Grave Matter ♥ Karina Halle

Published October 2024 ♥ Independently Published by Karina Halle

❥ Mystery & Horror Elements

❥ Fun with Fungi

❥ Student x Professor

❥ Isolated Island

❥ Only One Tent

❥ Single POV

“That’s who makes it so damn hard to come to work every day because I have to pretend. Pretend I don’t want her. Pretend I don’t need her. Pretend I don’t crave her.”

Grave Matter : A Dark Gothic Romance Psych Thriller

Generally speaking, I like Karia Halle’s writing. I have been reading the Underworld Gods series – I think I’m on City of Darkness. I also completed The Dracula Duet. I did try to read A Ship of Bones and Teeth – I ended up dnf’ing it. It was one of the last books I had started before I fell into a major reading slump. I may or may not try it again.

Spoilers Sweetie. Jump down to my Final Thoughts to avoid them.

1. Float plane. I’ve been wanting to live in a float home. 
2. Suspense from the start. 
3. What’s Clayton’s problem?
4. I really don’t think Amani exists. 
5. Glasses & Tattoos. 
6. Girl, these dreams. 
7. This is a weird internship. 
8. I’m not sure anyone is leaving Clayton. 
9. This has got some Last of Us vibes. 
10. Oh yes. The zombie ants. Terrifying. 
11. Girl’s losing her ever loving mind. 
12. The fuck are these people up to?
13. Are these even rabies shots?
14. Hot mess express.
15. I mean, this fungus goat is kinda gross. 
16. This fucking foundation. 
17. Pretty sure Clayton is an experiment now. 
18. I trust a total of zero people in this book. Including Syd, she’s unreliable af. 
19. Tripping balls. 
20. I despise unreliable narrators. 
21. Little miss nurse Everly isn’t going to make anything better I’m afraid. 
22. One with the network. 
23. This is bonkers and I fucking love it. 

Grave Matter Review

Grave Matter by Karina Halle is a delightful blend of science fiction and horror with a side of romance. Taking place on a remote island in Vancouver, it instantly gives off creepy vibes. Our main character, Sydney, arrives on the island for an internship with the Madrona Foundation. Their goal is to cure Alzheimer’s, with fungi. And if I know anything from sci-fi, that’s a sure fire way to end up with some zombies.

I struggled with the first third of this book. I wasn’t as interested in the story as I thought I was going to be. I also wasn’t overly fond of the fmc, Sydney. She was unreliable as fuck and it was driving me nuts. The more I read, the worse it got. I knew there had to be a reason why she was so unreliable. I mean, beyond the fact that the foundations psychologist took her off her medication.

Sydney’s perception of reality was skewed af.

It was difficult to know what was actually happening.

Honestly, all the characters were cagey and weird. Every last one of them was unreliable. It was a creepy ass island full of nothing but sketch bags. I went back and forth a lot reading Grave Matter. Something supernatural is going on. This foundation is corrupt af. Sydney is just hallucinating. The forest is haunted. Everyone is out here tripping balls off shroom spores.

In the end, I really liked how Halle brought all the threads together. The twists at the end grounded the story in reality. And honestly, that was probably the most frightening thing of all.

His stare is intense, electrifying, burning straight into my soul, like he can see all of me. And what he sees scares him. 

Like I’m a heathen, worshiping the devil. 

“Because you are my future, Syd.” he says, his voice low and gruff. “Because that’s all there is. The past doesn’t exist anymore. Only now and tomorrow is what does. And I want you – now and tomorrow.”

That whimper rises up from him again, rattling his chest, sinking into my bones – a plea, a promise, desperation for me, for more.

Because you have found a kindred spirit in me, a depraved soul who knows your depraved soul.

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