Breathe In, Bleed Out - Brian McAuley // Book Review

Breathe In, Bleed Out

Brian McAuley || Publication Date - 29.04.2025

Can you really be free from your past haunting you?

Fiction | Thriller | Horror

Affiliate Link - https://bookshop.org/a/110173/9781464238208

Hannah is dragging the deceased corpse of her fiancé trying to get back to some form of civilisation after a holiday ended up going horribly wrong. She's trying to come to terms with his death and the guilt she feels being unable to save him. As a result, she's haunted by the events of that day, and his ghost.

Due to a near fatal nursing mistake at work, Hannah is forced on leave from her job and is working with her therapist closely to try and get to the bottom of her guilt and subsequent hallucinations.

Hannah and a group of her friends whisk her away to a wellness retreat. Supposedly so exclusive and successful, it almost feels like a cult... and when Hannah's friends start to go missing, she's torn between her feelings of going insane or if there really is something sinister going on at this retreat.

The Review (may contain spoilers)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this eARC for an honest review!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this novel. I was purely drawn to the style of the cover, and I am so glad I was.

Brian's writing is so easy to read and immersive. As I'd been reading it's like a movie was playing out in my head. The characters feel so oddly detailed, when really there's only a brief description of them as they're first introduced. They're intricate and funny, and their banter is perfectly written to give the impression they have genuinely known each other for years.

I'm obsessed with the creepy vibes through the novel. It starts off with a banger of a chapter, and has a tendency to throw in horrific scenes at random. I never truly know when something will happen, and it's always executed in a seamless way. Poor Hannah having already dealt with the death of her fiancé, is now experiencing the random trauma of hallucinating his restless corpse and being haunted by him. As scary and traumatic that would be for her, for me it's a damn good time 😂

The true unsettling nature was knowing this is supposed to be a horror/thriller, but there's absolutely no indication where this will trigger. It was deeply eerie and provided the perfect level of isolated confusion I was anticipating.

Overall Thoughts

Definitely an unexpected favourite coming into this novel. I had a blast with the story, the characters and the conclusion was impeccably satisfying. Brian's writing was immersive and easy to read, which was awesome as I ploughed trough this book. The writing was eerie, atmospheric and funny which kept me engaged the whole time to find out what the heck was going on through the book.

Unfortunately for me the twist was predictable, however that still didn't take away from the enjoyment I had reading the novel.

If you're looking for a thriller that's easy to read and has some amazing characters - look no further than this one. Genuinely had a great time reading and I'm definitely adding Brian McAuley to my author watch list.