{"id":16505,"date":"2021-12-13T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=16505"},"modified":"2021-12-07T23:27:51","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T04:27:51","slug":"review-secret-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-secret-skin\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: The Secret Skin by Wendy Wagner"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16506\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-secret-skin\/secretskin\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/secretskin.jpg?fit=313%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"313,499\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"secretskin\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/secretskin.jpg?fit=313%2C499&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16506\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/secretskin.jpg?resize=220%2C350&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"cover of The Secret Skin by Wendy Wagner\" width=\"220\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/secretskin.jpg?resize=220%2C350&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/secretskin.jpg?w=313&amp;ssl=1 313w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 85vw, 220px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Secret-Skin-2021-Hemlock-Novella\/dp\/1952086329\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1C5B609UHST1W&amp;keywords=the+secret+skin+wendy+wagner&amp;qid=1638937097&amp;sprefix=secret+skin+wendy+%2Caps%2C425&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Secret Skin by Wendy Wagner<\/a><br \/>\nNeon Hemlock (October 2021)<br \/>\n<\/b><b>102 pages; $11.57 paperback<br \/>\n<\/b><b>Reviewed by Sadie \u201cMother Horror\u201d Hartmann<\/b><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Last night I dreamed of Storm Break, dear Lillian, for the first time since we escaped that salt place.&#8221;<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">June Vogel returns to her family\u2019s estate on the Oregon Coast after being away for six years. In the tradition of all atmospheric, Gothic storytelling, Wendy Wagner sets the stage perfectly in the prologue, hinting at family tragedy and secrets that will be revealed in time. But with only one hundred pages used to tell the tale, readers don\u2019t have to wait long.<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, June\u2019s first night back in the house is quite eventful, complete with a creepy child that says things like, \u201cYou must really be my Aunt if the house is trying to kill you too.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wagner gives her audience a sweeping tour of the grounds, including the Vogel family sawmill and surrounding forest as June\u2019s new relationship with her niece, Abigail (the creepy child) deepens. It\u2019s clear that Abigail and June would much rather be outside Storm Break instead of inside. Which, to be fair, is indicative of living in the Pacific Northwest and needing to spend as much time as possible outdoors if it\u2019s not raining.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eventually, June\u2019s brother Frederick and his new wife come to Storm Break and the dynamic between all the characters changes once again &#8212; more secrets, new feelings surfacing, and the possibility for danger. It is positively delicious. This is sometimes the downside of novellas; they are exactly the number of pages they need to be &#8212; nothing more, nothing less. But, they could be novels. <em>The Secret Skin<\/em> could be a four hundred page doorstopper of a book and readers would be happy to spend countless hours wandering the haunted halls of Storm Break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alas, the journey does end and with it comes a feeling of longing and desire that lingers well after the last page. I loved all the supernatural elements, the magic and the unpredictability of <em>The Secret Skin<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I will show up for anything Wendy Wagner writes. Her prose is lush and decadent. There is so much to hold on to and it\u2019s so easy to invest in the fictional lives of her characters. Definitely a new favorite author. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Secret Skin by Wendy Wagner Neon Hemlock (October 2021) 102 pages; $11.57 paperback Reviewed by Sadie \u201cMother Horror\u201d Hartmann &#8220;Last night I dreamed of Storm Break, dear Lillian, for the first time since we escaped that salt place.&#8221; June Vogel returns to her family\u2019s estate on the Oregon Coast after being away for six &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/review-secret-skin\/\" class=\"more-link button bg-gold white\">Continue Reading!<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Review: The Secret Skin by Wendy Wagner&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[80],"tags":[1572,2519,79,1545,2517,2518],"class_list":["post-16505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-mother-horror","tag-neon-hemlock","tag-reviews","tag-sadie-hartmann","tag-the-secret-skin","tag-wendy-wagner"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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