I love a good gothic tale and this is a good gothic tale. In fact, this is great gothic tale. Right from the start you get a classic haunted vibe, think Shirley Jackson. Add to that a touch of Winchester style mansion, set it in a swamp, mix in a long family history, filled with mystery and supernatural gifts and you start to get the idea. I adored the way the house holds memories, it was used to both add warmth in places and terror in others, brilliantly juxtaposing on itself.

Imagery was a strength, wrapping you in dread, making both the house and swamp come to life, the floorboards and the air itself are written in such a way that you can hear the creaking and feel the heavy air invade your nose. Sam is a truly unique narrative voice, both brave and vulnerable. You feel a mental fragility while at the same time an inner strength, again the duality grounding and real, raw. The comfort in house, the discomfort in the house, the time outside of the house, everything you experience with her reaches inside of your soul and touches you.

And that end! Holy wow.

This is a modern gothic that could sit proudly beside the classics.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Sam has once again found herself living in her childhood home. A home that isn’t quite like other children’s home. Here at the Wakefield Manor, rooms change by themselves. They condense and elongate. They change their location as they please. Not only do the rooms move, but so do the previous inhabitants of the house. Ancestors of the Wakefield line still roam the house, however, instead of wandering aimlessly, they replay memories from the past. Events that have happened in the house that shape the house for what it is. Sam lives there with her reclusive mother, and as of recently her pregnant sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth decided to join them to get away from her husband after one of their many blowouts. When Elizabeth enters the house, Sam starts to see a boy do grotesque things. The boy starts to pull feathers from an injured bird, stomp on frogs and threatens Sam that she will be next. The more Sam studies the boy, she realizes that this is her nephew about to be born and she must find someway to save him, and also them, from this fate. All of this connects to a locked, abandoned room upstairs that nobody has opened since her father was alive. Will it hold the answer to save her family?

This was a perfect ghost story. It has suspense, horror, mystery and a well thought out plot. I was so satisfied with the ending, and so thankful it didn’t ruin the story. I hate how thrillers are always ending now with some huge psychological twist that you can now see a mile away. That the whole time is was actually the main character who was insane and there are no ghosts. This definitely didn’t end that way, and I think that really makes this book a home run. While reading this I was so engrossed by the language the author uses. It’s eloquent and advanced without being cumbersome or hard to read. This novel also gets you in the Halloween spirit! I think this would make a wonderful movie, and I am excited for anything else this author might right in the future!

Rate: 5/5
Fiction: Thriller, Suspense, Paranormal
Author: Jo Kaplan

Got a lot of good reviews on Amazon, so it seemed like it would be interesting, but not to me.I really wanted to read a good haunted house story, but I think they just wanted to show off their vocabulary. Could have been much better, but boring beginning. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

A solid 4 star ghost story that I seem to be reading more and more of lately and loving. The book started a bit slow but I loved the visual I had of the house so I stuck it out and I'm glad I did. Things really picked up and got a bit scary but scary good with ghosts and drama and everything like that you want in a ghost story.
I couldn't even guess the ending which is always a plus and it turned out to be a great ending!

Thanks to Netgalley for my advanced ebook copy.

I am not someone who is well versed in all of the horror tropes that exist. When it comes to the genre I'd consider myself a novice-intermediate. When it comes to literature I am much more of a fantasy reader even though I branch out quite often especially into various degrees of nonfiction. With movies, I know the different characters in all the slasher films and the general premise for many others but I was never the person who had friends over late at night to eat popcorn and watch B movies.

Despite that, I could still see the influence other works, namely those of Shirley Jackson, had on It Will Just Be Us. I like books where they do reference and do a nod to what came before them but also come up with a story that feels fresh. As for someone who admittedly doesn't always read horror, this felt fresh. To take a step farther I am willing to bet that the idea for the house came from the real-life mansion belonging to Sarah Winchester.

What appealed to me outright was that in all occurrences of Ghost Stories I'm familiar with there has been a lead up to the reveal. An easy comparison would be The Haunting of Hill House show on Netflix. The ghosts were there the whole time but you never realized how many until the last few episodes. Here, we are faced with the opposite. Not only do we know the house is full of ghosts but that the family that lives there is alright with it. The ghosts aren't specifically ghosts either. I would say that this is another clever difference the author put in. It reminded me of The Invention of Morel. The house has the ability to record certain events, and the ghosts are the events replaying themselves over and over again. It appears that on occasion the house also can play specific memories on command. The mother, Agnes, has a connection to the house and sometimes it plays scenes specifically for her. Usually, it's of her daughter's playing when they were children but there's a comical scene involving a blogger and one ancestor who died of a seizure. The blogger lies his way into the house but is then tortured by Agnes and the house while the woman comes into the room, adjust some pictures, sits on the couch next to him, and then dies.

These ancestral recordings are not interactive. Their descendants who live in the house can't interact with them. They see their relatives as they lived and died there. But that's okay. This is not a generic ghost story. There are multiple layers that add up to something quite original.

We have a story about a family. Agnes who rarely leaves the house and spends most of her time drinking. Samantha who works as a teacher of archeology but also observes and studies the ghost of her ancestors. Pregnant Elizabeth who is fleeing from her abusive husband Donovan and who wants to have a normal life. Their father committed suicide in the house.

We have a story about atonement. The family history involved madness and murder. They helped slaves escape the clutches of evil plantation owners just to force some of them into working for them. Some mistakes have been made in the past, and vengeance is coming in the form of a slave who died in the swamps.

We have a story about a swamp witch who promises to make things right and protect those who choose to come to her. Clementine, a former slave, is the first who falls into her grasp. She cannot save her daughter from ending up in the Wakefield house and seeks retribution for what will befall her.

We have a story about the unborn child of Elizabeth who manifests himself as a dark entity in the house. His presence tortures Samantha who believes she must put an end to this before he is born. She witnesses him torture and kill animals and people. He is wicked and cruel as his father.

What I loved was that I could not predict where the story was going to take me. The real horror of the story comes in the form of Donovan who tracks Elizabeth down to the house in an effort to lay claim to his child. With Samantha to guide us, we are on the fence with killing the child before he is born or allowing him to live and keep him away from his father. We are left wondering why Julian, the child, is manifesting despite not being dead and appearing at different ages. He drifts into different time periods and interacts with the ancestors. The rules of the makeup of the house do not apply to him. It was truly thrilling to follow Samantha along as the madness around her grew and took hold. The story leads us to a grand finale with a riveting chase through a house changing forms and switching rooms followed by a life or death struggle in the swamp overtaken by snow.

Then the ending! Oh, the ending was good. That epilogue where you almost feel satisfied with how things turned out. I can live with that last death. It didn't bother me. The hopelessness that follows was fine dining. It was a bit of the twist from The Haunting of Hill House TV show but not quite. Still fresh. Samantha's fate still creeps me out. I'm in my living room, It's 2:11 AM, I have every light on, and I have goosebumps. Now I'm shivering a little. That's the effect this book had on me. This is a remarkable piece of fiction.

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan is a terrifying haunted house story that will keep you turning pages until the very end.


I love horror, but to be honest, it's pretty rare to find a book that scares me. This book did that exact thing. The intense writing, the eerie setting, the great characterizations...all of that combined into a freaky, awesome experience that I loved.

My favorite parts about this book were the swamp and the house. Both of them were so well described that they acted more like characters than settings. They added a brooding, edgy feeling to the rest of the book and made the book creepy and compelling.

It Will Just Be Us is a really topnotch horror story. I'm a huge fan of Gothic horror (no gore for me, thank you very much), and this moody, gloomy novel was just the ticket. I highly recommend it, and look forward to reading other of Kaplan's work.


Five out of five stars. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the review copy.

I really wanted to enjoy this. The concept was intriguing, and there were genuinely scary moments, but I didn’t like the narrative voice. I appreciate the narrating, academic character, would speak in a certain way (perhaps stilted, and somewhat officious), but I found it a chore to read. The language did not flow well, and a lot of the content seemed superfluous. It felt more like a schlocky thriller, than the gorgeous Shirley Jackson novel, with which the book has drawn comparisons. Disappointing, unfortunately.

I have a difficult time rating this book because, though I did finish it, I didn’t feel an immersion like I think I should have in a haunted house book. I found myself not really emotionally invested in any one character, just mildly annoyed at various character’s behaviors and actions. We never get beyond skin-deep with Sam, and I’m still not sure why she’s returned home or why she is just teaching one class. I understand she went through a trauma years ago, but the interactions with her sister and mother are tentative and cautious as best, and almost stranger-like and dismissive/tolerant at worst. The house itself is interesting, but there’s so much other distracting storyline jumping all over that it feels like an afterthought. For me, it never takes on the level of character that I think it should have become and just ends up being a derivative Winchester House/ Hill House. The idea of seeing memories play out is interesting, but doesn’t really go beyond that for me. I thought it was also tediously slow. I kept marveling that it felt like I had been reading for hours but I only got one or two percentage points along in the whole of the book. I also don’t understand this referral to “gothic” as a descriptor. The book never takes place in Victorian times, the oldest is a time 400 years ago or so when the house was owned by slave owners. Gothic it was not. Just because the house is haunted, doesn’t make it gothic.

Well, this book has all the trappings of a good gothic horror story: a creepy house, unsettled spirits, the ability to prophesize, and a madwoman (or is it mad women? You decide).
Besides being creepy and downright unsettling, it also is a story about nature vs. nurture forcing us to ask ourselves “are we a product of our environment and learn evil, or are we born evil”? This was a quick and easy read that left me with just the right amount of unsettledness to keep a light on at night.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the tone of the writing really played with the story of the sisters and mother. I read it late one night as there was a storm and it played into the creepy supernatural theme. I could not sleep after reading it. Some of the ghosts that were talked about really made me have to turn a light on. I loved where the story went. It was a short read. Will pick up whatever the author writes next.

This book was CREPPY. I equal parts did not want to keep going and could not put it down. Gave me serious Shining vibes but creepier if that’s even possible. Super well written. Strongly encourage if you like a good creepy read. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book was a true Gothic novel that really had me from the beginning! Of course, this is definitely a niche book for people who really enjoy this genre-- but I ended up liking it more than I thought I was going to!

The book centers around sisters, Elizabeth and Sam. One sister, Lizzie, moves back in with her sister, Sam, and her mother, Agnes, after an altercation with her husband. Lizzie is pregnant, due soon with a baby boy. Agnes doesn't leave the premise of the house; she never wants to leave and hasn't left for even the most important occasions. There are much more sinister things going on than meets the eye, and Kaplan really made the readers see that from the beginning of the novel.

I really enjoyed this book, I thought it was a fun read! The writing was so fluid and beautiful, and I found entranced by it. I felt that the "old meets new" Gothic meets Modern was such an interesting writing point.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read this ARC!

Predictable but really enjoyable. Would love to see this adapted into a movie or series. My first foray into gothic horror lit, I really enjoyed this.

Horrific scenes unfold at eerie Wakefield Manor. If you like a fast paced off the beaten path creepy ghost story, this is a book like no other!

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane for the ARC.

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan—This book has haunted me and it’s taken me a bit to feel settled enough to write a review. Sam’s centuries-old, sprawling, dilapidated childhood home does not hold many happy memories, but it does hold onto all memories. At any point the house will “replay” memories. It may be the old lady lying in a bed taking her last dying breath, a woman locking a door that no one can now find the key to, or even Sam and her sister playing in the garden. Sam has become used to living in a “haunted” house with its terrifying history, after all, memories can’t hurt you. But when a new little boy with no face appears in the memories, Sam knows something isn’t quite right. This little boy Is evil and looking for his “auntie” as his next target. Sam has got to stop him and the locked room may hold the answer. This story has so many twists and turns, a perfect mix of realistic horror and spiritual horror. Due out Aug 11th, 2020. #netgalley #Itwilljustbeus #jokaplan

I tried reading this one, but I just could not get into it and decided to DNF this one as per my review policy. I do not think it's a bad book, but it was not my kind of horror story and I really was not enjoying it. I do not publicly rate or review books I do not finish. Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Sometimes things seem better in theory than they actually are in practice.

It Will Just Be Us is one of those things. When I originally read the synopsis of this book I thought it sounded amazing. I love ghost stories and scary movies and haunted houses and I really thought this would be my kind of book. Add to the fact that it has over 4 stars on Goodreads and I figured it would be a slam dunk.

I feel bad because the last book I was was amazing and I feel like anything I read after that one was destined to be disliked by me. Unfortunately this book just did not do it for me at all. I hated the main character, Sam. She's whiny and she pretty much annoyed me through the entire book. Add to the fact that the author is WAY too descriptive and nothing happens for a long time and I just couldn't handle it.

I'm sorry to say that I skimmed this book. It was utterly put-downable and I just wanted it to be over with. I did manage to finish it, which is why it gets two stars instead of one, but that's about the only thing it has going for it.

Okay so, phew it was scary and that means author did a fantastic job, I never expected I will like a gothic horror story but here I'm ranting about how much I loved it. It was spine-chilling. One thing that I would like to mention is that I found it a bit hard to get into the book at first but then I couldn't stop. Stunning.

Oh this book was terrifying. Scary and chilling. Written like a classic horror story. Amazing and highly recommended for horrr fans x

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan is a chilling gothic horror story that focuses on a family living in a haunted house. Our main character, Sam, has returned to her childhood home to live with her mom after a vicious robbery that left her struggling with PTSD. Sam's childhood home is not your average haunted house. It's a decaying mansion on the edge of a mysterious swamp that has the ability to show Sam and her family echoes of the past and the ghosts of their ancestors. Sam and her family cannot interact with the past or the ghosts, but when her pregnant sister, Elizabeth, moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts. Suddenly, Sam starts seeing a new ghost - a faceless boy who takes pleasure in killing animals and even has the ability to interact with the past, killing one of her ancestors and following her around the house with a knife. When he calls her auntie, she knows immediately that the boy is Julian, the son Elizabeth is about to give birth to. Sam is horrified by her nephew's actions and will do whatever it takes to change the future.

This atmospheric read will keep you guessing until the twisted ending. The author's writing style is captivating and works perfectly for a ghost story. The rich descriptions really made the haunted house come alive, and it felt like I was right there, experiencing the creepy and terrifying events occurring at Sam's home. There's a sense of uncertainty throughout the story about whether the house is actually haunted, or is Sam mentally unstable. I enjoyed watching this dark mystery unravel. This is not one of those stories where the main character gets a happy ending. The ending of this book was heartbreaking and very disturbing. If you're a fan of Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House, then I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.