BOOK REVIEW: TAKE YOUR TURN, TEDDY by HALEY NEWLIN

Don’t you just love when a book wrecks you emotionally and you finish the final page and feel like you need a good cry? Maybe you’re the type of reader who benefits from a tragic tale opening a black hole in your heart and devouring you from the inside out. If this sounds like you, allow me to introduce you to this gem of a book right here.

When young Teddy catches his father in an act of infidelity and fails to keep this secret from his mother, a chain reaction of terrible, heartbreaking events unravel Teddy’s world. Finding himself in a dark place after he and his mother move into an old house, Teddy discovers Shadow, a dark entity living in the basement. Shadow claims he wants to help Teddy, but we soon learn this is far from the truth as our story takes a brutal deep dive into childhood trauma and manipulation.

This story is part psychological horror, part crime procedural with the narrative bouncing back and forth between Teddy’s perspective and the perspective of a tortured police officer by the name of Leonard Strode. I honestly didn’t expect to be so enraptured by this raw portrayal of vulnerability, loneliness, and grief.

Author Haley Newlin’s sharp writing works its way into your gut and twists the knife. This book affirmed one of many reasons why I love horror as a genre—its versatility. Horror doesn’t have to scare you. Sometimes it pushes you, thrills you, and other times it simply destroys you in the best, most vulnerable ways. Basically, I loved this book. I loved this book in spite of how much it hurt me to the core and it has definitely moved its way up to being one of my favorite reads this year. (Also shout out to the author for writing a strong, smart, empathetic, black, female officer whom I freaking loved!)

(5/5⭐)