Horrid Review

Rating: 4.5/5

Following her father's death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor's doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone . . . and more tormented.

As the cold New England autumn arrives, and Jane settles in to her new home, she finds solace in old books and memories of her dad. She steadily begins making new friends, but also faces bullying from the resident "bad seed," struggling to tamp down her own worst nature in response. Jane's mom also seems to be spiraling with the return of her childhood home, but she won't reveal why. Then Jane discovers that the "storage room" her mom has kept locked isn't for storage at all—it's a little girl's bedroom, left untouched for years and not quite as empty of inhabitants as it appears . . .

Is it grief? Mental illness? Or something more . . . horrid?

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In all honesty, I don’t think I really knew what this was about going into it. I just knew I NEEDED to read it after seeing the cover. Totally a “judge a book by its cover” move, but I’m so glad I did!

I was hooked by the first line. Just from that first line, I knew I was going to love this. This book is dark, beautiful, and deeply disturbing. And I couldn’t put it down. This sucked me in and I ended up reading this in a single day. I don’t think I would have been as enchanted if I knew what this was about beforehand, though. I’m happy that I went into this blindly.

I will be honest, there were some times I wasn’t sure where this was going. It wasn’t until things were right in my face did some of the details make sense. I felt as in the dark as our main character on a lot. And there were some major WTF moments in this.

And the horrors in this aren’t super dark. It’s more under the skin creepy than need to sleep with the light on scary. Or at least, I didn’t think it was very scary, definitely creepy though.

And speaking of our main character, I really related to her in how she was bullied. Especially with some of the things her bully said to her, I was once told very similar things, and my heart broke for her. However, I do not agree with how she reacted to her bully! Just thought I’d throw that out there!

Overall, I truly enjoyed this paranormal horror! I found it to be entirely enchanting. While not truly scary for my tastes, the horrors I did find were still haunting. I highly recommend this to horror lovers! Especially if you enjoy ghosts and haunted houses!