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A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters
8.0
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A Cold Christmas and the Darkest of Winters is a collection of Christmas- and winter-themed short...
Dark Fantasy Horror
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) in Books
Aug 2, 2022
138 of 230
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Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Book 1)
By Laini Taylor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reread
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
When you start a book and realise you have already read it but continue because it was so good! Well this was better the second time round. All the emotions came flooding back and I love that a book can have that effect on you. Rereading Karou and Akivas story was just as enjoyable as the first time the world building and story is just beautiful. I really like this authors style.
Book
Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Book 1)
By Laini Taylor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reread
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.
And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.
Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.
When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?
When you start a book and realise you have already read it but continue because it was so good! Well this was better the second time round. All the emotions came flooding back and I love that a book can have that effect on you. Rereading Karou and Akivas story was just as enjoyable as the first time the world building and story is just beautiful. I really like this authors style.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated The sentence in Books
May 1, 2022
I don’t envy whoever has to narrow down the books on the Women’s Prize 2022 from the long list to the shortlist this year. The books I’ve read so far I’ve enjoyed all equally.
The Sentence is, amongst other things, a book about books. It’s also a book about Tookie, who works in a bookshop and is haunted by a deceased customer. Tookie has a colourful past, which involves imprisonment after it was discovered she had smuggled drugs over county lines, strapped to the corpse of a friends boyfriend. She didn’t know about the drugs, but she certainly knew about the dead body! Prison gave her plenty of time to read, and she leaves prison with a huge knowledge of literature.
On release Tookie gets a job in a Native American bookshop, and marries the Police officer who arrested her. Like her, he is also Native American.
This is a book of two halves: before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ghost of the customer, Flora, remains in the bookshop for most of the book, whilst Minneapolis sees a lot of important things going on: the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter marches, the Covid-19 epidemic, isolation from friends and family, illness, near death experiences and the importance of heritage.
I loved this book. Like I’ve said, I’m just glad that I won’t have to decide the Women’s Prize winner. I still have some books to read from the long list, which I still want to read even though the shortlist has been announced - so watch this space!
The Sentence is, amongst other things, a book about books. It’s also a book about Tookie, who works in a bookshop and is haunted by a deceased customer. Tookie has a colourful past, which involves imprisonment after it was discovered she had smuggled drugs over county lines, strapped to the corpse of a friends boyfriend. She didn’t know about the drugs, but she certainly knew about the dead body! Prison gave her plenty of time to read, and she leaves prison with a huge knowledge of literature.
On release Tookie gets a job in a Native American bookshop, and marries the Police officer who arrested her. Like her, he is also Native American.
This is a book of two halves: before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ghost of the customer, Flora, remains in the bookshop for most of the book, whilst Minneapolis sees a lot of important things going on: the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter marches, the Covid-19 epidemic, isolation from friends and family, illness, near death experiences and the importance of heritage.
I loved this book. Like I’ve said, I’m just glad that I won’t have to decide the Women’s Prize winner. I still have some books to read from the long list, which I still want to read even though the shortlist has been announced - so watch this space!
Jasmine's Journey to Jesus
10.0
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Jasmine’s Journey to Jesus is a powerful and inspirational story of survival, hope, growth and...
Fiction Coming of Age Christian Fiction
One Wrong Word
5.0
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A heart-racing new psychological thriller from USA Today bestselling and multiple award-winning...
Hadley (567 KP) rated The Haunted in Books
Jun 23, 2019
A lot of inconsistencies (1 more)
Stereo-typical characters
A murder begins the story of 'The Haunted,' where Vega starts with every parent's nightmare:
a little girl named Maribeth is killed in the cellar of the Steele House by an unseen force. We jump to three years later, where our main character, Hendricks, is moving into this house with her parents and baby brother- - - a family that is unaware of the murder that took place in the cellar. Vega does a wonderful job of steering the paranormal aspects away from the usual ones that most readers are used to. But although the story is good, the writing is poorly executed.
Starting with the teenaged girl Hendricks, she tells us that she refuses to be a stereo-type, but her first thoughts on the ride to school are of her ex-boyfriend, Grayson. But this is a young adult book, so a young girl obsessing over her ex is to be expected. Yet, when Hendricks gets to her new high school, she quickly begins to stereo-type everyone she meets by what they are wearing. Unfortunately, every character in this story, including Hendricks parents, are stereo-types. Eddie, who wears nothing but black clothing, is the outcast; Portia, who wears too short of skirts and too tight of shirts, is the makeup obsessed girly-girl; Raven, who tries to be funny, is the sporty best friend, and, Connor, who seems to be the only character that Vega tried to keep away from his stereo-type, is a friendly jock who loves his large family.
Readers learn early on that Hendricks' break-up with her ex, Grayson, was a traumatic event for her- - - as Hendricks releases more and more memories, it's soon easy to see that the relationship was an emotional abusive one; from Grayson telling her how to dress to him influencing the way she acted around other people, including who she was allowed to be around. In the middle of all this, Hendricks begins to learn the history of the Steele House, and we find out that Maribeth may not have been the only one murdered there. When Hendricks isn't trying to drink alcohol in almost every chapter, she begins experiencing strange things in the house, including one very similar to Maribeth's experience, but sadly, the paranormal aspect is the only good part of this book.
'The Haunted' could have been a great story, but there are so many inconsistencies, some even on the very next page. Such as, on page 44, Hendricks sees a singing doll waking up her baby brother inside his room (Vega literally states 'in the middle of his room'), but the very next page, Hendricks is suddenly scooping up the doll outside of her brother's room to put it away. On page 157, Hendricks is being pinned against a wall in the cellar by an unseen force, one of her arms is against her back, but suddenly she is able to use both hands to push off the wall, but it was never stated that her arm became unpinned.
One of Vega's biggest mistakes in 'The Haunted' was using the same handful of descriptions for emotions with every single character throughout the entire book. Such as, if a character was trying to make a decision, they always bit their lip; if a character was confused, they always furrowed their brow; if a character was embarrassed, they always had a reddening face. Vega never took advantage of other body language to convey these emotions, causing the story to come up short.
As I have said, the only good part of this book was the paranormal aspect, and the ghosts happen to be the only interesting characters. If I had to choose my favorite part of this story, I would have to choose when Eddie and Hendricks bring in the occult store owner, Ileana. Following this chapter, the best part of the paranormal aspects happen, but I don't want to spoil that for anyone who may want to read this. Vega is crafty in keeping up the suspense throughout this entire time, this is apparently where her strength in writing occurs. She amazingly describes scenes where readers can easily imagine them happening in reality. Her take on hauntings is one that is rarely seen and I think should be utilized in paranormal fiction more often.
'The Haunting' just didn't add up for me. It seems the story was written too hastily that beginning writer mistakes were made and overlooked, but most young adult readers may be able to look past this. Like Stephen King, Vega has great story-telling power in the horror genre, but in 'The Haunting,' I don't feel she was fully able to display this because the focus on Hendricks' life drama took over most of it. If I were to recommend this to anyone, I would only recommend it to people who like teenaged drama mixed in with a ghost story.
a little girl named Maribeth is killed in the cellar of the Steele House by an unseen force. We jump to three years later, where our main character, Hendricks, is moving into this house with her parents and baby brother- - - a family that is unaware of the murder that took place in the cellar. Vega does a wonderful job of steering the paranormal aspects away from the usual ones that most readers are used to. But although the story is good, the writing is poorly executed.
Starting with the teenaged girl Hendricks, she tells us that she refuses to be a stereo-type, but her first thoughts on the ride to school are of her ex-boyfriend, Grayson. But this is a young adult book, so a young girl obsessing over her ex is to be expected. Yet, when Hendricks gets to her new high school, she quickly begins to stereo-type everyone she meets by what they are wearing. Unfortunately, every character in this story, including Hendricks parents, are stereo-types. Eddie, who wears nothing but black clothing, is the outcast; Portia, who wears too short of skirts and too tight of shirts, is the makeup obsessed girly-girl; Raven, who tries to be funny, is the sporty best friend, and, Connor, who seems to be the only character that Vega tried to keep away from his stereo-type, is a friendly jock who loves his large family.
Readers learn early on that Hendricks' break-up with her ex, Grayson, was a traumatic event for her- - - as Hendricks releases more and more memories, it's soon easy to see that the relationship was an emotional abusive one; from Grayson telling her how to dress to him influencing the way she acted around other people, including who she was allowed to be around. In the middle of all this, Hendricks begins to learn the history of the Steele House, and we find out that Maribeth may not have been the only one murdered there. When Hendricks isn't trying to drink alcohol in almost every chapter, she begins experiencing strange things in the house, including one very similar to Maribeth's experience, but sadly, the paranormal aspect is the only good part of this book.
'The Haunted' could have been a great story, but there are so many inconsistencies, some even on the very next page. Such as, on page 44, Hendricks sees a singing doll waking up her baby brother inside his room (Vega literally states 'in the middle of his room'), but the very next page, Hendricks is suddenly scooping up the doll outside of her brother's room to put it away. On page 157, Hendricks is being pinned against a wall in the cellar by an unseen force, one of her arms is against her back, but suddenly she is able to use both hands to push off the wall, but it was never stated that her arm became unpinned.
One of Vega's biggest mistakes in 'The Haunted' was using the same handful of descriptions for emotions with every single character throughout the entire book. Such as, if a character was trying to make a decision, they always bit their lip; if a character was confused, they always furrowed their brow; if a character was embarrassed, they always had a reddening face. Vega never took advantage of other body language to convey these emotions, causing the story to come up short.
As I have said, the only good part of this book was the paranormal aspect, and the ghosts happen to be the only interesting characters. If I had to choose my favorite part of this story, I would have to choose when Eddie and Hendricks bring in the occult store owner, Ileana. Following this chapter, the best part of the paranormal aspects happen, but I don't want to spoil that for anyone who may want to read this. Vega is crafty in keeping up the suspense throughout this entire time, this is apparently where her strength in writing occurs. She amazingly describes scenes where readers can easily imagine them happening in reality. Her take on hauntings is one that is rarely seen and I think should be utilized in paranormal fiction more often.
'The Haunting' just didn't add up for me. It seems the story was written too hastily that beginning writer mistakes were made and overlooked, but most young adult readers may be able to look past this. Like Stephen King, Vega has great story-telling power in the horror genre, but in 'The Haunting,' I don't feel she was fully able to display this because the focus on Hendricks' life drama took over most of it. If I were to recommend this to anyone, I would only recommend it to people who like teenaged drama mixed in with a ghost story.
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated A Gift of Ghosts in Books
Jun 11, 2019
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Rating: 4.01 out of 5 stars
Page Count: 190 pages
One little paragraph about spirit energy ruined Akira’s career as an academic professor. Now she has two options: get a job at General Directions, a mysterious company in Florida that wants to interview her for some reason, or teach high school physics.
She’d rather work in Hell than teach high school physics.
Luckily, General Directions offers her a job that includes a salary increase and also the freedom to research whatever she wants as long as she signs a two-year contract.
What she doesn’t know is they don’t want her for her scientific research. They want her because she sees ghosts. Her boss, Zane, and the company’s CEO (and Zane’s dad), Max, want her to contact Zane’s mother and nephew, who passed, but may still be in the ghost world.
Now Akira is living in a town full of psychics where she has a haunted car and a haunted house– luckily, only friendly spirits. Her boss, Zane, is more of a friend than a manager. Which is all right with her, because she can’t help but be incredibly attracted to him.
But when Akira finds out that Zane’s mother has turned into an evil spirit, tensions rise. How can she make Zane understand that she can’t talk to his mother because the mother might kill Akira in the process?
This book was incredibly good. Way better than I was expecting, especially after I realized that Zane was going to be Akira’s boss. Normally I don’t like boss-employee romances because it feels icky. But Zane really didn’t manage Akira at all, and was a boss in name only. Not only that, but Akira seduced Zane, which was a refreshing change of pace.
Zane and Akira were both incredibly sexy and complemented each other so well. I loved the two of them together and the way Zane desired to protect her while also respecting her ability to protect herself was amazing.
The entire town, which is an homage to Eureka, was adorable and pulled me right into the world. I also really liked all the ghosts Akira encountered. They were complex enough to feel like real people even though they were for the most part side characters.
The ghostlore was intriguing as well and I enjoyed watching the discoveries Akira made about the afterlife as the story unfolded. Despite being able to see ghosts her entire life, her knowledge about ghosts was limited because of her overprotective father who forbade her to talk to ghosts or think of them as anything other than leftover energy.
The climax was satisfying for the most part. However, for a few minutes, Zane doubted that Akira could see ghosts, which was really weird. For most of the book, he didn’t doubt her ability at all, especially after testing her ability to see ghosts many times. But suddenly he doubts it? His reasoning for it didn’t fly for me and it was pretty annoying. But once he shook off his out-of-character skepticism, I was enjoying the story again.
The only other problem I had in the book was towards the beginning where there were a few random formatting marks visible. Not enough to really mess with the story, but it was a little distracting nevertheless.
But overall, this was an awesome, slightly spooky romance that’s perfect for October.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads Rating: 4.01 out of 5 stars
Page Count: 190 pages
One little paragraph about spirit energy ruined Akira’s career as an academic professor. Now she has two options: get a job at General Directions, a mysterious company in Florida that wants to interview her for some reason, or teach high school physics.
She’d rather work in Hell than teach high school physics.
Luckily, General Directions offers her a job that includes a salary increase and also the freedom to research whatever she wants as long as she signs a two-year contract.
What she doesn’t know is they don’t want her for her scientific research. They want her because she sees ghosts. Her boss, Zane, and the company’s CEO (and Zane’s dad), Max, want her to contact Zane’s mother and nephew, who passed, but may still be in the ghost world.
Now Akira is living in a town full of psychics where she has a haunted car and a haunted house– luckily, only friendly spirits. Her boss, Zane, is more of a friend than a manager. Which is all right with her, because she can’t help but be incredibly attracted to him.
But when Akira finds out that Zane’s mother has turned into an evil spirit, tensions rise. How can she make Zane understand that she can’t talk to his mother because the mother might kill Akira in the process?
This book was incredibly good. Way better than I was expecting, especially after I realized that Zane was going to be Akira’s boss. Normally I don’t like boss-employee romances because it feels icky. But Zane really didn’t manage Akira at all, and was a boss in name only. Not only that, but Akira seduced Zane, which was a refreshing change of pace.
Zane and Akira were both incredibly sexy and complemented each other so well. I loved the two of them together and the way Zane desired to protect her while also respecting her ability to protect herself was amazing.
The entire town, which is an homage to Eureka, was adorable and pulled me right into the world. I also really liked all the ghosts Akira encountered. They were complex enough to feel like real people even though they were for the most part side characters.
The ghostlore was intriguing as well and I enjoyed watching the discoveries Akira made about the afterlife as the story unfolded. Despite being able to see ghosts her entire life, her knowledge about ghosts was limited because of her overprotective father who forbade her to talk to ghosts or think of them as anything other than leftover energy.
The climax was satisfying for the most part. However, for a few minutes, Zane doubted that Akira could see ghosts, which was really weird. For most of the book, he didn’t doubt her ability at all, especially after testing her ability to see ghosts many times. But suddenly he doubts it? His reasoning for it didn’t fly for me and it was pretty annoying. But once he shook off his out-of-character skepticism, I was enjoying the story again.
The only other problem I had in the book was towards the beginning where there were a few random formatting marks visible. Not enough to really mess with the story, but it was a little distracting nevertheless.
But overall, this was an awesome, slightly spooky romance that’s perfect for October.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
For writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack), ghosts and the supernatural are simply myths people use to bolster the local economy with tourism dollars. Mike has made a career of evaluating and debunking so called haunted inns, hotels, graveyards, and locales all over the nation.
While his books do well enough for his editors to be happy with his work, and for locales to be included in his next book, Mike lives a life of routine.
One a promising author, Mike abandoned his novels for his haunted travel guides, and a life of hotels and sparsely attended book signings.
While Mike is evaluating the numerous brochures sent to him by prospective topics, he notices a simple hotel post card that features the simple message “Do not stay in room 1408”. Intrigued, Mike attempts to book the room for a review, but is unable to as the room is no longer available to the public.
With the help of his editor and the legal staff, Mike is able to cover the mysterious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York.
Upon his arrival, Mike is greeted by the hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), who offers numerous incentives ranging from rare Brandy, to a penthouse suite if Mike will give up his request to stay in 1408.
It is learned that over 50 people have died while staying in that room and that nobody has even been able to last an hour before befalling some horrific tragedy. Mike is convinced that this is all just part of the hype and that Olin is simply trying to scare him off.
Despite the numerous pleads from Olin to reconsider, Mike insists upon staying in the room, and is soon alone in room 1408.
Upon entering the room, Mike finds it to be a cozy and well maintained room. At first nothing seems out of the ordinary, until a couple of bizarre things happen. Mike is at first convinced there is a member of the hotel staff in hiding, who is playing a trick on him, but soon, Mike realizes just how and why 1408 earned its reputation.
What follows is a serious of horrors that Mike is unable to escape from, despite his best efforts, and he must figure out the mystery of 1408 before it kills him.
The film is based on a short story by Stephen King and is one of the better adaptations of the author’s works. Briskly paced at around 90-minutes, the film is careful to setup the characters and locale, but once the bizarre starts, the audience is in for a thrill ride complete with twists, turns, and some bizarre and suspenseful moments.
Cusack does a masterful job of portraying the conflicted Mike, but never lets you lose sympathy for the man, and displays a very effective ability to blend action, horror, emotions, and pathos, as Mike walks a razor thin line between reality and chaos.
It is especially effective given the fact that Cusack has to carry large segments of the film on his own, without any co-stars in much of his scenes.
The film does lose some momentum in the final 20 minutes, but still rebounds nicely to come to an effective and memorable ending without overusing many of the hackneyed horror film staples.
That being said if chills are what you are looking for this summer, then make sure to check into ?”
While his books do well enough for his editors to be happy with his work, and for locales to be included in his next book, Mike lives a life of routine.
One a promising author, Mike abandoned his novels for his haunted travel guides, and a life of hotels and sparsely attended book signings.
While Mike is evaluating the numerous brochures sent to him by prospective topics, he notices a simple hotel post card that features the simple message “Do not stay in room 1408”. Intrigued, Mike attempts to book the room for a review, but is unable to as the room is no longer available to the public.
With the help of his editor and the legal staff, Mike is able to cover the mysterious room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York.
Upon his arrival, Mike is greeted by the hotel manager Gerald Olin (Samuel L. Jackson), who offers numerous incentives ranging from rare Brandy, to a penthouse suite if Mike will give up his request to stay in 1408.
It is learned that over 50 people have died while staying in that room and that nobody has even been able to last an hour before befalling some horrific tragedy. Mike is convinced that this is all just part of the hype and that Olin is simply trying to scare him off.
Despite the numerous pleads from Olin to reconsider, Mike insists upon staying in the room, and is soon alone in room 1408.
Upon entering the room, Mike finds it to be a cozy and well maintained room. At first nothing seems out of the ordinary, until a couple of bizarre things happen. Mike is at first convinced there is a member of the hotel staff in hiding, who is playing a trick on him, but soon, Mike realizes just how and why 1408 earned its reputation.
What follows is a serious of horrors that Mike is unable to escape from, despite his best efforts, and he must figure out the mystery of 1408 before it kills him.
The film is based on a short story by Stephen King and is one of the better adaptations of the author’s works. Briskly paced at around 90-minutes, the film is careful to setup the characters and locale, but once the bizarre starts, the audience is in for a thrill ride complete with twists, turns, and some bizarre and suspenseful moments.
Cusack does a masterful job of portraying the conflicted Mike, but never lets you lose sympathy for the man, and displays a very effective ability to blend action, horror, emotions, and pathos, as Mike walks a razor thin line between reality and chaos.
It is especially effective given the fact that Cusack has to carry large segments of the film on his own, without any co-stars in much of his scenes.
The film does lose some momentum in the final 20 minutes, but still rebounds nicely to come to an effective and memorable ending without overusing many of the hackneyed horror film staples.
That being said if chills are what you are looking for this summer, then make sure to check into ?”
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Turn of The Key in Books
Aug 16, 2019
Rowan Caine feels like her life is at a bit of a dead end when she finds the advertisement: it's for a live-in nanny, and the pay is amazing. Rowan has a background in nannying and working with children, so she submits her CV and crosses her fingers. Still, she can't believe her luck when she interviews at the gorgeous Heatherbrae House in Scotland. It's isolated, but beautiful. And then she gets the job caring for four seemingly lovely children: Rhiannon, 14; Maddie, 8; Ellie, 5; and Petra, eighteen months. But the position isn't all it cracked up to be. The children are nothing like the sweet kids they appeared when she interviewed. The entire house is a smart home, controlled by a home management app, and it seems to go haywire constantly. The parents leave nearly the moment she arrives. And it really seems like the rumors of ghosts and a haunted house that drove away the past four nannies are true. We know Rowan is writing about all of this from prison--jailed for the death of one of the children. She claims she's innocent. What really happened at Heatherbrae House?
This was a very intriguing, eerie thriller, made all the more creepy by reading it alone in a cabin in the woods with no one beside me but my dog. Perhaps choosing this read for my short getaway was a mistake? Ha, I actually liked getting a little spooked by this Gothic mystery. It was an enjoyable slow-burning read that kept me hooked.
As mentioned, the entire book is told in letter form--albeit mostly one long letter--as Rowan sits in Scottish prison, trying to convince a Mr. Wrexham to take up her case. She's innocent, she says, and here is her story. And quite a story it is. From the moment Rowan arrives at the Elincourt's beautiful home, Heatherbrae House, it seems like things go wrong--she hasn't memorized the 300-page "manual" required to watch the girls, the "smart" house is out of control, and the children are absolute terrors.
"I guess it comes down to this in the end. I am the nanny in the Elincourt case, Mr. Wrexham. And I didn't kill that child."
But the more we hear from Rowan, we learn she may not be completely guilt-free in all of this, as perhaps there is more to her story than meets the eye. It all unfurls easily in Ware's deft hands. It may take a while to get to some of the major twists and turns, but there's plenty of little bits of creepiness along the way. Rowan is sure she's being haunted, and it's quite fun to try to figure out what exactly is happening. Ghosts? The smart house gone awry? While Rowan isn't always the easiest character to root for, I still sympathized with her (I wouldn't want to be left with four combative children) and yet I found myself getting attached to the kids anyway (clearly they didn't choose to be left behind by their rich and distracted parents).
"I need you to understand why I did what I did."
Overall, this one is a fun, eerie read. I enjoyed the combination of creepy Gothic plus smart home craziness. I also couldn't always foresee what was coming up next, which I appreciated. It's engaging and surprising, despite our limited cast of characters. 4 stars.
This was a very intriguing, eerie thriller, made all the more creepy by reading it alone in a cabin in the woods with no one beside me but my dog. Perhaps choosing this read for my short getaway was a mistake? Ha, I actually liked getting a little spooked by this Gothic mystery. It was an enjoyable slow-burning read that kept me hooked.
As mentioned, the entire book is told in letter form--albeit mostly one long letter--as Rowan sits in Scottish prison, trying to convince a Mr. Wrexham to take up her case. She's innocent, she says, and here is her story. And quite a story it is. From the moment Rowan arrives at the Elincourt's beautiful home, Heatherbrae House, it seems like things go wrong--she hasn't memorized the 300-page "manual" required to watch the girls, the "smart" house is out of control, and the children are absolute terrors.
"I guess it comes down to this in the end. I am the nanny in the Elincourt case, Mr. Wrexham. And I didn't kill that child."
But the more we hear from Rowan, we learn she may not be completely guilt-free in all of this, as perhaps there is more to her story than meets the eye. It all unfurls easily in Ware's deft hands. It may take a while to get to some of the major twists and turns, but there's plenty of little bits of creepiness along the way. Rowan is sure she's being haunted, and it's quite fun to try to figure out what exactly is happening. Ghosts? The smart house gone awry? While Rowan isn't always the easiest character to root for, I still sympathized with her (I wouldn't want to be left with four combative children) and yet I found myself getting attached to the kids anyway (clearly they didn't choose to be left behind by their rich and distracted parents).
"I need you to understand why I did what I did."
Overall, this one is a fun, eerie read. I enjoyed the combination of creepy Gothic plus smart home craziness. I also couldn't always foresee what was coming up next, which I appreciated. It's engaging and surprising, despite our limited cast of characters. 4 stars.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Night Inn Hell in Books
Nov 21, 2019
This is the first book in a trilogy about a remote and haunted inn - the Hang Inn - where each book tells the story of how some of the souls came to be trapped there. The bulk of the story is set at the end of the 19th century, with the first and last chapters set in contemporary times and told from the point of view of one of the haunting spirits. In preparing to scare a couple of tourists visiting the notorious haunted in, the narrator tells the reader their story.
Peter and Stella have owned the Hang Inn for several months. The Inn is miles from the nearest town and sits among nearly impassable marshland. Trade is slow and they will soon need to think seriously about giving up the inn. Then they are given an offer they can't refuse by Jason, a police officer in a small and secretive unit that tracks down the worst murderers and serial killers in Victorian England and ensures that they are very quietly disposed of. The government will pay for the Hang Inn to be used for the executions. But this is a secret only a few can know, and Peter cannot even tell Stella what is really going on.
The first infamous murderer is executed and Peter begins to doubt he has made the right decision but it is too late. And when the second murderer arrives the ghost of the first torments both him and Peter. How long can Peter keep the secret and what impact will it have on his relationship with Stella?
This is not a ghost story in the conventional sense. The first murderer does haunt the inn some of the nights but most of the story is taken up the effect the situation has on Peter, Stella and Jason as it turns each of their lives upside down and tests each of them. The secret of the executions reveals deeper and darker secrets and the inner character of each of the main protagonists. There are night time chases across the marshes and murders are described and committed.
The plot twists and turns as each victim brought to the inn tells their own story and this has its inevitable effect on Peter and Stella as well as Jason. The relationship between the three of them changes as time goes on. We know that ultimately one of them will be left haunting the inn, but which one? Only the final climactic scenes reveal this.
The book is an enjoyable read, although the nights when the murderers are held in the inn are a lot more gripping and interesting than the periods between which can seem a little over-long with a lot of introspection from the main characters as they try to deal with what is going on around them (and within them). But this does allow the characters to grow, and the interactions between them and the state of their own minds plays a vital role in everything that happens.
The strength of the book lies in the twin strands of the overall story itself and of the murderers. Each is different and each is portrayed excellently by Powell from evil psychopaths to those who feel their actions are justified. Each tells their story in detail with some deft twists to enable this to happen.
Overall this was an enjoyable novel with enough action and twists to keep the reader's interest throughout.
Rating: Scenes of murder and some sexual references
Peter and Stella have owned the Hang Inn for several months. The Inn is miles from the nearest town and sits among nearly impassable marshland. Trade is slow and they will soon need to think seriously about giving up the inn. Then they are given an offer they can't refuse by Jason, a police officer in a small and secretive unit that tracks down the worst murderers and serial killers in Victorian England and ensures that they are very quietly disposed of. The government will pay for the Hang Inn to be used for the executions. But this is a secret only a few can know, and Peter cannot even tell Stella what is really going on.
The first infamous murderer is executed and Peter begins to doubt he has made the right decision but it is too late. And when the second murderer arrives the ghost of the first torments both him and Peter. How long can Peter keep the secret and what impact will it have on his relationship with Stella?
This is not a ghost story in the conventional sense. The first murderer does haunt the inn some of the nights but most of the story is taken up the effect the situation has on Peter, Stella and Jason as it turns each of their lives upside down and tests each of them. The secret of the executions reveals deeper and darker secrets and the inner character of each of the main protagonists. There are night time chases across the marshes and murders are described and committed.
The plot twists and turns as each victim brought to the inn tells their own story and this has its inevitable effect on Peter and Stella as well as Jason. The relationship between the three of them changes as time goes on. We know that ultimately one of them will be left haunting the inn, but which one? Only the final climactic scenes reveal this.
The book is an enjoyable read, although the nights when the murderers are held in the inn are a lot more gripping and interesting than the periods between which can seem a little over-long with a lot of introspection from the main characters as they try to deal with what is going on around them (and within them). But this does allow the characters to grow, and the interactions between them and the state of their own minds plays a vital role in everything that happens.
The strength of the book lies in the twin strands of the overall story itself and of the murderers. Each is different and each is portrayed excellently by Powell from evil psychopaths to those who feel their actions are justified. Each tells their story in detail with some deft twists to enable this to happen.
Overall this was an enjoyable novel with enough action and twists to keep the reader's interest throughout.
Rating: Scenes of murder and some sexual references