Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source.
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
Review:
This was different…I kind of wish I read it on a rainy October evening, and not a heatwave sunny week in July. I feel like the best way to describe this book is to say that Victoria Schwab is already a successful author and can now do what she wants? You can tell she just went for it, and had fun with this story. It’s not the typical YA novel. This is a full-on atmospheric, horror story that will give you the creeps and keep you up late at night. And it’s not the kind of horror story I’ve come to anticipate. It’s not a fast-paced thriller. It’s the slow, eerie, almost old fashioned kind that makes you think of and black and white movies.
That being said, this book is not for everyone. And I can see a lot of folks putting this one down and not completing it. I almost did, a few times. I definitely tend to be more of a plot, high suspense kind of reader in the summer time. My brain just can’t appreciate the finer things when it is overworked and over-stressed, and overheated. That being said, I took classes on horror and noir in college, so this did speak to me….And the setting was everything. A mansion with secret passages, creepy gardens, family curses, doors to other worlds, zombie-looking ghosts, okay, yeah….this definitely spoke to me. The story also starts in a very creepy orphanage, reminiscent of the one in Jane Eyre.
I also found the idea of a mute main character interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the main character was mute. How this played into the story was really unique too. There were too many little mysteries that I wanted to find out. Were the ghosts really there? Why were they all missing limbs? What was the family curse? Why did her mother not want her to go to the house? The pacing was very slow. The book was more about the setting and the feeling of the setting than it was about the mysteries and not a lot happens until the very end. Then the end feels a bit rushed. However, I did mostly enjoy reading this. Not everyone will. Fans looking for something spooky, and anyone looking for a haunting ghost story will enjoy it. Just keep in mind, it’s not a lot like her other work. I give this one a 7/10.
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