Gothic fiction, folklore, and toxic, messy female relationships are all my catnip, so it's no surprise I loved this title. It's definitely not a light or easy read--it's lonely, slimy and claustrophobic; deeply interior and with very little forward momentum--but I loved it all the more for that. It's a book that asks to you sink into it and drown a little; a book that grasps you with cold, damp teeth. This is a tremendous debut which I highly recommended for when you're in the mood for a touch of Cornish Gothic and never want to think about eels the same way again.

Many thanks to Fourth Estate for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!6 s Dan Bassett398 81

Merryn grew up on the wild, beautiful, haunting Bodmin Moor, raised by her mother and aunt who let’s just say, were never ones to conform or listen to such idle gossip from the locals when it came to how to live their lives without a care, the old farmhouse seeming a vessel for those not wanting to live as others do.
Here, the locals have no aspiration higher than dwelling in the same place for their entire life, for how could they do such a thing as leave when fear and despair cling to them dust and damp, this creeping dread that the future of their farms hang in the balance of the folklore which is threaded through their past, and into their futures, for everything has a price and should one not deliver, they shall reap their sorrows.
Returning home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, Merryn finds that her childhood home is now more unhinged and stranger than ever, should that even be possible. Her mother is evasive with her answers, her aunt is performing strange rituals throughout the house, and the locals hunt the moors at night, searching for god only knows.
When Merryn stumbles across a notebook found in an old chest of drawers, the long-forgotten folklore quickly becomes all too real when a connection to Claud leaps out of the pages but surely these wild tales she learned in her childhood are simply entertainment, right?
Will Merryn be able to forgive herself for what took place between her and Claud, or will something that lurks in the shadows finally demand payment when Merryn realises that her connection to Claud is something that perhaps was more than just love?
Hauntingly beautiful, gothic, and elegant in its language, this book will leave you feeling as if perhaps there’s some truth to folklore after all…5 s Demelda Penkitty818 20

Everything that comes from the ground has to go back down… eventually

Merryn grew up on the wilds of Bodmin moor, raised by her mother and her aunt in an old farmhouse. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling desperately to the folkloric tales that are woven into their history. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university, briefly untethering herself from her past.

When Merryn returns home for the memorial service of her ex-girlfriend Claud, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. She’s sure that her mother is hiding something. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what? And then there’s a notebook, found in an old chest of drawers, full of long-forgotten folklore that seems to be linked somehow to Claud…

I wanted to love this one, I really really did. It had all the ingredients and promise of a great story but somehow it just didn't really work for me.

Meet Me At The Surface delves into grief, complicated mother/daughter relationships as well as volatile first love in a compelling way yet despite being really well written it sadly left me wanting. That said it is a solid debut and I will be on the look out for whatever comes next.

Jodie Matthews writes with vivid imagery and I was transported right to the Bodmin Moor a place I know well.

3.5
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