Tag: book review

Book Review – The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror

~ A. Siegelster

The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Gathering Dark is probably one of the best contemporary horror anthologies I have read so far. While this book is marketed to teens and young adults, these stories are some of the creepiest I have read (which further goes to show that, often, middle grade, teen, and young adult books can be better reads than adult books). Although, unlike many adult horror stories, several of these stories have a happy or at least ambiguous ending – it gives the reader hope for the main character.
Each story features a young person, usually a teenager about to go to college, who is trying to live and fall in love or make strong friendships, but something in their lives goes wrong or prevents them from living a somewhat normal life. Usually that preventative thing is something of the supernatural, often with an evil presence. Each story definitely takes something from folklore, though it is sometimes difficult to know what aspects of folklore or cultures they come from (unless explicitly said by the author). What I love about most of these folkloric tales, though, is that all of them have something to do with death or with the dead. To me, there are no creepier stories, nor stories that tell more truths about the nature of humanity.
I loved the atmosphere in these stories, the feeling of being trapped while simultaneously seeing an escape just around the corner. I liked the sense of leaving something behind, whether it is the thing that creates the horror, or an old life traded for a new and improved one. I also love that several of these stories feature lgbt protagonists. Every story was so well-written, I want to check out more stories written by these authors. I recommend this anthology to anyone who wants a good and creepy atmosphere.

This is the end of my short review. In the next section, I will review individual stories, which means there might be spoilers.


Stay by Erica Waters

This is, in my opinion, the saddest story of the whole collection. A young woman, who takes care of her grandmother and cousin by herself, also has to tend to the spirits in their family’s graveyard, else they drag her down into her own grave. Our protagonist wants to leave this town, wants to have a relationship with the beautiful daughter of her boss. What she doesn’t realize, though, is that she has been tending to the dead more than she realized. This is a story about grief, and how memories and loved ones stay with us, long after they have departed. It is also a story about remembering to live, which, in times of grief, is hard to do. I loved the way this story was written and, though it was short, you could feel all the emotions put into it. Definitely my favorite story of this anthology. I am not sure what folklore this is based on, though I would guess it is based on Hispanic/Latino folklore (but please correct me if I’m wrong).


The Tallest Poppy by Chloe Gong

This story had so much potential to be the creepiest ever, but it feels like the author didn’t see it through. This story has the creepy, perhaps haunted house with a curse apparently on it. Our protagonist goes to work and live at this house as a nanny, and she knows that whoever lives there has died pretty quickly. No one, however, knew why. She starts to work there and you have the elements of a haunted house: sleepwalking family members, seemingly in a trance; haunted dolls; and perhaps a haunting connection with the sea. That last bit was what I wish the author had gone into more. The main character says over and over that the sounds of the sea drive her nuts, and then she starts having hallucinations of drowning. But then the author makes the villain, or haunting presence, the dolls and the house, with no real connection to the sea. The folklore isn’t really explained. Again, so much potential, but this story felt a bit messy.


Loved by All, Save One by Tori Bovalino

Now this is a story for long winter nights. This story has everything: a vengeful ghost, kids trapped in a house on their own in the middle of nowhere. There is so much suspense in this story because you can imagine being one of those kids, alone in the dark house, jumping at every little noise that could be a ghost or a burglar. And, speaking as someone who lives in one of the coldest places on earth, there is no worse feeling than being surrounded by a whiteout of snow. What I love about this story, though, is that instead of just a figure of malice and revenge, the vengeful ghost acts as a protector too. We need more stories where the vengeful spirit acts out of a desire to protect and prevent the past from repeating itself, rather than just being angry for the sake of being angry (although those stories can be very suspenseful too). Unfortunately, though, this is another one of those stories in which someone gets left behind in order for the others to live.


One-Lane Bridge by Hannah Whitten

This story reminded me of the Alton Bridge in Texas, you know, the one that Ryan and Shane stole from the demon? I do wonder if the bridge in this story is supposed to be based on Alton Bridge. It wouldn’t surprise me, though bridges are often sites of hauntings and demons, as they are somewhat liminal spaces – places for transition. We follow a group of highschoolers in their senior year. The protagonist of this group has been cheated on by her boyfriend, and feels resentful towards him and her friend group. They go to this bridge to make a deal with the demon who resides there. The protagonist, however, does not finish her deal in time, and the demon, who really feeds on fear and the blood of the living, plagues her friends to kill her and give the demon her blood. I sort of wish the story went more into the folklore aspects of the bridge, but I know that the purpose of this story is about the strength of friendships (or lack thereof). I thought the atmosphere around the bridge was very well-written. However, I think I just wasn’t as keen on the plot overall. I think this could be a better story if it were longer. But other than that, give me a spooky demon bridge any day.


Ghost on the Shore by Allison Saft

This ghost story reminds me of stories about the woman in the well, or the lady in the lake (not the Arthurian versions), wherein the dead come back from a watery grave to see to unfinished business they left behind. The protagonist knows such stories, and goes to the lake where her beloved has drowned, to tell her of her feelings. But the ghoulish entity of this beloved friend seems wrong to the protagonist, but that doesn’t stop the protagonist from giving the ghoul a lift and trying to talk things out. This is a story about moving on from grief, and a reminder that grief is best shared and experienced with someone who understands. This story has such a gloomy atmosphere, perfect for an undead presence who rises from the water. What I wasn’t thrilled by in this story was that it was a lot of just driving around with the ghoul, instead of getting more into the folklore. Totally relatable story (minus the driving the ghoul around), but I really wanted to know more about the folklore and the history behind the undead that come from the lake in this story.


Petrified by Olivia Chadha

I loved this story. It was atmospheric, it was about trees and a creepy forest! This story has themes of colonization, revenge, and nature. The main characters, who are either indigenous to the land or who settled there before the “bad” colonizers (it’s hard to tell), seek to avenge their stolen land and livelihood by killing those who have or who are related to the ones who have done so. To do this, they use their connection to the forest to help trap their victims. Stories that take place in seemingly haunted forests are some of my favorites. There’s always something ancient and foreboding about the trees that have been on the land forever, and that is, in my opinion, how it should be. This story, actually, would have been a good one for the anthology Weird Woods, if it took place in Britain and not (what I presume is) America. The way it is written, you get such a sense of the darkness in the story, of the possibility of getting lost in the woods and never finding your way out.


Third Burn by Courtney Gould

You could easily imagine that the town this story takes place in is Salem (though it is actually in Oregon, and not Oregon’s Salem). The main character is an outcast from her hometown, though she is back and met without much welcome. She knows she must get out of this town, but the price to do it might be too high. It is definitely dangerous; though, with the help from the ghosts of the witches who were burned in the town long ago, our protagonist might just be able to escape, and maybe become a witch (or a ghost) herself. This is a story about prejudice – prejudice against lower classes, prejudice against women, prejudice against anyone who is different. It is a story in which the Church, as a negative entity, plays a sort of villain or antagonist to our protagonist. It definitely recalls the days of the witch trials, but also reminds us that such prejudices still exist. I have to say, I really disliked everyone in this story, but for good reason. The other characters seemed relentless in their hatred of the protagonist, even though she did her time and was trying to get back to normal. I do wish, though, that there was more interaction with the protagonist and other characters – she only interacts with her former best friend/love interest, and the rest of the feeling from the town is implied. I definitely got VVitch vibes from this story.


It Stays With You by Aden Polydoros

This story is based on the classic Bloody Mary game we would all play as kids in front of a mirror in a dark bathroom. Except, this time, it is not just Bloody Mary who will get you from the mirror, but your own deepest fears. This story struck me as the Bloody Mary game meets Stephen King’s IT, in which the main characters are haunted by their worst fear that threatens to come out of the mirror and destroy them. I can’t say much more except that this story really does have Stephen King vibes, and there is the atmosphere of a creepy carnival that reminds me of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes. It wasn’t my favorite story of the bunch, as the paranormal elements were not as ghoulish as I usually like, but that’s just me. This is, essentially, a story about memories, trauma, and moving forward (in this case, the moving forward might include beating a monster up with a baseball bat).


Truth or Dare by Alex Brown

Not going to lie, this story reminds me so very much about a scary story my counselors told me at camp, about some tunnels under UCLA, and the people who went in there. One escaped, and one didn’t, supposedly killed and eaten by a man or creature who lived in the tunnels. This story has a similar premise: tunnels underneath a school, and when two people go in, only one comes back out. In this story, however, the tunnels only appear to someone who has to make a decision, and as a result leave the other person behind in the tunnels. There is some creature or entity in these tunnels that seems to make this possible, and it is implied that this entity does kill the person who is left behind. I really loved the atmosphere in this story. You could imagine the dark and damp of the tunnels, the urge to press on and get out. What I was less keen on – though it is super relatable – is the relationship between the protagonist and the boy she brings with her into the tunnels. They have a very toxic relationship, which is why the decision comes to the protagonist in the form of going into the tunnels. I think the biggest issue I had with the protagonist is that even when she leaves behind the boy in the tunnels, realizes she’s better off without him, she still doesn’t seem to have much agency. I have no doubt that that is done on purpose by the author, and I understand why: the protagonist is supposed to represent all who have to make a decision in the tunnels, and we don’t really know what happens to either party when one escapes with their decision. It makes sense, but I still wish she had more agency. This is just a personal feeling, and one that has no bearing on how good the story actually is.


The Burning One by Shakira Toussaint

This story can easily be summed up as: “girl in a toxic relationship goes feral”. I believe this story uses Caribbean folklore as its basis, which is utterly fascinating and a topic I would love to read more about. Themes in this story include colonization (always a true element of horror and terror), racism, and slavery. I won’t go into too much detail about these themes in relation to the story, but I think you can guess where it’s headed. What I thought was so interesting was the transformation of the protagonist from curious girl to a creature hungry for revenge (literally), was that it is sort of left open to interpretation. One could interpret the transformation as a sort of werewolf or vampiric transformation. Otherwise, the protagonist could simply have just become so overcome with her hunger for revenge that she literally eats those she wants to punish. I am sure there are stories in the folklore that refer to such a transformation or woman, but I am not versed enough yet to make the connection. I very much want to though! The language that Toussaint wrote this story in was very interesting as well. It was English, but a purposefully simple and/or broken English to illustrate the limited worldview of the protagonist. I’m not always a fan of this writing style – it’s a bit hard to read, and it is not always consistent. However, for the purposes of this story, it seems to work.

Thank you so much for reading!






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Book Review – The Haunting Season

~ A. Siegelster

The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights by Bridget Collins

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Haunting Season includes eight short stories full of mind-bending haunts and cold winter nights. This was a wonderful read to get me into the spooky mood, and the cold, dark, and snow of Winnipeg was the perfect atmosphere for these wintertime spooks.

Overall, I thought all of the stories were good. I will, however, briefly go through each story and discuss my favorites and least favorites. The short, spoiler-free review will end here with this recommendation: if you want to get back into the spooky mood, this is a great book to read on a cozy winter night.

Discussion of the stories:

Story 1 – A Study in Black and White by Bridget Collins

If you guessed that this story has to do with chess, you would be right. And that premise alone got me into the story. An entire house that is obsessed with chess, even the garden is a giant chessboard. However, I did not like the climax of the story so much. It is indeed a haunted house, with its own chess-playing ghost. But that’s all it does. The protagonist is terrified for his life of this ghost, and all the ghost wants to do is play chess. If the ghost did have nefarious, chess-related schemes, the author needed to expand upon it further.

Story 2 – Thwaite’s Tenant by Imogen Hermes Gowar

This is your classic, gothic haunted house story. A woman and her son have come to an ancestral home to escape her tyrannical husband. But she soon discovers that the ghost of this old house is another tyrannical husband, bent on making all the women in that house miserable. What I liked, though, is that even though things went wrong at every turn, the protagonist knew her own mind and ended up better for it.

Story 3 – The Eel Singers by Natasha Pulley

I loved this story, I think it was my favorite of the anthology. This is a mind bend if I ever read one. A man and his clairvoyant friend (partner?) go to an old village where the clairvoyant is not able to see the future. However, they find out that the reason for this is more sinister than they would have liked. This has elements of folklore that I love – going somewhere where old traditions live on, a Lovecraftian eldritch whatever that is trying to eat them, the bog. What I also liked is that you don’t really know what is going on, you only have hints – to me, the not knowing is the scariest part of these stories.

Story 4 – Lily Wilt by Jess Kidd

You know the story about Carl Tanzler? The guy who was obsessed so with a young woman that he kept her dead body and lived with it several years after she died? This is like that story, but also kind of the opposite? Basically the same sort of plot, except the man meets the woman after she is dead, and the whole thing is her idea. I liked this story because we really don’t know what it is that’s causing the dead woman to remain earth-bound. Is it even the same woman? Is it a demon or some other spirit? Either way, it does not end well for her. I also liked the author’s use of the photographic technology available at the time this story takes place, and the creepy lore of afterimages in old Victorian photographs. I could see this being made into a movie or short.

Story 5 – The Chillingham Chair by Laura Purcell

This story is basically a murder mystery that never gets resolved. Yes, we find out what happens, but the main character is sort of trapped in such a way that she can’t tell anyone, and no one will listen. Think Gaslight meets Crimson Peak. This story was the most nerve-wracking for me because the protagonist was for all intents and purposes trapped. No one would believe her anything, except the ghosts who were trying to help her. Death is almost certain for her, even as she realizes what is going on. The imagery of the rooms and the titular chair is very claustrophobic, but I like it, and I do hope that it was the author’s intention. This atmosphere makes the story that much more frightening.

Story 6 – The Hanging of the Greens by Andrew Michael Hurley

This, to me, was the weirdest story, and the most Christmassy. Think of it as a sort of reverse Christmas Carol, where the past of someone else comes to the protagonist in order to right a past wrong, and the protagonist is only too willing to help. This is one story where I wish the author had described just a bit more of the supernatural phenomena, or the folklore behind the “Greens” of this story. There wasn’t much real fear to be felt, only a lot of sadness. Then again, many ghost stories are just symbols of sadness, and the author does this well.

Story 7 – Confinement by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

This story was very clearly based at least partly on The Yellow Wallpaper, but what’s also cool is that the author based the villain of this story on Amelia Dyer, a notorious historical serial killer. This serial killer, however, is a malevolent ghost in this story, the one driving the protagonist mad during her confinement after giving birth. Unlike The Yellow Wallpaper, this story does not take place in just one room. In fact, the journey from the protagonist’s room, through all of the snow, and to the church a ways away is an important spatial feature. I also liked how we as the reader knew for certain, even if others didn’t, that the protagonist was not mad.

Story 8 – Monster by Elizabeth Macneal

This isn’t really a ghost story, at least I don’t really think so. It’s about a man who wants to discover a new type of dinosaur, but gets a boy killed in the process. He then goes mad, thinking that the dinosaur is the boy, and vice versa. This is a story with a definite unreliable narrator. I think this is my least favorite story, mostly because it’s not very haunted, it’s more like you’re in the mind of an insane person, which can be scary, but it’s not my cup of tea. I did like the atmosphere of the stormy coast though!


And those are my thoughts! I definitely recommend this anthology for a cozy winter night. This book also makes me want to check out the other works of each author.



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Book Review – The Vanishing of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes

~ A. Siegelster

The Vanishing of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars




In this third installment of the Aveline Jones series, our protagonist, Aveline, and her friend Harold travel to Scarbury to find clues about the disappearance of Avenline’s uncle. When they go through his house and his things, though, they find the mystery to his disappearance more supernatural than expected.

As with the other two of this series, I absolutely adored this book. I don’t know that there are any negative opinions I have about this book, so I will focus on the many positives!

First, the way that Hickes writes makes you feel like you are seeing things through the whimsical perspective of a child, which is the perspective I always wish to have, especially when reading about whimsical subject matters. It’s always reminded me a bit of Coraline, or even Alice in Wonderland, where the child hero(es) must make sense of the fantasy world, learn its rules and its dangers, in order to escape.

Next are the elements of folklore. In the first two books, we see the folklore behind ghosts and witches (two of my favorite folkloric subjects). However, this latest book has covered my absolute favorite piece of folklore:

(SPOILERS BEGIN HERE)

Faeries! Hickes does a fantastic job at describing the more traditional folklore of faeries, even making them as creepy and dangerous as they ought to be. He describes how they are associated with the dead, which is something a lot of books either touch on only briefly or don’t mention at all. And, to me, that is what makes faerie so fascinating and terrific (the scary version of the word), the fact that everything about the faeries is either dead or artificial. One of the best faerie books I have read in a while!

(SPOILERS END HERE)

And lastly, of course, is Aveline herself. She is so headstrong and determined to find her uncle, and to solve every mystery that comes her way. But, most importantly I think, is that she is a fierce friend. I’ve probably said that multiple times in my other Aveline reviews, but it’s true! And you need good friends with you if you are to battle the elements of the supernatural.

What a fabulous book to start the new year with, and perfect for the winter and cold season! I look forward to the next book eagerly!



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Book Review – Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian

~ A. Siegelster

Hither, Page by Cat Sebastian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Hither, Page brings together a spy and a country doctor, both set on discovering who has murdered the village’s nosy charwoman. The spy must find out what happened in order to keep everything low-key. The doctor wants to find out what happened, all the while trying to forget his traumatic memories of World War II. Both doctor and spy want nothing more than peace, and as they are thrown together into this mystery, they find that peace might be possible.

This is my second book by Cat Sebastian, and I am still loving the way that her stories are upbeat and positive, with definitive happy endings for the protagonists. It seems that the struggles and troubles lie mostly with background and supporting characters, and I am fine with this. I loved that the main characters get to be happy – the world needs more happy endings.

I really don’t have anything negative to say about this book, so I will say what I loved most about it.

I liked the way Sebastian wrote the time period. It wasn’t overly emphatic that it was postwar England, but it was also not non-existent. The traumas of the War played an important part in this mystery, but they weren’t presented in a very dramatic way. It is subtle in a way that you know the characters experiencing trauma just want comfort. There are other times where Sebastian lets slip in the peculiarities of postwar England and of England before either World Wars took place. Again, these glimpses are very subtle, but they absolutely work. Sebastian is so good at writing period romances, at least as far as I can tell with the two books I’ve read.

I actually liked the characters a lot. Not just the main characters, but the elderly couple of two old ladies who definitely are not hiding anything; I loved the kind-of annoying teen girl who just wants to be helpful; I even loved the characters whom we only get descriptions of. They all (except for the murderer of course) just want to be happy and want everyone around them to be happy, and who can blame them?

I loved the scenery and the village where the story takes place. It was perfect for this time of year – Winter is just starting, and there are hints of Christmas, but the festivities aren’t quite there yet. I’d never been to the Cotswolds, but I have been to the Lake District, and the little village in this book reminded me of the small villages I saw there.

Not much more I can say except that I loved this book, and that I will be reading more of Sebastian’s books soon.



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Book Review – The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman

~ A. Siegelster

The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



In The Widow’s House by Carol Goodman, couple Jess and Clare Martin travel from New York City to the New York countryside where Clare grew up, to get away from their troubles and to repair their marriage. Or so Clare is led to believe. They become caretakers of the house of their old, wealthy writing instructor, but are uneasy as ghosts, both real and imagined, start to come out of the house.

This is the second novel I’ve read by Carol Goodman; the first I read was The Lake of Dead Languages. Overall, I very much enjoyed this novel. The atmosphere of Riven House was palpable – you could feel the secrets seeping out of its walls (sometimes literally!). Adding the touch of Winter to the landscape as well made this novel a bona fide ghost story (like in The Children of Green Knowe), even if the ghosts were only in the characters’ minds.

The characters were good, and mostly believable. There were times, however, when their decisions didn’t feel so realistic – though if you are frightened out of your wits, how realistic can you actually be? For Clare, though, Goodman did a fantastic job narrating the mind of someone who is almost certainly paranoid and delusional, but whose delusions are proved to be based in reality more and more over time. By the end of the story, you can’t be certain if Clare has overcome her paranoia or has been more soundly rooted to it. But, after reading her story, you can’t blame her for it, instead you feel empathy, like you feel that you yourself have her wits. And that is why Goodman’s characters are so well-written, even if I very much don’t agree with a lot of their decisions.

These themes, atmosphere, and characters (especially the crazy wife) recall such stories as The Yellow Wallpaper, Dragonwyck, and Jane Eyre, making this book feel wonderfully gothic, and a short version of the Bildungsroman story.

The Widow’s House was a good book to end the Autumn season with. I still like The Lake of Dead Languages much better, I felt it was a more interesting story, but that could just be because I’m biased towards people who study Latin. This story was still very compelling and had me anxious for Clare through to the end.



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Book Review – What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

~ A. Siegelster

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



What Moves the Dead is a close retelling of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe, though Kingfisher adds to the twist at the end with something dark and alien. This book was delightfully creepy, hitting the reader with that gothic atmosphere that is so enthralling. I loved the atmosphere. Fungi must be popular as a horror element of fiction these days (I know there are fungi in Mexican Gothic too), but the way Kingfisher had this novel’s fungi was wonderfully scientific and anatomical – perfect for the early Victorian setting. That paired with the dead, who seem to not be very dead at all, makes for a good old-fashioned spook.

The reason I am giving this book only three stars is that, for me personally, it could have been creepier, and the twist could have been a bit more mysterious. I find that the more you reveal about a horror, the less horrific it is. The less you know about it, the more unknown it is, the scarier it becomes. Not that the dead walking the earth isn’t scary in itself, but we end up finding out the reason, which took the feeling of dread away from me. In Poe’s original story, we really don’t know why the House of Usher and its inhabitants fell, and that is why the story is so creepy and horrific.

Here are some things that Kingfisher added to the story that I did like:
The narrator, the one who goes to visit the House of Usher, is (I’m pretty sure) transgender, with their country having a separate gender for sworn soldiers in a fictional Galacia. I thought that was an interesting bit of lore for this story’s earth.

I did like the characters, and I think Ms. Potter, the amateur mycologist, is my favorite. I wish we saw more of her, but she graces the story as our resident fungus expert. She also takes no nonsense, and I want to be like her that way. I also liked Denton (sp?), who is, at first, kind of a stupid American, but in the most endearing way.

I recommend this book as a pretty good retelling of Poe’s short story. Now that I have read this novel, I look forward to checking out more of Kingfisher’s work.

*I listened to the audiobook on Scribd*



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Book Review – All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

~ A. Siegelster

All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



All the Horses of Iceland is a fictional historical account of Eyvind, a man from Iceland who travels all the way to Mongolia and back in search of horses to trade and sell. During this journey, he encounters ghosts, and a magic horse that not only may ensure his survival on his way back to Iceland, but also the survival of the many horses that travel with him.

I went into this book expecting a lot more mythology than history, and so I was a bit disappointed at the lack of fantastical elements. I thought it was going to be a folk tale about the origins of horses in Iceland, which I guess this was, but still not enough mythos. What there was – ghosts and the folklore of lands foreign to the protagonist – I did appreciate. It was a lot of magical realism, which I also appreciate, using the beliefs of different peoples at the time to illustrate a strange happening in this man’s journey. However, instead of feeling like an origin story, it felt more like a short folk tale – unexpected, but welcomed nonetheless.

I did like the historical elements of this novella. I liked the diverse cast of characters that Eyvind meets: Jewish traders, many Khazars (most at war), some Rus (also at war), a Muslim poet, and, of course, a Khan of Mongolia. I thought that was very interesting, and illustrated the possible life of someone who lived during this time (around the Medieval period). I also loved the representation of languages in this novella. Tolmie does not actually write out languages foreign to the protagonist, but the way she has him experience them is a wonderful experience to read. He is appreciative, and not often upset that he doesn’t understand.

I’m glad I read this book, but again the lack of mythology does not make it a favorite. I know many will love it though for its history and characters.




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Book Review – Gallant by V.E. Schwab

~ A. Siegelster

Gallant by V.E. Schwab

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Gallant by V.E. Schwab is about Olivia, who cannot speak, but who can see ghosts. One day, she receives a letter at her orphanage/school from her uncle, asking her to come home to her family estate, Gallant. When she gets there, however, she finds that her uncle did not in fact write her that letter. So what brought her to Gallant? And why had her mother warned Olivia, in the journal she left behind, to stay away?

V.E. Schwab has written the perfect haunted house/gothic tale in Gallant. It has hints of The Haunting of Hill House and Crimson Peak mixed in with Coraline. I loved the juxtaposition of life versus death, of mirrored worlds where the reflection is lifeless. To me, this is true horror, the true fear of what lies on the other side of the threshold – it’s what we see when we think of the Faerie realm, of the place over the garden wall, and Schwab captures that terror so wonderfully.

I really don’t have anything I disliked about this book, so I will talk more about the things I did like. I liked the atmosphere of Gallant, how it was definitely spooky, but also definitely alive with something.
I loved the way Schwab portrayed the ghosts (or ghouls in this book), and the system within which they worked – seen by Olivia, and even able to be manipulated to an extent that made a lot of sense for this story. A lot of ghost stories I’ve read fall short on their representation of ghosts, but this one joins the ranks of Shirley Jackson, and even Edgar Allen Poe.
I liked the characters, too. How Schwab portrayed their pain and grief so well, how she portrayed Olivia’s lack of understanding of this grief in the beginning, and led her to understand it later. The characters (the ones on our side) are warm, are a family, are what you want for the hero who must (very literally) face death.

I don’t want to say any more because that would spoil the story. But this book was nothing short of perfection, and I really want V.E. Schwab to write more ghost stories in this style.



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Book Review – Help Wanted by Richie Tankersley Cusick

~ A. Siegelster

Help Wanted by Richie Tankersley Cusick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Help Wanted by Richie Tankersley Cusick is about (fyi, the Goodreads description is incorrect) a high schooler named Robin, who answers an ad to work in the old, enormous house of Mr. Swanson, cataloguing books belonging to his late daughter-in-law. Robin goes to work, despite her annoyance at Mr. Swanson’s dashing grandson, and the warnings he made to her about his apparently insane sister, Claudia. Soon, Robin gets pulled into the family’s sordid history, which is rearing its ugly head in the present.

This is my third book by Richie Tankersley Cusick, and I am still having fun with them. I love that they are all about a girl going up against a mystery, and having to learn who to trust along the way or pay. Also the gothic atmospheres are absolutely wonderful. Cusick always provides the spookiest houses.

I thought this particular book was fun, but, again, the plotlines came together way too quickly. There were no little clues that you could follow to unravel the plot, or even to be tricked into predict a totally incorrect plotline. I do realize that because this is basically a murder mystery that Robin gets pulled into, there’s not much time for gradual revealing of the plot; however, how abrupt it all is is not my cup of tea. I like a bit more intrigue.

I wish we had gotten to know the characters a bit more in-depth. I feel like in Trick or Treat we really had an inside look into all of the relevant characters. In this book, it was very minimal – just enough so you know how they fit in with the mystery. It all felt a bit too shallow for me, personally. However, I know a lot of people like more of a crazy plot than spending too much time with characters, and I am sure that’s why many have loved this book.

Overall, a super fun, creepy read. I will be delving into more of Cusick’s books in the future, though, after three in a row, it may be time for a short break.



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Book Review – The Drifter by Richie Tankersley Cusick

~ A. Siegelster

The Drifter by Richie Tankersley Cusick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



The Drifter by Richie Tankersley Cusick is about Carolyn and her mother, who, after the death of Carolyn’s father, find out that they’ve inherited an old house from their old aunt. Carolyn’s mother desires to turn the old house into a bed and breakfast. But Carolyn doesn’t like the idea, especially considering its location – right on the cliffs over the sea in dense fog – and considering is grisly history. Soon, the history of the old house comes out to haunt Carolyn.

This book was wonderfully atmospheric and spooky. I love haunted stories that take place by the sea, spooky or no (see The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Haunting of Aveline Jones), and I am adding this book to that list of mine. Cusick has such a talent for making a location – haunted house, haunted school, haunted seaside cliffs – the most frightening place you could ever go. I was on the edge of my seat worried for Carolyn in that old house; I am sure I started hyperventilating at some point.

There were points in the plot and aspects of the characters, however, that I didn’t like as much. For one thing, Cusick really knows how to make a character annoying. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and it makes sense for her stories. But I think I would like to have more chill, reasonable characters sometimes (like the brother in Trick or Treat). Carolyn also seems to trust or distrust other characters way too quickly: she doesn’t take enough time to process anything, but especially people she’s just met. Also, she really, really needs to stand up to her mother more.

The plot felt like things happened too quickly towards the end. I usually prefer very gradual revealings of different elements of a mystery, which is what I liked more about Trick or Treat. In this book, the beginning is slow with lots of atmosphere – this I liked. The end, though, hits you with a bunch of necessary plot points all at once. I would have liked to have gotten to know more in the beginning so that things would connect better later.

All of this said, I really did love the atmosphere of this book. I will definitely be reading more of Cusick’s work, and I am so happy there is a giant backlog of books of hers to read!

I read this book on Scribd



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