The Outside

I’ll admit, I side-eyed the premise at first—*Amish girls vs. vampires* sounded like a gimmick. But *The Outside* hooked me within chapters, and Nora Hunter’s performance is a huge reason why. Her Katie isn’t a breathy, wide-eyed heroine; she’s weary, wry, and occasionally furious, her voice carrying the weight of someone who’s been betrayed by the people she trusted most. Hunter’s pacing is deliberate, almost hypnotic, which works brilliantly for the slower burns (like Katie’s internal debates about faith) but occasionally drags during the book’s few action-heavy sequences. I found myself wishing for a touch more urgency in those moments—her calm delivery can mute the stakes when the vampires close in. The story itself is a gut-punch of moral ambiguity. Bickle doesn’t let anyone off easy: the Amish elders are hypocrites, the outsiders are opportunists, and Katie’s defiance comes with a body count. The vampires are refreshingly *not* the main event; they’re a catalyst for the real horror—how quickly humans weaponize fear. That said, the middle act sags slightly under the weight of Katie’s introspection, and the romance subplot feels tacked on, like the book wasn’t sure whether to lean into its bleakness or soften it. But the ending? Brutal and perfect. This isn’t a story about winning—it’s about what you’re willing to lose to stay human. If you love horror that lingers like a bad dream and narrators who *become* their characters, this is your next listen.