Cat & her twin sister El escaped from their house of horrors at a young age. Years later, the sisters are estranged, but Cat has to come back to the place she used to call home when she learns El is missing. Now she has to come to terms with her and her sister’s past to figure out what happened to El. And also to find out whom keeps sending her cryptic messages of their past as well as threats. 

There was a lot of magic realism in the book which made it hard at times to distinguish between reality and what young minds conjured to protect themselves. Cat made herself forget the past so she’d be able to live a somewhat normal life but now that she was back in her childhood home, memories were coming back and she wasn’t sure what was real anymore. The flashbacks showed how terrifying being in that house was and how there was no support from anyone, so the sisters had to rely on each other. 

I wasn’t sure whether I should root for Cat or not. The more the book progressed, the more I questioned her actions. Cat and El were flawed characters and although I could sometimes understand why they did what they did, it was their lack of communication that bothered me most. It seemed some of their problems would have been resolved ages ago if they had just talked. 

Once I got used to the format, I did enjoy the book more. I did have to read some parts over/intently so I could see the hidden message. There were number of twists which I did like especially towards the end of the story. Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend reading it with the audio version as it added to the experience.