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A review by marilynw
Beneath the Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett
3.0
Beneath the Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett
The synopsis of Beneath the Stairs lured me in with it's mention of a haunted house, a family murdered in that house, and how past events are coming back to haunt two women, twenty years after they last entered the deserted house. In the present day, Clare's best friend from her teens, Abby, has ventured to the house, alone, and tried to commit suicide. Abby is now in a coma and Clare has come back to offer support to Abby and her family, at the request of Abby's mother. Clare has her own personal trauma that might have been induced by Abby's strange text messages a few months earlier.
The story had potential but it got bogged down is too many side issues. There is one character who got a lot of book time who just turned his parts of the story into a rambling, meandering wander down his memory lane, which added nothing to the story. The girls' younger days could have been condensed. And, of course, the characters make really eye rolling decisions when it comes to a world involving a haunted house where murders took place.
Then we come to the end of the book and some very important matters are just "covered over". I'd love to mention the things that didn't work for me at all but those things would be spoilers for the story. I was so put out by the actions of the people in this book but also that threads were left dangling, threads that should have been dealt with in the epilogue, if no where else. I read this book with Susan and Mary Beth and they got a real earful from me.
Publication: February 22nd 2022
Thank you to Atria Books/Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss for this ARC.
The synopsis of Beneath the Stairs lured me in with it's mention of a haunted house, a family murdered in that house, and how past events are coming back to haunt two women, twenty years after they last entered the deserted house. In the present day, Clare's best friend from her teens, Abby, has ventured to the house, alone, and tried to commit suicide. Abby is now in a coma and Clare has come back to offer support to Abby and her family, at the request of Abby's mother. Clare has her own personal trauma that might have been induced by Abby's strange text messages a few months earlier.
The story had potential but it got bogged down is too many side issues. There is one character who got a lot of book time who just turned his parts of the story into a rambling, meandering wander down his memory lane, which added nothing to the story. The girls' younger days could have been condensed. And, of course, the characters make really eye rolling decisions when it comes to a world involving a haunted house where murders took place.
Then we come to the end of the book and some very important matters are just "covered over". I'd love to mention the things that didn't work for me at all but those things would be spoilers for the story. I was so put out by the actions of the people in this book but also that threads were left dangling, threads that should have been dealt with in the epilogue, if no where else. I read this book with Susan and Mary Beth and they got a real earful from me.
Publication: February 22nd 2022
Thank you to Atria Books/Simon & Schuster and Edelweiss for this ARC.