The Bleeding Woods

De: Brittany Amara

Narrado por: Kelsey Jaffer, Andre Santana, Steve West

In this chilling debut horror novel, a young woman discovering dangerous new powers finds herself lost in the Appalachian Mountains with her first love, the sister she betrayed, and an infatuated stranger bound to her telepathically as a string of vicious murders taints the woods red.

Clara Lovecroft didn’t mean to kill her parents. She was fourteen when it happened. Something inside her had awoken, something terrible and dangerous that Clara’s kept at bay with pills ever since. Not that her sister, Jade, will ever forgive her for what happened. Not that Clara will ever forgive herself.

Nearly a decade later, on the anniversary of their parents’ deaths, Clara joins Jade, their childhood friend, Grayson, and his younger brother, Joey, on a weekend getaway to repair their broken relationship. The spontaneous road trip stalls when their car breaks down, stranding them in Blackstone Forest—a place deeper and darker than anyone can imagine. Here, the forest whispers, and within its haunting foliage, a strange man waits for Clara among the trees, their destinies rooted in death.

He would die for Clara. In fact, he would kill for her.

Before the weekend is over, blood will spill in Blackstone Forest. When it does, Clara will have to face the irresistible stranger in all his terrifying glory. She’ll also discover the truth about their shared pasts. Like the forest itself, it’s monstrous.

©2025 by Brittany A. Marasciulo. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A searing and unforgettable debut. The Bleeding Woods will sweep you away in its captivating spell. Gorgeous, poetic, and utterly creepy.”—Gwendolyn Kiste, four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of Velkwood and Reluctant Immortals

Jaspers narrator is amazing!!

This book was made to be read aloud! The yearning of Jasper mixed with his malice, the protectiveness of Grayson to execute his duty, and poor Clara’s confusion and loneliness make for an epic story with lots of emotion and action! I can’t wait to read more from Brittany Amara.

Almost gave up... So glad I didn’t

Excellent debut for this author.

The narration was one of the best, if not the best, I’ve had the pleasure of listening to—and I’ve had Audible for over 10 years.

I’ll be honest, I almost gave up about a quarter of the way in because I thought it was going to be some cheesy paranormal romance, and that was not what I was looking for at all. I picked this because I was in the mood for a scary thriller. (I love romance books too, just not when I’m specifically shopping for creepy.) Luckily, I stuck with it because it absolutely was not a romance, and I’m so glad I didn’t quit because this ended up being so much better than I expected.

The character building was really, really good. Every character had such a strong and clear personality that I felt like I knew them personally, or at least had met people just like them before. That made the emotional moments hit a lot harder because I actually cared what happened to them.

And OMG… that first death scene? Tore my heart out.

My only complaint is the timing and execution of some of the twists and big shock moments. They weren’t predictable at all, which is usually a huge plus for me, but some of them felt a little off in the way they were placed. Not in a “bad writing” way—more in a “wait, did I miss something?” way. I actually backed it up more than once because I thought I had missed a couple of minutes. I hadn’t.

The first major death and the big twist around the three-quarter mark were the two biggest ones for me. Both shocked me, both worked, but I do think they would’ve hit even harder with slightly different timing.
Even with that, I couldn’t put it down from start to finish.

For a debut, this was seriously impressive. Great narration, great character work, emotional punches, and a story that kept me hooked. I really hope this turns into a series because there just has to be more out there that were stolen, escaped, or survived.
I’d absolutely listen to or read more from this author, and I’d love to see what she could do with other monsters or ghost stories too.

Highly recommend.