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overallshowman's review
3.0
I received an advanced digital review copy for free from Robot Dinosaur Press through BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Let it be known that it pains me to rate this book less than four stars. It has everything I want in a book and more: my favorite trope (found family), a diverse set of characters, a neurodivergent MC and side characters, nonbinary characters, queer characters, supernatural abilities, and ghosts. And yet. And yet it fell flat for me. Please know that this review is fully subjective and your experience could be different!
Sanctuary follows Morgan, an adult living with their girlfriend Araminta, and some of their friends. Living in an old massive house full of ghosts, they all made it their goal for their house to become a sanctuary not only for the ghosts but also for each other. After a collection of ghosts were brought to their house in need of a sanctuary, they are faced with challenges rooted in centuries back.
I love the dynamics between these characters. They are not conventional, and I guess neurotypicals could find themselves annoyed at their relationship dynamics because they would not understand it, but I loved it. It does seem kind of idealistic, and I found myself wanting this sort of connection, which brings us back to how this book does its job of providing a safe space for queer and neurodiverse readers as well. However, I found the individual characterization stiff and two-dimensional. A few chapters in and I started struggling to continue. This book features a huge set of characters and they are all named, both living and ghosts alike. My problem is that the way they are introduced—or not because some of them suddenly just got casual mentions—could lead to confusion for the reader. The transitions between settings seemed very abrupt and rough at times too, which is another factor to that.
The main conflict didn't start until later on, and the event that triggered it—however heavy—seemed lackluster to me. Because it's character-driven and dare I say very introspective, the climax appeared to be quiet and slow. I have mixed opinions about it because I did love how the characters interacted and worked with each other but I dreaded how low the stakes felt. Reading the action scenes felt like watching a strangely written flashback in the middle of an anime fight scene, where the idea goes somewhere else entirely, taking us out of the moment instead of letting the sequence flow and allowing us to feel for the characters more. This may appeal to other readers, but I fear it's not for me.
Ultimately, I do appreciate the heart of this book. If one looks at this symbolically, it's easy to see that the way this book is written—away from the cis-heteronormative, ableist, racist, classist society—is, by itself, a representation of its title: a Sanctuary. Had I connected to any of the characters and felt for them more than I do, this would have been my new comfort read. Who knows, this could be yours if you give it a try!
This is being released today and I'd say check it out to see what you think. I'd still recommend this if you're a huge fan of a found family trope that features queer individuals, want to read an authentic neurodiverse representation, and want to read a fresh, character-driven take on ghost stories.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Ko-fi | Carrd
Let it be known that it pains me to rate this book less than four stars. It has everything I want in a book and more: my favorite trope (found family), a diverse set of characters, a neurodivergent MC and side characters, nonbinary characters, queer characters, supernatural abilities, and ghosts. And yet. And yet it fell flat for me. Please know that this review is fully subjective and your experience could be different!
The house is full of people and it is full of ghosts. It is a world where we live separately and together.
Sanctuary follows Morgan, an adult living with their girlfriend Araminta, and some of their friends. Living in an old massive house full of ghosts, they all made it their goal for their house to become a sanctuary not only for the ghosts but also for each other. After a collection of ghosts were brought to their house in need of a sanctuary, they are faced with challenges rooted in centuries back.
I love the dynamics between these characters. They are not conventional, and I guess neurotypicals could find themselves annoyed at their relationship dynamics because they would not understand it, but I loved it. It does seem kind of idealistic, and I found myself wanting this sort of connection, which brings us back to how this book does its job of providing a safe space for queer and neurodiverse readers as well. However, I found the individual characterization stiff and two-dimensional. A few chapters in and I started struggling to continue. This book features a huge set of characters and they are all named, both living and ghosts alike. My problem is that the way they are introduced—or not because some of them suddenly just got casual mentions—could lead to confusion for the reader. The transitions between settings seemed very abrupt and rough at times too, which is another factor to that.
The main conflict didn't start until later on, and the event that triggered it—however heavy—seemed lackluster to me. Because it's character-driven and dare I say very introspective, the climax appeared to be quiet and slow. I have mixed opinions about it because I did love how the characters interacted and worked with each other but I dreaded how low the stakes felt. Reading the action scenes felt like watching a strangely written flashback in the middle of an anime fight scene, where the idea goes somewhere else entirely, taking us out of the moment instead of letting the sequence flow and allowing us to feel for the characters more. This may appeal to other readers, but I fear it's not for me.
Ultimately, I do appreciate the heart of this book. If one looks at this symbolically, it's easy to see that the way this book is written—away from the cis-heteronormative, ableist, racist, classist society—is, by itself, a representation of its title: a Sanctuary. Had I connected to any of the characters and felt for them more than I do, this would have been my new comfort read. Who knows, this could be yours if you give it a try!
This is being released today and I'd say check it out to see what you think. I'd still recommend this if you're a huge fan of a found family trope that features queer individuals, want to read an authentic neurodiverse representation, and want to read a fresh, character-driven take on ghost stories.
Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Ko-fi | Carrd
bright_and_bookish's review against another edition
3.0
3 Stars
This is the story of a group of people who for a variety of reasons are excluded by society at large and have found a sanctuary in an old mansion filled with ghosts. When someone drops off a bunch of bottles, each with a ghost inside, the delicate balance of their lives is disrupted and they have to come together and fight for their safe place.
This book didn’t exactly hit the mark for me. I loved that pretty much every character was neurodivergent and that there was a ton of diversity, disability rep, LGBTQ+ rep, etc. but we spent so much time learning about each of the characters that the actual plot was underdeveloped. The plot was also full of plot holes and the end was incredibly confusing and just strange.
Also, the ghosts didn’t feel like ghosts, they just felt like more characters who couldn’t talk and wandered through walls occasionally. I can appreciate that the author wanted to explore the idea of consent and what it means to treat people with respect and dignity even when they can’t advocate for themselves, but I don’t think the plot of having a nefarious ghost makes sense if this is the idea that you want to explore.
Overall I think if you are feeling desperate for good representation of marginalized groups and don’t mind if the plot is a little bit nonsensical than this might work for you.
(A vlog discussing this book will be going up soon on my YouTube channel, Bright and Bookish, check back here for the link).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.
This is the story of a group of people who for a variety of reasons are excluded by society at large and have found a sanctuary in an old mansion filled with ghosts. When someone drops off a bunch of bottles, each with a ghost inside, the delicate balance of their lives is disrupted and they have to come together and fight for their safe place.
This book didn’t exactly hit the mark for me. I loved that pretty much every character was neurodivergent and that there was a ton of diversity, disability rep, LGBTQ+ rep, etc. but we spent so much time learning about each of the characters that the actual plot was underdeveloped. The plot was also full of plot holes and the end was incredibly confusing and just strange.
Also, the ghosts didn’t feel like ghosts, they just felt like more characters who couldn’t talk and wandered through walls occasionally. I can appreciate that the author wanted to explore the idea of consent and what it means to treat people with respect and dignity even when they can’t advocate for themselves, but I don’t think the plot of having a nefarious ghost makes sense if this is the idea that you want to explore.
Overall I think if you are feeling desperate for good representation of marginalized groups and don’t mind if the plot is a little bit nonsensical than this might work for you.
(A vlog discussing this book will be going up soon on my YouTube channel, Bright and Bookish, check back here for the link).
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.
readingwithkaitlyn's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
starry1086's review
Things got very scary very fast, which I wasn't expecting
Content Warnings
I think a horror tag might be in order for this. If I knew it was this scary I don't think I'd have read it.
nicmay's review
3.0
I wanted to love this one. I like it, but didn’t love it. Pros: very inclusive. Includes both trans and non binary characters. Lots of character development. Cons: plot is slow and very repetitive. We get it, the MC doesn’t have a job. I don’t need to be told that at least 20 times. There are a few mistakes (at least in the ARC I received from Booksirens for free and am reviewing voluntarily), both in a character’s name and another’s pronouns, within the same couple of pages. Also, I may be missing something, but Isobel’s whole situation just confuses me. Especially the last bit she shows up in.
clacksee's review
Morgan lives in an intentional community of neurodivergent and mostly queer people in a rambling old mansion. Oh, and ghosts. Lots of ghosts. But when something starts scaring the ghosts, Morgan and the gang realise they have to help them.
This offbeat (sub)urban fantasy novel is affirming and supportive and just plain adorable.
I'll be honest, I really want to live with Morgan and their housemates. I absolutely love the writing. I love the inclusiveness. I love the found family and sense of community. What I didn't love was the editing – and I don't just mean typos, though there were typos. What I found distracting were the continuity errors (someone has many brothers at one point and then is an only child a few chapters later) and the sagging middle.
With a more thorough edit, this could be a really amazing novel. In many ways, it still is … just not quite as good as it could have been.
This offbeat (sub)urban fantasy novel is affirming and supportive and just plain adorable.
I'll be honest, I really want to live with Morgan and their housemates. I absolutely love the writing. I love the inclusiveness. I love the found family and sense of community. What I didn't love was the editing – and I don't just mean typos, though there were typos. What I found distracting were the continuity errors (someone has many brothers at one point and then is an only child a few chapters later) and the sagging middle.
With a more thorough edit, this could be a really amazing novel. In many ways, it still is … just not quite as good as it could have been.
dilliemillie's review
2.0
Please note: This is my honest review of an ARC provided by Netgalley and Robot Dinosaur Press. The final publication may have changes made since the time of my reading.
This could be a truly fantastic book! but it needs some heavy revision.
I love the setup - a diverse group of neuro divergent people live in a huge haunted estate as a family. How great is that? Instead of one or two token characters, basically the entire cast of characters represents marginalized groups. But by book's end, I could tell you all about how mental and physical health impact the characters from day to day and next to nothing about who those people are outside their struggles. Some characters never got introductions and were mentioned in a manner implying readers already knew who they were (can anyone tell me who Denny is?!)
The writing style is very fragmented and overuses incomplete sentences. While this may have been an intentional choice on the part of the author, moderation is key! There are a few spelling and grammar errors and occasional continuity mistakes. Some concepts (ghost corporeality and consent) are reiterated ad nauseam, while others are barely explained (ghost hunters? Morgan's connection with the pendant?). Dramatic and/or action scenes are described with so little detail that I was at a loss to picture - or sometimes even understand - what had happened.
While I began reading with great excitement, my enthusiasm cooled and I struggled to reach the final pages. This story is imaginative and awesome! I trust that some editing will help it succeed in the way it deserves.
This could be a truly fantastic book! but it needs some heavy revision.
I love the setup - a diverse group of neuro divergent people live in a huge haunted estate as a family. How great is that? Instead of one or two token characters, basically the entire cast of characters represents marginalized groups. But by book's end, I could tell you all about how mental and physical health impact the characters from day to day and next to nothing about who those people are outside their struggles. Some characters never got introductions and were mentioned in a manner implying readers already knew who they were (can anyone tell me who Denny is?!)
The writing style is very fragmented and overuses incomplete sentences. While this may have been an intentional choice on the part of the author, moderation is key! There are a few spelling and grammar errors and occasional continuity mistakes. Some concepts (ghost corporeality and consent) are reiterated ad nauseam, while others are barely explained (ghost hunters? Morgan's connection with the pendant?). Dramatic and/or action scenes are described with so little detail that I was at a loss to picture - or sometimes even understand - what had happened.
While I began reading with great excitement, my enthusiasm cooled and I struggled to reach the final pages. This story is imaginative and awesome! I trust that some editing will help it succeed in the way it deserves.
rivulet027's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I love how communication and found family is at the heart of this book. Morgan lives in a large old manor with her girlfriend and their found family, which include multiple ghosts. There are a lot of characters in this book, living together and attempting to respect each other’s needs and quirks. All the characters in this book are neurodivergent and have varying disabilities. Morgan occasionally finds it difficult to be verbal, she sometimes uses BSL, text, and a text to voice app. The book spends a lot of time on the groups coping mechanisms and how they all work together and how living communally helps all of them. It also goes in depth into their financial issues and how they make things work.
The antagonist makes his way into the house near the beginning of the book, but the conflict and danger he brings gets brought up gradually. The book never loses its cozy feel. The main battle lasts several chapters and the stakes are dire: more than one of the characters is in danger of dying. Despite this the narrator takes the time to go over how each member of the family would be worse off if they didn’t have this house to live in.
I liked how the last several chapters spent time with how the group is not only repairing the house, but healing themselves and each other. I’m not a fan of horror, but I love found family so I’m glad that I got to read this book.
I received an advanced reader copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Suicide attempt, and Child death
adrianmcc's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
hauntedtesty's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0