Read Your Writes Book Reviews: Book Review ~ THE GRAVEWOOD by Kelly Andrew

The Gravewood (Gravewood, #1)
By: Kelly Andrew
Series: Gravewood
Genre: YA Fantasy Horror
Release Date: April 7, 2026
Publisher: Scholastic Press

IS IT LOVE . . . OR IS IT BLOODLUST?

Shea Parker has lived her entire life in the shadow of the Gravewood – a deadly forest that’s cut her town off from the world. With resources dwindling, she’s forced to ration her hearing aid batteries. When her stash runs out, she’ll be left in silence.

Her only hope is Oliver Lysander, the volatile leader of the vampires who rule the Gravewood. Their deal is simple: she gives him her blood, he brings her batteries. No lines crossed. Nothing personal.

Until Shea’s best friend is lured into the Gravewood, and her brother Asher Thorley returns from the frontlines, willing to expose Shea’s darkest secrets to get his sister back.

Ever the opportunist, Lysander offers a new bargain: if Asher kills his vampire rival, he’ll help find the missing girl. And if Shea agrees to Turn, he’ll cure her ailing mother.

But every deal pulls her closer to Lysander – and to becoming a monster herself.

I’m fairly new to reading Kelly Andrew. In fact, the only book I’ve read by her is I’m Made of Death. That book put her on my must-read/autobuy list and had me buying her two previous books for their interconnected characters. The Gravewood is set in a completely different world than those books.

The Gravewood is the first book in a duology, set in a dystopian world with living vampires, hollows (those who don’t survive being turned), and humans. It’s dark and gritty, with minor violent horror elements or moments.

Seventeen-year-old Shea Parker is deaf. She’s perfectly fine the way she is. But the world demands that she hear, so she wears a hearing aid when she has to interact with people. But batteries are hard to come by. When she runs out of them, she ventures into the Gravewood forest and makes a deal with the Gravewood Devil himself, Oliver Lysander, aka Lys. He’s the leader of a group of vampires called the Mercy Boys, who “own” the woods around the Mercy Mountain region of New Hampshire. Lys will get Shea the batteries she needs. In exchange, she will let him take a small amount of blood from her with each exchange.

Everyone knows to stay away from the forest, because once you go in, you don’t come back. But for some reason, Lys allows Shea to do so time and time again. When Ellie, one of Shea’s best friends, goes missing, she blames herself. Shea is surprised to see Asher Thorley, her forever childhood crush and Ellie’s older brother, return from his military assignment to look for his sister. Asher soon realizes Shea’s connected to Lys and demands she take him to him, as Asher thinks Lys has Ellie. Asher ends up making his own deal with Lys, only to realize that now, Lys won’t allow either of them to leave Mercy Ridge.

Lys’s past finally infiltrates the Gravewood, and the trio, along with Shea and Ellie’s other best friend, Poppy, set out on a road trip with revenge and vengeance in mind. As the trip progresses, secrets mount, tensions run high, and romance appears on the horizon.

The Gravewood was an interesting story. All the main characters (Asher, Shea, and Lys) are multilayered, making them intriguing in their own ways. I don’t think Kelly has revealed even half of who they are. Shea and Lys have this hate/love thing going on. Shea and Asher have this will-they/won’t-they vibe happening, where you can tell there’s a little more than friendship going on. Lys and Asher seem not to necessarily like or hate each other; it’s more like they tolerate and have some type of understanding between themselves. The Gravewood culminated in an epic conclusion, which will have you wanting the next book immediately. Whatever is happening definitely has all roads leading back to Shea.

**Received an ARC from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it. Personally, purchase the hardcover edition.**

Rating: 5

Purchase The Gravewood from:

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The Gravewood Duology:

The Gravewood (Book 1)

The Hollow King (Book 2) releases April 6, 2027

Kelly Andrew lost her hearing when she was four years old and she’s been dreaming up stories in the silence ever since.

Andrew lives in New England with her husband and their two daughters (and a very grouchy Boston Terrier). She has a BSW, but received her Masters in English & Creative Writing. When she’s not writing, she enjoys obsessing over a good book, scouring flea markets for treasure, and getting intentionally lost in the woods.

Andrew is represented by Josh Adams at Adams Literary.

Places to find Kelly Andrews:

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon Author Page