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brottany's review against another edition
4.0
A.J. Gnuse’s very first book. He should be proud of this story. I was amazed by Elise. Her courage, her determination, her intelligence. All of this, despite losing her parents. I mean, everyone grieves differently…why not do it while crawling around in the walls of your home? Great read!
msbedelia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tomstbr's review
5.0
The term 'literary thriller' is bandied around quite a bit, but this absolutely lives up to it. It's the same short, sharp chapters as Woman in the Window, but with sparse, elegant prose that hums along and draws you into its world. And this is a world between worlds, the crawl spaces and gaps in a built and rebuilt house. In these places lives a young girl who can't let go, and the monsters that haunt our past. I couldn't put this book down, and highly recommend it when it comes out early next year.
beckybeth's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Grief
jemimamc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
sarieinsea's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, I REALLY loved this book. I may come back and switch it to 5 stars after I think about it a while longer. It feels so rare to find a story that I don’t think I’ve ever heard before. This book was deeply unique and haunting. It’s not a scary book, but there is a lot of tension. After her parents die, Elise (who is young, not a teenager yet) runs away from temporary care, and returns to the sprawling Louisiana bayou mansion where she and her family once lived. Now the Mason family lives there, and Elise hides in the walls and crawl spaces and laundry chute and attic, and sometimes right out in the open, avoiding their notice for many months. As time passes, the two Mason boys start to suspect there’s someone in their house, but their concerns are dismissed by their parents - old houses make a lot of funny noises, after all. Eventually, the older brother turns to online chat rooms to find other people who will believe them - and things get interesting. This book is a different sort of coming of age story - sad, suspenseful, and beautifully written.
mbstpw23's review against another edition
1.0
Cannot finish. Very slow paced, not a “gothic” novel as marketed.
girlglitch's review
2.0
Girl in the Walls has a brilliant unique concept, but sadly its execution is a little overblown. At its best, it offers a modern twist on the gothic novel, tense and atmospheric. But most of the time, the focus isn't in quite the right place. The characters are a little flat, and we never really unlock the grief and denial which should sit at the heart of this story.
For a novel that seemed overlong, I feel like very little was actually said - Girl in the Walls is sadly almost as hollow as the walls the girl inhabits.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
For a novel that seemed overlong, I feel like very little was actually said - Girl in the Walls is sadly almost as hollow as the walls the girl inhabits.
*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*
writersreads's review against another edition
3.0
Girl in the Walls is an eerie coming-of-age story about those that press their weight onto creaking floorboards and spy through doors left ajar. Perhaps an odd comparison, but if you have ever played a Life is Strange game – and enjoyed that very specific narrative style – or enjoyed Kya’s younger years in Where the Crawdads Sing, I think you will find something to like in this book. Though perhaps not what the cover and blurbs promise.
Elise, our girl in the walls, is an orphan who has reclaimed her childhood home, under the noses of its current owners, the Mason family. She is only eleven, so still small enough to slip through crawl spaces and sleep under floorboards, and for the most part her night-time wanderings go unnoticed … but nothing stays hidden for long.
If I’m honest, I found the characters in this book to be a little transparent. Even Elise, who stands as the one we know the most about. Her quick wit and zeal make her a fitting protagonist, but her melodramatic backstory and hazy motivation throughout the novel was difficult to pin down and buy into. Then in came the Mason family who, from the beginning, felt entirely cookie-cut. Laura and Nick were almost invisible as parents, and people – the depth of their relationship and marriage given only a peak, but barely explored enough to round them off in a believable way. Eddie and Marshall, their children, were certainly more engaging, and between them drove the plot with their tug-of-war dynamic and hunt for the stranger hiding in their home.
Eddie was my favourite character, and that was due to how fleshed out and grounded he felt in comparison to the others. He is a quiet boy struggling with his own mental health and fighting against the pull of adolescence. And there was something so familiar about that feeling of crossing into secondary school and leaving your childhood behind, along with your safety … and I think we can all relate to how hard it was to watch your peers change and adapt around you, whilst struggling to do so yourself. Boiled down, a feeling of being left behind. I sympathised with Eddie throughout the book and, overall, it was his story I wanted to know the most about and see explored in more depth than it was ultimately granted.
I’ve seen this book described as ‘terrifying’ and ‘gothic’, but I’m not so sure that’s true – at least not in my reading. I would certainly use the words ‘thrilling’ and ‘intense’, for it had a noticeable rhythm to it that kept you turning pages, and a pace that was only strengthened by a tight structure made up of short, concentrated chapters (something I have always liked in novels). My copy of the book also included a Q&A with its author, where he said writing each chapter felt like crafting individual short stories, and at times you could really feel that – even though some were only a few lines long, they could still stand alone as effective vignettes, guiding you through the narrative whilst also granting you that quick-finish gratification. If the book had been structured any differently, it may not have held my patience for as long as it did.
A big thank you to the generous folk at 4th Estate for sending me a copy. Though it didn’t meet my expectations, I still enjoyed my time with it – and the cover is truly something to behold.
Elise, our girl in the walls, is an orphan who has reclaimed her childhood home, under the noses of its current owners, the Mason family. She is only eleven, so still small enough to slip through crawl spaces and sleep under floorboards, and for the most part her night-time wanderings go unnoticed … but nothing stays hidden for long.
If I’m honest, I found the characters in this book to be a little transparent. Even Elise, who stands as the one we know the most about. Her quick wit and zeal make her a fitting protagonist, but her melodramatic backstory and hazy motivation throughout the novel was difficult to pin down and buy into. Then in came the Mason family who, from the beginning, felt entirely cookie-cut. Laura and Nick were almost invisible as parents, and people – the depth of their relationship and marriage given only a peak, but barely explored enough to round them off in a believable way. Eddie and Marshall, their children, were certainly more engaging, and between them drove the plot with their tug-of-war dynamic and hunt for the stranger hiding in their home.
Eddie was my favourite character, and that was due to how fleshed out and grounded he felt in comparison to the others. He is a quiet boy struggling with his own mental health and fighting against the pull of adolescence. And there was something so familiar about that feeling of crossing into secondary school and leaving your childhood behind, along with your safety … and I think we can all relate to how hard it was to watch your peers change and adapt around you, whilst struggling to do so yourself. Boiled down, a feeling of being left behind. I sympathised with Eddie throughout the book and, overall, it was his story I wanted to know the most about and see explored in more depth than it was ultimately granted.
I’ve seen this book described as ‘terrifying’ and ‘gothic’, but I’m not so sure that’s true – at least not in my reading. I would certainly use the words ‘thrilling’ and ‘intense’, for it had a noticeable rhythm to it that kept you turning pages, and a pace that was only strengthened by a tight structure made up of short, concentrated chapters (something I have always liked in novels). My copy of the book also included a Q&A with its author, where he said writing each chapter felt like crafting individual short stories, and at times you could really feel that – even though some were only a few lines long, they could still stand alone as effective vignettes, guiding you through the narrative whilst also granting you that quick-finish gratification. If the book had been structured any differently, it may not have held my patience for as long as it did.
A big thank you to the generous folk at 4th Estate for sending me a copy. Though it didn’t meet my expectations, I still enjoyed my time with it – and the cover is truly something to behold.