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A review by jiba
Angel Manor by Chantal Noordeloos
3.0
I hate to rate it so low because it was well written. (So I added a star just for that)
This was an ok read. But I have read books scarier than this one and that probably was the problem I had with this book. I hate to say it but I had to skim through the uninteresting parts to get to where the good bits were and then they turned out to be ok bits.
For the first time reader of haunted house books, it might be scary. But [b:Hell House|33547|Hell House|Richard Matheson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384259876s/33547.jpg|804298] and [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House |Shirley Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871336s/89717.jpg|3627] scared me much more. But I read them long ago and pretty much early in my reading experience and the effects were strong. If I were to first read them now, I am not sure how much they would frighten me. But just thinking about them makes me shudder.
I think it works better if there is a slow build up and the gore at the beginning, while it does snap the attention, doesn't really help when the build up of the story comes after it.
In addition, this was a religious haunting in a way and nothing about the characters' faith came out. It was used as a convenient backdrop, but not really explored except for a few sentences towards the last part of the book. It was based in Scotland and no one thought to talk to a Minister about what was going on? I am just saying....
This was an ok read. But I have read books scarier than this one and that probably was the problem I had with this book. I hate to say it but I had to skim through the uninteresting parts to get to where the good bits were and then they turned out to be ok bits.
For the first time reader of haunted house books, it might be scary. But [b:Hell House|33547|Hell House|Richard Matheson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1384259876s/33547.jpg|804298] and [b:The Haunting of Hill House|89717|The Haunting of Hill House |Shirley Jackson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327871336s/89717.jpg|3627] scared me much more. But I read them long ago and pretty much early in my reading experience and the effects were strong. If I were to first read them now, I am not sure how much they would frighten me. But just thinking about them makes me shudder.
I think it works better if there is a slow build up and the gore at the beginning, while it does snap the attention, doesn't really help when the build up of the story comes after it.
In addition, this was a religious haunting in a way and nothing about the characters' faith came out. It was used as a convenient backdrop, but not really explored except for a few sentences towards the last part of the book. It was based in Scotland and no one thought to talk to a Minister about what was going on? I am just saying....