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ericarobyn's review
5.0
A Fresh Start by Somer Canon is a bone-chilling tale about a violent and possessive ghost that won’t let a family settle into their new home. Mixed with wonderfully heartwarming scenes, this novel will continuously convince you to let down your guard just to smack you upside the head with another terrifying scene.
Trigger Warning: A very good dog goes to the farm upstate very suddenly. RIP Dumb-Dumb.
In this story, a woman named Melissa has moved into a new house that she had build on an old farm plot next to the original barn. On just day two of living there, something happened that totally spooked her. She soon learns that she’s living on the land where a man killed his wife and two children. Unfortunately the soul of that man hasn’t left the property… and he’s got his sights on Melissa now.
OH MY GOODNESS. This book got me so many times. It was the perfect mix of happy and scary! There were plenty of heartwarming and calm scenes but then out of nowhere, we’d be slammed with a totally gut-wrenching or horrifying scene!
Speaking of gut-wrenching… The poor dog, Dumb-Dumb. I mentioned the trigger warning above so just one quick note here. You don’t actually “see” what happens. You hear about what happened through the kids explaining it and then you “see” the aftermath. This way of explaining what happened added to the terror! Like the poor pup meeting its end in John Wick, this dog death definitely served a purpose in the overall storyline. It was absolutely heartbreaking of course. In my opinion, the whole situation was extremely well done.
I was totally captivated each time I was able to pick this book up, especially because the sense of dread continued to build throughout the story until the explosive ending. The pacing of this story was absolutely wonderful and everything flowed very well. I adored each of the characters and their banter with one another. I especially enjoyed the relationship that grew between Melissa and Ida. And the descriptions that ranged from the scenery on the farm to the action sequences were all outstanding.
I found myself really attached to the main character, Melissa. While incredibly stubborn to the point of absurdity, I also understood why she was reacting the way she was. After all, after going through what she had been through in her recent past, having that one thing that she can try to control is something that I can really relate to.
While a shorter novel, this one packed so much into just 130 pages! I already can’t wait to revisit this story. I know it’s one that going to stick with me for a long time!
My Favorite Passages
Melissa dropped the bags she was holding and ran as hard and fast as she could to the house. Without thinking about the futility of the action, she locked and bolted the heavy front door and leaned on it, breathing fast and holding onto her chest, feeling her heart doing its best to make a dramatic escape.
“Some people never stop to thank the stepping stone the buried itself in the mud to keep others from getting muck on their boots…“
My Final Thoughts
I really wish that I had picked this one up on a day off so I could have read it cover to cover. Putting it down was incredibly difficult. I even found myself letting my mind wander during work hours, just so antsy to get back to it!
I absolutely loved everything about this story. The ghost was terrifying, the human characters were all wonderful, the pacing was quick, and the sudden scares totally caught me off guard and got my heart rate going. I loved how much this one spooked me. I was jumpy for a few days after finishing this one!
If you enjoy ghost stories filled with jump scares, violence, and a whole lot of heart, you have to check this one out!
Trigger Warning: A very good dog goes to the farm upstate very suddenly. RIP Dumb-Dumb.
In this story, a woman named Melissa has moved into a new house that she had build on an old farm plot next to the original barn. On just day two of living there, something happened that totally spooked her. She soon learns that she’s living on the land where a man killed his wife and two children. Unfortunately the soul of that man hasn’t left the property… and he’s got his sights on Melissa now.
OH MY GOODNESS. This book got me so many times. It was the perfect mix of happy and scary! There were plenty of heartwarming and calm scenes but then out of nowhere, we’d be slammed with a totally gut-wrenching or horrifying scene!
Speaking of gut-wrenching… The poor dog, Dumb-Dumb. I mentioned the trigger warning above so just one quick note here. You don’t actually “see” what happens. You hear about what happened through the kids explaining it and then you “see” the aftermath. This way of explaining what happened added to the terror! Like the poor pup meeting its end in John Wick, this dog death definitely served a purpose in the overall storyline. It was absolutely heartbreaking of course. In my opinion, the whole situation was extremely well done.
I was totally captivated each time I was able to pick this book up, especially because the sense of dread continued to build throughout the story until the explosive ending. The pacing of this story was absolutely wonderful and everything flowed very well. I adored each of the characters and their banter with one another. I especially enjoyed the relationship that grew between Melissa and Ida. And the descriptions that ranged from the scenery on the farm to the action sequences were all outstanding.
I found myself really attached to the main character, Melissa. While incredibly stubborn to the point of absurdity, I also understood why she was reacting the way she was. After all, after going through what she had been through in her recent past, having that one thing that she can try to control is something that I can really relate to.
While a shorter novel, this one packed so much into just 130 pages! I already can’t wait to revisit this story. I know it’s one that going to stick with me for a long time!
My Favorite Passages
Melissa dropped the bags she was holding and ran as hard and fast as she could to the house. Without thinking about the futility of the action, she locked and bolted the heavy front door and leaned on it, breathing fast and holding onto her chest, feeling her heart doing its best to make a dramatic escape.
“Some people never stop to thank the stepping stone the buried itself in the mud to keep others from getting muck on their boots…“
My Final Thoughts
I really wish that I had picked this one up on a day off so I could have read it cover to cover. Putting it down was incredibly difficult. I even found myself letting my mind wander during work hours, just so antsy to get back to it!
I absolutely loved everything about this story. The ghost was terrifying, the human characters were all wonderful, the pacing was quick, and the sudden scares totally caught me off guard and got my heart rate going. I loved how much this one spooked me. I was jumpy for a few days after finishing this one!
If you enjoy ghost stories filled with jump scares, violence, and a whole lot of heart, you have to check this one out!
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