Tag Archives: house

Feb9

The Ones Who Never Left by Gabrielle Mullarkey

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I received this book to review for Rosie’s Book Review Team. Thank you to the author for the copy.

Creepy house, young couple, small town in Yorkshire, mystery man who roams the woods, housekeeper with an odd name, and a lot of weirdness in the history of the house make for a great premise for a story.

And for a great majority of the book, I enjoyed it. There was enough mystery and intrigue to satisfy me as a reader. I liked the protagonist and felt bad for her in the way she was treated by a number of characters in the story. I like a story where I have someone to root for as the action progresses.

Without any spoilers, though, I have to say that the last few chapters changed my whole opinion of the book. The ending was especially disappointing to me and it tainted the whole reading experience. To go from enjoying the book to dissatisfaction was jarring to say the least.

I can’t say much more as I don’t want to go into too much detail of what changed it for me, but I am going to give it four stars for being well-written, satisfyingly macabre, and mostly well-drawn characters. Had those last chapters been different, this one would’ve easily have been five stars for me. I’m not quite sure if that was a cliffhanger at the end, but I hate them and that is also part of my dissatisfaction with the book.

Jul12

The Forever House- Linda Acaster – A Review

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This book was interesting but a little confusing.  The main character seemed to leap to many conclusions without much in the way of evidence before she did. AS I read, I actually said out loud a few times, “This woman is whackadoodle.”

I enjoyed the story for the most part, but there were things left hanging at the end that I wanted explained. As a reader, I want all the questions answered especially if it seems there is not going to be a sequel.

The premise of the story was intriguing and the fact that the main character was so strong in her opinions and actions made the tale pleasurable. The beginning was slow. The character spent a lot of time removing wallpaper and drywall and inspecting the room she was renovating. I got a little annoyed at how long that took and the amount of detail conveyed. Some readers may enjoy that kind of slow build, but personally, I am all about getting to the action. 

Once we got to the action, things moved quicker and I enjoyed the pace of the story from about chapter four or five on. The way the protagonist made leaps of logic was interesting and when she went to the police after visiting one particular man made me scratch my head as to how she came to the conclusion that led her there. It was precipitate at the least and a bit crazy at the most. I confess, I was kind of stunned—which may be what the author intended. LOL

I’d have liked the writer to give us closure on the sister-in-law and what was going on there. We got good closure on the main story, but I was disappointed at the plot points left hanging.

This one has me torn.  They were a lot of good points in the story but there were also a number of things that bothered me.  I am going to have to give it 3.5 stars.