What We Left Behind Review: A Chilling Descent into Psychological Horror

What We Left Behind is a story about the past literally refusing to stay buried. It’s about the things we leave behind, not just in places, but in ourselves, and the terrifying journey of facing them. If you’re a fan of horror that gets under your skin by messing with your head, of stories where the monster is both outside and within, then this book is absolutely worth your time.

What We Left Behind Review: A Chilling Descent into Psychological Horror

So, you know that feeling when you hear an excellent premise for a book and you have to understand how it plays out? That’s precisely what happened to me with Kody Boye’s What We Left Behind. The setup is every bit the creepy, psychological horror story it promises to be: three friends, a three-day gap in their childhood memories, and a force pulling them back to the very woods where it all began thirteen years later.

Honestly, it’s the kind of hook that sinks in deep.

Boye throws you right into the life of Harlow Meadows, a seventeen-year-old who has spent her life haunted by a mystery she was part of. She and her two best friends vanished without a trace as kids, only to reappear just as suddenly, their memories completely wiped. Can you even imagine? Growing up with a black hole in your own past, a collective trauma that binds you to others but that none of you can explain. It’s a fantastic foundation for a story, and Boye builds on it with a slow-burn dread. The characters aren’t just chasing ghosts; they’re chasing the empty space where their own memories should be.

Now, the real action kicks off on the anniversary of their disappearance. And Harlow and her friends find themselves drawn back. This time, though, there’s no easy exit. The normal East Texas woods they remember are gone, replaced by something else entirely, a nightmare dimension called Wraithworld. And this place is brutal. The true horror of the mirror world, however, isn’t just its appearance, but its function. This is a realm that seems to breathe in your deepest anxieties, only to exhale them back as tangible, personal nightmares.

What makes the journey so compelling, however, are the characters themselves. Harlow is a relatable and resilient protagonist whose entire life has been defined by an absence. Her drive to finally uncover the truth is palpable, making her our determined anchor in the ensuing chaos. But the real narrative strength lies in how the group’s dynamic fractures under pressure.

They aren’t a monolithic unit; they are a trauma-bonded group of individuals, each coping with the void in their past in different ways. As the mirror world preys on them, we see their friendships tested, their secrets laid bare, and their individual fears weaponised against one another. This character-driven approach transforms the horror from a simple external threat into an intimate, emotional battleground.

Boye’s central creation, the mirror world, operates on a kind of cruel, internal logic. The group’s only chance for escape lies in crossing this treacherous world to find a single mirror that acts as a bridge back to their reality. Of course, guarding this mirror is a cruel being known only as the Snake. So the quest becomes this terrifying, dual-layered challenge: survive the external horrors of the landscape while also confronting the internal horrors that the landscape brings to life.

The book is being marketed as a Young Adult Horror/Fantasy crossover, which feels right . It’s got the coming-of-age elements, the focus on friendship and identity, but layered with a genuinely dark and unsettling horror premise. For those who discover the book, the author has made it available for free if you sign up for his mailing list, which is a pretty great way to build a reader base .

So, what’s the final takeaway?

What We Left Behind is a story about the past literally refusing to stay buried. It’s about the things we leave behind, not just in places, but in ourselves, and the terrifying journey of facing them. If you’re a fan of horror that gets under your skin by messing with your head, of stories where the monster is both outside and within, then this book is absolutely worth your time. Your next step is pretty clear: head over to Kody Boye’s website to snag a copy for yourself and see if you can survive the journey through the mirror world.

What We Left Behind by Kody Boye

Thirteen years ago, Harlow Meadows and her two best friends went missing in the woods in their East Texas hometown, and emerged three days later with no memory of what happened.

Now, something is calling them back.

On the anniversary of their disappearance, Harlow and her friends inadvertently return to those same woods where they vanished as children. This time, however, they discover there is no simple way to escape.

The truth, when discovered, reveals the trio has stumbled into a world which not only feeds on human suffering, but where hope is seldom found, and nightmarish beings are truly real. Their only chance at escape lies beyond the treacherous landscapes, and facing the many trials within them, to reach a mirror bridging the two worlds. There, they must either confront or outwit the mirror’s guardian—a cruel being known only as the Snake.

In a world that belittles your hopes, destroys your dreams, and feeds off your deepest fears, Harlow will have to face the things she left behind, all while trying to keep her friends alive.

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