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justinkhchen's review
3.0
3 stars
Extremely bingeable and well-paced, The Carrow Haunt is a middle-of-the road haunted house story with enough pizzazz to thrill, yet no real substance to generate any lasting impression. It is even difficult to anchor my thought on anything in particular, other than it's an inoffensive execution of the tried-and-true horror sub genre: things go south when a group of people is stranded in an old house with a dark past, and malevolent spirits.
Vanilla almost to a fault, the novel is comfortable staying within the anticipated framework (creepy attic, creepy basement, seance gone wrong, etc.), with only the slightest tiptoe into unexpected territory. In the end, I had a decent time with it, but without any real fresh idea or differentiating factor, I probably won't remember ever reading this book in a couple months time.
**Horror Aficionados December 2020 Group Read Pick**
Extremely bingeable and well-paced, The Carrow Haunt is a middle-of-the road haunted house story with enough pizzazz to thrill, yet no real substance to generate any lasting impression. It is even difficult to anchor my thought on anything in particular, other than it's an inoffensive execution of the tried-and-true horror sub genre: things go south when a group of people is stranded in an old house with a dark past, and malevolent spirits.
Vanilla almost to a fault, the novel is comfortable staying within the anticipated framework (creepy attic, creepy basement, seance gone wrong, etc.), with only the slightest tiptoe into unexpected territory. In the end, I had a decent time with it, but without any real fresh idea or differentiating factor, I probably won't remember ever reading this book in a couple months time.
**Horror Aficionados December 2020 Group Read Pick**
njdarkish's review
4.0
My first foray into Coates' writing was very enjoyable. I'll have to pick up more of her writing soon!
jessicake1's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
njtigers's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mehsi's review
4.0
The newest Darcy Coates and I was so so so excited to start reading this one.
I just had all the right elements and I just couldn't wait. Darcy Coates always knows how to write a great horror/haunted story, and this one also featured a group of people going to stay at a very very haunted place. What could go wrong? I couldn't wait for them to go exploring, for them to delve deeper into the mystery.
And there were exciting parts, but sadly at times I found myself bored and wondering when the action would actually start. When the house would finally show its true colours and the haunting truly would begin. And not such a few scary Boooo parts but actually, honest to all that is holy, scary. Even with something happening around 49% the book didn't get that exciting or creepy until 61%. Yep. 61%. Why I didn't give up? (Well I actually was planning to do so at 34%, but I kept going as I hoped things would change.) Why did I give this book a 4 star rating? Because of what happens after 61%, when it gets creepy. But also because of the cover, the idea of a very haunted house with such a bloody history that it is no wonder no one ever wants to stay for tea, the spooky tours through the house (even if we only saw one true tour), the ending (though I have to say that one was a bit anti-climax as well), what was going on in that house, the history of the house, Remy (my favourite character and she was just the best. She was mostly level-headed, caring, sweet, and her knowledge on the house was just amazing). As you can see there were still several great things about this book, and I did enjoy myself overall while reading this book.
Marjorie and Lucille, and later even April, were my least favourite characters in the book. Lucille was a whiny woman who kept drinking and making complaints about every little detail. She quite ruined the experience for me, as I had hoped for at least people who cared about the haunting, and not some whiny thirty-something lady who should just shut up and get dragged away by a ghost. Then there is Marjorie. From the start I just didn't like her and her high and mighty attitude. Woman, so you can talk and see ghosts, puleeeeassee there is no need to act so bitchy about it. Or have such an attitude when someone is into the science aspect, or be so blunt about April's powers. Plus she was just so suspicious at points that I she immediately became a suspect when poop began to hit the fan.
April later got quite annoying. I first quite liked her and her go go attitude. How she wasn't afraid of anything, how she was eager to get started. But then later, after a rejection, she turns into a total blech of a character. She is supposed to be 17/18 but she felt more like 13/14 with how she acted at times.
There was also some romance between Remy and Mark, I have to say I quite liked it. Yes, at times it felt a bit out of place, but generally I was rooting for these two to get together.
What Mark's secret was? His reason to host this whole shebang? I was quite suspicious throughout the story, though I could also see that he didn't seem to be one to harm people. So I was waiting patiently for him to confide in one of the characters (I was hoping Remy) and tell us his secret. When we were told... well, it broke my heart. Poor guy.
Barnard was a bit like Lucille/Marjorie to me, I found him rude and couldn't stand his attitude, but I could also see that deep down the guy was probably just a very nice guy, he just didn't show it.
It was pretty fun to read about the history of the house. Well, as fun as countless of deaths and murders are (so not really). Man, that guy was way too creepy and disturbing. No one was safe in that hotel, and I was quite surprised that no one ever thought to suspect the guy. Then again, as the book also explains he was a white rich dude, one of the higher class. So why suspect him? Right, it is not as if he has blood on his hands? Right?
Though I had kind of wished they had explored more of the house. I get that of course a lot of the house has deteriorated over the many years, but still I would have liked some more exploration deeper into the house. Now at times it just felt like they stayed in the same areas over and over again, only moving to certain rooms at times when it was needed. I just got so bored of seeing the same stuff, and I wouldn't have minded a small exploration or them getting lost. :P Plus it also warped my sense on how big the house actually was. At times the house felt humongous, at other times it just felt like a normal house to me.
What the guy was planning with all the deaths was a pretty dang disturbing.
The ending. I will put this under spoiler.
I did like that the author added an epilogue. Though I think, rather than a tea party, I would have liked to see some of the characters get together again and go ghost hunting again (some people just can't resist even after scary experiences).
I also liked that they had no means of getting out of the house as soon as the storm hit. I just adore it when you have a spooky setting already and then the author adds a storm, making everything far less predictable and more spooky. More dangerous.
Plus points to the amazing cover.
I think I mentioned all that I wanted to mention so I will end with that I would recommend this book to people. It may get a bit boring at times, but there is still plenty of creepiness to go around, and it does get better at around 61%.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I just had all the right elements and I just couldn't wait. Darcy Coates always knows how to write a great horror/haunted story, and this one also featured a group of people going to stay at a very very haunted place. What could go wrong? I couldn't wait for them to go exploring, for them to delve deeper into the mystery.
And there were exciting parts, but sadly at times I found myself bored and wondering when the action would actually start. When the house would finally show its true colours and the haunting truly would begin. And not such a few scary Boooo parts but actually, honest to all that is holy, scary. Even with something happening around 49% the book didn't get that exciting or creepy until 61%. Yep. 61%. Why I didn't give up? (Well I actually was planning to do so at 34%, but I kept going as I hoped things would change.) Why did I give this book a 4 star rating? Because of what happens after 61%, when it gets creepy. But also because of the cover, the idea of a very haunted house with such a bloody history that it is no wonder no one ever wants to stay for tea, the spooky tours through the house (even if we only saw one true tour), the ending (though I have to say that one was a bit anti-climax as well), what was going on in that house, the history of the house, Remy (my favourite character and she was just the best. She was mostly level-headed, caring, sweet, and her knowledge on the house was just amazing). As you can see there were still several great things about this book, and I did enjoy myself overall while reading this book.
Marjorie and Lucille, and later even April, were my least favourite characters in the book. Lucille was a whiny woman who kept drinking and making complaints about every little detail. She quite ruined the experience for me, as I had hoped for at least people who cared about the haunting, and not some whiny thirty-something lady who should just shut up and get dragged away by a ghost. Then there is Marjorie. From the start I just didn't like her and her high and mighty attitude. Woman, so you can talk and see ghosts, puleeeeassee there is no need to act so bitchy about it. Or have such an attitude when someone is into the science aspect, or be so blunt about April's powers. Plus she was just so suspicious at points that I she immediately became a suspect when poop began to hit the fan.
Spoiler
In the end I was even right, man, this woman has been a medium for a long long time, yet for some reason she forgot all the precautions she should have taken. I guess she thought she was all that, but then again, I would expect this to happen to a beginner, and not someone who knows darn well what ghosts are capable of if they are strong.April later got quite annoying. I first quite liked her and her go go attitude. How she wasn't afraid of anything, how she was eager to get started. But then later, after a rejection, she turns into a total blech of a character. She is supposed to be 17/18 but she felt more like 13/14 with how she acted at times.
There was also some romance between Remy and Mark, I have to say I quite liked it. Yes, at times it felt a bit out of place, but generally I was rooting for these two to get together.
What Mark's secret was? His reason to host this whole shebang? I was quite suspicious throughout the story, though I could also see that he didn't seem to be one to harm people. So I was waiting patiently for him to confide in one of the characters (I was hoping Remy) and tell us his secret. When we were told... well, it broke my heart. Poor guy.
Barnard was a bit like Lucille/Marjorie to me, I found him rude and couldn't stand his attitude, but I could also see that deep down the guy was probably just a very nice guy, he just didn't show it.
It was pretty fun to read about the history of the house. Well, as fun as countless of deaths and murders are (so not really). Man, that guy was way too creepy and disturbing. No one was safe in that hotel, and I was quite surprised that no one ever thought to suspect the guy. Then again, as the book also explains he was a white rich dude, one of the higher class. So why suspect him? Right, it is not as if he has blood on his hands? Right?
Though I had kind of wished they had explored more of the house. I get that of course a lot of the house has deteriorated over the many years, but still I would have liked some more exploration deeper into the house. Now at times it just felt like they stayed in the same areas over and over again, only moving to certain rooms at times when it was needed. I just got so bored of seeing the same stuff, and I wouldn't have minded a small exploration or them getting lost. :P Plus it also warped my sense on how big the house actually was. At times the house felt humongous, at other times it just felt like a normal house to me.
What the guy was planning with all the deaths was a pretty dang disturbing.
Spoiler
As soon as the cult was mentioned I just knew the guy was part of it, albeit that he was a child at the time. But then again, children are very susceptible to brainwashing and I am sure that having a childhood in a cult has formed who he became. Who knows, he may actually have been a nice guy if he had another childhood.The ending. I will put this under spoiler.
Spoiler
So I could kind of live with the idea that Marjorie survived, but the other two? It just made the one who truly died seem to be in vain. Not to mention that it really ruined the scariness of the book for me. I was so excited during those moments and now I find out x and y. Welp. Couldn't we just let those people be dead instead of magically revive them because OMG they were in some kind of coma induced by creepy ghost dude?I did like that the author added an epilogue. Though I think, rather than a tea party, I would have liked to see some of the characters get together again and go ghost hunting again (some people just can't resist even after scary experiences).
I also liked that they had no means of getting out of the house as soon as the storm hit. I just adore it when you have a spooky setting already and then the author adds a storm, making everything far less predictable and more spooky. More dangerous.
Plus points to the amazing cover.
I think I mentioned all that I wanted to mention so I will end with that I would recommend this book to people. It may get a bit boring at times, but there is still plenty of creepiness to go around, and it does get better at around 61%.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/