By Darcy Coates

“Abby Ward lives in a town haunted by disappearances. People vanish, and when they’re found, their bodies have been dismembered and sewn back together in unnatural ways. But is it the work of a human killer…or something far darker? DON’T STAY OUT LATE, OR THE STITCHER WILL TAKE YOU. She and her younger sister live by a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe―which is why it’s such a shock when Hope is taken. Desperate to get her back, Abby tells the police everything she knows, but they claim their hands are tied. DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES, OR THE STITCHER WILL REMAKE YOU. With every hour precious, Abby and her friends are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse. They have to get Hope back. Quickly. Before too much of her is cut away. And before everything they care about is swallowed up by the darkness waiting in the tunnels beneath the home they thought they knew.” (Goodreads).

It has been a long time since I’ve been as thoroughly creeped out as Darcy Coates had me with this excellent YA horror novel. I’ve never been able to handle horror movies, but even the most vicious book serial killers leave me merely thrilled and interested, never truly scared. Where He Can’t Find You contained the kind of body horror that got my gag reflex going. The spooky and mysterious vibe immediatly pulled me in. One of my favorite things about this book was that Coates let the story speak for itself – she didn’t try to shove in bad language or weird romance-in-the-middle-of-a-crime-scene stuff. She simply trusted the horrific baddie and the strong characters to keep the story going, which I loved.

Excellent plot! The action started early, but the town revealed its secrets just slowly enough to both satisfy and frustrate the reader. Every scene – no matter how mundane – still managed to be filled with suspense. Coates presented a compelling and imagery-rich main villain that brings together so many different human fears and disgusts. The first act expertly brought the characters together and told the story without being too exposition-y, and the second and third acts upped the tension and revealed the truth in perfect timing for the inevitable final face-off. If you’re like me, unhappy endings are just dissatisfying. To be honest, even if a happy ending is unrealistic, it still leaves me feeling better about the book. You may disagree, but I personally loved the ending for this reason. Happy endings all the way 🙂

Most of the story made sense and there were very little plot holes, but I was still confused about a few things by the end. For one, I never really understood what had been going on with Abby’s mom and her strange behavior or why she was seemingly connected to the Stitcher. I also wanted to understand the Stitcher’s backstory a little bit better. It obviously had a supernatural explanation, but I felt even that had some holes. I don’t want to say more though 🙂 (spoilers – although I’ve probably already said too much in this review). Finally, some of the characters seemed unnecesary, especially Charles Vickers. He was made out to be a very important character early on but later he seemed like more of a red herring than a relevant suspect. There were other characters too, like Bridgette and the retired police officer who only showed up a few times and just magically revealed information to the point where it felt like a cop-out because the author didn’t trust the reader to figure things out on their own. However, these were very minor issues and the plot was still very satisfying and suspenseful.

I’ve been running into this vibe in books lately where the writing style is definitely YA, but the content is even more definitely not (I might write a little side article on that, keep a look out for it soon). Coates’ writing here gives off the same emotional, juvenile feel that is characteristic of YA, but some of the body horror and constant discussion of horrific murder (not to mention the villain itself’s grotesque appearance) would be more suited to older audiences. However, that dissonance still worked for the story. It emphasized how young the teens were to be dealing with such mature and frightening topics like death itself.

The imagery was disgustingly rich here. Coates has a very strong descriptive voice and succeeded in crafting gory and uncanny scenes that – unfortunately – still haven’t left me.

While Abby was not the only character with a POV, she was definitely the main character. Unfortunately, out of the entire cast of characters, she was the most generic and had the least personality. Other characters had passions and fears and things tying them to the town in different ways, and everyone had a distinct voice. Abby’s character, on the other hand, was mainly focused on protecting her sister and taking care of her mom even before the action started picking up. At first that disappointed me, but then I realized how much it added to the horror of the reader. Abby is generic enough that the reader can see themself in her and imagine themself in her position, but her singular focus on her family and getting out of town makes her into the perfect example of what the town does to its residents. She is a product of a sick place where she is responsible for the lives of those she cares about, and she only trusts herself to do it well. Her personality is not flat or one-dimensional, it is just the kind of personality that comes from being raised to constantly be wary of a villain like the Stitcher.

The relationships between the characters were also very well done. I loved that there were hints of a romance between Abby and Rhys, but it remained secondhand to the larger story and neither of them were trying to rush into something before they even survived the chaos around them. Their relationship was based on this beautiful love, trust, and comfort (rather than teenage lust) and it was very clear in the way they protected each other. I liked the way the friend group supported Abby and did all that they could to help her, but they stopped short at volunteering their lives for her. Too often in these horror books where a whole friend group is rallying around their friend, the teenagers will go so far to help them. As a Christian, I obviously very much support the idea of such selflessness, but it’s very unrealistic that every characters would have the same fearless passion as Abby for Abby’s sister (otherwise, the Stitcher probably would’ve been taken care of a long time ago if everyone could get over their fear and go after him for their loved ones). I appreciated how Riya and Connor chose to stay behind instead of coming along for the final confrontation, picking their families and succumbing to their fears. It felt very realistic.

I wasn’t sure what to think about the inclusion of Jen at first. She seemed like an unnecessary addition to the group, a way for the author to get the characters to explain things to a newbie for the reader’s sake. However, I quickly realized how she served as a useful foil to Abby’s hardened, Stitcher-wary character. As a newcomer to the town, Jen was very skeptical of all the superstition around the villain, and she showed the reader how a “normal” person (one not raised in Doubtful) would react to the situation. She brought a different perspective and helpfully pointed out the things that were strange in Doubtful that were understood by other characters to just be how they were raised. Jen made the reader feel more comfortable in the town and really feel like part of the story. She was an expert addition that I think has been underappreciated in other reviews I’ve read.

Coates’ has an excellent and morbid horror story on her hands with Where He Can’t Find You. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book made me gasp, shudder, and shiver at all the right times. If you’re looking for a suspenseful YA horror that will shock even the strongest readers, look no further. If you get easily disgusted by body horror, however… maaaybe skip this one 😉