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3.13 AVERAGE
3.13 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
It is a decent attempt to wrestle with all the flaws of the church, the frailty of men, and the robustness of evil.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5⭐ (rounded up to 4 for GR)
This is my first Christopher Golden book and I genuinely enjoyed it. Is it the greatest book I've ever read? No. Did I hate the two protagonists (especially the wife)? Yes. Did it feel like a true horror novel. Not at all. Was it fast-paced, engaging, and did it keep me interested for the entirety of the novel? Absolutely. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to fans of truly gory or "serious" horror, but it was a good time and definitely held my attention throughout.
P.S. Maybe don't read this if you're a devout Catholic. Just sayin'... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This is my first Christopher Golden book and I genuinely enjoyed it. Is it the greatest book I've ever read? No. Did I hate the two protagonists (especially the wife)? Yes. Did it feel like a true horror novel. Not at all. Was it fast-paced, engaging, and did it keep me interested for the entirety of the novel? Absolutely. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to fans of truly gory or "serious" horror, but it was a good time and definitely held my attention throughout.
P.S. Maybe don't read this if you're a devout Catholic. Just sayin'... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
dark
mysterious
tense
While I enjoyed listening to this book, I can acknowledge that it’s not a well written novel. The story is captivating and fun, but there’s a lot of telling instead of showing which to me suggests less sophisticated and complex writing.
This book had a little of everything. Young couple making a fresh new start, a seriously haunted house and possession!! It starts off with Tommy and Kate moving to his ancestral home town of Becchina Italy with hopes of rejuvenating the dying town. What happens next is a fast paced ride straight to hell! Once again Christopher gives us characters we love and truly care about, against an evil so dark and scary it’s hard to put it down!! He is becoming one of my favorite authors!
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A couple of arseholes pack up their life in the US and move to Sicily. They don't speak Italian, they treat the locals like superstitious peasants who are just NPCs in their adventure, and their selfish arseholery basically destroys the town. The horror in this book isn't demons, it's inviting Americans into your home.
Apart from how terrible the plot was, it was so badly written and was crying out for an editor. I knew I was in for a bumpy ride in chapter 1 when the couple arrive at the house and are happily looking at their new home and the author says they "take a moment to languish in the feeling of their arrival", when the word he clearly wanted was "bask" or "relish". Languish means to remain in an unpleasant situation or to fail to thrive. Buy a dictionary, dude. Actually, no, the moment I knew this was going to be bad was like the other reviewer said, when the opening quote was from Amber Tamblyn.
Then we get annoying and unrealistic banter between the MCs, the author goes overboard describing things that don't actually matter like how people eat gelato, but the physical layout of the house we spend the entire book in doesn't really make sense. Nobody's motivations for keeping the big secret we find out at the end make any sense or why the priest who knows what's trapped in the catacombs, gives these idiot tourists a tour and goes along with their idea to make it a tourist attraction. Once we get to the end, the explanations get repeated over and over like the author is literally elbowing you in the side saying "do you get it??". This is also classic men writing women territory.
What is most frustrating is that premise of the book was so promising. But I looked up what else he's written and wasn't surprised to see another of his books I DNF. I gave this a half star because I actually finished it.
Apart from how terrible the plot was, it was so badly written and was crying out for an editor. I knew I was in for a bumpy ride in chapter 1 when the couple arrive at the house and are happily looking at their new home and the author says they "take a moment to languish in the feeling of their arrival", when the word he clearly wanted was "bask" or "relish". Languish means to remain in an unpleasant situation or to fail to thrive. Buy a dictionary, dude. Actually, no, the moment I knew this was going to be bad was like the other reviewer said, when the opening quote was from Amber Tamblyn.
Then we get annoying and unrealistic banter between the MCs, the author goes overboard describing things that don't actually matter like how people eat gelato, but the physical layout of the house we spend the entire book in doesn't really make sense. Nobody's motivations for keeping the big secret we find out at the end make any sense or why the priest who knows what's trapped in the catacombs, gives these idiot tourists a tour and goes along with their idea to make it a tourist attraction. Once we get to the end, the explanations get repeated over and over like the author is literally elbowing you in the side saying "do you get it??". This is also classic men writing women territory.
What is most frustrating is that premise of the book was so promising. But I looked up what else he's written and wasn't surprised to see another of his books I DNF. I gave this a half star because I actually finished it.
Would you buy a house for 1 Euro (equivalent to $1.09 USD) if the only condition for living there was staying there for a minimum of 5 years?
What if I told you the house was in Italy and that it may or may not be haunted amongst other things?
Kate and Tommy believe they’ve scored the opportunity of a life time. They bought a house and moved from the United States to Italy. The house was only one euro thanks to the new program the mayor is running to try and repopulate the old Italian city.
This seems like the perfect opportunity for the young couple, and will actually allow Tommy to get closer to his family that lives in the same town. But not everything is as it seems. Secrets are lying both within the walls of the house and within Tommy’s family.
This book was such a spooky delight. I’m Italian myself, so it was really cool to see some of the customs I’ve experienced first hand portrayed in the book! I loved the slow build haunting that took a wild turn in the last 50 pages.
My rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is coming out January 30th, 2024!
Be sure to snag it if you’re looking for a book filled with ghosts, demons, creepy houses, Italian food/customs, and so much more!
What if I told you the house was in Italy and that it may or may not be haunted amongst other things?
Kate and Tommy believe they’ve scored the opportunity of a life time. They bought a house and moved from the United States to Italy. The house was only one euro thanks to the new program the mayor is running to try and repopulate the old Italian city.
This seems like the perfect opportunity for the young couple, and will actually allow Tommy to get closer to his family that lives in the same town. But not everything is as it seems. Secrets are lying both within the walls of the house and within Tommy’s family.
This book was such a spooky delight. I’m Italian myself, so it was really cool to see some of the customs I’ve experienced first hand portrayed in the book! I loved the slow build haunting that took a wild turn in the last 50 pages.
My rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is coming out January 30th, 2024!
Be sure to snag it if you’re looking for a book filled with ghosts, demons, creepy houses, Italian food/customs, and so much more!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced