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verse_is's review against another edition
5.0
Forry's characters are wonderfully drawn; they feel real. This book is a combo mystery thriller and gothic ghost story all in one. The way she flips between two plot lines really kept reading and invested in the characters. Relationships, both chosen and familial, are thoroughly explored. The twist of the ghost, the caretaker, and the master of Thornecroft are both surprising and satisfying.
sarahvankuiken's review against another edition
3.0
The characters were compelling, especially Rebecca, Eliza, and Pollard, but the plot left me wanting more. Primed for a big twist, secret, or shift in the story, I instead strolled through a plot that winded itself down slowly into a predictable and somewhat lackluster ending. A worthwhile read for its setting and characters, but it didn’t leave me feeling satisfied due to a lack of significance in many elements of the story: Why that title? Why the secrets? The answers were given, but they weren’t laced with the significance that a more complex story would’ve afforded them.
symph_adventures's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
psychotherabee's review against another edition
4.0
(This review can also be found here: https://beautifulilies.wordpress.com/2017/04/29/abigale-hall-by-lauren-a-forry/).
A copy of this novel was given in exchange for an honest review.
It’s difficult to believe that this is a debut novel because, really, it’s too good to be true. This novel was fast paced all the way through with the author giving away enough to keep you guessing – but never more than that.
Packed with horror among other things that will send chills running down your spine, Abigale Hall is everything it should be of its genre, plus a little more. There were times when I was clutching my Kindle close to me, screaming in anticipation, something that no novel has ever made me do before.
There are more mysteries for Eliza to unravel than that of Victoria’s ghost, Mr Brownawell’s wife-to-be before she met her untimely death. Rebecca, Eliza’s sister, is a mystery in herself, as well as the lingering question of what really brought Eliza and Rebecca to the haunted manor in the first place. And will Peter, Eliza’s sweetheart, ever make it to save the two girls?
Everything about Abigale Hall is well thought out, and if this is Forry’s debut novel, I can’t wait to see what else she churns out. Dripping with suspense right the way through, I would definitely recommend this to fans of horror/mystery stories.
Warning: if you’re going to delve into this novel, just remember, fairytale endings don’t exist.
A copy of this novel was given in exchange for an honest review.
It’s difficult to believe that this is a debut novel because, really, it’s too good to be true. This novel was fast paced all the way through with the author giving away enough to keep you guessing – but never more than that.
Packed with horror among other things that will send chills running down your spine, Abigale Hall is everything it should be of its genre, plus a little more. There were times when I was clutching my Kindle close to me, screaming in anticipation, something that no novel has ever made me do before.
There are more mysteries for Eliza to unravel than that of Victoria’s ghost, Mr Brownawell’s wife-to-be before she met her untimely death. Rebecca, Eliza’s sister, is a mystery in herself, as well as the lingering question of what really brought Eliza and Rebecca to the haunted manor in the first place. And will Peter, Eliza’s sweetheart, ever make it to save the two girls?
Everything about Abigale Hall is well thought out, and if this is Forry’s debut novel, I can’t wait to see what else she churns out. Dripping with suspense right the way through, I would definitely recommend this to fans of horror/mystery stories.
Warning: if you’re going to delve into this novel, just remember, fairytale endings don’t exist.
catynatt's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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? No
2.0
jmimaxwell's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
2.5
miajmu's review against another edition
3.0
Decent gothic mystery... took a little while to get going.
tracey_stewart's review against another edition
2.0
This book is full of dreams and madness.
That sounds like it could be great, doesn't it?
Well … no.
A common piece of advice for aspiring writers is "never start a book with a character's dream". And Lauren A. Forry didn't. However, after a little while it seemed as though every other chapter began with a dream. Another fairly common piece advice for everyone is "your dreams are always much more interesting to you than to anyone else in the world". By the third or fourth time a chapter opened in the middle of Eliza's nightmare, I rolled my eyes. By the fifth or sixth time I was frankly disgusted. This was another time I was constantly on the verge of quitting, but kept reading because I wanted to know how it all would be wrapped up.
Someday I'll learn that it usually isn't really worth it.
The other part of my first line, madness, was something else that started to inspire disgust by the time I got through the book. By the end this book was starting to look like a DSM-5, a psychiatric diagnosis guide. I'm sure I've used the comparison to salt before in a review: some is good, and more is never better. This was just all much too much.
The other reason I kept going was that the writing had some merit. The gradual – very gradual – revelation of what happened to Eliza's family, and the unspooling of how Abigale Hall got to be the place of horror as described in the book was handled well, for the most part.
But characterization was not terribly strong – Eliza's love, Peter, was a bit like a paper doll being moved through the plot, and the bad guys were straight out of central casting for any 60's gothic. And the madness lapping at just about everyone's knees and splashing about on all the walls and ceilings left lots of questions throughout as to who was trustworthy and who was not. Done well, of course, this sort of uncertainty adds to the atmosphere of a creepy gothic novel. Not done well, it can cause whiplash.
And in the end the pain and aberrant behavior and horror – and dreams and madness – proliferated to the point that it became rather pointless, and … I'm tempted to use the phrase "torture porn", especially since a great deal of the aberrant behavior and horror is focused around a young girl. After chapter upon chapter of oh no she's not – oh, she did, I became jaded, until the big climax of the story landed with a blood-soaked thud. It was like the most brutal five episodes of Criminal Minds in which children are involved, the ones I will never ever watch again, balled together and distilled down to take out the enjoyable character moments. And I found the ending completely unsatisfying, and not something that justified ploughing through the whole book.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
That sounds like it could be great, doesn't it?
Well … no.
A common piece of advice for aspiring writers is "never start a book with a character's dream". And Lauren A. Forry didn't. However, after a little while it seemed as though every other chapter began with a dream. Another fairly common piece advice for everyone is "your dreams are always much more interesting to you than to anyone else in the world". By the third or fourth time a chapter opened in the middle of Eliza's nightmare, I rolled my eyes. By the fifth or sixth time I was frankly disgusted. This was another time I was constantly on the verge of quitting, but kept reading because I wanted to know how it all would be wrapped up.
Someday I'll learn that it usually isn't really worth it.
The other part of my first line, madness, was something else that started to inspire disgust by the time I got through the book. By the end this book was starting to look like a DSM-5, a psychiatric diagnosis guide. I'm sure I've used the comparison to salt before in a review: some is good, and more is never better. This was just all much too much.
The other reason I kept going was that the writing had some merit. The gradual – very gradual – revelation of what happened to Eliza's family, and the unspooling of how Abigale Hall got to be the place of horror as described in the book was handled well, for the most part.
But characterization was not terribly strong – Eliza's love, Peter, was a bit like a paper doll being moved through the plot, and the bad guys were straight out of central casting for any 60's gothic. And the madness lapping at just about everyone's knees and splashing about on all the walls and ceilings left lots of questions throughout as to who was trustworthy and who was not. Done well, of course, this sort of uncertainty adds to the atmosphere of a creepy gothic novel. Not done well, it can cause whiplash.
And in the end the pain and aberrant behavior and horror – and dreams and madness – proliferated to the point that it became rather pointless, and … I'm tempted to use the phrase "torture porn", especially since a great deal of the aberrant behavior and horror is focused around a young girl. After chapter upon chapter of oh no she's not – oh, she did, I became jaded, until the big climax of the story landed with a blood-soaked thud. It was like the most brutal five episodes of Criminal Minds in which children are involved, the ones I will never ever watch again, balled together and distilled down to take out the enjoyable character moments. And I found the ending completely unsatisfying, and not something that justified ploughing through the whole book.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.