A review by thefolklaurate
All the Dead Lie Down by Kyrie McCauley

Mulling over the star rating for this book.

There were elements of this book that could have made it great, and even creepier, but the way the author told this story left it lackluster. Much of this book comes off as a Bly Manor knockoff.

Spoiler

Even certain aspects of Evie's powers gave me remnants of Frozen, but if Elsa had necromancer powers instead of ice.

Many of the main characters were underwhelming and just scratched the surface. The groundskeeper character could have been taken out and the story would've kept on churning without him.

The short chapters were a blessing for this book as it read fast, despite the poor pacing. All the Dead Lie Down comes in hot with the creepy vibes of the Lovelace House, and then goes into a barrage of terrible pranks pulled by the two girls Marin is tasked to watch and switches gears to the romance subplot with Evie, the older sister who quits school and comes home early. I felt like I could see the tire marks of the author's thoughts on how to set up the novel rather than feel like I was enraptured by the story and the characters. Because I didn't connect with the characters, the romantic subplot between Marin and Evie fell flat. I think Evie was the only saving grace for this book, and that one seen with the teeth.

TLDR; Just watch The Haunting of Bly Manor.