I love reading. My taste are pretty much all over the board. And when I am in the mood for horror my go to is Darcy Coates. This woman, well she writes horror like no other. Her books have always been able to captivate my attention and hold it till the very end. Darcy has a way of describing things so that it feels like you are smack dab in the middle of the book. As much as I love horror, I am not one who spooks easily. with that said though, every time i get lost in one of Darcy's books, I find myself wanting to constantly look over my shoulder, the hair on my neck stands on end, and as much as I usually hate to do it I have to take a breather to get my heart rate back to normal. One thing that I absolutely love the most about her books is that they are not predictable. You may have all the puzzle pieces but you cant put them all together until she lets you. It's completely refreshing to read horror done right these days since from books to movies everything seems so dang predictable or done to death, no pun intended.
I am extremely lucky since I have the absolute privilege of being on Darcy's review team. I recently had the opportunity to review her new book "The Haunting Of Ashburn House". In exchange for the privilege of reading the book for free, I have agreed to leave a review for it. All opinions are completely my own.
The Haunting Of Ashburn House
Adrienne didn't know what to expect when she arrived at Ashburn House. She'd never met the deceased owner, her estranged great-aunt Edith, and was surprised that she'd been bequeathed the property.
By all accounts, Edith was a strange woman. She rarely let guests into her home and a myriad of rumours surrounded the property. The residents of the nearby town claimed to have seen a wraith-like figure pacing behind the drawn curtains and to feel ghostly fingers brush their necks when they passed the driveway.
Adrienne doesn't believe in ghosts, but it's hard to ignore the unease that grows as she explores her new home. Strange messages have been carved into the wallpaper, her pet cat stares at nothing, and an old gravestone hidden in the woods behind the house hints at a bleak and shocking history.
One thing quickly becomes clear: Ashburn's dead are not at peace.
One thing is certain, the description of this book doesn't do it justice. Its kinda like the kindergarten Cliffs Notes. But it works because anything more would give to much away. I loved Adrienne aka Addy right away. She is super relatable to all of us kinda loner folks. Her cat Wolfgang is super awesome and not only does he play a pretty big role in this story but he also seems like the kind of cat you would want to curl up with and read. This book had me going back and forth on trying to figure out if the recently departed Great Aunt Edith was the big bad of the book or not. And then of course trying to pinpoint exactly what the big bad was exactly. And like I said before, Darcy kept me guessing and didn't let the picture be complete until she was ready. I was close but I still got it wrong. I feel the main characters of the book are Addy and Wolfgang. Edith of course plays a pretty big role both in the beginning and towards the end. We get to learn about her quirks throughout the whole story. Just don't be quick to judge. The sub characters are just as important as the main characters. Instead of just being filler, each and every one of them play important roles in completing the picture. One of my other favorite things about this book, and all of her books for that matter, is that you can't discount any of the small details. They are all important. And when the story finally reaches the super climatic end, it's all those little details that bring it all together. I absolutely adored the ending of this book. It was wrapped up nicely even though I could defiantly read more about Ashburn House. So woo-hoo for no cliffhangers.
This was definitely a 5 Star book. I have added a link to this book on Amazon. While you are there be sure to check out all of her books. No matter which one you pick to read you won't be disappointed.
The Haunting of Ashburn House
