Reviews

I like time slip stories and this is a good one that holds a lot of tension for the majority of the book. It's also well situated in the injustices of the asylum system of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This is juxtaposed with a slightly less developed story of the difficulties for a new boy in a boys' boarding school in the 1990s, based in the building that was once the asylum.

The ending is quite neat though and was at odds with the issues that characters faced in the rest of the book, everything ties up a bit too neatly.

aleksandranowacka_x's review against another edition

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5.0

i really fell in love with these characters. the ending was beautiful. overall, just such a well written, beautiful book. the prose was pretty and the story itself was so interesting.

lisamshardlow's review against another edition

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5.0

Set in dual timelines in an old building that was once an insane asylum and 90 years later is a boarding school for boys. In 1903 a woman and her 5-year-old daughter are found drifting out to sea in a wrecked boat off the coast of Cornwall. The woman has been badly beaten, and is in a coma, and the little girl doesn’t know her own name but soon becomes known as Harriet. Both are taken to All Hallows, an insane asylum in Dartmoor, in the hopes that they will both recover from their ordeal. Harriet is taken to an attic room and put into the care of Nurse Everdeen. In 1993, two motherless and rebellious teenage boys, Lewis and Isak, are banished to All Hallows boarding school after their families are at their wits’ end as to what to do with them. The boys find themselves housed in an attic room, where the past refuses to stay hidden. As they learn more about the history of All Hallows, the fate of little Harriet, and Nurse Everdeen’s fight to keep her safe, it becomes clear that there are restless ghosts still present.

This was absolutely gripping from start to finish! I loved all of the characters, and I found both timelines very intriguing. I wanted to know exactly what had happened to Harriet and her mother, and I didn’t want to stop reading until I had the answers. Equally, I also wanted Lewis and Isak to find out the truth. I really loved the relationship between Harriet and Nurse Everdeen - Harriet definitely helped the nurse to love again (after losing her own child 50 years before), and the friendship between Lewis and Isak - they were two lost souls who became bonded over the loss of both of their mothers. There was also a slight supernatural element throughout the story, which I really enjoyed as well.

I don’t think that there was anything that I didn’t love about this, it kept me on the edge throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it! For all of these reasons, I give this book 5 out of 5 stars!

I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery, mild gothic horror, historical fiction, thrillers, and a touch of fantasy/sci-fi.

charlottemeo's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5

jessicafarmer80's review against another edition

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4.0

4⭐️ I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it! It was much deeper than I had anticipated in regards to a mother’s love and protecting your child - whether a child from birth or that you have grown close to and consider like your own.

hanners87's review against another edition

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4.0

Started out with some nice supernatural suspense but then ended too abruptly.

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