Girl In The Creek Wendy N. Wagner (Review)

 Blurb:

The Clackamas National Forest has always been a sanctuary for evil—human and alien. The shadows of looming trees and long-abandoned mines shelter poachers and serial killers alike. Then there’s the ruined hotel on the outskirts of picturesque small town Faraday, Oregon, nestled in the foothills of Mt. Hood. The one drowning in mushrooms and fungus not even the local expert can identify. Not to mention the stacks of missing persons cases. Freelance writer Erin Harper arrives in Faraday to find out what happened to her brother, whose disappearance in the forest has haunted her for years. But someone else has gone missing. And when Erin finds her in the creek, the girl vanishes again — this time from the morgue, and days later her fingerprints show up at a murder scene. Maybe it’s a serial killer, or maybe it’s the spores infecting the forest and those lost inside. Erin must find answers quickly, before anyone else goes missing. But she might be next…

My Thoughts:

The blurb got me very interested in this book. The cover snatched me right in. I mean look at it! It's creepy and pretty all at once. Isn't it? 

The mix of eco-horror, crime (ish) backstory..there could be so much good stuff in this book, but alas..I thought it was a bit boring. There was so much potential and I really wanted this to hit but it missed (at least for me.) 

It had me in the first few chapters, I had no idea what was going on but it was interesting. The first chapter laid the foundation and it seemed very sturdy but then the characters came in on the scene and they were just..there. I got about 160 or so pages in and just didn't care about any of the characters. The main character Erin, had a backstory that should have had me locked in but it didn't. The rest of the supporting characters were just side pieces that didn't really matter. 

So the last act of the book really tried hard to pull it all together and there were moments of fun, but the ending was supposed to be an AH HA moment, but it just came across as "yeah that's what I expected." 

So in the end, I was disappointed by this one. I really wanted to like it and while it wasn't complete trash it didn't do it for me. Maybe you'll like it? 

If you've read this one, let me know what you think. I'm curious if my take was off in lala land. 

*This was sent to me as an ARC*