Amy’s Thoughts On…Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis (Blog Tour)

Thank you to The Write Reads for allowing me to be part of this blog tour.

Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis

Published By: Penguin

Released: 5th August 2021

CAWPILE Rating: 8.4 / 4 ★

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis

From its creepy town mascot to the story of its cursed waterfall, Burden Falls is a small town dripping with superstition. Ava Thorn knows this well – since the horrific accident she witnessed a year ago, she’s been plagued by nightmares.

But when someone close to her is brutally murdered and Ava is the primary suspect, she starts to wonder if the legends surrounding the town are more fact than fiction.

Whatever secrets Burden Falls is hiding, there’s a killer on the loose, and they have a vendetta against the Thorns…

Amy’s Thoughts

Burden Falls is a small town that is dripping with superstition and could be seen as creepy. Local teenager Ava Thorn knows this feeling well, and ever since witnessing a terrifying accident a year ago, she’s been tormented by nightmares on a daily. When someone close to Ava is murdered, Ava becomes the primary suspect and starts to deliberate if the myths and legends surrounding Burden Falls are true.

YA Horror is a genre that I have slowly been getting into over the past few years, and because of this, I am always on the lookout for more books within that genre to stick my teeth into. I read Kat Ellis’ previous YA horror Harrow Lake last year and was wowed by it! So, when I found out about her next YA Horror ‘Wicked Little Deeds’, I knew I had to get my hands on it. As soon as I started reading this, I was instantly freaked out and terrified, and didn’t want to stop reading. I knew I had to find out about the creepy town of Burden Falls and all of the mysteries surrounding it.

If you want something that will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you wanting to know more, then Wicked Little Deeds is the perfect book for you! From the get-go, you are thrust into the chilling world of Burden Falls, and you get the feeling, not all is what it seems. Ellis’ writing style automatically puts you on edge, and you start to get that spine-tingling feeling that, trust me, will last throughout the whole book. You have to have a certain way with words to write amazing horror, and Ellis has this. Every single word in the book gave me chills and caused my heart to beat just that little bit faster.

The plot itself, had me gripped, as well as feeling very unsettled. You know right from the start that something isn’t right, and you want to help Ava solve the mystery. One thing I found compelling with regards to the plot was that blur between what is reality and what isn’t? We see Ava struggle with her conception of Dead Eyed Sadie, is she real? Or just a figment of her imagination? The way this is told to us through Ava’s point of view is commendable, and I love how it is left up to us, as the reader to decide if she is real or just a myth. Another thing I found intriguing in Wicked Little Deeds was the murders themselves. I do enjoy trying to figure out the conclusion to a mystery when I’m reading a YA Thriller/Horror, but with this one I found my conclusions changing with each chapter that passed me by. Many twists within this story will have you gasping out loud (I know I did at a certain part), and your mind will be turned several times. By the time the mystery was finally solved, you are left open-mouthed and shocked. When a thriller/horror leaves you with this reaction you know it’s a great one.

Ava was a protagonist that I took to straight away, and she was a character that I admired. Throughout the story, you learn a lot about her life and her past, and I must say I don’t think I would’ve coped as well as she did if I’d been through what she went through. Ava is a brave, determined character and yes, she made mistakes but she tried her best to rectify them. She also remained strong in some pretty tough situations and this just added to my fondness of her. She wasn’t the typical teen protagonist that you may see in some horrors, and that was refreshing to see. Her blossoming relationship with Dominic was gorgeous, and that may be because I’m a big fan of the enemies to lovers trope.

Wicked Little Deeds was a hair-raising, spine-chilling, shocking read that brings a new light to the horror genre. Kat Ellis is cementing herself as one of the queens of YA Horror, and I for one, can’t wait to read what she writes next.