Book Review: Girl of Lore by Melanie Dale

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The Details

Media Type: Ebook
Title: Girl of Lore
Author(s): Melanie Dale
Publisher: Aladdin
Pages/Length: Ebook; 368
Release Date: April 21, 2026
Source: Netgalley

Add it on: Amazon | Bookshop | Storygraph | Pagebound

A girl who’s used to battling the monster of her own mind discovers there’s a sinister evil lurking in her small town in this atmospheric paranormal novel that’s perfect for fans of Tracy Wolff and Maggie Stiefvater. Stories of dark magic and even darker creatures have always swirled about Mina Murray’s town of London, Georgia. Mina knows they aren’t true—and are likely perpetuated only to drive the quirky tourist-trap ghost tours of downtown—but that doesn’t stop her from collecting the stories and drawing them in her sketchbook. Something about the possibility of real monsters helps her deal with the monster in her own her OCD, which convinces her danger lurks everywhere. But when a body is found drained of blood and a classmate goes missing, Mina is thrust into a tangled web of London secrets…that she seems to be at the center of.

The Review

I’ll start this review by letting you know that the teenage version of me would have absolutely adored this book. I still enjoyed it as an adult, for sure, but man I could just see younger me devouring this in a single day. Girl of Lore was a ton of fun. Set in the town of London, Georgia this book dives quickly into the concept of “ghost stories” actually having very real bones. Our lore obsessed MC finds herself thrown smack dab into the middle of just such a story, and it’s going to take everything she has to get make it out the other side.

Praise where praise is due, one of my favorite parts of this book was how Melanie Dale deals with Mina’s characterization. See, Mina has OCD that genuinely pervades every aspect of her life. She has intrusive thoughts, she has problems with discerning reality sometimes, and despite it all she works hard to continue to actively show up in her own life. I adore books where you actively see a character attending therapy and doing the work. Mina’s OCD gives this story such a deep emotional aspect, while still allowing it to be dealt with in a very conscious manner.

Truthfully though, it was the characters in this book that really were the centerpiece for me. Mina’s family was a beautiful mix of strength and normal family drama. I love a book where the author doesn’t attempt to pretend like all families are perfect little units. Better still, each of the characters in this book were treated as individuals with their own quirks. I thought that Dale did an excellent job of bringing together a friend group that didn’t feel like a cookie cutter setup. Every lore hunter brought something to the table, and did what they could to prop our girl up.

Where the book struggles, and this explains my rating, is with the plot. There’s a lot of really great stuff in here. Elements of vampire mythology, school drama, a meandering mystery that keeps you guessing, and even a tiny bit of horror. The problem is that there is so much to deal with at once, that book feels unevenly paced. The first third of the book had to do a lot of heavy lifting to lay Mina’s story out for us, the middle felt a little slow, and then suddenly the last bit rushes by so quickly it made my head spin a bit. I really wanted more time to dive into the lore surrounding London, Georgia and more time to come to terms with the bombshell that the ending throws at the reader.

Still, I had a good time with this. I did love that this book manages to walk that line between full on horror and more of a mystery vibe. There’s nothing in here that is particularly gory, or too dark. So it would be an excellent place for a reader who wants to spooked, but not outright scared, to start. Add in the lovely discussions of mental health and family dynamics, and you have a book I can happily recommend.