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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I did not enjoy this book up until the last 20 pages. I really liked another one of her books which made me want to read this one as it also had good reviews, but this just wasn’t it. If you are like me and hate a naive/dumb MC then this book isn’t for you. I was yelling at Daniel for 270 pages!! What I do like is how she seemingly ties everything up in a nice little ending, and her love for cats is very clear. That’s what got it that extra star.
This book was not nearly as good as The Haunting Of Ashburn House but hopefully her other books are.. bc I bought three more! I’m not ready to be done with her yet.
This book was not nearly as good as The Haunting Of Ashburn House but hopefully her other books are.. bc I bought three more! I’m not ready to be done with her yet.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book has given me a lot to think about in a few ways. There were parts that really piqued my interest in the book and I loved that about it, however, there were also a few things that I particularly didn't like about the book. In this review, I will set out a few pros and cons of the book. Things that bothered me and things that I did really like. Feel free to think about it what you want, at the end of the day you decide whether you want to read the book or not.
pros
- Darcy Coates has incorporated some classic, subtle scare elements which I enjoyed in a horror novel. These include things like moving shadows, crows cawing and flying away, etc. These things are often forgotten and are not often included in these types of novels. Why? I don't know, maybe because they are too cliché. Well beats me, point is I really liked them.
- There are enough parts in the story that kept things fresh, interesting and most importantly creepy. This allowed for a real page-turner. At the same time, the story managed to keep the threshold very low. This again helped in the page-turner thing, because of the low threshold the story was easy to follow and to continue.
Cons
- There is something that kind of bothered me during the whole read, and that is the main character: Daniel. Although, he is a kind man that is easy to like since he makes a lot of 'heroic' decisions. That 'heroic' part is up for debate, if you ask me, because I would rather not describe it as heroic. I would describe it as naive. In the sense, that he basically does not think things through when he makes decisions. His decisions during the story are very rushed and not well argumented or supported by the story. A few examples are: walking into a seemingly abandoned house, which is, in this case, Craven Manor, or deciding to fight the Big Bad Evil Woman at the and of the story and putting his life on the line and not caring that he could die.
- Another thing that bothered me at some stages of the book was that the story felt jumpy and sometimes even a little rushed as if Coates wanted to finish the book faster than she intended. There wasn't a clear connection between what Daniel decided to do and what was actually going on. Or vice versa, what was going on because of Daniel's actions. At those moments it felt like Coates really wanted to put something in regardless of what actually happened. I won't say it's inherently bad but Coates could have put it in a little better or smoothed it out with a little more detail.
- The last chapters of the book were very weird to experience. As if the river, which symbolizes the book in the first 200 or so pages, turned into a waterfall. Everything was happening at once and it felt unnecessarily chaotic. As if Coates wanted to do everything at once instead of making a really neat story.
Well, after all the ranting I did I wanted to at least end at a positive note. I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, but it was a fun read. If you are looking for a book that isn't too serious and is just for fun to creep you out a little this is a solid choice!
pros
- Darcy Coates has incorporated some classic, subtle scare elements which I enjoyed in a horror novel. These include things like moving shadows, crows cawing and flying away, etc. These things are often forgotten and are not often included in these types of novels. Why? I don't know, maybe because they are too cliché. Well beats me, point is I really liked them.
- There are enough parts in the story that kept things fresh, interesting and most importantly creepy. This allowed for a real page-turner. At the same time, the story managed to keep the threshold very low. This again helped in the page-turner thing, because of the low threshold the story was easy to follow and to continue.
Cons
- There is something that kind of bothered me during the whole read, and that is the main character: Daniel. Although, he is a kind man that is easy to like since he makes a lot of 'heroic' decisions. That 'heroic' part is up for debate, if you ask me, because I would rather not describe it as heroic. I would describe it as naive. In the sense, that he basically does not think things through when he makes decisions. His decisions during the story are very rushed and not well argumented or supported by the story. A few examples are: walking into a seemingly abandoned house, which is, in this case, Craven Manor, or deciding to fight the Big Bad Evil Woman at the and of the story and putting his life on the line and not caring that he could die.
- Another thing that bothered me at some stages of the book was that the story felt jumpy and sometimes even a little rushed as if Coates wanted to finish the book faster than she intended. There wasn't a clear connection between what Daniel decided to do and what was actually going on. Or vice versa, what was going on because of Daniel's actions. At those moments it felt like Coates really wanted to put something in regardless of what actually happened. I won't say it's inherently bad but Coates could have put it in a little better or smoothed it out with a little more detail.
- The last chapters of the book were very weird to experience. As if the river, which symbolizes the book in the first 200 or so pages, turned into a waterfall. Everything was happening at once and it felt unnecessarily chaotic. As if Coates wanted to do everything at once instead of making a really neat story.
Well, after all the ranting I did I wanted to at least end at a positive note. I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, but it was a fun read. If you are looking for a book that isn't too serious and is just for fun to creep you out a little this is a solid choice!
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
I have mixed feelings about Darcy Coates haunted house books overall, but I enjoyed this one. Not as much as Ashburn house, but it was enjoyable. I do think a lot of these books, and maybe just modern haunted house stories in general, spend a while on forcing the character to go live somewhere clearly haunted so it seems more realistic. But it's a haunted house, we know they will end up there, it can be a bit annoying when it takes a long time to get there. Though if that part is important to the overall story, that's not so bad, which it kind of is here.
Cats:Nothing bad happens to them.
Cats:
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Engaging supernatural tale!
A nicely written supernatural story, with engaging characters. I was actually disappointed when I got to the end of it because I wanted to keep reading!
A nicely written supernatural story, with engaging characters. I was actually disappointed when I got to the end of it because I wanted to keep reading!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes