Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Haunting of Blackwood House

This was a good old fashioned spooky haunted house story. I liked the moxie of the main character Mara, and her refusal to let her trauma define her, except oops it does. Lol. The male lead was my favorite, both for his want to be there for her, and for his insistence on taking care of her when she really wasn't taking care of herself. I do wish the author had explored more of Mara's backstory, but she is really a formulaic writer. The story was good anyway. The only true dislike I had was the lack of explanation of all the ghosts. I love backstory ala Thirteen Ghosts!

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czoltak's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was the equivalent to all those horror movies that don’t have a good plot but have a lot of jump scares. I have to give this points for actually scaring me and making it hard to not turn more lights on while I was reading. However, the characters were insufferable: we spent so much time on their dysfunctional relationship. Also, the actual storyline was lacking real substance. A good short read when you need some spooky vibes but not one that is super memorable or special.

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kat_rowlen's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Very gripping and spooky read! This is a good book for someone who is just getting into horror books, or who doesn’t like gory horror books! I didn’t like all the decisions the main character made, but it worked out in the end.

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louisegraveyard's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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beckyremillard's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Mara is looking to buy a house and comes across one she feels a connection with that is huge and I’m her price range. The down side is the haunted past - lots of people have died and the last family abandoned it without packing any belongings over a decade ago.

Due to Mara’s own past, she doesn’t believe the house could be haunted. Her boyfriend, Neil, is not a fan of the house but Mara refuses to live elsewhere.

I had read a different book by Darcy Coates and it was just okay, but I figured I’d give another try, especially in the Halloween season. I’m glad I did and I’m even planning to read another of their haunted places books.

This story is pretty much a stereotypical haunting. Of course it can’t be exactly who we suspect it is the whole time, but I found it to be interesting and I wasn’t bored because I couldn’t predict exactly how it would turn out.

It also has a nice ending, which doesn’t always happen with horror books.

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kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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rachelunabridged's review

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funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this book is definitely the weakest of the darcy coates books i've read so far. the plot was really derivative and i just couldn't bring myself to like the characters, even sweet baby neil. on top of being very flat characters, mara was insufferable to a heinous degree and neil's only personality traits were that he was *n i c e* and *s t r o n g*.

the plot was pretty bare-pickings as well. it was a very slow burn, and by the end of it, i just felt like i was reading a fluffier, nicer version of hell house (richard matheson).

all in all, i would give this one a pass and reach for some of her better works like craven manor or the carrow haunt.

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