A review by pedanther
The Haunting of Cassie Palmer by Vivien Alcock

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.0

An image from this book that I think is going to stick with me is the description of Cassie's mother -- Madame Palmer, psychic medium, in her full regalia -- standing in their ordinary kitchen with her velvet dress "falling down her ample curves until it reached the cat's water bowl on the floor". It captures the book's mix of supernatural goings-on with everyday problems.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident

Moderate: Body shaming, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Forced institutionalization

Cassie has a premonition of a car accident, and then is present for the real event. It is described in detail. Nobody is seriously injured, but the description makes a point of how close an escape it was. The 'hate crime' and 'violence' warnings refer specifically to a scene where Cassie has a vision of a past event where a witch-hunting mob persecutes a victim. Deverill's physical deformities are suggested by several characters to be outer signs of a wicked character; ultimately the narrative framing is that this suggestion is incorrect. There is a scene where Cassie's brother is briefly teased about his body weight. There are brief mentions of some of Cassie's family members worrying that Cassie will be institutionalized if her supernatural experiences lead to her being considered delusional. It never becomes an immediate threat, nor does any actual institutionalization occur. There are brief mentions of past child death (Cassie and her siblings talking about the grave of a girl who died at age seven), death of a parent (Cassie's father), and fire/fire injury (in the context of historical witch burnings).