Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Amazon has two creepy gothic stories as First Reads choices this October, which seems very appropriate. This one is a dual-story timeline novel with a present (2019) plot and dark past (back to the early 2000s) when the heroine was a girl. The first scene of a murder as seen from an unnamed murderer’s perspective certainly pulls you right in. Unfortunately, after this promising beginning, I felt like much of the first part of the novel was more telling than showing, as if the author wanted to get much backstory out of the way immediately rather than weave it in through the book. So you only had very small scenes with little action interspersed with these much longer narrative passages for too long. That slows down the pace of a story at the beginning. Hannah is an unreliable narrator, which always makes a story a little more interesting. She certainly seems to not have a full grasp of things that she should. I did find myself somewhat annoyed by her at times. Her adult self at times seemed to have the maturity of her younger self; she didn't always think and act like the adult she should have. Despite the story's flaws, I think it is fascinating that the author pulled the setting from something in her real life, a castle seen on a family road trip that she and her sisters made up stories about. The setting of the old castle is fantastic, though I find myself wishing that the author had exploited it just a little more. The story certainly had the potentially malevolent setting key to any gothic novel, old solved and unsolved murders and disappearances abound, and the contemporary car accident that took the heroine’s aunt’s life may not have been so accidental. At times, the book felt a little surreal, as it was not 100% clear what was a part of the heroine's real life or her imaginings and dreams. The ending, unfortunately, was confusing, and I do not feel like the book wrapped up well. Many loose threads were still hanging, with multiple questions left unanswered. In the end, I felt dissatisfied with the story arc and somewhat cliched storyline. (I swear I've read this basic storyline many times.) However, if you are looking for a spooky, gothic read for Halloween, it may fill the bill. I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.