YOU’VE AWOKEN HER by Ann Dávila Cardinal – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

You've Awoken Her by Ann Dávila Cardinal
Published by Harper Collins on June 17 2025
Genres: Horror, Young adult
Pages: 288
Format: Finished hardcover
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Cosmic horror with a twist, You’ve Awoken Her provides mystery, chills and relatable characters.

You’ve Awoken Her is the latest YA horror book from Ann Dávila Cardinal, and although I usually shy away from YA these days, I do take chances on YA horror from time to time, and this one did not disappoint. This is a fast-paced story with Lovecraftian themes, engaging characters and just enough mystery to keep readers flipping the pages.

Gabi is looking forward to a long, relaxing summer of reading, watching movies, and chatting with his online friends on the horror app Slasher, where they bond over  horror movies, books and video games. But unfortunately his mother has other ideas. When she makes her own plans for the summer, she insists that Gabi go stay with his best friend Ruthie and her family in the Hamptons. Ruthie’s family hit it big after her dad had some success at work, and they’ve abandoned suburban life in Queens to live it up in the Hamptons. Gabi can think of nothing he’d rather do less, but it would be nice to see Ruthie again, so he grudgingly packs up and heads to the train station.

But a weird encounter on the platform almost makes him turn around and go home. An old woman comes up to Gabi and proclaims, “Don’t go to the Hamptons, you’re in danger!” And when he arrives at Gabi’s house and meets their chauffeur, an unpleasant man with a weird Cthulhu tattoo on his head, Gabi gets the feeling that something is going on. At a party hosted by Ruthie’s new boyfriend Frost, he sees—or thinks he sees—a woman being dragged under the water by a tentacled beast. Even stranger, no one at the party believes him or seems to care at all.

As Gabi starts his own investigation of the drowned girl, Frost and his goons seem to be covering something up, even going so far as to threaten Gabi. Gabi doesn’t trust Frost at all, and neither does his new friend Georgina, who tells Gabi some unbelievable stories about the history of the Hamptons. Gabi doesn’t believe in the supernatural, but he does believe that Ruthie might be mixed up in something dangerous. And it’s up to him to find out what.

You’ve Awoken Her is told from Gabi’s first person point of view, and I thought he was a fantastic main character. He’s got the snarky teenager vibe going on, but he’s also passionate about the things he care for: books, horror and collecting Funko Pops, but also his friendship with Ruthie and his Puerto Rican heritage. He feels like a fish out of water in the Hamptons, where everyone is white except the help staff, but he doesn’t let that stop him from digging into the weird things that keep happening. I also loved Georgina, whose identity is a surprise to Gabi, and I appreciated the fact that Cardinal didn’t feel it was necessary to start a romance between the two. In fact, there isn’t any romance in the story at all, unless you count Ruthie’s odd relationship with Frost, so adult readers who cringe at all the usual romance in YA can relax and enjoy the story.

And because this is horror, I was thrilled that those elements were front and center. As you might guess from the cover, this is a Lovecraft-influenced story with cult elements, and while I wouldn’t say anything really surprised me, I did love the suspense leading up to the finale. The author drops lots of hints about the monster and how it ties into Frost’s family and their financial success, and Gabi and Georgina make a great teen detective team as they follow the town’s lore and other clues to solve the mystery.

I did think Ruthie’s character was more on the shallow side, and I didn’t connect with her much at all. She almost felt like a prop, since the story needed someone innocent to act as the victim. But I did love her complicated relationship with Gabi, who is saddened by how her personality has changed since moving to the Hamptons. They eventually work things out and Gabi finally understands that relationships change and grow as time goes on, and he shouldn’t expect their friendship to remain the same forever.

This isn’t listed as a series, but there’s a strong suggestion at the end that Gabi, Ruthie and Georgina have more adventures in store, and I’m here for it!

Big thanks to Sparkpoint Studio and the publisher for providing a review copy.