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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to throw myself out of my window with this ending. Cue Kurt’s Turn (yes, it does have to be the Glee version) to play full blast because truly, all that work and what did it get me?! Ugh.
1. Echo was so insanely obvious and it made me want to bonk Lucas on the head with one of his own books. You’re a true crime writer, come on. And btw, fuck her mom. Whatabitch.
2. What was the significance of the deadline??? Guy was straight up like “yes this is the deadline DON’T ASK ABOUT IT”. Like, was it just “oh that’s the day he’s coming back but shh, it’s a secret he’ll never tell Lucas 🤫”?!
3. Why did Halcomb want to impregnate someone just to kill the baby?? What was the point of going through all that just to kill the baby if there wasn’t a purpose? Was it a secret ceremony that the readers were supposed to make up a scene for? I don’t need everything spelled out for me but the significance of The Sacrament isn’t even typed. Genuinely felt like the reasoning was just miraculously left out of the book.
4. I love when someone talks about cult leaders as being handsome and charismatic and then we see them and they’re just NormalBob RoundPants. It’s always that way, they’re never anything special. And I’m to believe this guy is a a young Johnny Depp lookalike with magical powers without ever reading about it? Like you can say it all day long but that don’t make it true. We really aren’t shown the how and why of anything. It just happens. I can understand when it’s ghostly stuff because well, ghosts. But there was nothing in the flashbacks to allude to this man’s magical powers.
5. Fuck that ending. For multiple reasons. But mostly what was the point of Vee dying? It didn’t accomplish anything. I think it would have been better for Lucas to kill Echo and sacrifice himself to save Vee, Audra’s ghost (why was she missing?!) magically gets rid of Halcomb’s ghost, Vee mends her relationship with her mom, and eventually finishes her dad’s book for him when she grows up. Dedicating it to Lucas and Audra. Like that cheesy ending would have been better than what we got.
1. Echo was so insanely obvious and it made me want to bonk Lucas on the head with one of his own books. You’re a true crime writer, come on. And btw, fuck her mom. Whatabitch.
2. What was the significance of the deadline??? Guy was straight up like “yes this is the deadline DON’T ASK ABOUT IT”. Like, was it just “oh that’s the day he’s coming back but shh, it’s a secret he’ll never tell Lucas 🤫”?!
3. Why did Halcomb want to impregnate someone just to kill the baby?? What was the point of going through all that just to kill the baby if there wasn’t a purpose? Was it a secret ceremony that the readers were supposed to make up a scene for? I don’t need everything spelled out for me but the significance of The Sacrament isn’t even typed. Genuinely felt like the reasoning was just miraculously left out of the book.
4. I love when someone talks about cult leaders as being handsome and charismatic and then we see them and they’re just NormalBob RoundPants. It’s always that way, they’re never anything special. And I’m to believe this guy is a a young Johnny Depp lookalike with magical powers without ever reading about it? Like you can say it all day long but that don’t make it true. We really aren’t shown the how and why of anything. It just happens. I can understand when it’s ghostly stuff because well, ghosts. But there was nothing in the flashbacks to allude to this man’s magical powers.
5. Fuck that ending. For multiple reasons. But mostly what was the point of Vee dying? It didn’t accomplish anything. I think it would have been better for Lucas to kill Echo and sacrifice himself to save Vee, Audra’s ghost (why was she missing?!) magically gets rid of Halcomb’s ghost, Vee mends her relationship with her mom, and eventually finishes her dad’s book for him when she grows up. Dedicating it to Lucas and Audra. Like that cheesy ending would have been better than what we got.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood
Within these walls is a typical Ania Ahlborn venture - ghosts, possession, haunted houses and some bone-chilling moments. This book flew by and I could have easily read it in a couple of days if I wouldn't have been so busy this last week. This is a great summer spooky read that I recommend.
I feel like normally I see where these are going so fast but this one, had such a good twist at the end. I love books that do multiple perspectives from different times and she just did that so well, and made such a cohesive story. Such an amazing book honestly.
Another unpredictable book by Ania Ahlborn. Another dreadful ending by Ania Ahlborn. This book really was not what I expected it to be at all. I thought it was going one way, then I was thinking it was going another, then by the end I was like “what the fuck is going on”. Not in a hard to follow way. Just in a way that the concept was very original and interesting and unexpected. At times, the book felt like it didn’t flow very well when switching between the past and the present. It got better towards the end though. I can’t explain that, but that’s how I felt about it. I enjoyed this even though it was slower at times. Everything made sense at the end and I was glad for that because I had so many questions while the story was still ongoing.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
enjoyed overall!! sometimes feels a little long, but i liked that you couldn’t really tell what was real.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
slow-paced
This is another book where I was excited to check it out. So glad that I did. The story was so much more then I could imagine. I thought the story was going to be dark and gory. Being that it was focused on a serial killer. Usually serial killer stories are dark. My cup of tea. Yet, this story took a different twist. It was spellbinding in a psychological way than a gory one.
I like the way that the story took a haunting tone. It was not in my face but slowly teasing me and drawing me into what was happening to Lucas in the house. The past and present blended so nicely. I could not stop reading. The ending of this book was a high note. I look forward to checking out the next book by this author.
I like the way that the story took a haunting tone. It was not in my face but slowly teasing me and drawing me into what was happening to Lucas in the house. The past and present blended so nicely. I could not stop reading. The ending of this book was a high note. I look forward to checking out the next book by this author.