Review 4/9/2026 10/10

I lost my first review so I'm sorry if this is a bit halfhearted. I really loved this book. It had everything I wanted from a haunted house horror/psychological thriller book. The start was sweet and disarming. I wasn't sure what to expect from a horror novel since it isn't a genre I usually explore (however I've been trying to venture outside my comfort zone more) and my guard was very much up to start. Nothing blatantly spooky happened until chapter 4, but right when she rolled up to the house the tone shift was noticable. It went from hunky dory taking the shared car and driving up into the country to "This house is oppressive and alive." which is great. I loved meeting the characters as we went along and how everything was from Nell's perspective. I didn't know what to expect while I was reading it so to get refreshed with no perspective swapping and instead have a slow descent to madness was nice. The writing was beautifully done. She slowly stopped talking or added in small violent messages. The paragraphs started to take up nearly full pages while she descended further into her own psychosis. The horror of the haunted house was... maybe fake? I don't really know if the blood in the room was real or not. The knocking seemed to be a shared experience. And then ending it on her driving into a tree while her friends beg her to leave as she's obviously fallen deep into psychosis is a little cherry on top. It actually called back to an earlier death at the house where someone had crashed and died while trying to leave the house at night. Overall a masterpiece and I'd gladly recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit feverish and out there.