Books › The steep & thorny way
The steep & thorny way
368 pages
A chilling, atmospheric historical mystery where the true monsters wear white hoods rather than ghostly shrouds.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like walking through a dense, fog-choked Pacific Northwest forest where every shadow hides a threat. It is a deeply atmospheric and dread-soaked experience that masterfully balances the eerie chill of a ghost story with the very real, suffocating terror of 1920s systemic racism. The prose is lyrical yet grounded, pulling you into a world defined by Prohibition-era grit and the looming menace of the Ku Klux Klan. As a reimagining of Hamlet, it carries a somber, tragic weight, but the narrative remains fiercely engaging as the protagonist seeks justice. It will thoroughly delight readers who crave historical fiction that uses supernatural elements not just for scares, but to illuminate the darkest corners of human prejudice.
- Mood
- haunting
- oppressive
- dread-soaked
- chilling
- Tone
- somber
- tense
- earnest
- atmospheric
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- systemic racism · seeking justice · weight of grief · moral ambiguity · confronting the past
- The writing
- Lyrical and evocative, blending historical grit with eerie, supernatural elegance.
- The arc
- Moves from isolated grief and fearful uncertainty to a resolute, dangerous confrontation with the truth.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love dark, atmospheric historical fiction that tackles heavy social issues through a supernatural lens.
Content notes
- racism and racial slurs
- Ku Klux Klan
- murder
- grief
- violence
About the book
"A sixteen-year-old biracial girl in rural Oregon in the 1920s searches for the truth about her father's death while avoiding trouble from the Ku Klux Klan in this YA historical novel inspired by Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'"--
Description from Open Library.
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