Four teenage girls chase after an urban legend about a subterranean lake called The Sublime where people can confront their darkest fears. However, only three girls come out of the cave alive and the police are left trying to piece together what happened.
Into the Sublime by Kate A. Boorman presents readers with a surreal and twisty, turvy psychological YA horror.However, what I feel like was missing to this story was heart. I was missing the camaraderie between the girls that would make me feel invested in them and care whether they live or die. One of girls--who simply goes by H--doesn't have a personality outside of making horror movie references, and ironically, the movies she mentions (i.e. The Descent and As Above, So Below) work so well and are compelling precisely because they are about a tight-knit group of people.
I also had issues with the pacing and the frame narrative. For reference, this story is told from the perspective of one of the survivors following the events of the cave. However, the breaks where the police are questioning her story felt more disruptive to the story’s momentum and did nothing to solve the actual mystery or move the plot forward. I wish those parts had been cut out or that something more had been done with them.
All and all, I feel like Into the Sublime is a flawed, watered-down version of all the horror movies it borrows from.
Thank you, Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co., for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Book Details:
Publication Date : July 26, 2022
Publisher : Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
IBSN: 125019170X
Pages : 368
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