Book Review | A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben

A Hawk in the Woods is a horror novel by Carrie Laben.

When newscaster Abby Waite is diagnosed with a potentially terminal illness, she decides to do the logical thing… break her twin sister Martha out of prison and hit the road. Their destination is the Waite family cabin in Minnesota where Abby plans a family reunion of sorts. But when you come from a family where your grandfather frequently took control of your body during your youth, where your mother tried to inhabit your mind and suck your youthful energies out of you, and where so many dark secrets–and bodies, even–are buried, such a family meeting promises to be nothing short of complicated…

There's a lot to process in A Hawk in the Woods! I know I'll continue to think about it for quite some time. Books like this one tend to grow in my mind and in my heart as all of the pieces continue to meld together. It's a little bit like a movie you want to start back from the beginning once you have reached the end so you can experience it again knowing all of the secrets. (I'm feeling the exact same way about Jordan Peele's Us right now.)

A Hawk in the Woods is told through two different timelines. After receiving a terminal diagnosis, Abby makes plans to bust her twin sister out of prison and head back to the cabin they grew up in. One timeline chronicles Abby and Martha's childhood growing up with a mother and grandfather who were heavily involved in witchcraft and the other follows Abby and Martha in the present on their road trip home.

The multiple timelines in A Hawk in the Woods was really well done. The past and the present both managed to move the story forward, and I had trouble pulling myself away from either one.

There are story elements in A Hawk in the Woods that I love but rarely get to talk about because they are almost always spoilers. This makes it very difficult to compare A Hawk in the Woods to other books I have enjoyed. Thankfully, A Hawk in the Woods can stand on its own as an excellent debut. I can't wait to read more from Carrie Laben in the future. If you enjoy family rooted witchcraft, you are going to want to pick this one up.

⭐⭐⭐⭐★

Content warning: infant related horror; Review copy provided by publisher