My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So, I've had this book on the top of my Kindle TBR pile for a while. And since I bought a brand new Paperwhite the other day, I decided this was going to be my first read on this device. 😁
Seda lives in a rundown mansion in the middle of nowhere called Bismarck-Chisholm, with her mother and two sets of younger twin brothers and sisters.
When her mother inherited the house that used to be the scene of murder-mystery parties, Seda thought it would be fun to spend the summer in a haunted mansion. But when her mother decides to renovate the crumbling site, it means they're still there in winter.
As if it's not bad enough to be so isolated from her old life in Boston, but her father's gone, and she feels like she's losing her mind. Until a group of students have an accident and seek shelter with her family, and one of the guys catches her eye...
Ooooooh. This book was SO good that I didn't want to put it down. I read it in 24 hours because I just had to know how everything was going to turn out.
It's one of those stories that totally hooked me in. I found it very easy to follow Seda's simple life and big family, as well as her passionate mother. But I worked out pretty early on that Seda was going to be an unreliable narrator and was either leaving details out on purpose, had forgotten important stuff, or was just going nuts because of the isolation.
I thought this was written so well that it kept the creepy and eerie vibe alive all the way through. The snow made me so chilly. The imagery of the old mansion made it very easy to picture the house and its surroundings.
Of course I thought I'd figured out the mystery, because everything seemed to point to a possible revelation, but was pleasantly surprised when everything was turned upside down. I loved that ending!
What an excellent book. I loved how so many cool horror tropes are included and turned into a whole new narrative. Very cool.
I definitely got The Shining vibes throughout, and even a bit of April Fool's Day influence.
Plus I got a real kick out of all the other horror movie references. And since I've been watching horror since I was a kid, I got a kick out of all the kiddos loving them too. 😉
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