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neilazaara 's review for:
The Haunting of Ashburn House
by Darcy Coates
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So nothing happens for 200 pages. 200 pages of some braindead chick talking to her cat in an old house. That’s it. Then some spooky stuff happens. A candle. A letter explaining everything. The end.
PLOT:
Well. It’s basic. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not really scary more like a bit of spooky/creepy moments towards the very end of the book. Unfortunately the pacing was all over the place. The reveals were very tropey so nothing surprising there. Everything seems too easy or convenient. It is not bad but I’ve got nothing good to say about it either.
WRITING:
That’s where the biggest issue lies.
First, we follow one person. Ok, I don’t mind a single POV that’s actually what I prefer. But when I say we follow one person, I mean it’s only her and her thoughts. She doesn’t have family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues or job. Nothing. Just her and her thoughts (and she isn’t the brightest tool in the shed). If only there was someone else in the house or coming often enough to the house for her to be able to talk to and see how crazy and unsafe her actions are. But no. We have a cat (and no the cat doesn’t talk, he’s just an overweight but otherwise regular cat). Hence, the whole narrative is this girl walking around thinking how creepy the house is but also nothing happens really and then she goes tell that to her cat. And for some reason some of her thoughts are written in italic as if this was what she was actually thinking when the whole plot is just her thoughts anyways… I’m confused and so is the author I think.
Second, the writing is really its worse enemy here. We get some creepy moment, great I’m in the horror atmosphere, it’s spooky. And THEN(!) breaks in the MC to make a one page monologue on whether or not to save her cat and why did she name the cat Wolfgang. I’m sorry I thought we were scared for our lives, why are we having a little nostalgia road trip right now? You just killed the atmosphere, and I don’t care anymore about you or the cat. Just die in your stupidity.
CHARACTER(s?):
Adrienne
- Survival skills: 0/10
- Brain: Left behind wherever she was living before
- Strengths: Wolfgang (the cat)
- Weaknesses: Lack of common sense
Wolfgang
- Living his life
- Overweight and happy with it (always down for some extra food)
- Special skill: roadkill imitation 10/10
Edith
- Weird old lady
- Her family is a mess
- She gave our MC the house and got some clean bedsheets for her.
The whole rest of the village (because we never get to really know anyone
- Creeped out by the old house on the hill
- Rather nice people and quite helpful (but irrelevant to the plot)
CONCLUSION:
It’s not the worse but it’s as if the book was pushing its own head into the toilet and drowning itself for no good reason. It’s not atmospheric and it’s not groundbreaking. The MC is just not making much sense in her actions and everything is explained in the last 10 pages in a letter. Walk away, that house is not worth the trip.
PLOT:
Well. It’s basic. Nothing out of the ordinary. Not really scary more like a bit of spooky/creepy moments towards the very end of the book. Unfortunately the pacing was all over the place. The reveals were very tropey so nothing surprising there. Everything seems too easy or convenient. It is not bad but I’ve got nothing good to say about it either.
WRITING:
That’s where the biggest issue lies.
First, we follow one person. Ok, I don’t mind a single POV that’s actually what I prefer. But when I say we follow one person, I mean it’s only her and her thoughts. She doesn’t have family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues or job. Nothing. Just her and her thoughts (and she isn’t the brightest tool in the shed). If only there was someone else in the house or coming often enough to the house for her to be able to talk to and see how crazy and unsafe her actions are. But no. We have a cat (and no the cat doesn’t talk, he’s just an overweight but otherwise regular cat). Hence, the whole narrative is this girl walking around thinking how creepy the house is but also nothing happens really and then she goes tell that to her cat. And for some reason some of her thoughts are written in italic as if this was what she was actually thinking when the whole plot is just her thoughts anyways… I’m confused and so is the author I think.
Second, the writing is really its worse enemy here. We get some creepy moment, great I’m in the horror atmosphere, it’s spooky. And THEN(!) breaks in the MC to make a one page monologue on whether or not to save her cat and why did she name the cat Wolfgang. I’m sorry I thought we were scared for our lives, why are we having a little nostalgia road trip right now? You just killed the atmosphere, and I don’t care anymore about you or the cat. Just die in your stupidity.
CHARACTER(s?):
Adrienne
- Survival skills: 0/10
- Brain: Left behind wherever she was living before
- Strengths: Wolfgang (the cat)
- Weaknesses: Lack of common sense
Wolfgang
- Living his life
- Overweight and happy with it (always down for some extra food)
- Special skill: roadkill imitation 10/10
Edith
- Weird old lady
- Her family is a mess
- She gave our MC the house and got some clean bedsheets for her.
The whole rest of the village (because we never get to really know anyone
- Creeped out by the old house on the hill
- Rather nice people and quite helpful (but irrelevant to the plot)
CONCLUSION:
It’s not the worse but it’s as if the book was pushing its own head into the toilet and drowning itself for no good reason. It’s not atmospheric and it’s not groundbreaking. The MC is just not making much sense in her actions and everything is explained in the last 10 pages in a letter. Walk away, that house is not worth the trip.