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the_weirdling's review against another edition
2.0
This was a book I should have liked more. I wanted to like it more. After Lovecraftian stuff, ghost stories are my favorite. My favorite sub genre of ghost story is the haunted house. This should have been an easy win for me. It wasn’t.
It was ably enough written. The characters were decently constructed. I liked the relation of the family members. They seemed quite real. The story was alright, but doesn’t really stand out among the many other haunted house tales out there.
Two things bugged me about this book and brought it down to a two star rating.
More than anything, the character of the mother was extremely distracting to me. Jenny’s empathetic reaction to the (maybe unintentionally?) malevolent spirit, would be understandable for many young women. But only is they don’t have children of their own. I don’t want to go into details because it would involve spoilers. I’ll leave it at this- she regularly makes choices that are quite obviously endangering her daughter because she feels badly for this particular (and yes, pathetic and sad) ghost. But, as broken as many moms would be about the choice, few mom’s would prioritize a ghost child over their own live child, who’s both biologically related and raised by her from the cradle. Sorry. It distracted me every time Jenny did it, and she did it more than once.
The ending was also unusually weak. At the end, it was almost set up for a very clever surprise ending. I thought it was coming. I could see it coming. I could taste it in the air. And then, no. No, it ended up being more pedestrian than I feared.
It has its charms in places, but you shouldn’t feel bad if you skip this one. Nothing life changing here.
It was ably enough written. The characters were decently constructed. I liked the relation of the family members. They seemed quite real. The story was alright, but doesn’t really stand out among the many other haunted house tales out there.
Two things bugged me about this book and brought it down to a two star rating.
More than anything, the character of the mother was extremely distracting to me. Jenny’s empathetic reaction to the (maybe unintentionally?) malevolent spirit, would be understandable for many young women. But only is they don’t have children of their own. I don’t want to go into details because it would involve spoilers. I’ll leave it at this- she regularly makes choices that are quite obviously endangering her daughter because she feels badly for this particular (and yes, pathetic and sad) ghost. But, as broken as many moms would be about the choice, few mom’s would prioritize a ghost child over their own live child, who’s both biologically related and raised by her from the cradle. Sorry. It distracted me every time Jenny did it, and she did it more than once.
The ending was also unusually weak. At the end, it was almost set up for a very clever surprise ending. I thought it was coming. I could see it coming. I could taste it in the air. And then, no. No, it ended up being more pedestrian than I feared.
It has its charms in places, but you shouldn’t feel bad if you skip this one. Nothing life changing here.
jessicaseabridge's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
rosehaven's review against another edition
3.0
Book was good with some very creepy parts. I enjoyed it.
skyfox24kd's review against another edition
4.0
A haunting of a beautiful and very old house resulting from what else? Evil. Wait. No. Ahem. Eeeeeeveeeelllllll! There. Much better.
That is all I will say, you just have to read it.
My empathy for the ghost kept going this way and that. The writer could easily write another after this book and make it a series. But if not, then that is good too. The ending was not annoyingly left so, I was happy.
That is all I will say, you just have to read it.
My empathy for the ghost kept going this way and that. The writer could easily write another after this book and make it a series. But if not, then that is good too. The ending was not annoyingly left so, I was happy.
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