2.5 stars

This story was...odd.

For some reason this book reminded me of, "The Last Tale of the Flower Bride" by Roshana Chokshi even though the stories are very different from each other. Maybe it's because of the eccentricities of them both? In that sense, it also reminded me of the book, "House of Hollow" by Krystal Sutherland.

I picked this book up because I wanted a creepy, eerie, and spooky novel heading into the Fall and this book succeeded in that way. However, I think that was where the success of this book ended. It just read like a book that was cobbled together as it was being written without any real plan.

That ending too. To be honest, I don't even really think I fully understood the ending but I also just wanted the book to be over so I could move on from it.

I loved every second of this book and couldn't stop reading it.
It starts with a vibe of a twisted Gilmore Girls spooky retelling. The relationship between Jane and Ruth was simply amazing to read. The spooky manor was actually very scary, the whole small town was perfect.
It was the first book I've read by this author and I definitely will pick up her other works, because her writing was exactly what I wanted to read. The whole book was incredibly immersive and atmospheric, and the pace was also perfect for me.
There are a LOT of things in this book that don't make any sense at all and are not explained in almost any way, which I absolutely loved, but I'm sure it won't be for everyone.

Katrina Leno’s Horrid is a great young adult horror/mystery novel that makes for a perfect fall read and draws the reader in from the adapted nursery rhyme at the beginning and keeps them engaged until the climactic end. Seventeen-year-old Jane and her mother Ruth have left California after the death of Jane’s father and Ruth’s husband, Greer. The two are headed to Bells Hallow, Maine where Ruth grew up and left abruptly when she was younger; not ever wanting to return. When Jane and Ruth end up back in Ruth’s childhood home, North Manor, strange things begin happening around the house and Jane sets out on a mission to find out what secrets have been kept in this family home for decades.

Leno has given such a unique voice to Jane who is a lover of books, especially Agatha Christie novels, and suffers from a terrible anger that seems to only be eased when she eats paper from books (which is known as pica). What is so fascinating about Jane is that she is so level-headed and strong yet she still is shown to have these flaws, something that a lot of authors seem to forget about when creating characters. Jane and her mother both seem to deal with the same anger issues, something that Jane has had trouble controlling her entire life. As the story progresses, Jane often has flashbacks to when she was younger and unable to control her anger.

Leno touches on some different themes throughout Horrid including loss, grief, mental illness, the mother/daughter relationship, intergenerational trauma, and paranormal activity. All of these themes impact one another and intertwine effortlessly with each other. As the reader makes their way through Horrid they will notice how the paranormal things that happen in North Manor start out slowly and then build up to the end, this same thing happens with the other themes in the story, they all increase together creating a climactic end that you won’t see coming.

The writing in Horrid is incredibly fluid and Leno has created an entertaining novel that is very easy to read. I personally devoured Horrid in a day and was engaged the entire time. The story is well thought out and everything had its place and purpose. Something that I personally loved about this book was the inclusion of the adapted nursery rhyme at the beginning of Horrid and then used each line of the poem as the start of a new chapter rather than numbering them. Katrina Leno has written a brilliant novel that is bound to capture reader’s attention from the very beginning. Horrid is dark, clever, engaging, and spine-tingling.

Katrina Leno writing a YA horror novel? Is it my birthday or something?!? This might have been my most anticipated this year, it was certainly in the my top five.  Katrina is an author that I've come to completely adore and this is no exception to the rule.  The book was creepy, atmospheric and f*cked up as hell.  My brand completely. 

Can we start off by just loving on the cover that is this book? It's perfection, it's so creepy and weird and breathtakingly beautiful.  Might be my favorite cover of the year, it's a major contender. 

Horrid starts out with a mother and daughter (Jane), moving across country to back to her mother's hometown after the death of Jane's father.  The death left them in financial ruin, so they are moving back to her dead grandmother's house - something which her mother seems very unsettled by, but closed lipped about.  It doesn't take long once Jane and her mother into this old, big house that Jane starts to hear and see things.  Her mother keeps brushing it off as her imagination, and Jane is starting to wonder if she really is going crazy but she's determined to get to the bottom of what is going on in that house. 

The house setting was perfect for this book, it gave such a sense of dread - even in the daytime.  Kind of reminded me on The Shinning in the way that you don't even trust the house with the lights on.  You just know something is beyond wrong there.  I love that kind of atmosphere.  The characters were also really well developed.  Jane is easily relatable - I mean she is obsessed with Agatha Christie book, a girl after my own heart.  I found her mother really frustrating at times but authentic, maybe that was why it was so frustrating.  Nothing was coming easy, everything was complicated.  I wanted to slap her lots but at the same time had so much empathy watching her trying to keep everything afloat.  

I should mention there is a big element of grief in this book.  Jane just lost her father and she and her mother are grieving and it's hard to read.  As someone who has lost a parent in the last couple of years (thankfully not at such a young age), I felt her grief in my bones.  It was another character in the book almost.  It was beautifully done, but that didn't make it an easy read.  

Horrid was also a pretty creepy book at times.  I watch and read a lot of horror and don't scare easily, but I think a lot of people will get the heebie jeebies reading certain parts in this one.  It's more of a slow burn, but the mystery kept me turning those pages.  I had to know what was going on in that house and secrets the mother was keeping.  The payoff was worth it - it got dark! Really dark! 

This book is probably going to be somewhat polarizing.  I think Katrina's writing always is but you like a dark ghost story that isn't afraid of not giving you all easy, light answers then I think you'll dig this book.