A review by chainsawheartbooks
My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“I wanted to eat her up and drink her in. I was hungry for her touch and her words and her love.”

A tale of ghosts, a discussion about mental health, and a truly wonderful love story.

I absolutely adored this book, I didn’t ever want to put it down, and I’m fairly sure I fell asleep mid-chapter as I kept telling myself just one more page!

Set in the 1950s, Roos and Agnes are two beautifully rich characters that transcend their era. The writing was just gorgeous and I desperately need another novel from Van Veen, please. In fact, this has sky-rocketed into my top three.

As with all horrors, especially those set before the modern day, there are a lot of potential triggers which are important to note (these can be found below), and the author does include a content warning at the start which I thought was a nice touch. 

Some of the characters angered me in such a deep way that I wanted to jump in the book and fight them myself. But then others, such as Peter, were so genuine and good that it lifted my heart to read; especially the scene with him and the bee! 🐝 

If you’re looking for a heart wrenching love story that’s perfectly interlaced with a chillingly haunted edge, then I can highly recommend, especially for this spooky season.
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