Review by applesodaperson - The Hounding

applesodaperson 's review for:

The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis

3.5

mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

One of my most highly anticipated reads of 2025! The second it came on my Libby I checked it out. The plot seemed super interesting, and I liked the cover a lot. And I did end up liking it, but I definitely don’t think it was perfect.

One thing I really liked about this book was how it used blindness as a plot device. I was thinking about it, and I don’t see books including characters with vision impairments very often. But it was utilized so well in this book with the grandfather character to cast doubt on what was really going on with the girls. The way his blurry vision is described really had me imaging how debilitating that would be, and how scary to not know what is happening around you.

I also liked how the villagers slowly turned against the girls. I think it was a good depiction of group think and how it can turn into a mob mentality.

Ok so I do have some criticisms. So, the blurb for this book compares it to The Crucible and The Virgin Suicides, both of which I have read, and I really do think that was the perfect comparison. But unfortunately, I ended up having similar criticisms of this book as I had about The Virgin Suicides. That being that I really wish we could have gotten chapters from the perspectives of the girls. I get there is a certain mystique these books are trying to maintain by only allowing the reader to see them through the eyes of others, but I wish it was different. I liked the Mansfield girls, especially Anne, so I wish we could have seen what they really think about the villagers and their rumors.

This book also portrayed alcohol in a weird way. It is almost shown as like a malevolent force that corrupts the minds of good men to make them evil. Like Temperance touches it with her hand one time and then a life of sobriety and conviction goes out the window immediately. I guess it could be explained by the religious and magical thinking of the era but it just felt like a weird and naïve way to portray it.

I also didn’t like how there was no conclusion for Robin! He went through something really traumatic in the climax, and I felt like his storyline never got resolved. I wanted to hear more about how he was dealing with the guilt of killing someone and then letting someone else take the fall for it.

Overall, I think I would recommend this book, because it was a quick and enjoyable read, but I did have my criticisms of it.

Content Warnings