I’m not sure why this book has so many negative reviews. It did drag a little bit at times, but I still thought it was really good overall. My only major complaint (major spoiler ahead) was

Hayes dying (wtf was up with that??)

 

I loved The Haunting of Hill House, and I thought there would be more of a connection between that book and this one, but I’m sad to say that wasn’t the case. I disliked all of the characters in this book, there were so many plot points that went nowhere (which is something that I often accidentally overlook, so that should tell you how badly they stick out in this book), and I didn’t like the alternating points of view. I love alternating points of view in other books, it just didn’t work in this one, especially when compared to the single point of view of The Haunting of Hill House. Also, the ending felt rushed. The pacing of this book suffers from the same ailment that the house’s structure and sense of time does, so props to the author if that was intentional, but I’m not sure whether or not it was. This book had some redeeming qualities, which is why I didn’t give it a lower rating, but I mostly just finished it because of my love of the original. 

Overall, this book sits at a weird place where it claims to be more connected to the source material than it actually is. So if you haven’t ever read The Haunting of Hill House, you may like this book better than the people who have read it, just because you have less expectations going into it.