“The first things came from the sea, of course, so there’s always going to be a little trace of it in everything, a little trace of salt in the bones.”

this was a beautiful, devastating and haunting novel. flipping from the two perspectives of the wives we’re woven a tale of the deepness and complexities of people, the extents we will go to for those we love, wondering if we take for granted the mundane of our days, how far the limits of a human can be stretched and the trials a relationship that bring us closer or to a breaking point and everything in between. there’s so much more than even those things to it, but as always i don’t want to spoil.

“It’s a curious act of surrender, when you think about it, the act of going under. To drop below the surface is still to sink, however intentionally – a simple matter of taking on water, just as drowning only requires you to open your mouth.”

you’ll be on land with Miri for a time, deep in the sea with Leah and then back on land with them both. both points of view made this a page turner and i wasn’t bored for even a moment. i honestly didn’t expect much less as i loved Salt Slow - i also recommend this if you haven’t picked it up.

“My heart is a thin thing, these days – shred of paper blown between the spaces in my ribs.”

“It’s not my fault exactly, but it sort of is, too, if you look at it from just one side, like.”

It was my fault for wasting my time on this book after disliking My Heart is a Chainsaw so much.

I don’t know if i’m reading the same books by this author as everyone else who loves them but they are just not for me. The writing style bores me, the characters are so one dimensional and i can not engage with them at all, there’s no stunning atmospheric elements….i don’t know. I gave it a star for the idea of the premise which sounded fun but just was terribly executed.

“The Chapel Sisters, first they get married then they get buried.”

read this book if you enjoy: a slower paced gothic tale with some hauntings and a dash of horror, a singular narrator and dual timeline, sister dynamics, eerie families, well rounded and unique characters and an atmosphere tinged with constant despair.

“..I think I’ve finally come to realize that it’s my destiny to be one of the madwomen. One of the women who speaks the truth no matter how terrifying it might be.”

i can see why many reviewers say this book reminds them of #TheVirginSuicides (one of my favorites) - the sisters have a similar relationship and all could not be more different yet inseparable. personally i see more of a comparison to #HouseOfSaltAndSorrows (another favorite) - a tale of doomed sisters, one dying after another in a fantastical or mysterious way.

“This story is jagged, could cut a deep wound. It isn’t a story I can tell with a thread and a needle, stitching in clean lines. It’s shards or nothing.”

i must say, their mother Belinda (who’s endless screaming and visions of spirits caused all the sisters but Iris, the narrator, to hate her and believe her “crazy”) carried quite a bit of the book. she definitely gave it that push of fright and she had so many dimensions that i engaged with her the most. the tale certainly wouldn’t have been what it is without her. she also was the driving force for the narrative of men writing women off as “unhinged” or “hysterical” for speaking their truths/not being docile and easy to contain.

“It’s easier to say that women like my mother are crazy. Then you don’t have to listen to them. And so maybe in a way she became crazy. Maybe she could communicate only by screaming.”

overall i really enjoyed this! my only “complaint” is that i didn’t enjoy the dual timeline of Iris in the past and present. the present i mostly skimmed and i feel like it could have been cut and shortened the book by about 100 pages and still been just as excellent to read with the past being the standalone story.

“Sometimes, people can be afraid of things. Horribly, permanently afraid. And the fear takes root in their lives and twists them and controls them. And they know it will haunt them to their grave unless they confront the thing they’re frightened of. Meet it, feel it, then immerse themselves in it.”

#TheCarrowHaunt may be one of my new favorite Darcy Coates books. the best thing (and most impressive) is that they are - as far as i’ve read - all set in haunted houses yet each is still completely unique. on top of that she weaves in suspense and thriller elements on top of the horror. it’s pretty masterful and honestly most of these books could easily make excellent films.

Carrow House is home to more than a few ghosts, spirits, imprints and poltergeists with a (to put it modestly) grisly past. Remy, a weekly tour guide of the home, is asked by a tourist if she would stay with him and a team (a psychic medium and her companion, a youtube ghost hunter, the houses owner and her au paire, another man from the tour and herself) for 2 weeks in the house. Intrigued to learn more about the home she spends so much time in and why this man is so interested in it she agrees and from there the scares and carnage begin.

each of Coates’ haunted homes are well thought out and the characters often likable even if you don’t connect with them on a deep level. every one of her books is a “read in one sitting” and so far i have yet to be disappointed in any of her work.

if you want a book that reads like a jump scare horror film, her books are for you.

“Most astrophysicists believe that the force holding stars and galaxies together—the thing that makes our whole universe work—comes from a theoretical substance we can’t measure or observe directly. Something they call dark matter.”

#DarkMatter has been recommended to me numerous times for awhile and i’m glad i finally got to it. why did i avoid a sci-fi thriller? who knows.

for me the emotional engagement and “where is this going can it get any crazier?!” (it does) are what kept me hooked. i knew picking it up i was in for a book that would be unique since i had read #Recursion and loved it.
Jason is a protagonist you root for from beginning to end. not once did i disengage from his mental, emotional and physical battles to return to his family. and though his son, Charlie, wasn’t a particular well rounded character i appreciated his wife, Daniella, having a more complex arc. Tbh if i were lost in the multiverse i’d be desperately trying to find a way back to her too.

Honestly I don’t have much else to say that hasn’t been said about this awesome book. It (repeatedly- as its theme) asks the question “what if?” about our own life choices. where could we have ended up if we just made one small decision differently?

“I suppose we’re both just trying to come to terms with how terrifying infinity really is.”

i gave you another shot Foley, i really did. i didn’t skim, i read this entire thing. i was told the paris apartment was your weaker work and this was great/better. so i went in with (still timid) but higher hopes.

this somehow at the same time did too much and nothing at all for me. my main issues would be complete spoilers so i won’t talk about much. honestly i don’t even like writing reviews of books i didn’t enjoy, but i am nothing if not honest here.

90% of this book was about how handsome our lead male, Will is. 5% is about how terrible of a person he is. and the remaining 5% is about how awful every other male in this book is. i also never want to read the phrase “stag do” ever again if possible.

again, the only redeeming part of Foley’s writing is the atmosphere. i felt like i could truly feel the winds and storm and scents of the island it took place on. the descriptions were just *chefs kiss*. i also semi-enjoyed one character. enough to earn the book 2 full stars.

in my very humble opinion: this was not a tour de force nor was it thrilling or page turning.

this book was so hyped and honestly i can not see why. it was incredibly, endlessly sad and the only thing that kept me going was seeing what awful thing her daughter was going to do next/waiting for a twist or turn. the husband enraged me to no end which i know was the point - woman with legitimate fears is deemed “hysterical” and ends up isolated and trapped in her thoughts. the way the chapters were “structured” was awful, i don’t know if the physical book was more clear but most of the time i was figuring out which character i was reading which became tedious. and the only “omg thriller twist” was on the last page….and it was entirely predictable.

i will say i’m coming at this having had a baby 4 months ago and having suffering from debilitating PPD, and the first quarter of the book was entirely relatable and the descriptions of not having that immediate instinctual mother feeling hit very close to home. so i did find that redeeming since i think postpartum depression should be a topic more often discussed.

that being said, i’ve read books before that didn’t click with me that others loved but i still found the value in them. that was not the case with this novel for me.

this was my first Foley book! the strongest point for me was how atmospheric it was. i loved the mystery and the story but i didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the characters. but it was twisty and had a few turns i didn’t expect so i still enjoyed it! was definitely a quick read and had short chapters which is always a plus in my book.

“I can imagine you may have seen something upsetting at some point.”

(content warning for too many things to name)

we all know there are content moderators (i’m sure some robots may do the work too) on social media sites and this book gives you a look into the toll that job takes on a person and their psyche.

Kayleigh is an unreliable narrator which she even admits….but she seems normal enough. alongside her is a group of friends who she works with and we watch as they become desensitized after being bombarded with extremely graphic material all day long. warping their perceptions of reality, making them ponder the most extremist thoughts, find conspiracy theories plausible and generally change who they are over the course of the book.

prevalent throughout, Kayleigh has a relationship with her coworker, Sigrid. i do see how it was necessary for the storyline - especially at the end - but i think i just wanted less of that and more from the other characters. there was some key piece missing that i can’t place and the ending was incredibly abrupt.

i did enjoy it though, and coming in at 160 pages it was worth the read.