nadiajohnsonbooks 's review for:

All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley

4.0

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3.5 Stars Rounded Up

This book had all the creeping, moody, atmospheric goodness that I love in a gothic novel.

Following the sudden death of her mother, the protagonist, Marin, is invited to live and work as a nanny in the household of an estranged childhood friend of her mother's. This friend, Alice Lovelace, is an eccentric recluse, successful author, and often inattentive parent to her young daughters. Marin is placed in charge of the two youngest, Wren and Thea, who are at turns adorably precocious and darkly secretive. When their older sister Evie returns home from boarding school, Marin begins to develop feelings for her, all while suspecting that she too has secrets hiding behind her polished facade.

Marin gets increasingly unsettled as the Lovelace family's bizarre behavior continues and she grows closer to Evie.

The characters and their interactions are steeped in unprocessed grief, and the isolated seaside mansion of Lovelace House makes for an ideally melancholic backdrop.

Ultimately, though some of the twists felt a little cliché, I quite enjoyed this book. Grief is a common theme in both gothic horror and gothic romance, but this interpretation still felt fresh.

I would definitely recommend this book to young horror enthusiasts looking to try out gothic stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kyrie McCauley for this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!