Many thanks to my friends at @tornightfire and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.  

“I dream sometimes of a house I’ve never seen.”

 

Part fairy tale, part gothic horror.  This book oozes the very essence of fall and begs to be read snuggled under a cozy blanket.  

 

It’s the kind of story that holds you spellbound. I found myself fully transported to a magical world laden with secrets and monsters that hid in plain sight.  

 

With lush writing and lyrical prose, Harrow’s storytelling enchanted.  The imagery was cinematic in detail, the atmosphere exuded gloom, and the richly developed characters (tortured, brooding, and prickly) felt like friends that I wanted to protect (though they clearly didn’t need such).  

 

But it was the moody mansion that was the true standout in this book.  

 

“What had begun as stone and mortar had become something more, with ribs for rafters and stone for skin.  It has no heart, but it feels.  It has no brain, but it dreams.”

 

An ever-changing labyrinth.  Rotting yet alive.  A haunted house that somehow felt like home.  It didn’t take me long to understand why Opal came to dream of this sentient place.  

 

And while the house held me captive, this wasn’t the dark and tortured read I had expected.  Part reckoning.  Part love story.  With elements focused on found family and belonging, the truest monsters were made of greed and hungry for power.  

 

Still, I found myself swooning… over the atmosphere… over the unlikely love story… over the magic.  

 

🎧 The audiobook is expertly narrated by Natalie Naudus, a favorite.  Her performance embodied the emotion within this book and amplified the masterful storytelling.