2.88 AVERAGE

sahoek's review

1.0
dark medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I... could not finish this book without both skimming and hate reading this. From the description and cover, I was going to love this. Instead, I hate it. I got whiplash from how quickly things were swinging from one way to another and I definitely couldn't find any situation in which these characters would have ever felt any of these feelings described. For me, this just wasn't it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
adventurous funny fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

jndsouza's review

3.25
emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kmwatkins422's review

DID NOT FINISH: 50%

It really bothered me that the characters continued to use their last names when addressing each other. The "narrator" also referred to them by last name and it was super distracting. 
marleyshelves's profile picture

marleyshelves's review

3.0

When it was all said and done, I was hoping to feel a little more and connect with the main characters a bit more than I did. This isn't a spoiler because it happens in the first few pages of the book, but I was really put off by the FMC attacking the MMC with a book. It feels like it was written to make her seem frustrated and relatable, but it's giving assault. Made me scratch my head for sure. That's really the only critique I have. The spice was there and the spooky aspect was genuinely creepy, pretty well-written. Feels like it will be a hit come spooky season for those looking for a paranormal romance.

Pub date is Oct 15,2024.

Thanks for the Netgalley for an early digital copy of this book!

Oh, this was such a great read, I loved these two, and I loved their story! 
chaotic_abi's profile picture

chaotic_abi's review

2.0

it was.....ok. The story behind why the ghosts were haunting the castle was kinda cool but I wasn't a big fan of either character. It was a light and easy read which is about its only redeeming quality.
queengab's profile picture

queengab's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 24%

Didn’t care for the romance, not spooky

janeeivorie's review

DID NOT FINISH: 47%

Wasn't sold on the FMC since she has major main character syndrome despite her valid criticism of the MMC. Also, it was revealed that the author is a fraud
smutwalks's profile picture

smutwalks's review

3.0

3.5/5 ⭐️s

Penelope Skinner, an indigenous horror author, is absolutely miffed that her peer, Neil Storm, has been intentionally writing novels to be palatable to a white audience. She has become a vocal critic of this disservice to her community...so vocal that at a book convention Pen ends up hurling an annotated copy of her novel at his face thus becoming a social pariah. Newly scarred Neil Storm has been mulling over Penelope's words for months. He has a severe case of writer's block and a bit of an identity crisis that he cannot seem to shake. A mutual friend invites them both on an intimate writer's retreat in a haunted castle in the Scottish Highlands without informing the other of their rival's presence. It takes less than twenty-four hours before they realize that there may be more than a rivalry simmering under the surface.

After reading the premise of this book, I immediately requested an ARC. The story itself did not disappoint. As an avid kissing book reader and spooky gal, I thought this book had a great balance between romance and the paranormal. It never felt like too much time was being devoted to one part of the plot, so it was a very satisfying read.

I will preface this next part by saying that I am a white woman so I absolutely cannot and do not claim to understand the indigenous experience at all.

My main issues were with Penelope who I think could have benefited from a little more introspection and definitely a therapist. She really used our boy Neil as a whipping board for her insecurities to the point where he was questioning every single part of his identity as both an indigenous person and as a writer. She railed at him for perpetuating harmful stereotypes while simultaneously tearing down a fellow indigenous author without considering the difficulties he may have also experienced getting a book published. Throughout the story Neil really takes everything she says into consideration and thinks about ways he can try to become a better champion for indigenous voices. Meanwhile Penelope is sort of just like "oh huh maybe I treated you poorly because I had a less successful career and a boatload of insecurities?" near the end. I would have liked to see just a little bit more of her internal realization that the conflict she exacerbated could have probably been resolved via a good 'ol author coffee date and therapy session.

Overall I did enjoy this book! I cannot emphasize that enough. The story was great and it was a pretty quick read. It's abundantly clear that Colby Wilkens is a talented writer, and I will absolutely be checking out whatever she writes next!

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.