Content levels
Positive tags
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Tropes
Synopsis
Midsommar meets Fear Street in this modern, sea-soaked folk horror debut about fighting to survive, and fighting to be yourself. Seventeen-year-old Lindsay Weinberg has just gotten kicked out of another prep school, and has consequently found herself shipped to her Uncle Levi's farm in the cold, isolated town of Marbury, Maine. When Lindsay arrives at a big, old farmhouse miles from civilization, she is greeted by her uncle’s new wife, a goy with a little too much Jesus decor for Lindsay’s taste—with Uncle Levi mysteriously away on a business trip. Not only that, but Lindsay isn’t the only teen staying there. In fact, there is a small group of teens going through some kind of reform program. Up at dawn. Manual labor all day. No phones, computers or tablets. Things start to feel hopeless until Lindsay meets the twins, Phin and Cass. They live on an island off the Peninsula’s coast—and they have internet. Lindsay convinces the others at Haven House to sneak out for a party on the island, and the night is incredible. At least...what they can remember of it. All of them wake up in their beds with sea-shell mementos, no memory of how they got home, and wicked hangovers. All of them except one. And as the disappearances and mysteries pile up, Lindsay and the others realize that they have become involved in a terrifying fight to survive, before the Cove claims them all.
Is The Cove appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 14 and up.
Teens face mysterious disappearances and supernatural horror at an isolated coastal reform program. Contains moderate suspense, implied violence, memory manipulation, alcohol use at a teen party, and psychological thriller elements with folk horror atmosphere.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, mild sexual content, and moderate language. Content notes include alcohol abuse, captivity, and disappearance (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
A gripping mystery about teens fighting for survival when their island party turns into a nightmare of disappearances and supernatural danger.