Tag: gothic

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Ghosts of the Forbidden

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Leanna Renee Hieber

NOTE – Special thanks to NetGalley and Castle Bridge Media for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was…..disappointing.

I’ve read a lot of what Leanna Renee Hieber has to offer and have loved her previous work. I found her writing to be atmospheric, emotional, ethereal and haunting. She seems to be born to write gothic horror stories.

But this book wasn’t like that. It felt flat, rushed, preachy and weak.

What I enjoyed:

  1. The initial ghostly story line was lovely. A rich heritage with a good background to it.
  2. The settings. The Glacier and Denny mansions had character all their own and breathed along with the people inhabiting them. Glacier Mansion especially seemed to be waiting and expectant, wanting to be released from whatever hold the Denny Mansion had on it. The surrounding village being affected with winding streets held its own within the confines of the surrounding trees and rocks. It was very atmospheric and set the tone well for a good ghost story.
  3. The pacing of the story was at a good clip. No lagging or waiting around much for a conclusion.

What I didn’t enjoy:

  1. Flat characters and very little emotional depth. I’m not used to that from this author. I’m used to having an emotional attachment to the folks in Hieber’s books and I didn’t get any of that. Honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about Lillian or Camile or Nathaniel or William. Bethany and Carmen seemed to be just there but they also had no real substance.
  2. Character relationships. I sorta could buy the instant relationship between Lillian and Nathaniel because of William and Camille although the whole idea of the latter reliving their lives through the former was a bit unbelievable. But anything else felt contrived and forced.
  3. I’m not a fan of being preached at. I certainly don’t mind when a book includes LGBTQ+ characters when it feels natural and it makes sense to the story. This did not. The characters representing were preachy to the point of distraction. It felt more like the author was making a statement that felt forced instead of part of the story. Not a fan at all.

All in all, this was a good effort but I expected much more from this author based on past work. This didn’t cut it for me and I was left disappointed.

My rating: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Shadow Sister

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: Linday Marcott

NOTE – Special thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Haunted, haunted and more haunted. Deliciously so.

Ava and James grow up in a haunted house. It’s cool…until it’s not. Until it takes their mother and part of her childhood and somehow dumps a weird sister-in-law on her doorstep. Then, it’s just frightening.

I really enjoyed Lindsay Marcott’s last book, Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost. Her name is what drew me to reading this book. Then I read the synopsis and well, I’m a sucker for a good ghost story. This didn’t disappoint.

Shadow Sister has all the gothic horror feels. Creepy mansion with a dark history. Some strange characters, like Ava’s father and sister-in-law. Blackwood Mansion is written very much like a character on its own in this story. It lives and breathes and seems to move with the story with as much flesh and blood as the human people (and just as strange).

What worked well for me:

  • Gothic ghost story
  • Great atmosphere. Spooky and dark. It was hard to imagine the sun shining on this mansion at all. It always felt stormy.
  • Good backstory for the characters. Nice bit of growth for Ava and James.
  • Decent ending and nice wrap up.
  • Loved the multiple points of view. It was woven nicely so I didn’t feel lost at all.

What didn’t work for me:

  • It was a little predictable. I knew who “dun it” pretty quickly.
  • The history of the mansion didn’t seem to really play into the events that happened in Ava’s family.

Overall, this was a nice read. It’s a fast read so the pace is really good and you’re not left lingering too long in one place which it good. If you like gothic ghost stories, I would recommend this one!

My rating: :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Dunmoor

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: London Clarke

England, 1818. Lady Helena Winters hasn’t seen her husband in over a year—not since he disappeared without a trace. Torn between seeking a new purpose for her life and longing for her husband to return, Helena travels with her father to Dunmoor House for a fundraising ball. Although the estate was once her husband’s ancestral home, it has recently been purchased by Luke Lennox, a gentleman planning to establish a foundling hospital.

Helena quickly finds herself battling memories of life with her husband and searching for answers to what might have happened to him. Even so, she is drawn to Luke Lennox and his dream of saving and educating children—a passion she shares.

Within Dunmoor’s decaying walls lies a long and sordid history, a legacy of evildoers perpetrating unspeakable acts of wickedness. Now, the corridors echo with voices. Vines grow inside the house, and shadowy figures plague the children at night.

But in the dark forest on the edge of the property, a terrible secret awaits, and what Luke and Helena uncover there will endanger both their lives.

NOTE: Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Read with the lights ON!

Last night, I sat up reading this book, doing the “just one more chapter” thing until it was well past midnight. I’m a huge fan of gothic horror/suspense/ghost stories and this one was right up my alley. 

I was drawn quickly into this story, into every character and their lives. I love Helena’s strength, charisma, intelligence and compassion. I totally fell for Luke and his wanting to save the world attitude. His friend, Alex, provided comic relief as well as that reckless hero figure. The backstory was wonderful, filled with curses and folklore. I love when folklore is written in such a way that it gives life to inanimate objects. I never look at a tree the same way again!

The settings were very well written. I love when a scene in a story’s setting is cold, damn and chilly and I find myself reaching for a cup of tea and a blanket. It’s the perfect marriage between setting and suspense that leaves me wondering if the chill running down my spine is from terror or from the cold. 

Some potentially triggering moments…I understood the folklore to be very dark, very tragic, and very sinister. However, some of the human suffering factors, especially where the children were concerned, was a bit much. It’s not a hidden fact that orphans in the 1800’s were treated horribly.  That being said, I understand the author is also trying to bring attention to the very real modern day problem of sex trafficking. Kudos to her for doing that so well with this story. 

And that ending!! Woah! I’m already there for the next book and new adventures with Helena and Luke. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star: 

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

Behind the Veil

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By: E.J. Dawson

In 1920s Los Angeles, Letitia Hawking reads the veil between life and death. A scrying bowl allows her to experience the final moments of the deceased. She brings closure to grief-stricken war widows and mourning families.

For Letitia, it is a penance. She knows no such peace.

For Alasdair Driscoll, it may be the only way to save his niece, Finola, from her growing night terrors. But when Letitia sees a shadowy figure attached to the household, it rouses old fears of her unspeakable past in England.

When a man comes to her about his missing daughter, the third girl to go missing in as many months, Letitia can’t help him when she can’t see who’s taken them.

As a darkness haunts Letitia’s vision, she may not be given a choice in helping the determined Mr Driscoll, or stop herself falling in love with him. But to do so risks a part of herself she locked away, and to release it may cost Letitia her sanity and her heart. 

From the very first page, this book grabbed me and didn’t let go. I was instantly intrigued by Letitia and her world as well as her gift. Alasdair Driscoll was an engaging, maddening and seriously endearing character. 

As a ghost story, this works. There’s enough of the eeriness and creep factor within these pages to make many shivers run up and down your spine. Letitia’s reaction to the first taste of real darkness we come in contact with was enough to have me sleeping with my closet light on. 

As a thriller, this story also works. There’s enough of a who-dun-it to keep you guessing as to why girls went missing and what happened to them as well as Finola’s fate, how it’s all tied to the missing girls as well as Letitia’s fate and who will survive when it’s all over. 

The undertone romance between Letitia and Alasdair was nicely written. It was just that – an undertone; a subplot that didn’t subvert or take over the main plot of the story in any way. It was weaved through the main plot so nicely and so lightly and yet, it was almost pivotal to the outcome of the story. 

I really loved all the glimpses in the readings Letitia did for others as it gives us a view of her gift from the inside. The character of Letitia is strong, broken, vulnerable, and endearing. I loved to see her growth as the story progresses. 

While the ending wasn’t necessarily a shock ending, it provided enough answers to the questions I had to satisfy my desire for a complete outcome. I was very content with how this story ended. 

All in all, this is a wonderful story that’s beautifully written. It’s a fast=paced read perfect for chilly winter nights, wrapped up with a blanket and a nice cup of tea. 

My rating – :star: :star: :star: :star:

Posted in Bookish and Bingeable

The Resting Place

Posted on by Vikki Lynn Sorensen

By Camilla Sten

The medical term is prosopagnosia. The average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, her anxiety mounts. The dark feelings of having brushed by a killer, yet not know who could do this—or if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a dark past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

A heart-thumping, relentless thriller that will shake you to your core, The Resting Place is an unforgettable novel of horror and suspense. 

Note – Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This is the second Camilla Sten book I’ve read. I read The Lost Village last month and it was a decent read. I wanted to give her another try. 

In truth – I didn’t love it. It started out all mysterious and eerie. The timelines flipped back and forth from the past to present and back again. In the beginning, it was hard to know who was who – I got a little lost in the introduction of the character Anushka. 

The spooky atmosphere starts to build immediately as Eleanor and her boyfriend, Sebastian, reach Solhoga, the abandoned family mansion in the woods. Floorboards creak, a dumb waiter has a mind of its own, shadows appear in the woods and doors open by themselves. The main character has prosopagnosia (face blindness) which adds to the intensity of the story. You can clearly see the two storylines racings heading towards an intersection. Clearly, the author wants us to think the house is haunted and tries to write it as a character on its own. 

Unfortunately, it fell a little flat to me. The storm that cuts Eleanor and her party off from all civilization seems a little contrived. The characters were uninteresting and over-dramatic. There were a few loose ends that left me with question – like Vivianne’s background. It’s hinted at but never really explained. The relationship between her and Anushka is weird and unexplainable. The family dynamic was really disjointed. Sebastian was condescending and commonplace. I didn’t buy that he cared even a little for Eleanor. 

The macabre ending was predictable and uninteresting.

I will say that Sten’s writing style, her use of vocabulary is stunning. She’s descriptive and fluid. She’s detailed without losing you in the detail and is adept at creating a tangible atmosphere.  

Overall, I wanted to love this but I didn’t. However, I’m still a fan of Camilla Sten and eagerly await what she’s got in store for us next.

My rating – :star: :star: :star: