Horrid

Whoa! This book was more than I expected. The characters were well developed even if I didn't like them in the end. Their mental illnesses felt real because they weren't all consuming. There were stretches of time where everything was under control and life was just flowing along. And then there were moments when they were overwhelmed by it. I read this story as mental illness plus ghosts and I really enjoyed it and the ending because I read it that way. If you read it differently, then your enjoyment level might change. I can't give it 5 stars though because in the end, I didn't like many of the characters. To be fair, I don't think we are supposed to like them. Overall it was enjoyable and scary.

This book is HORRIFYING (ha ha, get it?). But seriously...it very much creeped me out. That said, I enjoyed it all the way through. It delves into some pretty creepy themes, some pretty emotional themes, and some pretty raw themes, yet Leno does it in a way that feels realistic and believable. There were a lot of aspects of this book that reminded me of King - exploring mental illness and trauma in a fictional setting, leaving the themes to be interpreted by the reader. And I really appreciate that. As a reader, I like to feel like the author understands I'm intelligent enough to grasp the complexity of the themes they reveal to use (if done well). And this one...this one is done well.

read for the tarot readathon 2023: ten of wandsweekly significator (the emperor)

this was so creepy and had so many messed up family things. i loved the writing and the imagery. the themes were phenomal and for a ya it didn't feel juvenile at all. but it felt like this cut off so abruptly at the end and not in just an ambiguous way but in an unfinished way 

This is a weird one to rate.
The story reminded me a lot of Sharp Objects in the best ways and the whole concept is deliciously creepy BUT

I will die on the hill that not all YA needs a teenage protagonist with high school problems and a crush/love interest.
Horror especially needs to slowly build up an atmosphere of unease and only the beginning and the end really did that for me.
I still flew through it and it did grip me, it just had so much more potential!

I don't usually read horror, but this came to me in an Owlcrate box so I wanted to give it a try. I loved it. Could not put it down, thought it was well written. Loved Jane and all her issues. The author gives us hints throughout the book about what is happening but being unfamiliar with Agatha Christie, it probably took me a bit longer than most to figure it out.

Well worth the read and probably one of my top 3 books I've read this year!

Let me preface this review by saying something: This book was not very good. But, in a way, it was VERY good.

When I review, I try to put a little context into my score. For example, an awesome kids' book is obviously not as in-depth as the most generic mystery thriller, but I may give the kids' book a 5 whereas the crapfest gets a 1. An OK autobiography that was clearly written by a non-writer might get a 5 where a classic that seems lame in hindsight or didn't age well may get rated 2. So, let's delve into that as it pertains to this book and why I chose to explain all of this ahead of time.

One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that it was a great throwback to the PG-13 horror movie trend of the late 90s/early 00s. I'm not sure if that's what the author was going for, but that's what I picked up. The cheesy dialogue, minimalistic plot, and token characters made this a perfect quick read for someone in their late teens. It wasn't too scary or too gory, some profanity thrown in but not over-the-top, and some rebellion against parents that had me nostalgic for the days of Jennifer Love Hewitt yelling “What are you waiting for?!”

Now, the writing was decent but not super strong. I feel like the plot meandered here and there at times and there were some head-scratching moments. I also felt like a couple plot points really didn't have any bearing on anything else in the book. Because of this, the ending felt a bit rushed and just didn't land for me. Once again, though, I would argue the same out of 2000s teen screams.

I highly recommend for anyone into cheesy teen horror.

So I had heard from someone somewhere mention this was a sleeping beauty retelling. This is far from a sleeping beauty retelling LOL. This was soooo sooo sooo good and the creepy factor was just as satisfying as home before dark by riley sager. I think I honestly have a new favorite genre and its shockingly horror and paranormal thrillers lol. Who would have thought!?! But I loved the characters and loved the build in this one and I'm so so so glad I own a copy of this because I can see myself rereading this in the long future. If i could give 10 stars i would. it was really that good.

I'm so torn on how to rate this book. I loved the first, let's say 90%, but the ending was so abrupt and felt off that it really impacted my overall enjoyment. I feel like the story definitely could've gone on for another 100 or so pages to give a proper ending even with keeping the non-resolution type ending so many aspects needed to be more fleshed out. I did love the atmosphere and where the plot was going but I just feel disappointed :(

This was so creepy and atmospheric. I enjoyed parts of it, but other parts just didn't hit for me. I felt like there wasn't enough horror elements to have it marketed as a horror. It felt primarily like a contemporary mystery. 

I had read reviews prior to reading this and was worried about the ending, but actually felt like it really fit. 

I enjoyed this book! As the many twists were being revealed, I couldn’t put it down! There were times when the story dragged on a bit, but it would quickly pick back up. The most horrifying parts were when Jane was alone in the house.

I love an ambiguous ending to anything, so I definitely enjoyed this book’s conclusion!

I just finished this one and it was pretty wow. The main character eats books (literally, page by page) and has some major rage issues. I highly recommend this for fans of [b:Burn Our Bodies Down 52748041 Burn Our Bodies Down Rory Power https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573588170l/52748041.SX50_SY75.jpg 72451374] and [b:Daughters Unto Devils 18748653 Daughters Unto Devils Amy Lukavics https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1427733043l/18748653.SY75.jpg 26633790]. I loved the relationship between Ruth and Jane, until Ruth got weird. I was a little frustrated Jane seemed to have no urge to explore the house, the grounds or the town. I get that she was depressed, but who wouldn't want to check out the second floor of the house you are now living in? This book does not hold back-it gets evil. It would have been a five star read except I got mildly frustrated that Jane could not connect the obvious dots and we, as the reader, were drug along for a couple of chapters in the wrong direction of the secret behind the evil of the house. That said we have:a haunted house a small town with a secret that everyone knows (except the main character)decent examples of teen girls not being mean to each othera cool coffee shopbook references!Halloween!!!!and spooky rose bushesOverall, a good read!