Series: The Twisted Tree #1
Release Date: September 27th 2018
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Pages: 256
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: I bought a copy of this book online
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
Synopsis
Part ghost story, part Nordic thriller – this is a twisty, tense and spooky YA debut, perfect for fans of Coraline and Michelle Paver.
Martha can tell things about a person just by touching their clothes, as if their emotions and memories have been absorbed into the material. It started the day she fell from the tree at her grandma’s cabin and became blind in one eye.
Determined to understand her strange ability, Martha sets off to visit her grandmother, Mormor – only to discover Mormor is dead, a peculiar boy is in her cabin and a terrifying creature is on the loose.
Then the spinning wheel starts creaking, books move around and terror creeps in . . .
Set in the remote snows of contemporary Norway, The Twisted Tree is a ghost story that twists and turns – and never takes you quite where you’d expect.
Review
The Twisted Tree is the first instalment in a creepy horror mystery series from Rachel Burge. The story follows Martha, a young girl who has the ability to sense things about someone by reading their clothes. Determined to understand her abilities she runs away to visit her grandmother in Norway. When she arrives she discovers her grandmother has passed away and a strange boy is squatting in her house. As the snow leaves them cut off from the outside world, Martha has no choice but to let the boy stay, but as the snows get heavier they get the sense they aren’t the only ones there.
This was such a fun read and I ended up reading it in one sitting! It’s really fast paced, with a terrific sense of setting. I loved the remote Norwegian setting and Burge really brought to life the cold, icy landscape. The Twisted Tree is full to the brim with atmosphere and there are some really creepy moments in this story. I liked the way Burge weaved a horror and mystery story with norse mythology – it made for a really unique and engaging read.
I really liked Martha as a main character and I loved learning more about her mysterious powers. The idea of reading someone from their clothes was so fascinating and something I’ve never encountered before. I also quite liked Stig, who was a really mysterious character. The pair work really well together and I enjoyed seeing them learn to trust one another to save the day.
The Twisted Tree is a wonderfully atmospheric read and is perfect reading for a cold dark night. Just make sure you give yourself plenty of time to read it, once you start reading you won’t want to put it down.
The Crooked Mask is the sequel to Rachel Burge’s The Twisted Tree. Following on from the events of book one the story follows Martha as she ends up working at the Circus of Myth and Mayhem in an attempt to uncover the truth behind Nina’s death. When she discovers there is much more going on in the circus than she first thought, she is drawn into a dangerous game with the trickster god Loki, but can she uncover the truth before it’s too late?
The Bibliophile Chronicles 