This story started off so strong: a gothic, creepy atmosphere, a genuine sense of foreboding, the allure of a mysterious curse. But, somewhere along the 600+ page journey, it all fell apart. Sections went on for too long, the pacing making the action drag; characters came and went that ultimately didn't matter or had very little impact on events that you wonder why they were included in the first place. I feel like we never really got to know our leads beyond their surface levels, at least with our modern day cast. 

Split into two timelines, the 1902 story was way more intriguing. It had more mystery to it, a greater weight and suspense. The modern day story just completely dragged and felt pointless, especially by the end. The two never meet in a satisfying way so it seems pointless to the tie the two together.

Also, the fact that every moment of horror is basically the appearance of a yellowjacket was a complete let down. There wasn't any variety to the attempted scares, just tongue in cheek asides that gave off the feel of a cheesy camp counselor going "Well oooo isn't this scary?" 

I don't know if it was just because I was listening to the audiobook, but I didn't really get a good sense of how everything connected by the end. The narrator was fantastic though, I really enjoyed their voice throughout it.

In short, really needed more scares, a trimmed down plot, and more cohesion between the two stories.