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theduchess93's review against another edition
5.0
Was this especially well-written? No. Was the plot a bit clumsy at times? Yes. But I'm still giving it 5 stars for the author's intent in writing it: to bring diversity and inclusion to the horror genre.
losco's review against another edition
5.0
A sweet, haunted love story that I seriously could not put down in the last few chapters! Not sure I should have been reading the scariest parts at 2am though! This is a great book! I don’t read a lot of YA, but if Hina writes another one I wouldn’t hesitate to grab it, she is a talented author.
gothicvamperstein's review against another edition
2.0
The Haunting of the Antique Brooch as an okay read for me, but nothing more than that. What I liked about it was the (casual) diversity of the characters, such as transgender Marry, Abby with Downs, Roni who's an Indian muslim and finds out she's a lesbian, and so on.
The supernatural/horror elements of the story was also okay, but perhaps a bit basic, especially if one has read quite a few horror novels thoughout the years.
What annoyed me a bit with this book was the ending, which I felt had a few loose ends, in addition to the fact that the antique brooch element was just briefly mentioned once or twice I think during the entire book.
That said, I liked the concept of the book, but I just felt it could have been written in a different way.
The supernatural/horror elements of the story was also okay, but perhaps a bit basic, especially if one has read quite a few horror novels thoughout the years.
What annoyed me a bit with this book was the ending, which I felt had a few loose ends, in addition to the fact that the antique brooch element was just briefly mentioned once or twice I think during the entire book.
That said, I liked the concept of the book, but I just felt it could have been written in a different way.
bookwoman37's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
3.0
This was just an OK read for me. I liked the diverse cast of characters but the mystery was not very scary. Roni and her best friend Matty are having fun investigating haunted houses. To their surprise one of the houses is really haunted and the spirit follows them home. There were no real surprises or suspense. Overall it was just a nice haunted house story with wonderful characters.
judeinthestars's review against another edition
4.0
This is so not the cozy young adult mystery I was expecting. It’s bona fide horror, complete with ghosts, demons, djinns and a gorgeous and mysterious girl.
Sixteen-year-old Roni and her friend Matty thought investigating haunted houses would be a fun activity for the summer, until Roni unknowingly upsets “something”. The trouble follows her home, putting everyone around her in danger.
I’m not a huge fan of horror so I probably wouldn’t have read this book if I had been more careful. I’m really glad I wasn’t, it was an interesting experience and a really good book. The atmosphere was terrifying, the darkness soul-sucking and much more enjoyable than I thought it could be. A lot of my enjoyment of this book came from Roni’s character. As the youngest in her family, she’s always felt like an afterthought. Growing up in a progressive Chicago suburb, she’s very respectful of her family’s Indian Muslim culture and at the same time trying to fit in. She’s brave and stubborn and driven. She’s surrounded by all sorts of people. Her best friend Matty is transgender and his family comes from Thailand. The ghost experts they ask for help are a perfect mix of minorities. One girl has Down’s syndrome. And Roni, hitherto used to swooning over pretty boys, finds herself crushing hard on a girl.
At times this book could read like a diversity catalog yet it never feels forced.
It wouldn’t be utterly far-fetched to read this as a metaphor of teenage years, trying to find yourself, find your place in a world that is not ready for you and for who you are. Or simply enjoy it without looking for hidden meaning…
I received a copy from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
Sixteen-year-old Roni and her friend Matty thought investigating haunted houses would be a fun activity for the summer, until Roni unknowingly upsets “something”. The trouble follows her home, putting everyone around her in danger.
I’m not a huge fan of horror so I probably wouldn’t have read this book if I had been more careful. I’m really glad I wasn’t, it was an interesting experience and a really good book. The atmosphere was terrifying, the darkness soul-sucking and much more enjoyable than I thought it could be. A lot of my enjoyment of this book came from Roni’s character. As the youngest in her family, she’s always felt like an afterthought. Growing up in a progressive Chicago suburb, she’s very respectful of her family’s Indian Muslim culture and at the same time trying to fit in. She’s brave and stubborn and driven. She’s surrounded by all sorts of people. Her best friend Matty is transgender and his family comes from Thailand. The ghost experts they ask for help are a perfect mix of minorities. One girl has Down’s syndrome. And Roni, hitherto used to swooning over pretty boys, finds herself crushing hard on a girl.
At times this book could read like a diversity catalog yet it never feels forced.
It wouldn’t be utterly far-fetched to read this as a metaphor of teenage years, trying to find yourself, find your place in a world that is not ready for you and for who you are. Or simply enjoy it without looking for hidden meaning…
I received a copy from the author and I am voluntarily leaving a review.
sapphicreads's review against another edition
2.0
This was certainly an interesting read and honestly I don't really know how to feel about it. I think my issue with the writing impacted my overall enjoyment of the book, because it was not great to be honest, but there was still a lot of things I enjoyed so it ended up a fairly solid read anyway.
I originally picked this up because it looked like it was going to be a gay haunted house story and I wasn't disappointed there. The romance however... wasn't my favorite but that probably is because I didn't feel connected to anything to do with this story and didn't really care about the romance because of that. It was kind of rushed and not really detailed and I just wish we would have gotten more from them.
This is also a pretty basic ghost story in my opinion. I've seen a lot of a horror movies and so there wasn't really anything that shocked me about this but that's okay. I'm not gonna fault the book for that. I think the diversity within the story really helped a lot though and I enjoyed the twist on it. I just don't think
Overall, I just didn't connect with the writing. At all. It was very choppy and not well done though I do think it got better as the book went on. It's a debut novel however so I'm not gonna put too much thought into that. I also thought the story itself was very basic ghost story and kind of cheesy at times but I think it was supposed to be so again, not gonna fault it for that.
In the end it was just very meh to me.
I originally picked this up because it looked like it was going to be a gay haunted house story and I wasn't disappointed there. The romance however... wasn't my favorite but that probably is because I didn't feel connected to anything to do with this story and didn't really care about the romance because of that. It was kind of rushed and not really detailed and I just wish we would have gotten more from them.
This is also a pretty basic ghost story in my opinion. I've seen a lot of a horror movies and so there wasn't really anything that shocked me about this but that's okay. I'm not gonna fault the book for that. I think the diversity within the story really helped a lot though and I enjoyed the twist on it. I just don't think
Overall, I just didn't connect with the writing. At all. It was very choppy and not well done though I do think it got better as the book went on. It's a debut novel however so I'm not gonna put too much thought into that. I also thought the story itself was very basic ghost story and kind of cheesy at times but I think it was supposed to be so again, not gonna fault it for that.
In the end it was just very meh to me.
kel's review
medium-paced
2.0
This was certainly an interesting read and honestly I don't really know how to feel about it. I think my issue with the writing impacted my overall enjoyment of the book, because it was not great to be honest, but there was still a lot of things I enjoyed so it ended up a fairly solid read anyway.
I originally picked this up because it looked like it was going to be a gay haunted house story and I wasn't disappointed there. The romance however... wasn't my favorite but that probably is because I didn't feel connected to anything to do with this story and didn't really care about the romance because of that. It was kind of rushed and not really detailed and I just wish we would have gotten more from them.
This is also a pretty basic ghost story in my opinion. I've seen a lot of a horror movies and so there wasn't really anything that shocked me about this but that's okay. I'm not gonna fault the book for that. I think the diversity within the story really helped a lot though and I enjoyed the twist on it. I just don't think
Overall, I just didn't connect with the writing. At all. It was very choppy and not well done though I do think it got better as the book went on. It's a debut novel however so I'm not gonna put too much thought into that. I also thought the story itself was very basic ghost story and kind of cheesy at times but I think it was supposed to be so again, not gonna fault it for that.
In the end it was just very meh to me.
I originally picked this up because it looked like it was going to be a gay haunted house story and I wasn't disappointed there. The romance however... wasn't my favorite but that probably is because I didn't feel connected to anything to do with this story and didn't really care about the romance because of that. It was kind of rushed and not really detailed and I just wish we would have gotten more from them.
This is also a pretty basic ghost story in my opinion. I've seen a lot of a horror movies and so there wasn't really anything that shocked me about this but that's okay. I'm not gonna fault the book for that. I think the diversity within the story really helped a lot though and I enjoyed the twist on it. I just don't think
Overall, I just didn't connect with the writing. At all. It was very choppy and not well done though I do think it got better as the book went on. It's a debut novel however so I'm not gonna put too much thought into that. I also thought the story itself was very basic ghost story and kind of cheesy at times but I think it was supposed to be so again, not gonna fault it for that.
In the end it was just very meh to me.
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