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A review by marcccb
All I Want by Darcey Bell
4.0
3.75 stars
What in the actual heck did I Just read?? I have 0 clue but I loved it.
When Emma's husband, Ben, falls in love with a huge Victorian house in upstate New York, he convinces Emma that it is worth the risk. It's a quick fix. Emma, who is pregnant, wants to live somewhere quiet and safe for the baby, so she agrees and so begins the fix. But the house is not what Emma thought it would be. There's a woman standing with a baby in front of their house. There is a diary of a woman who used to live in the house along with its dark history. Is Emma losing her mind? Is there something sinister about this house? Fans of Shirley Jackson and The Yellow Wallpaper will adore this story.
After reading A Simple Favor, Bell became an insta-buy author for me and so I was very excited to receive an advanced copy of this book! The majority of it is told in Emma's perspective, but then we switch to a couple of others near the end. The writing is very eerie, there's something about it that is just so odd. I can't quite put my finger around it. Chapter by chapter, we dive deep into the lives of Emma and Ben and their relationship.
It's complex, strained, and there are definitely secrets hiding beneath the surface. I think Bell does a really solid effort at combining the gothic and domestic genres together into a well written thriller. There's so much that is still so confusing to me about this novel, but it hooks you in right from the start. It's the ambiguity of it that keeps you reading until the very final twist.
That twist?? What in the world?? Darcey Bell, please explain! It's wicked, but I liked it? I still don't understand!
Overall, this was a smart domestic/gothic thriller and if you've read this or you do end up reading it, please message me so we can talk about that final twist!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
What in the actual heck did I Just read?? I have 0 clue but I loved it.
When Emma's husband, Ben, falls in love with a huge Victorian house in upstate New York, he convinces Emma that it is worth the risk. It's a quick fix. Emma, who is pregnant, wants to live somewhere quiet and safe for the baby, so she agrees and so begins the fix. But the house is not what Emma thought it would be. There's a woman standing with a baby in front of their house. There is a diary of a woman who used to live in the house along with its dark history. Is Emma losing her mind? Is there something sinister about this house? Fans of Shirley Jackson and The Yellow Wallpaper will adore this story.
After reading A Simple Favor, Bell became an insta-buy author for me and so I was very excited to receive an advanced copy of this book! The majority of it is told in Emma's perspective, but then we switch to a couple of others near the end. The writing is very eerie, there's something about it that is just so odd. I can't quite put my finger around it. Chapter by chapter, we dive deep into the lives of Emma and Ben and their relationship.
It's complex, strained, and there are definitely secrets hiding beneath the surface. I think Bell does a really solid effort at combining the gothic and domestic genres together into a well written thriller. There's so much that is still so confusing to me about this novel, but it hooks you in right from the start. It's the ambiguity of it that keeps you reading until the very final twist.
That twist?? What in the world?? Darcey Bell, please explain! It's wicked, but I liked it? I still don't understand!
Overall, this was a smart domestic/gothic thriller and if you've read this or you do end up reading it, please message me so we can talk about that final twist!
Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.