Review:
*I received an ecopy of this book from the author. This has not influenced my review.*
Right from the very beginning, this book definitely had a creepy, eerie, bleak vibe. The writing, the setting, Iona’s character, and the story all did a good job of portraying that.
But, despite one of the main characters being able to talk to ghosts and having a curse passed through his family, the story didn’t actually feel all that paranormal. From the blurb, I was expecting and looking forward to some horror-ish ghostly hauntings, but that wasn’t the kind of story this was. It was more psychological, mostly about *SPOILER* a sick psychopath, a manipulative, emotionally abusive relationship (taken to the extreme for the sake of the story), and a budding new relationship, *END SPOILER* but with some paranormal aspects to it (some of which were kind of random).
It was also slow-paced with some flashbacks, and I wasn’t really sure what the danger was until close to the end, at least not for Iona, so I didn’t feel much tension and wasn’t gripped.
This wasn’t bad though. The writing was good. There was a bit of mystery to figure out. The characters weren’t unlikeable. There was some surprising unpredictableness. The relationship between Iona and her family, how they felt about the relationship with her late fiance and her grief and how glad they were to have her back, seemed realistic. The relationship between Iona and Sully was sweet.
So while this wasn’t quite for me, anyone who likes bleak-feeling, slow-paced, paranormal suspense might enjoy it more.
Recommended For:
Anyone who likes bleak, slow-paced, paranormal suspense with a bit of romance.
Ooh I like that title. It does look bleak though, even from the cover. Bummer this one wasn’t quite for you, but Iona at least sounds like a decent character. I hope Sully survived? Although the blurb does say no happy endings…
You’re right, even the cover looks bleak. It was a bummer though. But hey, lots of other people have liked it so far. I mean, if you really want to know how it ends, I can tell you lol.
Hm, not sure if this is for me — I find bleak books tough to get through. I feel like I don’t have a reason to get through it if it’s so bleak, you know?
Idk how to respond to this because I don’t want to spoil things lol. But maybe it’s not for you then.
Fair enough, lol! I need to be in the right mood for things like this. The cover is quite striking I have to admit. Haunting even.
The cover does match the feel of the book nicely!
the title and the cover are very appealing! But I guess is not intense enough huh? Thank god you read it now that you are all cute and fluffy, at least it got 3 stars. It may have not if you were your usual self 😉
Yes, exactly. You read my mind lol. It wasn’t intense enough for me. But haha, I’m back to myself now, but it’s actually a good thing I didn’t read this when I wanted cute and fluffy because it definitely was not that 😛 It was somewhere in the middle.
I do tend to like slower-paced creepy, bleak stories, so I think this one might be right up my alley! It’s good to know before diving in that this one isn’t all that paranormal, so I won’t have my expectations dashed.
Then this might be perfect for you! It does help having the right expectations when you go into a book.
It looks creepy but probably not my kind of read.
For What It’s Worth
It did have a creepy vibe, and totally understandable if it’s not your kinda book.
I hate it when a book turns out to be something totally different than I expected. I am a bit of a mood reader so I know what kind of book will fit my mood so I don’t care for the mix up. This does sound like a decent story so I am a bit on the fence about it.
Yeah, I’m a mood reader too, so expectations can have a big affect on my enjoyment. I’m also just picky lol. Lots of other people have loved this one though.
I like bleak, this sounds very atmospheric. Not 100% sure about the pace, but it sounds like an enjoyable read
It is pretty atmospheric. But yeah, it’s not bad, just not a fast-paced read.
I see what you mean about not getting along with slow paced books too well lately. This one sounds decent but not really as paranormal as you were hoping it would be… Interesting how paranormal ended up not being the forefront.
Yeah lol, this was one of them. I think having the wrong expectations can screw up a book for me though, so it kinda throw me off that it wasn’t the ghostly possession/haunting kinda story I thought it would be.
This sounds pretty interesting even if it didn’t end up quite working for you. I’m not really a fan of stories which are too bleak but it sounds like it was quite well done. It’s weird that it didn’t feel like a paranormal but I kind of get what you mean but it definitely sounds like from the spoiler it’s one which wouldn’t work for me.
Yeah it’s like… there was paranormal stuff, but it didn’t feel very paranormal? Not quite for me either, but others might like it.