Take a photo of a barcode or cover
motherhorror 's review for:
Craven Manor
by Darcy Coates
3.5! Rounded up for Goodreads
This was my first Darcy Coates book and I buddy read it with my good friend, Mindi (@gowsy33)
This author came recommended to me by Destiny (@howlinglibraries) the last time I mentioned loving haunted house tales.
CRAVEN MANOR is one of those books I would buy as a book present for a large swath of readers. I think it would be appealing to a lot of different people with varied tastes. It would be perfect to read on the plane or on vacation; I can see myself getting a few more of her titles to bring with me on my next beach house trip-simply because the writing style is easy to pick up and put down.
I hesitate to say it's a young adult book--because I don't like to pigeonhole like that, but it does read like some young adult books I've read; sharing some of those defining attributes.
The writing is accessible and engaging-I found myself turning the pages quickly.
I enjoyed getting to know the protagonist, Daniel. He was a sweet, good natured boy that finds himself in a dark, gothic storyline--the reader knows what's going to happen to him but naive Daniel doesn't seem to see the forest for the trees. It was kind of endearing.
The plot trope is classic and fans of haunted house/ghost stories will be treated to a well-written, well traveled story with some fun, creepy scenes and a few unique characters to make it interesting. Sometimes I felt like that plot was skirting the edge of falling off into ridiculousness but the author is so good at what she does, I found myself wanting to stay in the game.
Certain supernatural aspects of the plot seemed a little formulaic. Seasoned horror fans will be able to guess at all the plots twists because the author drops clues and hints frequently--lots of smoking guns. And while these comments might sound like complaints, they're really just in this review to set up the proper expectation.
I wouldn't go into this book with the same list of wants you bring to mature horror reading material. This is more, "lean & clean"--which can be refreshing sometimes. Like I said, I will be getting more of her books for vacations and such--perfect poolside/plane reading. I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy dabbling in horror or want some quality, entry level horror books to get their toes wet before jumping headlong into the deep end. Also perfect for parents who have young readers looking for some darker reads but you're not quite ready for them to be reading anything explicit--this would be excellent for that!
This was my first Darcy Coates book and I buddy read it with my good friend, Mindi (@gowsy33)
This author came recommended to me by Destiny (@howlinglibraries) the last time I mentioned loving haunted house tales.
CRAVEN MANOR is one of those books I would buy as a book present for a large swath of readers. I think it would be appealing to a lot of different people with varied tastes. It would be perfect to read on the plane or on vacation; I can see myself getting a few more of her titles to bring with me on my next beach house trip-simply because the writing style is easy to pick up and put down.
I hesitate to say it's a young adult book--because I don't like to pigeonhole like that, but it does read like some young adult books I've read; sharing some of those defining attributes.
The writing is accessible and engaging-I found myself turning the pages quickly.
I enjoyed getting to know the protagonist, Daniel. He was a sweet, good natured boy that finds himself in a dark, gothic storyline--the reader knows what's going to happen to him but naive Daniel doesn't seem to see the forest for the trees. It was kind of endearing.
The plot trope is classic and fans of haunted house/ghost stories will be treated to a well-written, well traveled story with some fun, creepy scenes and a few unique characters to make it interesting. Sometimes I felt like that plot was skirting the edge of falling off into ridiculousness but the author is so good at what she does, I found myself wanting to stay in the game.
Certain supernatural aspects of the plot seemed a little formulaic. Seasoned horror fans will be able to guess at all the plots twists because the author drops clues and hints frequently--lots of smoking guns. And while these comments might sound like complaints, they're really just in this review to set up the proper expectation.
I wouldn't go into this book with the same list of wants you bring to mature horror reading material. This is more, "lean & clean"--which can be refreshing sometimes. Like I said, I will be getting more of her books for vacations and such--perfect poolside/plane reading. I highly recommend this book for readers who enjoy dabbling in horror or want some quality, entry level horror books to get their toes wet before jumping headlong into the deep end. Also perfect for parents who have young readers looking for some darker reads but you're not quite ready for them to be reading anything explicit--this would be excellent for that!