Michelle Kulwicki’s The Labyrinth of the Waking Dead, published by Page Street YA and featured on a Toppling Stacks Tours book tour, is an action-packed YA portal fantasy that blends eerie magic, emotional trauma, and a complicated love triangle into one gripping adventure. With a rating of ⭐⭐⭐✨ (3.75 stars), this story delivers strong character connections and immersive descriptions, even if it leaves readers with questions—and one very frustrating cliffhanger.
Set in the quiet, unassuming town of Barren’s Peak, West Virginia, the story follows Thea LaGuerre, a high school dropout struggling to stay afloat after her mother’s death. Her life feels stuck—until a barn party spirals into chaos and opens the door (literally) to a dangerous, magical Labyrinth. Suddenly, Thea is thrust into a world of monsters, secrets, and survival alongside two boys who complicate everything: Callum and Oliver.
One of the standout strengths of this novel is its characters. Thea, Oliver, and Callum are easy to connect with from the start. Thea’s resilience and grounded upbringing in the Appalachian Mountains make her feel real and relatable. Compared to the boys, she almost seems like the “lucky” one, having grown up outside the trauma of the Sanctuary—a shadowy magical order that shaped both Callum and Oliver in ways that clearly still haunt them.
Oliver, in particular, evokes a lot of sympathy. His history with Callum and his outsider status create a sense of emotional depth that makes you root for him almost immediately. Watching him navigate both lingering feelings and the chaos of the Labyrinth adds a layer of tension that works really well.
Then there’s Callum… who might be the most frustrating part of the book.
The love triangle between Thea, Callum, and Oliver is undeniably compelling—but also messy in a way that sometimes feels more confusing than intentional. While the dynamic starts off intriguing, it becomes harder to follow emotionally as the story progresses. Oliver often feels like the third wheel, which makes certain moments—like Callum suddenly kissing him—feel jarring rather than meaningful.
This raises a lot of questions about Callum’s character. Is he a thrill seeker who chases intensity in both danger and relationships? Is he emotionally confused due to the trauma he and Oliver experienced growing up in the Sanctuary? Or is he simply written inconsistently? The story doesn’t fully explore these possibilities, leaving his motivations unclear and, at times, making him difficult to like.
That said, the emotional complexity isn’t entirely a drawback. The characters’ trauma and confusion—especially around identity and relationships—feel realistic, even if they aren’t always fully unpacked. There’s a lot of potential here, and it adds an edge of authenticity to the story.
Where the book truly shines is in its atmosphere and action. The Labyrinth itself is vividly described, filled with danger, mystery, and a constant sense of unease. The pacing during action scenes is strong, pulling readers into the urgency of survival as the trio faces monstrous threats and impossible choices. Kulwicki’s descriptive writing makes it easy to visualize both the eerie beauty and the terrifying aspects of this magical world.
However, one noticeable drawback is the lack of downtime. The story moves quickly from one intense moment to the next, which keeps the momentum high but doesn’t always allow space for character development or world-building clarity. There are moments where you just want to pause, breathe, and understand what’s happening—both in terms of the Labyrinth itself and the characters’ emotional states.
This leads to another frustration: there are still a lot of unanswered questions by the end of the book. And while some mystery is expected in a fantasy series, the lack of clarity combined with the nonstop pacing can feel overwhelming.
And then… there’s the ending.
Without spoiling anything, it’s a full-on cliffhanger—and not the gentle kind. The kind that makes you want to yell, “Wait, that’s it?!” It also doesn’t help that the book isn’t clearly labeled as part of a duology or series upfront. Knowing that going in might have softened the blow, but as it stands, the ending feels abrupt and slightly unfair to readers who weren’t expecting it.
Still, despite these frustrations, The Labyrinth of the Waking Dead succeeds in doing something important: it hooks you. The combination of compelling characters, high-stakes action, and emotional tension makes it hard to walk away from—even when it leaves you annoyed.
In fact, it’s the kind of book that makes you both eager and irritated for the next installment. You want answers. You want more development. And yes, you might even want resolution for that chaotic love triangle.
Overall, this is a strong start to what could be a very compelling series. With a bit more breathing room for character and world-building—and clearer emotional direction—it has the potential to become something truly standout in the YA fantasy genre.
Until then, consider yourself warned: this book will pull you in, mess with your emotions, and leave you hanging.
And somehow… you’ll still want more.
About the book:
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publishing date: April 21, 2026
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Rep: Queer, LGBT+
Synopsis:
In this adventure-packed portal fantasy, three teens discover a gateway to a mythical Labyrinth in the Appalachian Mountains
Barren’s Peak, West Virginia, is not a place anyone would call magical, but Thea
LaGuerre calls it home. A high school drop-out whose mother died in an accident, Thea is stuck working part-time jobs just to make ends meet. The most she has to look forward to are barn parties where she can make out with Callum, the one interesting boy who moved to town six months ago.
Thea doesn’t know it yet, but Callum was sent to Barren’s Peak to watch her. He was raised within the magicians’ order, a shadowy organization meant to keep humanity safe from an underworld of monsters. Callum would sacrifice anyone, including himself, to help their cause, but he still can’t help falling into Thea’s orbit. She’s the first person he’s felt seen by since his childhood sweetheart, Oliver—who he hasn’t seen since Oliver’s banishment from the order.
But Oliver hasn’t given up on Callum or on magic. Following a magical creature’s trail to Barren’s Peak, Oliver happens upon Callum and Thea at a barn party that turns into a monster-overrun massacre. To save Callum and the girl he’s protecting from a wave of deadly fairies, Oliver opens a portal for the three of them to flee into the Labyrinth.
To get home again, Thea, Oliver, and Callum will have to work together to survive the Labyrinth’s trials and discover the threads that brought them there.
Content Warning: death of a parent
Meet the author:
Michelle Kulwicki grew up in the Pacific Northwest overturning every rock and stick in an unending quest to find portals to worlds far more exciting than her own. After moving to the mountainless Midwest, she earned her bachelors and master’s degrees in music performance, and spent years in the symphony and musical theater pit circuit. She’s now a mom by day, musician by night, and writer in all the spaces in between—a life that is somewhat lacking in portals, but is still full of magic.
Her short fiction has been both Locus Recommended and Hugo nominated, and her novel work has been featured in a special edition Owlcrate box as well as been translated into Italian and French. She can be found on most socials as @kulwickiwrites, or online at michellekulwicki.com