An unconventional vicar must exorcise the dark past of a remote village haunted by death and disappearances in this explosive and unsettling thriller from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man.“Hypnotic and horrifying . . . Without doubt Tudor’s best yet, The Burning Girls left me sleeping with the lights on.”—Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the EndA dark history … bestselling author of We Begin at the End
A dark history lingers in Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, Protestant martyrs were betrayed—then burned. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And a few weeks ago, the vicar of the local parish hanged himself in the nave of the church.
Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping for a fresh start. Instead, Jack finds a town rife with conspiracies and secrets, and is greeted with a strange welcome package: an exorcism kit and a note that warns, “But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known.”
The more Jack and daughter, Flo, explore the town and get to know its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into the age-old rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo begins to see specters of girls ablaze, it becomes apparent there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
Uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village with a bloody past, where everyone has something to hide and no one trusts an outsider.
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I love the frightening image of the twig dolls and how they are used throughout the novel as a visual reminder of the terrible fate of the Sussex Martyrs. The opening scene is scary and reeled me in whilst, at the same time, I was trying to make sense of what was going on – immediately afterwards the next chapter jumps to a report of two missing schoolgirls: Merry and Joy who disappeared 30 years ago. Then the narrative skips onto Jack and daughter Flo who are moving to a new parish in Chapel Croft, East Sussex. A clever early twist forewarns of plenty more surprises to come. Jack’s move seems to be one of necessity rather than desire and gives the reader yet another mystery to figure out, hinting at a terrible recent event in which Jack has been involved. They’ve only been at their new house for a few hours before there is a horrible incident with a small girl for which Tudor piles on the suspense; the reader knowing the strands of the story must all connect, but that it’s far too early to find out how.
I like hearing Jack’s internal struggle about what it’s like balancing being a priest with being a single parent. Flo, the teenager, is a great character – an ‘outlier’ with her passion for photography and Stephen King novels. She represents what it’s like to be a newcomer, not wishing to upset Jack with her troubles whilst desperately missing home. Into this lonely and vulnerable void steps Lucas Wrigley – an outcast with Dystonia. I love the blinkered sense of the importance of heritage and social standing within the small community. There are a lot of secrets and tragedies which connect the families, and the book ripples with waves of blame and guilt. There is a feeling of dereliction and decay – the graveyard; foreboding quotes from the bible, cellars which need clearing out and a disused well. Bit by bit the strands of the story weave together and, when I finished, I had to go back to the beginning and, of course, the clues are all there, hidden in the prose.
I love the nod to the mix tape which includes some of my favourite bands. I also like the idea of a St Peter’s box to hide things deep within us we don’t want him to know about when we’re trying to squeeze past him into heaven. The tension and pace escalate towards the end as all the secrets are uncovered with oodles of danger and some very unpleasant scenes. You make assumptions as a reader and that’s where Tudor gets you – age, gender, appearance and identity are turned on their heads in this thrilling and spooky novel with lots of surprising twists and turns.
The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor shows once again that she is a master at intertwining various threads that keep you guessing until the end… and then she drops one more little twist… and then another one… and maybe, one more.
While none of the twists were jaw-dropping, if you were paying attention, they still kept the story moving quickly and I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish. I was confused for a moment at the beginning (and this is just my middle-aged white lady making an appearance), but I thought Jack was a man. It was after the third time-ish that Flo said “Mum!”, that I was like…. Ummmm.
The other thing that had me a bit flummoxed was I was looking forward to more supernatural elements, especially since the synopsis talks about specters and an exorcism kit. There was some of it, but not as much as I was expecting. The Burning Girls was still excellent, it just went in a different direction than I thought it would.
If you like twisty thrillers with twisted people, you Need to Read, The Burning Girls.
This book is probably the best of CJ Tudor’s books so far, and they’re all excellent so that’s really saying something. It’s dark and twisted, and actually managed to have me rooting for a priest. The characters, especially those of Jack and Flo just jump off the page, and the twists keep on coming. The best writer I’ve discovered since Gillian Flynn.
The premise initially reminded me of Phil Rickman’s Merrily Watkins series -widowed single mother vicar with a moody teenage daughter moves to a new parish with weird goings on. Because of that I initially found it hard to get into but once I did I really enjoyed it.
The writing moved along at a good pace and the multiple perspectives kept it fresh. The central mystery going back years was well developed and there were some good twists and turns along the way. One character in particular had me guessing right through. It is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will look out for more.
This book takes you on a journey and makes you think you are part of a ghost story, but then it’s not, but then it is? When a practicing vicar and her daughter are sent to a small town, strange things begin happening around them. There are a lot of strange people and a morbid pass in this little town. People are not who you think they are and things are not what they appear. If you want a great book that sucks you and makes you twist your head in the end…this is for you. C.J. Tudor tells a great story.
C.J. Tudor has certainly carved out an interesting niche for herself, and this novel is a prime example. Blending old stories about Protestant Martyrs who were burned at the stake during “Bloody” Queen Mary’s reign in the 16th century, with contemporary murders and mysterious disappearances from 30 years ago, she certainly keeps the reader on their toes. Aside from the main plot concerning a rather unusual female vicar named Jack (for Jacqueline) who is “banished” to a small Sussex village with her teenage daughter, Flo, there’s plenty of other sub-plots to keep readers guessing: What happened to BFF teenagers Merry and Jo 30 years ago? Is Jack right to worry about Flo’s new relationship with a strange young man aptly called Wrigley who has a neurological disorder that causes him to twich the whole time? What really happened to Mike Suddeth’s little girl, who died in mysterious circumstances when left alone with a neighbour’s two children? Who are the burning girls and are they malevolent? What’s with the Harper family bullies and why are they picking on Flo?
I very much enjoyed this book, even if it did require me to suspend disbelief rather more than I like. For example, Jack does not seem very Christian, let alone a vicar, and this only becomes more obvious as the story progresses. Indeed, the way most of the clergy are portrayed in this novel makes you wonder about the quality of individuals attracted to the church in C.J. Tudor’s world. And one psychopath in a village that size is one thing…but two (or more)?
There are some stunning twists which Tudor deftly maneuvres us through, one of which had me thinking: “Whaaaat?” until I had a chance to reflect on the few cryptic clues she’s laid down for us earlier in the book. The key one being a line from the film The Usual Suspects! The only thing I found less than satisfying was the “horror” element. It’s obvious the burning girls exist since both Jack and Flo see them at different times and in different circumstances. But although they lay claim to the title of this book, their impact on the story overall is minimal. There’s a haunted house with a deep well in the garden, creepy twig dolls laid at the base of the Sussex Martyr memorial, the hint of earier exorcisms etc. etc. You certainly won’t be bored reading this…maybe just a little confused from time to time as to which storyline is the most important. Nevertheless, I admire Tudor’s talent and would happily read more of her novels.
Reverend Jack Brooks has been relocated to Chapel Croft in a small remote village on the English countryside. The previous vicar position suddenly opened and Reverend Brooks’ name was recommended. Life in the small village is a hard adjustment for Jack and daughter Flo.
The town is surrounded by a dark history that slowly begins to eek it’s way into Jack’s life. As secrets are uncovered and lies revealed Reverend Brooks’ realizes evil comes in many forms … ones not easily seen..
I really liked The Chalk Man so I couldn’t wait to read this one and I ended up enjoying it more. The mysteries uncovered, even through to the last chapter, were interesting and enjoyable. The twists and turns definitely kept my attention and made this a fun one.
It’s a quick read and definitely brings the chills and spooky factor. Great for those Spooktober lists.
I thank NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for providing me an ARC copy of this book, which I freely chose to review.
I discovered C. J. Tudor with her first novel, The Chalk Man, a pretty impressive debut, and have read the two novels she has published since, The Taking of Annie Thorne and The Other People. As you can guess from that, I enjoy her writing and her penchant for creating stories that are never boring, with characters that keep us guessing until the end (or near enough). It is true, as well, that the topics she covers and her plots are not unique —if such a thing even exists—, especially for people who read plenty of thrillers, horror novels, mysteries, and watch films and TV series in those genres. But she knows how to pick up some elements that might feel familiar at first (after all, that is one of the reasons why many readers enjoy reading certain genres, because they know what to expect) and create something that manages to meet the expectations while keeping readers on their toes. And sometimes, scaring them a fair bit in the process.
That is true as well for this novel, which for me had a few things that made it particularly attractive. One would be the setting. The novel is set in the UK, in Sussex, an area where I lived for a few years and that I know fairly well. Although the village where the novel is set doesn’t exist, and neither does the actual tradition that gives it its name (and I won’t elaborate on that to avoid spoiling the story, although there is a fake Wikipedia entry at the very beginning that explains it all), I’ve read in an interview that the author felt inspired by the area and by the town of Lewes and its history, and I am not surprised that is the case. It is a very atmospheric place. I’ve read comments calling it “Gothic”, and it isn’t a bad name, but there is something more ancient and primordial at play as well (The Wicker Man comes to mind).
Another thing I found interesting is how self-referential the novel feels. The author has been compared to Stephen King (and she acknowledges how much she loves his books) on many occasions, as you can see reflected by the editorial comments, and his novels appear repeatedly in the book, as do references to popular movies and TV (The Lost Boys, The Usual Suspects, Heathers…) that might (or might not) be connected to the story and the plot. By openly acknowledging those in her pages, the author seems to be giving us clues and adding layers of meaning, although perhaps it is a fairly tongue-in chick ploy, and it is all part of the misdirection, twists and turns, and red herrings that are spread around the novel. Because another thing (and author) I kept thinking about when reading this novel was Agatha Christie and her works, in particular her Miss Marple novels, with their small villages with dark goings-on, where everybody is hiding something and outsiders have a hard time trying to find somebody trustworthy and to discover the truth. And there is also an elderly lady, Joan, who would fit perfectly into one of Christie’s novels, (and she is one of my favourite characters as well).
As I said, I won’t be discussing the plot in detail, to avoid spoilers, but I’ll mention some of the things readers can find in this novel: exorcisms gone wrong, crypts hiding dark secrets, ghoulish ghosts, disappeared girls, religious martyrs, child abuse and death, bullying and manipulation, abandoned creepy houses, unrequited love and jealousy, hidden motives and fake identities… This is not a mild or cozy novel, and there are some pretty gruesome and violent episodes, so I wouldn’t recommend it to readers looking for a light-hearted read.
That doesn’t mean the novel is all doom and gloom, as there are several characters with quite a sense of humour, and the protagonist, Jack, and Jack’s daughter, Flo, are both pretty witty and often funny. The protagonist narrates a lot of the story in the first person: Jack’s self-comments and observations appear sharp, clever, and they made me chuckle many times. Some also made me nod in agreement, and although I won’t say I agree with everything Jack does in the novel, I definitely understand the protagonist’s reasons. Apart from Jack’s first-person narration, there are fragments narrated in third person, some from Flo’s point of view, and others from the perspective of a different character who we soon realise is trying to find Jack. Who he is and why he is after them… well, you’ll need to read the book to learn that. There are also brief fragments in italics that help create a fuller picture in our minds of what might have happened, even if we don’t know exactly whose memories we are accessing when we read them (but we are likely to have our suspicions). Does that mean the story is confusing? I didn’t find it so, and although this might depend on how familiar readers are with the genre, the different personalities of the characters come through in the writing, so I don’t think most people will have much problem telling whose points of view they are reading. Nonetheless, I recommend readers to be attentive and keep a close eye on everything, because, as is the case with more traditional mysteries, all the details are important, and the clues are there for a reason. If you blink, you might miss a piece of the puzzle that becomes important later on.
As is to be expected from these kinds of books, there is a false ending, and a big twist. The author drops hints and clues along the way, and I am sure most people will suspect at least some of the information that is revealed, although perhaps not everything. Because, let me tell you that if you love unreliable narrators, you shouldn’t miss this one. Some reviewers felt disappointed by the ending, because… Well, I can’t tell you, of course. But, as I’ve said, there are hints dropped, and there is a bit of a soliloquy (not a soliloquy, but I could imagine it would become one if this were a play) where we get an explanation/justification of some important plot points. I’m not sure it was necessary, to be honest, but I can see why the author did that. Oh, and I did enjoy the ending, by the way.
Other reviewers also took issue with some depictions of characters and events that they feel reinforce negative stereotypes and prejudicial media representations of certain groups. Although this could be argued in one or two instances, and it is always a matter of interpretation, much of that view might result from a partial or perhaps too literal reading of the book with might have missed some of the nuances of the story.
This is a novel that, beyond the gripping plot and the mysteries it contains, deals in identity, in how we can reinvent ourselves and get a second chance, and also in what an important role prejudices and labels can play in the way we are seen and perceived by others. While some people struggle to fight against assigned roles and expectations, others can use them to hide behind them and protect their true selves, or even manipulate them to their advantage. It also revisits the debate about evil. Do we believe some people are born evil, or are we all born innocent and other people and our circumstances can turn us into monsters? Can there be some valid justifications, no matter how subjective they might be, for actions that would be considered evil by most people? Or there is no grey area when it comes to good an evil, and a person’s point of view doesn’t come into it? We might or might not agree with how things work out in the story, but I am sure we will all have formed an opinion by the end of the novel, perhaps even one that surprises us.
I recommend this book to fans of mysteries with some supernatural and horror elements, also to readers looking for a page turner with plenty of atmosphere and a gripping storyline. I am sure most followers of C. J. Tudor won’t be disappointed, and, personally, I am looking forward to her next novel already.
What a treat this novel is—-it has all the things going on. Psychological thriller, historical backdrops, English village setting. The intricacies of the plot kept me guessing right until the very end. I am late to the party with this author which is actually great news because now I have her backlist to read! Five stars all the way and one of the best I have read in 2021.
In C. J. Tudor’s book, The Burning Girls, lady vicar Jack Brooks takes a temporary position at a chapel in a small village after the heartbreaking death from child abuse of a member of her inner-city church. She and her daughter, Flo, head to Chapel Croft in East Sussex, a small farming community where hundreds of years earlier two young girls were burned as martyrs in the purge of Protestants during the reign of Queen Mary Tudor.
Thirty years before the arrival of Reverend Brooks, two young girls disappeared from this village. Joy and Merry, believed to be runaways, never returned, and no trace of them was found to give any definitive clue to their fate. At the same time, the rector of the church also disappeared. To make things even stranger, Merry’s mother and younger brother disappeared a year after she vanished, walking off and leaving their home and everything in it intact.
Jack Brooks is a strange vicar. She has a nebulous view of God, a tepid faith at best, and seems to believe God is not particularly interested in things like prayer or the Bible. Or maybe that’s normal in the C of E. Being Southern Baptist myself, with a deep faith in a personal God, I found this disturbing. But the book is not really about God, or faith, or even being a vicar. It’s about secrets, and family.
There are a great many secrets in this small village. Having never lived in this kind of environment, I found myself wondering if it could really hide psychopaths, pedophiles, bullies, and religious nuts behind the façade of everyday students, church members, teachers, and clergy. Certainly, this is a work of fiction and not meant to represent a real place, but for fiction to be believable it must have enough reality to draw the reader in. I believe this book does, because I could not put it down.
While I found myself strongly disagreeing with just about everything Jack Brooks said about God, prayer, sin, the Bible, and religion, I admired her strength and intelligence. She breaks a lot of boundaries and the rebel in me loved how she did not let good manners or traditions get in the way of the truth. She is determined to find out what happened to all these missing people, and she has good reason.
Her daughter, Flo, is just as determined and just as boundary breaking. She is not a perky teenager spending all her time on Instagram and SnapChat. She carries a Nikon camera and develops the pictures herself. She likes dark comedy and John Hughes movies. She knows self-defense and though she finds herself in sketchy situations, she manages to remain calm, focused, and in charge.
There are a lot of tropes turned on its ear in this book. The rich blonde leader of the cool kids is a brilliant but frightening sociopath who may have murdered a child. The geeky boy with the neurological disorder is not misunderstood soul who is bullied by Neanderthals. He’s a raging psychopath who frightened the daylights out of me. There are handsome, sweet-cheeked clergy in this book but they are not the vicars of television shows like Call The Midwife or Grantchester.
I thought this book would be about evil. That it contained hauntings and gothic mood, exorcisms and echoes of history clashing with the present. It does contain the things, but not in the way I expected and I am glad. I don’t enjoy stories about made up fears and things that go bump in the night. This story managed to draw out the eerie story of the The Burning Girls with the very real evils of murder and abuse. It draws attention to what life becomes after you escape those evils, the decisions you have to make to survive and hopefully make peace with the past.
Most importantly, the author demonstrates that people are not defined by their pasts, or those choices made when trying to survive. A person who does something criminal, even heinous, can be capable of change, and worthy of forgiveness. A person who does evil can, in some instances, do something heroic and selfless. We all have secrets. We all do things we are ashamed of, or wish we could undo. This is book is about all those things, and it is much richer and complex than simple ghost story or murder mystery could ever be.
Shocking, creepy and disturbing are just a few words that describe this imaginative read!
Tudor hasn’t failed to WOW me yet! Her books keep getting better and better. I love her offbeat and incredible writing style and the way she manages to perfectly mingle humor, horror and supernatural into her thrillers. She’s definitely in my top 10 favorite authors!!
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is pretending he didn’t exist.”
A Vicar who commits suicide; the unsolved disappearance of two teenage girls; an old chapel alleged to be haunted; villagers burnt to death; and two young girls killed outside the chapel. These are just a few of the skeletons in Chapel Croft’s long, dark past. This is one spooky place, with some seriously interesting history, and authentic characters!
Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and CJ Tudor for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
My Rating: 5 ’s
Published: February 9th 2021 by Ballantine Books
Pages: 352
Recommend: Yes!
@cjtudor #NetGalley #TheBurningGirls #InExchangeForReview #NoRulesJustThrills #JustFinished #MustRead
This was my first book by CJ Tudor and I really liked it!! If you want a paranormal mystery that’s really creepy, you’ll get it in this book! Jack Brooks is the new vicar in town. She’s moved to this small, secluded town with her 14 year old daughter Flo. This town has a haunted past and as they are finding out, people around here also may have something to hide. Thirty years ago, 2 girls had disappeared without a trace, and a few weeks before they arrived, the vicor of the parish hanged himself. Jack receives a strange welcome package , and exorcism kit, with a warning in it. She wonders what is behind all of this.
I really enjoyed the mystery of this story. I will say it took me to about 30% to really get into the story but it was so good. Definitely recommend it if you love a good creepy read with some great twists.
About the book:
Told in multiple POV chapters between Jack, Flo (her daughter) and an (until the middle end) unidentified male. The chapters with the male went between first person and third person, which was interesting. Jack’s chapters didn’t really have a lot going on, it was mainly a lot of chatter and thoughts and mundane things up until closer to the end of the book whereas Flo’s chapters were a lot more in depth and have more going on.
This threw a curveball at the end that I did not see coming, but kind of left it open-ended so I’m wondering if there will be another book.
About the characters:
I really liked Jack, even if her chapters were a bit boring and felt more like filler, but I digress.. She’s a vicar, yes, but a mom first and foremost. She also happens to be human and humans make a lot of mistakes.
Flo is a 15 year old, that just wants to have fun, secrets or not and keep her mom out of it more or less. To sum it up, she is a kid and does things that aren’t in their best interest, as all kids do.
Then there are the people in the village(?). Some things some of the people do/did are very predictable and I mean things you see waaaaay before they come to light, while others aren’t as predictable and well, I’ll just leave that where it lies so you can fill in the holes on the way.
This was a really good book, the atmosphere is a little dark, but all in all I enjoyed it. I’d recommend this if you enjoy a good British mystery.
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House Publishing and Ballantine for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
TW: Child death, suicide, graphic murder, child abuse, sexual references
This book had SO MUCH going on. It was crazy! While I called some of the twists, I definitely missed most of them. Excellent.
I loved this book. It was a little predictable for mw, but I still enjoyedit!
This is the third book I’ve read now by this author and again it was a very enjoyable experience.
Jack is a vicar and after an unfortunate incident at her last parish, she and her daughter Flo find themselves temporarily relocated to the sleepy countryside, a small village called chapels cross.
The area is steeped in local history and home to the Sussex martyrs eight villagers who were burnt at the stake back in the 1500s, The legend goes if your in trouble they will appear as a warning.
This one had a lot going on and is full of twists and turns some I didn’t see coming until they hit me head-on.
It had such an ominous and mysterious air that shadowed the whole event as Secrets are revealed in breadcrumbs and the truth is finally uncovered.
Genre-wise this was mostly a psychological mystery with some slight spooky aspects thrown in, but it’s the suspenseful and intricate story-telling that’s the main draw with this one and this is done very expertly.
There are numerous story threads that eventually converge until a bigger picture is finally formed and what’s on the surface here isn’t initially transparent we become more aware the closer we get to the finish line.
This one definitely keeps you guessing right till the very end and while I had suspicions I still wasn’t aware of the complete picture just pieces of it and this does throw some major curveballs at you, one, in particular, that did shock me I really didn’t see that one coming until it was practically upon me.
This is told from three POV’s Jack Flo and a ghost from Jacks past that wants to reconnect.
It easily kept me invested and turning the pages and it was very well written as well.
I definitely recommend this one I enjoyed it a lot it was such an easy read that instantly captured and kept my attention.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of the Burning Girls.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
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A thriller, mystery and lot of questions!
Jack Brooks and her daughter are assigned to Chapel Croft after the Vicar hangs himself and Jack had some problems at her previous assignment. This little village has a history with martyrs dying, two teen girls disappearing and now the Vicar’s hanging. Jack did not realize she and Flo would be up against so many mysteries and questions in their new assignment.
C.J. Tudor is quickly becoming one of my must read authors and this book is just another example why.
The mysteries, the twists and the little hint of creepy makes it perfect for a cup of coffee, a fire and free evening of reading. You will not be disappointed when you pick it up.
Thanks to the author, NetGalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for a fair review.
4.5/5
I was immediately a fan of C.J. Tudor after reading The Other People back in February 2020, so I was incredibly excited to read The Burning Girls. I am happy to report that I loved this book just as much! This was creepy but not scary, and while it definitely gave me the eerie and suspenseful vibes I wanted, it wasn’t all that gory, and it definitely didn’t scare me at all. It should be perfect for all you readers that don’t want to read with the lights on. I loved the multiple viewpoints and I really liked both Jack and Flo. I was hooked right away as far as the writing, but it did take me a minute to get into the book itself. Once I was into it, I loved it though, and I loved that it has multiple suspenseful moments where I felt like I was on the edge of my seat. I also love that Tudor employed an unknown narrator as well and these things coupled with the really short chapters made this a quick and engrossing read.
Another fun thing about this author is that she loves to leave you on cliffhangers at the end of chapters before moving on to a different viewpoint. This made me want to keep reading and I can see how it would be a “just one more chapter” book for a lot of readers. Unfortunately, I did figure out a major part of the mystery before it was revealed which would usually be a huge bummer, but in this case, I didn’t mind it. There are still plenty of other twists I didn’t see coming, and it was quite the wild ride. Highly recommend to fans of the author and readers who like a dash of horror with their mysteries.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Oh my goodness but this was a wild read! I love CJ Tudor’s style – the books always grab you by the throat and refuse to let go until the very bitter end, which I love. The mysteries, secrets, red herrings, lies, and deception are sprinkled generously throughout and the teasers leading you toward the ultimate resolution are always subtle while they are happening but identifiable as foreshadowing once you get there. It’s a delicate touch to write in this fashion – and to do so while producing genuine surprise at the way things turn out time and again – and Tudor should be lauded for it.
The mother-daughter relationship in this one was particularly interesting to me, and I thought played out in a way that felt entirely plausible – which isn’t a thing I say very often. Particularly when the daughter is a teenage girl… Familial relationships play a very large role in the teased out backstory as well as the historical and contemporary plot, so establishing a strong pattern of resonant relationships was an essential part of making this story work. Tutor nailed it.
The creepy factor was significant in this one. There was a lot of “did they really see that?” and “is it imagination gone wild or are Supernatural Things going on here?” It really kept me guessing as to where the book was going and whether things were firmly grounded in the real or not. It definitely spent a lot of time in the surreal – and in ways that let the reader’s imagination take off running in the best possible way. I didn’t see a lot of the twists and turns coming as a result, and really enjoyed the way this one played out!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.
Wow, this book was something else. It had me questioning everything I knew and towards the end of the book, I was suspecting everyone. Was not prepared for that twist at the end. Fantastic work. Read it quickly in two sittings as I did not want to stop turning the pages. Would highly recommend it.