Interesting historical romance/thriller. That focuses on sisters, a house, and the ghost that haunts them. I really love how the stories intertwine work one another.

I really wanted to like this book but I couldn’t get into it. I may just not be the target audience for it.

I tried but I just could not get into this book. The writing just was not for me and the POV just didn’t work for me. I decided to DNF at about 25%

This book was haunting…I loved the two timeline that intertwined. The past being a ghost of a child bride and then the present the ghost observing the trio of teen cousins who are going through normal teen dilemmas… boys, sex, puberty. Definitely a book that has great topics for this age range, one I wish I would of had at a younger age.

This one was interesting, I enjoyed it to a point…. It was beautifully and well written but the story was not one for me. I had high expectations and it didn’t really live up to them.

A historical novel about three sisters and the mysterious nineteenth century ghost who haunts their dreams and house will have you enthralled from start to finish. Truly entertaining and interesting, read it quickly because I was very into the story!

This book was a bit slow going for me. I guess it took longer for me to connect to the characters, but I ultimately ended up enjoying the story.

The Whitsun Daughters
BY Carrie Mesrobian

A story about three girls Lilah, Poppy and Daisy from a Midwestern town in a dual timeline story with a ghost of a young Irish immigrant, Jane Murphy, from over a century earlier. Mesorbian weaves the stories of the two timelines beautifully in this haunting story about young women and their experiences with mental illness, sexuality, unplanned pregnancies, abortion and unrequited love.

In this beautiful quick read, I was completely mesmerized by Mesrobian's prose and the third person omniscient point of view as the story was told giving voice to these strong women and their stories.

This was a really interesting book. At first I thought it would have a similar theme to little women, where it was a story about 3 girls(two sisters and one cousin) and their lives. While this was one of the storylines, there was another that took place in the past, about a woman and her marriage. It was very interesting and had a lot of plot twists. This was a very fast book, that took place over only a couple of days. It was very interesting, but had some topics and scenes that didn’t sit right with me. Something I don’t see in many books that I enjoyed in this one was how the characters openly talked about sex and their bodies. Altogether this was a well written book, but some parts of it I personally didn’t enjoy.

Tw: abortion, pregnancy, cheating, death, inc3st, r*pe

The Whitsun Daughters is a ghost story unlike anything that I think I’ve read. It’s narrated by the ghost of Jane Murphy, a young Irish immigrant woman who lived on a small midwestern farm in the late nineteenth century, who is haunting the farm and following the lives of the three modern Whitsun girls, Lilah, Poppy, and Daisy, who now call it home. Though the focus is largely on the Whitsun girls grappling with Lilah’s unplanned pregnancy, Jane occasionally inserts herself and her experiences in life into the story, and soon some parallels start to appear. Jane herself experienced an unplanned pregnancy–by the husband that she didn’t love while she was pining after the young man that she actually loved. Similarly, Lilah must grapple with the reality that her unborn baby’s father doesn’t love her. The fact that Jane and Lilah’s stories are so similar a century apart is pretty unsettling. We, as a modern society, like to think that we’ve made great strides in gender equality, but The Whitsun Daughters is at its core a story of the young woman’s struggle to exercise control over her life, and how–even in 2020–we aren’t always empowered to do so.

Mesrobian’s lyrical writing is utterly mesmerizing, and the unique application of the third-person omniscient point-of-view worked really well for this story. Jane’s narrative voice was really strong, as were Lilah’s Poppy’s, and Daisy’s through their dialogue. At just 224 pages, I flew through The Whitsun Daughters in under 24 hours. It’s short, it’s fast-paced, but still full of commentary on the state of young woman by drawing parallels between the past and the present. The Whitsun Daughters isn’t the most traditional ghost story–though Jane haunts the farm, she doesn’t haunt the Whitsun Daughters, nor do they seem to be overly aware that their house is haunted–so it may not keep you up at night, but it will give you chills.

The Whitsun Daughters is an interesting story following two different perspectives: three teenage sisters coming of age in the modern day, and a descendant of the family, a ghost of a woman from the 1800’s.

At first I was super interested in this story. I loved the writing style. The descriptions and the way the characters interacted with one another. About a quarter of the way into the book, though, I became concerned with what was happening between some of the younger characters and the older adult-like characters, who are seemingly related. By the end of the story I was confused about what exactly was happening, and the flowery writing style that I initially loved, became the main cause of said confusion.

Overall, I recommend skipping this title. I don’t really know what it was trying to say, and it left me uncomfortable by the end.

I received an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was really excited about this book. but it was so hard to get through. I didn't enjoy the characters, the story, or the writing. I ultimately decided to DNF it.

This is a beautiful and atmospheric story which alternates between the ghost of a woman from the 1800's telling her own story, and her descendants, three teenage girls, coming of age in modern times. It is bold and unashamed in its portrayals of the things many young girls experience growing up, and speaks plainly about things like menstruation, sex, and pregnancy. The story connects the women of this family with those experiences they have in common, even though they live centuries apart.
I really enjoyed the writing style of this book. It was atmospheric and moody, and the writing was poetic, while still maintaining a sense that the author was speaking plainly about things. I especially loved this directness when it came to topics that most authors skirt around with vague and flowery inferences. I loved the idea of a ghost watching her descendants grow up just as she did, but in a different time and a different way.
The characters felt very real and many of the youngest sister, Daisy's, experiences and feelings rang true for me. There are definitely some questionable events happening in this story (particularly a sexual relationship between a 15 year old and a 19 year old), and some of it made me uncomfortable because I could never tell if the story was aware of itself there or not. On the other hand, I do feel that the uncomfortable feeling, and the uncertainty around what's ok and what's not, is something that so many young girls have to feel while growing up, and it's presence in this story, whether intentionally or not, added to the theme for me.
My only complaint would be, again, the fact that some questionable things are not fully addressed. I also think the marketing might be a little off calling this a "ghost" story when really it's just narrated by a woman from the past.
But overall, it was a gorgeous and captivating read.

Thank you Penguin Teen for the Netgalley ARC!

I loved how atmospheric and enthralling this book was!
It was hard to put this one down. I cant wait for this to officially come out! Thank you netgalley for this copy.

At first, I really liked this book! I loved the alternating POVs, with one person being in first person and the other in third person. It really solidified the vibe of someone watching them. I also thought it was cool to go back and forth between past and present to see how life progresses. I thought the writing was really good and the tonal change from past to present was also well done.

The characters were all interesting, although I didn't get much time to get to know Violet or Carna. Daisy was a sweet character, but I was worried for her. Watching her pine after Hugh, her cousin's ex-boyfriend, was sad. Especially since he is 19 and she is 15. The age gap was really concerning for me - and then we get a new revelation and I was disturbed.

Before the last 25% of this book, I was really enjoying it. I probably would have rated it higher. But after a certain reveal about two characters, it really grossed me out. Then we also add on the age gap between Daisy and Hugh, which is gross. And the writing itself got harder to understand. By the end of the book, I wasn't sure what had actually happened, but if my understanding is correct, it's really gross. And sad. So I have to drop my score due to an almost promotion of some concerning ideals, plus the fact that the storyteller became so cryptic I couldn't even understand what was going on anymore. I was left confused with a lot of additional questions.