The Narrow

This is my third Kate Alice Marshall (KAM) book. First one was Rules for Vanishing (which I need to reread and review) and These Fleeting Shadows. I think Shadows is sort of the best one (so far) because I do love a haunted house + family story (it was also comped to The Haunting of Hill House – which is like one of my favourite tv shows ever). So The Narrow comes a close second to that.

I was so sucked into the book I could imagine that I was there myself – which is not technically something you actually want with a horror book. I felt connected to the characters – their personalities, their growth. I was especially pleased by how the friendship group stayed by Eden. They cared about her, they made sure she knew she was loved and appreciated – and I loved that because I really enjoy seeing positive female friendships in books.

Eden was a great main character. I think she's what you call a ‘quiet character'? Which is nice when you're like me and read a lot of fantasies where characters are usually a bit... louder. But even though Eden was quiet that didn't mean she was a pushover – which I liked to see as well.

Delphine is the other character named in the synopsis and she's also a quiet character -but also she lives alone in a small house on school grounds so of course that's a reason too. I liked her and then I didn't like her (unlike Eden whom I liked from the start. She did have a full personality (so it wasn't an issue of it not being fleshed-out), but I didn't connect to her like I did for Eden.

I loved everything to do with The Drowning Girl. All the lore we got and then the backstory as we learnt more of it. Even how KAM managed to tie it up to the present. How sometimes stories change and are twisted – either by human design or because as time goes on; details tend to fade away.