Reviews

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

arockinsamsara's review against another edition

5.0

What a great follow-up to Jackson's original. The atmosphere was perfect, and the story tight and compelling. The characters were all agreat combination of flawed and relatable, and while there was a primary characters, whose chapters were always narrated in the first-person, we moved across all four characters and the perspective shift was great. The chapters were all really short, which made the story even more compelling, pulling you deeper and deeper in, just as Hill House tricks you into being lost in its depths. There is depth added to the Hill House lore, but also more questions than anything else, which are all fitting the story and material.

This score is rounded up from 4.5 stars. I had a lot of fun with this story. What stops it from being five stars is that it felt like if it just scratched a little deeper there was more terror to excise, deeper depths to plumb. I don't know where or how, but, especially after some very harrowing set-pievces near the end, it just felt like I wanted to be a little more disoriented, a little more scared, and the story felt really close to that some times but stopped a little short. All in all, though, definitely a lot of fun, I am really glad to have picked it up.

letstalkaboutbooksbaybee's review

3.0

The audio production for the audiobook was amazing. There was music, background noises, overall it added to the atmosphere of it all

Unfortunately, I just didn’t love the story. It took too long to get to the spooky bits and the action, and the build up was so slow and boring.

mesterer's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fafpaf0405's review against another edition

DNF... I wanted to quit at 18 but gave it a fighting chance until chapter 29, but no more. Unlikeable characters and just blah story.

buddahbeam's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

amprescott's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

cappog's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

grace_curtiss's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

piratebaker's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

hjswinford's review against another edition

4.0

I wasn't really sure at first. I liked the vibes, but the characters didn't hit right at first. But as I continued reading, I really got invested and enjoyed myself. I appreciated all the nods to the OG Shirley Jackson story. The ending really solidified this as a solid 4 star read, rather than the 3 stars I was feeling at first. I liked it a lot. Perfect read for the season.