ahargrave's review against another edition
3.0
Torn on the rating, more of a 3.5. The build up was good, some creepy moments, but pretty predictable. The ending I wasn’t a fan of, as others have said, it’s extremely abrupt. I scrolled back and forth on my ebook a few times thinking I was missing a final chapter. It just…stops, and doesn’t feel really wrapped up.
darlinginmyway's review
5.0
Creepy and wonderful
This book is excellent. I'm very ambivalent about the ending, but this was a chilling delight from start to finish.
This book is excellent. I'm very ambivalent about the ending, but this was a chilling delight from start to finish.
leahsbooks's review
4.0
CONTENT WARNING: anxiety, drug use, gore, blood, violence
Whoa, this book had me on the edge of my seat. It’s a combination of horror, with psychological elements thrown in, and I couldn’t put it down. This was a single session audiobook for me, and Marcella Cox kept me intrigued with her narration, even if there were some words that she mispronounced. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was so much more than I had initially expected, while it toed the line with my tolerance for horror, since I’m a total wuss.
The story starts out with a mixed family moving to a new house that comes attached to an amazing opportunity. But as I got further into it, I realized that there’s so many issues occurring all at once. There’s family tension, between Mari and her white stepfather, her stepsister who seems to be out to sabotage them while separating their parents. In addition, there is something weird about the house itself. Things start to disappear, there’s strange noises, doors open and close on their own, and no one can go in the locked basement. On top of all of that are Mari’s internal issues — she struggles with anxiety, especially surrounding bedbugs, and there’s a substance abuse issue that runs through the story, which has eroded her family’s trust in her.
While moving to the midwest seems like a brand new start for everyone, the house and the town itself have some serious secrets. As Mari starts to get to know her new town and the cute guy she met, she learns more and goes on a quest to find out what these secrets are. But the problem with that is the fact that the more secrets she finds out, she realizes that the secrets can be dangerous.
I loved the connections between Mari and her younger brother, Sammy, as well as with Yusef. You know I can’t resist a book with a charming pet, and Buddy was such a cutie! But these connections are made amid a setting of gentrification and criminalization of marijuana, which is decimating the population of the town.
This story had me on the edge of my seat. The increasingly creepy setting within the house made me stay listening to this audiobook late into the night, when I should have been sleeping. But a word of warning — there’s a lot of information about bedbugs, which made it especially difficult for me to stay comfortable while lying on my own bed. I can’t lie, a lot of this made me feel incredibly itchy.
Mari is an intriguing character. She’s not the smartest, which made her often overlook warning signs and clues, but she is loyal and sweet for the most part. She cares deeply about the people she is close to, even her antagonistic young stepsister. However, her substance use has caused significant issues within her family, and I thought that this was done very well. In addition, the anxiety rep is great and Mari is not shy about speaking up for herself when it is questioned. It made me love her even more.
While this isn’t a genre I’d normally read, it was a great introduction to Jackson’s incredible ability to write riveting, emotional characters and plots. This was my first Jackson book, and I can promise that it won’t be my last.
Whoa, this book had me on the edge of my seat. It’s a combination of horror, with psychological elements thrown in, and I couldn’t put it down. This was a single session audiobook for me, and Marcella Cox kept me intrigued with her narration, even if there were some words that she mispronounced. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this was so much more than I had initially expected, while it toed the line with my tolerance for horror, since I’m a total wuss.
The story starts out with a mixed family moving to a new house that comes attached to an amazing opportunity. But as I got further into it, I realized that there’s so many issues occurring all at once. There’s family tension, between Mari and her white stepfather, her stepsister who seems to be out to sabotage them while separating their parents. In addition, there is something weird about the house itself. Things start to disappear, there’s strange noises, doors open and close on their own, and no one can go in the locked basement. On top of all of that are Mari’s internal issues — she struggles with anxiety, especially surrounding bedbugs, and there’s a substance abuse issue that runs through the story, which has eroded her family’s trust in her.
While moving to the midwest seems like a brand new start for everyone, the house and the town itself have some serious secrets. As Mari starts to get to know her new town and the cute guy she met, she learns more and goes on a quest to find out what these secrets are. But the problem with that is the fact that the more secrets she finds out, she realizes that the secrets can be dangerous.
I loved the connections between Mari and her younger brother, Sammy, as well as with Yusef. You know I can’t resist a book with a charming pet, and Buddy was such a cutie! But these connections are made amid a setting of gentrification and criminalization of marijuana, which is decimating the population of the town.
This story had me on the edge of my seat. The increasingly creepy setting within the house made me stay listening to this audiobook late into the night, when I should have been sleeping. But a word of warning — there’s a lot of information about bedbugs, which made it especially difficult for me to stay comfortable while lying on my own bed. I can’t lie, a lot of this made me feel incredibly itchy.
Mari is an intriguing character. She’s not the smartest, which made her often overlook warning signs and clues, but she is loyal and sweet for the most part. She cares deeply about the people she is close to, even her antagonistic young stepsister. However, her substance use has caused significant issues within her family, and I thought that this was done very well. In addition, the anxiety rep is great and Mari is not shy about speaking up for herself when it is questioned. It made me love her even more.
While this isn’t a genre I’d normally read, it was a great introduction to Jackson’s incredible ability to write riveting, emotional characters and plots. This was my first Jackson book, and I can promise that it won’t be my last.
aprilthelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up because the blurb said it's a mix of Get Out and The Haunting of Hill House. I would say that is fairly accurate in tone, at least.
I thought about DNFing this book at the beginning, because though the premise was interesting, I thought maybe it just wasn't a book for me. However, by the end, I could not put this down. I had to know what was happening when the creep factor kept going up.
I thought about DNFing this book at the beginning, because though the premise was interesting, I thought maybe it just wasn't a book for me. However, by the end, I could not put this down. I had to know what was happening when the creep factor kept going up.
zizi822's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
katie223's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
reclusivereader's review against another edition
3.0
Throughout this read, I was definitely in the 'like' camp more than the 'love' and had it been the opposite I would've been far more disappointed by the ending than I was. But it was still a huge, abrupt, bummer.
This story is half horror and half psychological anxiety fuelled discomfort. It also has a less than fun new blended family dynamic which was grating in a whole different way, too. While I enjoyed this when it was a horror, I was equally horrified by the circumstances that had plagued this town, the violent gentrification that had occurred (and was still occurring) at the expense of others; but at the same time this particular plot sort've went off the rails in an unbelievable way (not the criminalizations, that, unfortunately is very believable, but the shady corporate conspiracy and the specifics of what they had set up..? yeah, no) -- which, considering I was reading about ghosts and hauntings and potential possession, says a lot.
As a haunted house story, this was great. For someone with an anxiety, reading about Mari's phobias, it was just as unsettling. Everything else, and the ending.. I don't know. Equally in the 'I don't know' pile of things is the reluctance for Mari to jump to the very obvious conclusions about what was happening around her. Why she was so slow to pick up on this, to resist it when others were more convinced, I have no clue.
This one gets a cautious recommend out of me, I think. I absolutely don't want to dissuade you from picking it up but at the same time I'm not going to encourage anyone to read it.. just incase it's even less a hit for you than it was for me.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
This story is half horror and half psychological anxiety fuelled discomfort. It also has a less than fun new blended family dynamic which was grating in a whole different way, too. While I enjoyed this when it was a horror, I was equally horrified by the circumstances that had plagued this town, the violent gentrification that had occurred (and was still occurring) at the expense of others; but at the same time this particular plot sort've went off the rails in an unbelievable way (not the criminalizations, that, unfortunately is very believable, but the shady corporate conspiracy and the specifics of what they had set up..? yeah, no) -- which, considering I was reading about ghosts and hauntings and potential possession, says a lot.
As a haunted house story, this was great. For someone with an anxiety, reading about Mari's phobias, it was just as unsettling. Everything else, and the ending.. I don't know. Equally in the 'I don't know' pile of things is the reluctance for Mari to jump to the very obvious conclusions about what was happening around her. Why she was so slow to pick up on this, to resist it when others were more convinced, I have no clue.
This one gets a cautious recommend out of me, I think. I absolutely don't want to dissuade you from picking it up but at the same time I'm not going to encourage anyone to read it.. just incase it's even less a hit for you than it was for me.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
bertharochestergraduates_8's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
25thavenuewest's review against another edition
5.0
WHOA
This one was EPIC, I devoured it, every little scrap. All of the mystery, strange occurrences, and struggles of a teenage girl. I loved the setting, loved that something always felt a little off about Cedarville to our FMC Mari.
Without going in to too much details, because spoilers, I did not see the twist coming. Not until it was being revealed for the reader to see. Which was AMAZING, I was so focused on the occurrences that nothing else seemed to matter.
I definitely recommend this book for spooky season, let the chill ensue. ;)
This one was EPIC, I devoured it, every little scrap. All of the mystery, strange occurrences, and struggles of a teenage girl. I loved the setting, loved that something always felt a little off about Cedarville to our FMC Mari.
Without going in to too much details, because spoilers, I did not see the twist coming. Not until it was being revealed for the reader to see. Which was AMAZING, I was so focused on the occurrences that nothing else seemed to matter.
I definitely recommend this book for spooky season, let the chill ensue. ;)
yeppyberries's review
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5