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cinderrunner's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.0
It was slow moving for me at the start. But once i got about halfway through, it picked up substantially and i zipped through the remainder of the book. Very gothic and atmospheric. The overall mood, especially at the Bridge gives very much Wuthering Heights vibes. Concept is fun and fairly orignal. Very haunting. A little gory without being overly grotesque. Saw the end reveal coming but getting there was fun so i didnt mind. Check trigger warnings for this one cause there are a lot. I will never be okay with a modern book using slurs and stereotypes against Romani people regardless of when the book is set. The plot could have been just as successful without that nonsense so shame to the author for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Racism, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gore, Xenophobia, Suicide, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, Violence, Miscarriage, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Confinement
lydiavsbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
A really solid gothic horror novel with a historical setting and brilliant spooky atmosphere. This follows a pregnant widow as she moves into the family estate of her late husband, where she discovers a set of painted wooden figures, the Silent Companions, and creepy things start happening.
I had loads of fun with this one. The switching between timelines worked really well for me and added to the intrigue in trying to piece together what was going on. The concept of the Silent Companions was brilliant and I loved the eery descriptions of the companions and the setting combined that greater that gothic atmosphere. It may have been that I finished this at 2am when I was home alone, but it also successfully creeped me out a little at times which was a nice surprise: I've been struggling to find horrors that actually scare me recently.
There were times it i was worried it was taking a turn towards an unreliable 'mentally ill' narrator plot twist , which are more often than not handled pretty insensitively, but I was relieved with the direction it did take and the way it handled the themes around that.
I do wish we got more of the main character's personality coming through. It took until very late in the book to feel I had some sort of understanding of the main character, and even when we did get a closer look it was more reveals about her trauma rather than who she was as a character.
I did also see a review that critiqued potential ableism in the way disfigurement is paired with evil. I'm not really sure where I sit with this: it is set in the 1600-1800s and at points it does acknowledge those attitudes to be an unfortunate product of the time, but it still does draw that link within the plot. I do just think its something to be aware of.
Overall it was a really great time, good amount of spookidge as well as some more emotional moments, definitely recommend.
I had loads of fun with this one. The switching between timelines worked really well for me and added to the intrigue in trying to piece together what was going on. The concept of the Silent Companions was brilliant and I loved the eery descriptions of the companions and the setting combined that greater that gothic atmosphere. It may have been that I finished this at 2am when I was home alone, but it also successfully creeped me out a little at times which was a nice surprise: I've been struggling to find horrors that actually scare me recently.
There were times it i was worried it was taking a turn towards an unreliable 'mentally ill' narrator plot twist , which are more often than not handled pretty insensitively, but I was relieved with the direction it did take and the way it handled the themes around that.
I do wish we got more of the main character's personality coming through. It took until very late in the book to feel I had some sort of understanding of the main character, and even when we did get a closer look it was more reveals about her trauma rather than who she was as a character.
I did also see a review that critiqued potential ableism in the way disfigurement is paired with evil. I'm not really sure where I sit with this: it is set in the 1600-1800s and at points it does acknowledge those attitudes to be an unfortunate product of the time, but it still does draw that link within the plot. I do just think its something to be aware of.
Overall it was a really great time, good amount of spookidge as well as some more emotional moments, definitely recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, and Miscarriage
Minor: Racial slurs and Drug use
gabberjaws's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I have SO many thoughts on this one, so I'm gonna try and keep things as short as I can. Here, have a list.
THINGS I LIKED
- The Silent Companions
This was such a fresh take on the haunted doll/haunted painting subgenre of horror. I looked these mofos up and lemme tell you, they're creepy as shit. Not only are they super realistic portraits, but they have these weird beveled edges to make them look a little more 3 dimensional, AND they cast shadows that look human. No. thank. you.
- The Atmosphere and Vibes
I really enjoyed how Gothic this felt. Right from the first page, with Elsie in the hospital, the vibes on this were immediately suspenseful and eerie.
- Our unlikeable hero
I know she wasn't a character everybody would like, but I did love that the author chose to make Elsie sorta unlikeable. She's got a massive chip on her shoulder about being a working girl who marries above her station, and it influences a lot of the decisions she makes. I enjoyed it - I loved the layers it gave her. She wasn't a bad person per se, just a little stuck up and annoying - and I really loved that I could root for her despite not fully liking her as a person. It takes real talent to do that.
- Anne's chapters
As much as I liked Elsie, her chapters could drag on a bit. Anne's chapters were a breath of fresh air for me. I ADORED her voice and her story - right up to her unsatisfying conclusion (I'll get to that in a bit).
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
- Hello, Ableism, my old enemy.
About halfway through the book, I started getting this sinking feeling in my gut that the author was potentially going to make the horror element an ableist thing. I was hoping she wouldn't, because I was having a good time with this book, despite it's odd pacing. Alas, Purcell did the thing, and the poor mute child who everyone considered an "aberration" because of her deformity was, in fact, just straight up evil. For no reason. Just for the fun of it. Evil for shits and giggles.
It's so tired. And it made Hetta such a weak villain? Her mom drank some herbs and had a baby when the doctors said she could never carry another, and so that baby is now evil because of it? It's so flimsy, and so unsatisfying. There were plenty of other threads the author could have followed to give this book a juicy supernatural villain, but she chose to make the disabled child ontologically evil. In 2017. It's just depressing.
- Subvert tropes of making marginalized people suffer? I don't think I will
Yes, privileged white people do suffer from the hauntings in this book, but ultimately they're the victims. The people who truly suffer in this book were marginalized. I've already talked about Hetta, a mute little girl, who is poorly treated because of her disability, but she's not the only marginalized child that gets treated dirty in the text, oh no. Two Romani children (referred to by the use of slurs in the book, because ya know, 17th century White Folk) are also killed in the book because of the character's racists beliefs.
Honestly, I think this wouldn't have stung so much if these children had all been victims of the Haunting. But none of them are - they're convenient scapegoats and throwaway characters to help further the plot and really drive home how evil Hetta is. Left a bad taste in my mouth to see these two characters thrown away, and then start haunting... people who didn't hurt them? Or do anything that resembled how they were hurt??? It made no sense honestly.
- The pacing
Because the Silent Companions started their shenanigans so early on in the book, they stopped being unnerving pretty fast. Halfway through the book I was just wishing everything would speed along and we'd get to the point where Elsie stopped denying things and set fire to the damned house already.
- Messy horror threads
Anne bought the Silent Companions from a strange shop that didn't really exist, from an owner who seemed WAY too determined to get rid of them. It leads the reader to believe that they came to The Bridge cursed, and that was the beginning of the Bainbridge downfall. BUT NO. Anne later tells us that Hetta's blood touching the bottoms of the Companions is what actually caused them to be cursed, because they absorbed her evil essence. What the fuck?!?! Make up your mind??? I genuinely don't know if this was a weird case of author and editor forgetting a detail that derails the Explanation, or if we're actually supposed to understand that no, the companions were cursed from the beginning and Hetta was made bad because of them and everyone else afterwards just made a mistake. Because if the latter is true.... whoooo boy - Purcell needed to make that WAY less vague. Especially if the alternative means people believed the disabled child was evil for the sake of it. Forget subtlety. This is a genre that's sadly been way too happy to make marginalized people the big bads - If it's not the case, make it a little clearer? Idk.
TL;DR: This wasn't a bad book. I enjoyed the heck of out of it, and found it really hard to put down. I think Purcell could be a fantastic historical fic horror writer, and this was a great debut. The Big Bad just didn't sit right with me for a lot of reasons, but largely because it was weaksauce. 10/10 would have bought Hetta as a vengeful spirit if she'd actually been through shit and was taking revenge on people who seemed to be recreating the cruelty she faced. Her being Born Evil, Baby was disappointing af.
THINGS I LIKED
- The Silent Companions
This was such a fresh take on the haunted doll/haunted painting subgenre of horror. I looked these mofos up and lemme tell you, they're creepy as shit. Not only are they super realistic portraits, but they have these weird beveled edges to make them look a little more 3 dimensional, AND they cast shadows that look human. No. thank. you.
- The Atmosphere and Vibes
I really enjoyed how Gothic this felt. Right from the first page, with Elsie in the hospital, the vibes on this were immediately suspenseful and eerie.
- Our unlikeable hero
I know she wasn't a character everybody would like, but I did love that the author chose to make Elsie sorta unlikeable. She's got a massive chip on her shoulder about being a working girl who marries above her station, and it influences a lot of the decisions she makes. I enjoyed it - I loved the layers it gave her. She wasn't a bad person per se, just a little stuck up and annoying - and I really loved that I could root for her despite not fully liking her as a person. It takes real talent to do that.
- Anne's chapters
As much as I liked Elsie, her chapters could drag on a bit. Anne's chapters were a breath of fresh air for me. I ADORED her voice and her story - right up to her unsatisfying conclusion (I'll get to that in a bit).
THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE
- Hello, Ableism, my old enemy.
About halfway through the book, I started getting this sinking feeling in my gut that the author was potentially going to make the horror element an ableist thing. I was hoping she wouldn't, because I was having a good time with this book, despite it's odd pacing. Alas, Purcell did the thing, and the poor mute child who everyone considered an "aberration" because of her deformity was, in fact, just straight up evil. For no reason. Just for the fun of it. Evil for shits and giggles.
It's so tired. And it made Hetta such a weak villain? Her mom drank some herbs and had a baby when the doctors said she could never carry another, and so that baby is now evil because of it? It's so flimsy, and so unsatisfying. There were plenty of other threads the author could have followed to give this book a juicy supernatural villain, but she chose to make the disabled child ontologically evil. In 2017. It's just depressing.
- Subvert tropes of making marginalized people suffer? I don't think I will
Yes, privileged white people do suffer from the hauntings in this book, but ultimately they're the victims. The people who truly suffer in this book were marginalized. I've already talked about Hetta, a mute little girl, who is poorly treated because of her disability, but she's not the only marginalized child that gets treated dirty in the text, oh no. Two Romani children (referred to by the use of slurs in the book, because ya know, 17th century White Folk) are also killed in the book because of the character's racists beliefs.
Honestly, I think this wouldn't have stung so much if these children had all been victims of the Haunting. But none of them are - they're convenient scapegoats and throwaway characters to help further the plot and really drive home how evil Hetta is. Left a bad taste in my mouth to see these two characters thrown away, and then start haunting... people who didn't hurt them? Or do anything that resembled how they were hurt??? It made no sense honestly.
- The pacing
Because the Silent Companions started their shenanigans so early on in the book, they stopped being unnerving pretty fast. Halfway through the book I was just wishing everything would speed along and we'd get to the point where Elsie stopped denying things and set fire to the damned house already.
- Messy horror threads
Anne bought the Silent Companions from a strange shop that didn't really exist, from an owner who seemed WAY too determined to get rid of them. It leads the reader to believe that they came to The Bridge cursed, and that was the beginning of the Bainbridge downfall. BUT NO. Anne later tells us that Hetta's blood touching the bottoms of the Companions is what actually caused them to be cursed, because they absorbed her evil essence. What the fuck?!?! Make up your mind??? I genuinely don't know if this was a weird case of author and editor forgetting a detail that derails the Explanation, or if we're actually supposed to understand that no, the companions were cursed from the beginning and Hetta was made bad because of them and everyone else afterwards just made a mistake. Because if the latter is true.... whoooo boy - Purcell needed to make that WAY less vague. Especially if the alternative means people believed the disabled child was evil for the sake of it. Forget subtlety. This is a genre that's sadly been way too happy to make marginalized people the big bads - If it's not the case, make it a little clearer? Idk.
TL;DR: This wasn't a bad book. I enjoyed the heck of out of it, and found it really hard to put down. I think Purcell could be a fantastic historical fic horror writer, and this was a great debut. The Big Bad just didn't sit right with me for a lot of reasons, but largely because it was weaksauce. 10/10 would have bought Hetta as a vengeful spirit if she'd actually been through shit and was taking revenge on people who seemed to be recreating the cruelty she faced. Her being Born Evil, Baby was disappointing af.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Death, Animal death, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Death of parent, Ableism, and Racial slurs
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Incest
heather_freshparchment's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Murder, Vomit, and Self harm
lizzyrai's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Child abuse, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Rape, Medical content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
voilajean's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Violence, Gaslighting, and Grief
emlo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.0
This is a solid gothic horror. I thought the three time lines were woven well together and kept me guessing what was going on. The atmosphere was well crafted and very creepy. I thought the book was beautifully written and left a lot to the imagination rather than spelling the plot out. I found it scary in places but overall very sad; there is such a lot of loss in the book and it highlights how women were often accused of being witches or being insane when dealing with genuine trauma. You could interpret the ending in several different ways which I thought was clever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Miscarriage and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Sexual assault, Child death, and Child abuse
crowlivia's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: Incest
faulknerd865's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Animal death, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Forced institutionalization
midnightcomets's review
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This ending will haunt me for many days
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Child abuse, Gore, Racism, Ableism, and Misogyny
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Grief