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lainasparetime 's review for:
These Fleeting Shadows
by Kate Alice Marshall
Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and links and everything. https://lainahastoomuchsparetime.wordpress.com/2025/04/28/things-ive-read-recently-181-one-of-my-favourite-books-of-the-year-is-in-this-post/
This is tagged as horror and thriller on Goodreads, and horror is sort of right, but this is GOTHIC horror. The house is Wrong. The house is big and confusing and Wrong. It’s isolated. Helen is also isolated because of her grandfather’s will. She wanders the halls at night and she might not be able to ever leave Harrow. Literally the cover has her in a white nightgown in front of the house. It is so Gothic it’s not even funny.
This is a book that messes with reality and I really enjoy that. Helen doesn’t know what’s real or what isn’t, and neither do you. This isn’t the type of book that scares me, but it is definitely creepy and I really enjoyed the creepy elements. If you liked The Haunting of Bly Manor, I think you would really like this. It gave me some of those vibes.
Kayla from BooksAndLala says that an author is a favourite when she gives three books 5 stars, and this is the third book by Kate Alice Marshall that I’ve loved, which I think firmly establishes her as one of my favourite authors. I honestly enjoyed this one so much and really recommend it if you like gothic horror.
Representation: Helen is queer, as is her love interest. She also has a Black cousin, while the rest of her family is white, which is discussed.
Content notes: Child death, animal death (not on screen, but Helen likes making art out of animal bones), murder, violence, gun violence, some body horror.
This is tagged as horror and thriller on Goodreads, and horror is sort of right, but this is GOTHIC horror. The house is Wrong. The house is big and confusing and Wrong. It’s isolated. Helen is also isolated because of her grandfather’s will. She wanders the halls at night and she might not be able to ever leave Harrow. Literally the cover has her in a white nightgown in front of the house. It is so Gothic it’s not even funny.
This is a book that messes with reality and I really enjoy that. Helen doesn’t know what’s real or what isn’t, and neither do you. This isn’t the type of book that scares me, but it is definitely creepy and I really enjoyed the creepy elements. If you liked The Haunting of Bly Manor, I think you would really like this. It gave me some of those vibes.
Kayla from BooksAndLala says that an author is a favourite when she gives three books 5 stars, and this is the third book by Kate Alice Marshall that I’ve loved, which I think firmly establishes her as one of my favourite authors. I honestly enjoyed this one so much and really recommend it if you like gothic horror.
Representation: Helen is queer, as is her love interest. She also has a Black cousin, while the rest of her family is white, which is discussed.
Content notes: Child death, animal death (not on screen, but Helen likes making art out of animal bones), murder, violence, gun violence, some body horror.