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A review by breeburkitt
If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens
2.25
Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm are two Native horror authors stuck in a years-long rivalry. Both are left in a writing slump after their feud publicly reaches a head. Months later, Pen and Neil find themselves coincidentally on the same writing retreat at a haunted castle in the Scottish Highlands.
Ugh I wanted to love "If I Stopped Haunting You" so badly but that just wasn't the case. The romance between Pen and Neil is just flat. It's toxic and they jump from enemies to insta-love so quickly in a way that doesn't account for the supposed years of animosity between them. Their characters are also lackluster. The author teases at back stories for both of them (really all the characters) that are never fully developed or even explored.
The same can be said about the horror aspect. The ghost story holds so much promise initially, but instead, it's underwhelming and the resolution doesn't fit all the setup. The story poses so many potential plot points and connections (i.e. Pen's connection to the castle) that fail to go anywhere.
The bones are certainly there. Unfortunately, this whole story feels like an early draft that needs a strong editor to help shape it into something great.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy!
Ugh I wanted to love "If I Stopped Haunting You" so badly but that just wasn't the case. The romance between Pen and Neil is just flat. It's toxic and they jump from enemies to insta-love so quickly in a way that doesn't account for the supposed years of animosity between them. Their characters are also lackluster. The author teases at back stories for both of them (really all the characters) that are never fully developed or even explored.
The same can be said about the horror aspect. The ghost story holds so much promise initially, but instead, it's underwhelming and the resolution doesn't fit all the setup. The story poses so many potential plot points and connections (i.e. Pen's connection to the castle) that fail to go anywhere.
The bones are certainly there. Unfortunately, this whole story feels like an early draft that needs a strong editor to help shape it into something great.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy!