Catie has always felt at peace in her forest. The giant redwoods that surround the Heights, her eclectic home in Northern California. Here, she’s surrounded by nature rather than people. Catie knows that nature can be unfair, but at least she can understand it, something she can’t say about humans. Then a boy suddenly invades her forest. At first, Catie is angry, but then she’s intrigued. And then she’s more than intrigued. But weird things are happening around her, too. Things Catie can’t explain, and they scare her. Dead things are coming back to life, eyes watch from impossible places, and something is changing the men in Catie’s life for the worse. If Catie can’t find the source of these inexplicable events, then the past will just keep repeating itself, trapping everyone in pain and anger. Stopping intergenerational trauma isn’t easy, but if Catie can do it, she’ll save more than just herself in May the Dead Keep You, the latest from Jill Baguchinsky.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Little, Brown and Company for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of May the Dead Keep You contains some spoilers!]
The Heights is a reservoir for pain
Catie loves her home and the forest around it. The Heights is a huge, castle-like home in the middle of Northern California. Built by a famous architect for his wife and daughter, it is said that the family was never happy there. Eventually, the ungrateful daughter ran away, breaking her father’s heart. The castle is completely out of place in the woods, but that’s part of its appeal for Catie. She never quite feels like she belongs, either. Except when she’s in the forest. Then she knows she belongs. Ever since her father left shortly after they moved to the Heights, the forest has brought her peace.
But her sanctuary is about to be invaded. Her mother has rented out the guest house to a colleague and his son, Hunter. Catie supposedly spent a summer with Hunter when she was five, but she doesn’t remember it. And even if she did, she doesn’t want to share her forest with anyone. When she first meets Hunter, she just wants him to go away; there’s nothing about him she likes.
But her best friend Ivy encourages her to talk to him, just to keep the summer from being weird. Catie doesn’t want to, but she gives Hunter another chance anyway. To her surprise, she finds out that Hunter isn’t that bad. There’s a lot of awkwardness between them, but they’re two socially inept teenagers, so Catie explains away his weird reactions and finds herself falling for him.
As the two become closer, weird things begin happening. Catie feels watched, her older brother becomes controlling and violent, and there’s the weird thing she and Hunter can do together. Somehow, when the two touch a dead woodpecker at the same time, it comes back to life. Can they do it again? Can they use this power to help others? Catie is afraid of what they’ve done and doesn’t want to do it again, but Hunter keeps pushing her. And that’s not the only way that he starts to change from the sweet boy Catie first met. Her brother is changing, too. Something is very wrong at the Heights, and if Catie can’t fix it, she might become its next victim.
An interesting look at domestic abuse
In May the Dead Keep You, Baguchinsky is really looking at domestic abuse in the spooky confines of the Heights. Often, we only think of domestic abuse as being about physical abuse. And domestic abuse in teenage dating situations, where they don’t live together, is often overlooked completely. But control is just another kind of abuse, and it’s more common than most people think. It’s shocking to find out that 1 in 3 high school girls in the United States is a victim of physical, emotional, or verbal abuse. Sadly, even at that age, most girls have already been conditioned to excuse those behaviors from men.
Even Catie, who has a best friend who’s favorite phrase is “red flag” (seriously, I kinda wanted to tell Ivy to shut up, not everything is a red flag) made excuse after excuse for Hunter and Leigh’s behavior. This is what often happens in abusive relationships. Especially because abusers don’t start off behaving abusively. Abuse starts small, with little things. By the time the abuse is obvious, the victim is usually so accustomed to it that they’re just stuck.
But May the Dead Keep You isn’t a tragedy. Once Catie admits that there’s a problem, she realizes that the only way to break the cycle of abuse is to escape. And the best way to do that is to just get away. Clean and complete breaks with nothing left to return to, so it’s easier (not easy; it’s never easy) to get away. With the past acknowledged and left behind, maybe some real healing can take place. It can’t be done alone. Catie needs help. But with enough support, maybe the past can be left behind, and the future can be everything she always imagined. It’s something that all abuse victims need: support, help, and hope.
Help is help, no matter where it comes from
Catie’s problems are mostly presented as a result of the pain the Heights absorbed. So it was fitting that most of her help also came from the Heights. But not all of her help was supernatural, and I’m not sure the supernatural can be blamed for everything that happened. People have the capacity for both good and evil within them, and the Heights just magnified those impulses, I think.
Even Catie’s help might not be as innocent as she appears at first. Abuse twists not just the abuser but the victim as well. Refusing to be a victim leads Catie to some potentially dark places. She could easily end up just as bad as those attacking her. It all comes down to choice. The first thing a victim loses is choice, which leads to a loss of self. By holding on to her choices, can Catie hold on to herself and not just survive but thrive after all the trauma she goes through? I choose to believe she can.
Rating: 8/10
May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky is available from Little, Brown, and Company on April 21, 2026.
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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