Reviews

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James

tschinstock's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

2.5

burningupasun's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this. A perfectly good historical ghost story. The ghost bits were creepy, the histotical bits were nice, I even loved the little dashes of romance here and there. Honestly, I kind of wish this had been a series. I'd love to read about them solving even more ghost mysteries, haha.

cass1699's review against another edition

4.0

what a great way to kick off the new year! this book was the perfect mix of creepy, mysterious, and romantic. i really enjoyed watching our protagonist sarah come into herself, and i liked how the scary parts of the novel were broken up with scenes of the budding romance between her and matthew. it balanced the story out very well.

my only complaint is that the climax of the book was kind of underwhelming. after all that buildup, i would have liked to see it fleshed out a bit more, as opposed to having maddy’s penultimate act of revenge delivered off-page. it felt quite anticlimactic when all was said and done.

regardless, i tore through this book in two days, and i think that’s a testament to its quality! would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good horror read ☺️

sophiareadsalot's review against another edition

5.0

historical thriller with a romance subplot????? SAY LESS

docteur_casoar's review against another edition

I was so bored! And I didn’t connect with the main character at all. And using birds (especially crows or ravens) as creepy hauntings or bad omens? Automatic ick. So boring and unoriginal! Also crows remember faces, so they’re going to follow you because 1) you feed them, and you’re friends for life now, or 2) you’re a jerk to them, and they’re tired of it. 

Alsooooo I’ve been so spoiled by other WWI books that this wasn’t gonna cut it. 

Also, this narrator sounds exactly the same for every book (although the creepy voice was good), which I put up with for Katee Robert, but didn’t seem to fit this one? I dunno. She’s a wet noodle. 

jenna_bookworm_5822's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

katelynne's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.5

jenwestpfahl's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

The ghost story was compelling enough to continue and the answers were obvious to the reader just the right amount of steps before the characters. I liked the descriptions of Maddy’s antics.

The instant romance was rather hard to believe and kind of weighed down the story. I was not at all expecting the graphic descriptions that went along with this part of the story and wasn’t a fan. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Suicide and War

princessjj14's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

kennedyramsden's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

2.0

This book had a lot of potential. The mystery-ghost storyline was interesting but I quickly lost interest when we threw in random smut scenes and a love story that had no business being in this plot. 

It was fast-paced. Not too meaty. I was able to read it in about 3 hours.