A review by netslummer
The Restoration by J.H. Moncrieff
4.0
3.5 stars.
While I enjoyed this book there were a number of glaring issues.
I love a good haunted house. Give me all the ghosts please. This is a whodunit/mystery wrapped in ghosts. While the overall story of the haunting, for me, was glaringly obvious, I still enjoyed it. Nothing about this book surprised me. Is that bad? No. It's a bit formulaic but that formula tends to work so why change it up unnecessarily?
Honestly my major negative for this book was the lack of characters I cared about. Terri is insufferable (sorry) and Dallas is a ten year old but acts like a sixteen year old. It's briefly commented on in a later chapter that Dallas is great "when she's not acting like she's thirty"...it felt like the author's strength isn't in writing believable children. That said Dallas was my favorite character.
There is a vague reference of Gertrude being LGBTQIA+ which was nice, I guess, but felt a little shoehorned in.
There is a reference made early on about Terri thinking Dallas is "on the spectrum" which felt heavy-handed and weird.
There are casual mentions of children considering suicide which is off putting. But, hey, this is a horror novel, right?
I said nothing surprised me but that was a little bit of a lie. The epilogue was a tasty treat at the end.
While I enjoyed this book there were a number of glaring issues.
I love a good haunted house. Give me all the ghosts please. This is a whodunit/mystery wrapped in ghosts. While the overall story of the haunting, for me, was glaringly obvious, I still enjoyed it. Nothing about this book surprised me. Is that bad? No. It's a bit formulaic but that formula tends to work so why change it up unnecessarily?
Honestly my major negative for this book was the lack of characters I cared about. Terri is insufferable (sorry) and Dallas is a ten year old but acts like a sixteen year old. It's briefly commented on in a later chapter that Dallas is great "when she's not acting like she's thirty"...it felt like the author's strength isn't in writing believable children. That said Dallas was my favorite character.
There is a vague reference of Gertrude being LGBTQIA+ which was nice, I guess, but felt a little shoehorned in.
There is a reference made early on about Terri thinking Dallas is "on the spectrum" which felt heavy-handed and weird.
There are casual mentions of children considering suicide which is off putting. But, hey, this is a horror novel, right?
I said nothing surprised me but that was a little bit of a lie. The epilogue was a tasty treat at the end.