Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fun little holiday read. I liked the journal entries. The twists were great.
3.5 fun christmas murder mystery by one of my fave authors
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Very much Peter Swanson’s signature style. Liked it!
3.5 stars
This quick novella is a dark, gothic-tinged tale set in a snowy Cotswolds village at Christmas, centred on a darkly gothic manor, a creepy aristocratic family, a dark romance, and an extremely naive American exchange student. It's got ghosts, serial killers, dead girls, abusive families, orphans, murder games, dusky pubs, dark secrets, snowy landscapes, Christmasy Cotswolds villages, and creepy twins. It's atmospheric as f*ck.
If this Dickensian atmospheric terror sounds like your kind of festive holiday reading, why not give it a go?
It's split into two parts: the diary of American exchange student Ashley Smith, invited to spend Christmas at a romantically gothic Cotswolds manor house, which ends abruptly halfway through on Christmas eve....and part two, the rest, the answers. Part two is where it gets real dark, quite tragic, kinda ick, and a bit spooky.
It used to be a tradition to tell ghost stories at Christmas and Swanson leans into this. He balances well the American and the English. He does a convincingly good job at conjuring an American student in England, loud and naive, simple and tragic, foiled by the posh upper class English girl, pretty, smart, misunderstood, darkly protective of family secrets, to the end.
The two halves read quite differently and all characters are unlikeable for different reasons. The second half was frustrating, but I was glad that, in the end, a degree of justice, in a certain way, was served.
This quick novella is a dark, gothic-tinged tale set in a snowy Cotswolds village at Christmas, centred on a darkly gothic manor, a creepy aristocratic family, a dark romance, and an extremely naive American exchange student. It's got ghosts, serial killers, dead girls, abusive families, orphans, murder games, dusky pubs, dark secrets, snowy landscapes, Christmasy Cotswolds villages, and creepy twins. It's atmospheric as f*ck.
If this Dickensian atmospheric terror sounds like your kind of festive holiday reading, why not give it a go?
It's split into two parts: the diary of American exchange student Ashley Smith, invited to spend Christmas at a romantically gothic Cotswolds manor house, which ends abruptly halfway through on Christmas eve....and part two, the rest, the answers. Part two is where it gets real dark, quite tragic, kinda ick, and a bit spooky.
It used to be a tradition to tell ghost stories at Christmas and Swanson leans into this. He balances well the American and the English. He does a convincingly good job at conjuring an American student in England, loud and naive, simple and tragic, foiled by the posh upper class English girl, pretty, smart, misunderstood, darkly protective of family secrets, to the end.
The two halves read quite differently and all characters are unlikeable for different reasons. The second half was frustrating
Spoiler
and it made me annoyed to see how Emma protected her horrid brother, even when she knew the extent of his evil. I wanted her to be punished and liked that she was haunted by her ghosts, but if that was the ending he's going for, I'd have prefered a few hints throughout about the supernatural. I'm glad he died eventually but would have preferred it to have happened much earlier! Emma was just as bad as him.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes