer for the upcoming movie. While King does a decent job of making the characters relatable, or at least understandable, not a whole lot happens plot-wise outside of each boy "buying their ticket." Sure, Garraty is thrust into introspection and asks after his friends’ reasons for signing up, but the story is missing a complete list of all the walking tips, a peek into the government’s twisted values, or the spectators’ grisly fascination. I would have liked more details about how The Long Walk came to be, why so many young men would take the exam and walk based on the harrowing reality, or why the Major created the event. Knowing more about the dystopian world would have provided a hell of a lot more intrigue, yet I was left wondering what service the Walk truly provided the country and the people within it. There are snippets of a world, but you're never given the broad strokes of the culture that paved the way for such a brutal annual event. I'm hoping the movie offers more context, and I have high hopes based on the screenwriter.

Overgrowth is a sci-fi horror novel about what it means to be human narrated by Stasia, an alien plant wearing a human skin suit. The novel, while being about an impending invasion on the surface, has a beating heart that delves into the nuances of found family, identity, human rights, and marginalization. The prose is inviting and free of frills, and the characters are diverse and eclectic. If you love descriptions of alien ships, biology, and telepathic communication, you're in for a real treat.

My only complaint refers to the repetition throughout; quite a few plot points are heavy handed in their distribution, being spelled out over a dozen times each. While this isn't an inherent issue, as the story is told from Stasia's point of view and spotlights the repetition of actual thought processes, I would have appreciated less redundancy.

If you're looking for a story akin to War of the Worlds or Little Shop of Horrors, this is for you.

Thank you to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Reformatory might be marketed as a horror/thriller, but it's much more than a tale of terrors in the Jim Crow South. Told from multiple perspectives, usually sticking to Gloria and Robbie Stephens, Due provides a nuanced and honest story of family, friendship, injustice, prejudice, and human rights. While there are horror elements, the novel would sit more comfortably in historical fiction. Many of the terrors are monstrous (and delivered by men) but others are supernatural, lending a magical realism to the narrative that wouldn't be there otherwise. Despite the content and tone, Due provides hope and light.

While I enjoyed the prose and found the story compelling, it went on about 150 pages too long. The characters were about 80% actualized, creating a slight disconnect between me and the Stephens children. This ultimately came down to middling arcs, a fault that could have been remedied by extending the span of the novel to a couple weeks or a month rather than about a week.

I recommend The Reformatory to anyone seeking stories set in the Jim Crow South or historical fiction with a dash of horror.