A really intriguing and fascinating novel, from the gripping opening mystery of ‘who is this woman’ and ‘where has the blood come from’ to the strained relationships throughout, there’s lots of mystery
It’s not a ghost story in the strictest sense as a lot of the ghostly elements are very much in the background and the focus is far more on the relationships between the characters and mother/daughter bonds than anything else - the supernatural elements heighten the strains as opposed to be a really major plot point.
The characters are well written although, honestly, not massively likeable, but that works in the setting and adds to the gloom. It’s also great to see the focus on female characters and the male ones being on the periphery - as a man, I find novels like this really interesting
There are lots of twists and turns along the way (it’s hard to review without giving anything away) but one key point for me was that there were good reasons why the characters didn’t just run at the first sign of potential paranormal problems, which is always an issue in any ghost story or slasher type book/film - the author actually justifies the reasoning which is refreshing
It’s not an out and out horror, so don’t read it expecting that, but it is a really fascinating exploration of relationships and well worth your time
It’s not a ghost story in the strictest sense as a lot of the ghostly elements are very much in the background and the focus is far more on the relationships between the characters and mother/daughter bonds than anything else - the supernatural elements heighten the strains as opposed to be a really major plot point.
The characters are well written although, honestly, not massively likeable, but that works in the setting and adds to the gloom. It’s also great to see the focus on female characters and the male ones being on the periphery - as a man, I find novels like this really interesting
There are lots of twists and turns along the way (it’s hard to review without giving anything away) but one key point for me was that there were good reasons why the characters didn’t just run at the first sign of potential paranormal problems, which is always an issue in any ghost story or slasher type book/film - the author actually justifies the reasoning which is refreshing
It’s not an out and out horror, so don’t read it expecting that, but it is a really fascinating exploration of relationships and well worth your time