3.5/5 stars. Not my favorite of her’s but still really enjoyable. 

Based on the blurb, this sounded really intriguing but the execution fell short for me.

I enjoyed the writing within this book but I struggled with one of the main characters, Tamara, and her choices. I also generally did not like this character's personality.

The art history chapters of this book were much better than the present day chapters with Tamara, but I still found the story to be a bit slow and it wasn't too gripping for me. When I read this blurb, I was really hoping for a similar experience to The Goldfinch.

In my opinion, the supernatural aspect felt out of place within this story. What I did enjoy was reading about the artists. Their characters seemed to match up with what I've learned about their real life counterparts. The personalities felt fitting.

Overall, I don't think this was a bad book by any means but I also felt that it struggled to come together in a way that I personally would've liked it to.

Thank you to Algonquin Books and The Future of Agency for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I listened to this book while having a chore day. This was fantastic but difficult to listen to. So much cruelty and trauma. This is probably a book that you’ll want to check the content warnings for. Once I have a proper moment to sit down, I’ll add them on to this review later.

4.5/5 stars rounded up.

I have a huge weakness for gothic, haunted houses and this completely delivered. This was such an atmospheric and unsettling story. I particularly loved the moments where our main character, Evelyn, was first starting to experience the ghosts within Blackthorn House. Her fear and curiosity were handled extremely well.

I really loved the dynamics between the women in this book. I thought the writing was beautiful as were the descriptions. I liked how the reader very quickly is able to get a taste of the type of person that Peter, Evelyn's wife, is going to be. This is a book that has some sensitive content yet it isn't overdone, in my opinion. That being said, you can either check the bottom of this review for some of the content warnings that I tagged or check the back pages of this book for the author's included CWs.

This was a medium to slow paced book but it didn't feel boring to me at any point. While the ending was a bit predictable to me, it was so satisfying that I found myself not minding. This is definitely going to be a book that I purchase once we reach the publication date. This was my first book that I've read by Marie McWilliams and I will definitely read more by her in the future.

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7545105478
Fable Review: https://fable.co/review/049d434d-01aa-4ccd-a2a0-3338fc90c944/share