Shantallow

by Cara Martin

Overview

When Misha sees the girl from his recent nightmares-a girl he's never set eyes on while awake-in a neighbour's front lawn he can't believe his eyes. The two tumble into an intense but ultimately toxic relationship.

Months after it's over, Misha still can't entirely let go. Driving past Tanvi's house he witnesses a kidnapping in progress-hers. When he attempts to intervene he's beaten, bound, and thrown into a van with Tanvi, her ten-year-old cousin Lauren, and another teenager. The four are driven to a decaying, remote house, and told no one will be hurt if they cooperate. But soon the entire group is under siege from something far more sinister than the captors themselves.

As the house grows more hostile and the supernatural violence escalates, the fate of the kidnappers and hostages entwine. Misha must not only fight for his life, but come to terms with the things he's done and the long shadow his father's abuse has cast over his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781738345823
Publisher:	Carolyn Martin
Publication date:	08/12/2025
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Cara Martin is a pseudonym for C.K. Kelly Martin. She is the author of such acclaimed novels as I Know It’s Over, One Lonely Degree, The Lighter Side of Death, My Beating Teenage Heart, Yesterday, Tomorrow, The Sweetest Thing You Can Sing, and Delicate. Her novel Stricken was released in 2017. A graduate of the Film Studies program at York University, Martin currently resides in Oakville, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

"A good pick for thoughtful horror readers."

Booklist

"Cara Martin has created a beautifully haunting rendition of the classic haunted house tale that feels true to the genre but offers a new twist."

Canadian Review of Materials - Deanna Feuer

With its sparing prose, inclusive cast and difficult themes, Cara Martin’s Shantallow is crackling YA. It addresses themes of revenge porn, abuse, drugs and sex, but at its heart is a message all young people should hear: there’s life after transgression, and while it may not include forgiveness, personal amends can be made, behaviour changed and community rediscovered.

Ottawa Books Awards Jury Citation

"Gut-wrenching on various levels."

Kirkus Reviews

Cara Martin has created a beautifully haunting rendition of the classic haunted house tale that feels true to the genre but offers a new twist.

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

With its sparing prose, inclusive cast and difficult themes, Cara Martin's Shantallow is crackling YA. It addresses themes of revenge porn, abuse, drugs and sex, but at its heart is a message all young people should hear: there's life after transgression, and while it may not include forgiveness, personal amends can be made, behaviour changed and community rediscovered.

Ottawa Book Awards Jury Citation

2019-06-17
A boy and a girl stand in a dark clearing, gravely injured, and near death.

This dream belongs to 17-year-old Misha Antall, but when he meets Tanvi Mahajan—the girl from his nightmares—in real life, Misha can't resist getting close to her. The pair soon stir up a heated romance, but Misha's harrowing past, marked by an abusive father, colors his actions in the relationship, while the traumatic loss of an aunt draws out a vulnerable strand in Tanvi, driving her further into his arms. Their poisoned relationship follows an ill-fated trajectory, aided by Misha's jealousy, obsession, and own abusive behavior toward Tanvi. Then the nightmares become a reality: Tanvi falls victim to a kidnapping plot thanks to her family's wealth, and Misha gets swept up as well. An evil, vindictive entity that threatens to engulf everything in its path awaits them at the kidnappers' hideout. From the opening sentence, the author piles on the dread and scares as she deconstructs Misha and Tanvi's mostly toxic relationship with a sharp taste for emotional complexity. Employing rich language, she depicts adolescent turmoil via ominous imagery but never loses sight of the hopeful possibility of change. Black-and-white photographs add an unnerving sense of visual horror during key suspenseful moments. Tanvi is of Indian descent, one major character is black, and most others are white (and are refreshingly named as such).

Gut-wrenching on various levels. (Psychological horror. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews