This was a book full of brilliant ideas and slices of perfection when it comes to old-dark-house creepiness abounding. All of the ingredients for an outstanding book are there, but much like the ingredients to a magnificent meal, in the wrong hands they can turn out bland.

I've seen a lot of really excellent reviews of this book, and wish I could have had the same experience.

What did I like? The feeling of urgency that the book demanded, as well as the unexpected behind every corner of every page. The creeping sense of unease was palpable. The author's ability to paint a haunting picture of the characters and their surroundings was superb.

What didn't I like? The dialogue was all wrong for the ages of the characters. Picture young children trying hard to sound very mid-19th century adult. It was jarring at best, repulsive at worst.

The book is worth picking up and flipping through. Many people have had a far different reaction than I have; sometimes the plot makes up for something so seemingly inconsequential. But for me, that wasn't the case. Three stars.

This is a very long and drawn out book. Much too wordy and definitely no need for it. You don't need to throw in a bunch of adjectives to create an atmosphere. The story should have been enough to back that up but unfortunately, it wasn't. Very disappointing.

*thank you to Netgalley, CreateSpace Independent Publishing and Melika Dannese Lux for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4.5 stars.

Wow. Ok. This was.....WOW. I took my time with this because I will admit that as an ebook copy, with it being over 600 pages, that kinda overwhelmed me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE LOVE thick chunky books. But NOT thick chunky ebooks. (There is a difference.) Only physical ones. But the story and the cover, OMG THAT COVER, made me push through that negative feeling because I really wanted to read this still. And I am SO glad that I did. It's brought back my love for gothic horror and Melika Dannese Lux definitely knows how to tell a story. This had everything I love and I wanted to take my time and not rush it and just absorb it all. So I did. I hope I can track down an actual physical copy to buy so I can re read this.
Highly recommend!

I think this book has some good idea in it.  But for me this book was very long and it didn't grab me like I wanted.  I love the cover and that grabbed me and I wanted so much for this book to be as good or better than the cover.  I can say, for me it wasn't better.  It was a slow book, which made me not want to keep reading it.  I enjoyed the writing and how different the book was from others I've read but I am still not sure I will read book 2.  I guess time will tell. *This book was given to me for free at my request from NetGalley and I provided this voluntary review.*

I would like to thank CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform and Netgalley for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted by the blanket and we see a boy with a ghost behind him and in the distance a woman in a glass prison.

We learn from the beginning that the name Deadmarsh is scary except to Roger who fears nothing and no one. When he returned to DeadMarsh he found that everything had to be changed: the grounds were no longer maintained, the servants were no longer there, the cat had grown up but as no cat had ever been. He's going to learn a lot about supernatural creatures.

A book read several times because I found it a little long but I immediately hooked on the story so captivating and full of suspense and twists and turns as well as the characters.

Looking forward to reading on.

Roger can't wait to get to Deadmarsh. There he will see his cousins. They always have so much fun together. When he gets there, he see things have changed. Travers is wearing an overly fancy dress and a strange moonstone necklace. She seems frightened and not the fun loving girl she usually is. When his other cousin finally arrives from school, he is cold and distant. He also has a strange companion with him, Master Coffyn. He seems to think he is the master of Deadmarsh. Roger finally discovers that if he doesn't save his cousin before his birthday, the family will be destroyed.
This was an interesting and imaginative story. It keeps your attention and entertains you. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to any fantasy readers out there.