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kendranicole28 's review for:
The Christmas Guest
by Peter Swanson
Christmas of 1989: Ashley Smith is an American art student studying in London, where she plans to spend the holiday alone. So when she receives a last-minute invitation from fellow student, Emma Chapman, to spend Christmas at her family’s Cotswold estate, Ashley jumps at the chance for a new adventure. She records every detail of the week in her “dearest diary,” from the sprawling mansion and surrounding quaint village to the festive meals and, mostly, Emma’s beguiling twin brother, Adam. Emma is certain she has landed herself in a sweeping holiday, but when she discovers that Adam is suspected of killing a local girl who happens to have been Emma’s doppelgänger, her dream turn nightmarish.
Over thirty years later, in New York City: Ashley’s diary has resurfaced, and events of that long-ago Christmas in a cozy English village are cast in a new, ghostly light.
What a surprising and satisfying little story this turned out to be! I read it weeks after Christmas thanks to a well-timed Kindle deal that came just when I was in need of a palate cleanser between longer reads, and while the novella does have a Christmas setting, I found the dark tone and disturbing story elements better suited to non-seasonal reading. (In other words, I liked this a lot in January but might have found it too jarring had I read it at Christmas time.) I enjoyed the epistolary format, the throwback setting, and the Dickensian atmosphere. The 100ish page length is just right, and while this would make for a terrible Hallmark movie, it was an excellent page-turner.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (Rounded to 4 Stars on Goodreads) // Book Format: Kindle
Over thirty years later, in New York City: Ashley’s diary has resurfaced, and events of that long-ago Christmas in a cozy English village are cast in a new, ghostly light.
What a surprising and satisfying little story this turned out to be! I read it weeks after Christmas thanks to a well-timed Kindle deal that came just when I was in need of a palate cleanser between longer reads, and while the novella does have a Christmas setting, I found the dark tone and disturbing story elements better suited to non-seasonal reading. (In other words, I liked this a lot in January but might have found it too jarring had I read it at Christmas time.) I enjoyed the epistolary format, the throwback setting, and the Dickensian atmosphere. The 100ish page length is just right, and while this would make for a terrible Hallmark movie, it was an excellent page-turner.
My Rating: 4.5 Stars (Rounded to 4 Stars on Goodreads) // Book Format: Kindle