I've read a lot of haunted house books and watched a lot of movies; The Restoration is a good one. Some readers will like that Moncrieff gets right to it, while others may prefer a slower build in their creepy house reads, it really just depends on the reader (as always). I have a couple people in mind to recommend this one to and I will read more from this author

THE RESTORATION, by J.H. Moncrieff, centers around Terri Foxworth, her ten-year-old daughter, Dallas, the red-brick, three-story, Vandermere mansion—that Terri is in charge of restoring—and the ghosts that may or may not dwell within…

‘What does one do when the nightmares are real? Who was ever going to believe her?’

I love the premise of the book, though, at times, the characterization felt off to me; throughout, Moncrieff does an excellent job of creating creepy-formidable foes!

Thank you, NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for providing me with an eBook of THE RESTORATION at the request of an homes review.

Moncrieff has perfected her style. THE RESTORATION is awesome! The Glenvale House feels like a gothic character all its own, and Moncreiif weaves us through this haunted house without missing a beat. Loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press, and J.H. Moncrieff for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
#NetGalley #FlameTreePress #JHMoncrieff

Terri Foxworth is hired to restore an old mansion and, well…you can see where I’m going with this. The Restoration is a creepy haunted house tale. Is there such a thing as “cozy horror”? I can’t think of a more perfect description of this book. So, if there isn’t, maybe there should be.
Thank you to the author for the simplicity of this book. This is something that tends to be absent in today’s entertainment. I love, love, love a good ghost story. It’s my very favorite type of story. There’s nothing more frustrating to me (sorry, Shirley Jackson), than when a story either debunks the ghost or leaves it to the imagination or leaves unclear as to whether the answer is supernatural or mental. I HATE that!!! It’s so common that I pretty much assume that that’s what I’m getting when I read a ghost synopsis. This book is a ghost story. That’s it. I won’t go into spoilers other than that, but I know that if I were reading a review, I would appreciate the heads-up. That way I could relax and enjoy instead of waiting for the ax to drop and the ghost to become a mental illness or a hallucination.
The characters in this story were a little frustrating. Terri, the main character, was very wishy-washy. Her character was weak and had trouble making decisions. I spent a lot of the book mentally screaming at her to pick a lane!!! The ghosts were wonderful though. That’s really the important thing anyway.

A creepy story set in a gothic mansion. Need I say more?

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eGalley. All opinions are my own.

'The Restoration' is your basic easy-read, mostly-predictable, standard-format ghost story.

We follow Terri, a restorer of historic homes, as she and her ten-year-old daughter, Dallas, move into Glenvale, a house that definitely has a history, to live there while Terri works her magic on the old place. The resident ghost, Niles, is not the type to moan and groan and rattle chains, he's an in-your-face, walking, talking apparition that appears so real that at first Terri thinks he's a period actor who got a bit confused. Niles, however, is not remotely confused, but he is quick to anger and strong enough to cause serious harm. Surrounding Niles is a mystery: he died at the age of sixteen, supposedly from natural causes, but Terri isn't so sure, and neither is Gertie, the former house manager.

Between the two of them, Terri and Gertie must figure out exactly what happened almost a century ago not only to Niles, but to his older sister, Emma. And how - if at all - does the youngest sister figure into it, the sister who is now one hundred years old, cranky and rude, and - of course - Terri's employer.

This was an enjoyable little story, very old-school, formulaic, but fun just the same. There's some moments when the characters reactions seem completely unrealistic but, much like when the idiot kid goes off on their own in a teen slasher flick, you can just roll your eyes at their stupidity and keep on enjoying the story. Ghosts, murders and mystery in an old mansion? I'm always down for that.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2022 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2022/01/readers-advisory-announce-2022-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

I don't usually give three star reviews, but this just seemed very... basic, somehow? I can't quite put my finger on it. The plot description intrigued me, but I found it difficult to get into and didn't feel entirely drawn to the story. It took me awhile to finish as I would put it down and wouldn't feel that tug to come back to it. I was curious to see how it ended, and did appreciate the little twist at the end, but... I'm not sure. Something about this just didn't click with me. Still a decent little read if you're looking for something simple.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review!

As a single mom who works in historic home restoration, jobs are key to her survival. And so Terri is thrilled to be hired to restore Glenvale House. The owner, a hundred-year-old woman who doesn't look a day over eighty, wants the house fully restored and has given Terri a year to complete the project. What's more, Terri and her daughter, Dallas, can live on site throughout the restoration.

Unfortunately for Terri, things begin to go wrong almost from the start. She's warned about the house and it's previous employees' proclivities. Basically, the owner tells her from the start that she holds not stock with the rumors of the house's hauntings and she won't put up with any whiff of trouble from Terri. (And by trouble she means mention of ghosts.) But she's not exactly honest about the circumstances by which the previous employees and other restorers left under.

And Glenvale House is indeed haunted! In fact, the spirit that calls the place home targets Terri's daughter from the beginning.

At first, Terri believes they could be dealing with a trespasser. Unfortunately for her, she's very wrong. And what first seems to be a lonely ghost looking for friendship turns into something much more dangerous!

It's funny when real life experiences start to align with your reading. And no, I'm not restoring a haunted house! But I have been pretty obsessed lately with Cheap Old Houses (the Instagram feed and the show), so I've been introduced a little more into the world that Terri inhabits more than I would have, say, a year ago!

And Terri's job is a fascinating one! But more than that, the focus in Moncrieff's latest is the struggle of a single mom trying her best to support herself and her daughter.

Life hasn't been easy since her divorce and her ex offers no help at all. He's off living his own life and even has their daughter with him the majority of the time. The summer at Glenvale House is meant to be Terri's time to reconnect with her daughter.

What it's not meant to be is putting her young daughter in direct danger!

But Terri is feisty and stubborn. She's determined to take care of her daughter first, no matter what.

I truly felt for Terri and Dallas. And I feared for them as well! But the ultimate twist is that even the reader isn't fully aware of just where the true danger of Glenvale House lies.

The Restoration is an absolutely chilling story about dark secrets within families and the lengths some will go to in an attempt to ensure no one ever discovers the truth! And since ghost stories just happen to be my favorite flavor of horror, it's also super twisted fun!

So you've taken on the job of restoring (and moving into) this dilapidated old house with lots of spooky rooms, bringing your ten-year-old daughter, and then the kid tells you that she saw a possibly disturbed person roaming the corridors. Do you:
a) call the police
b) hightail it out of there
c) both, or
d) give it some thought, then shrug it off, because, well, who knows *what* that kid saw, right?

This is one of those books where d) is not only considered un-crazy but actually the logical choice: "If (mom Terri) saw him herself, she'd ask him to leave. No sense calling the police on a kid, especially a kid with a mental illness. Hopefully he'd get bored and leave on his own."
Um. Maybe it's just me, but I think I'd have a slight problem with a mentally unstable teen hiding in the same house where I live with my child.
Then again, it's not like calling the police would change anything, because that boy Terri's daughter Dallas (yes, Dallas) saw is actually a ghost, who proceeds to wreak a little spooky havoc (not that spooky, mainly annoying) before telling the girls that he's mad because he was murdered, in this very house, by a member of his own family, and they're supposed to get him justice. Or something. Things took a bit too long for me and it all felt a little Idiot Plot, so I started skimming; also, I couldn't stand dumb daughter Dallas who is 10 going on 15 when she's not behaving like a toddler. I don't know if the author has ever spent much time around kids, but this girl did not seem plausible to me. I mean, how many 10-year-olds do you know that pat their mom's arm and say: "It'll still be our summer, Mom. Don't worry."

Also, Terri. Terri likes to think, and to over-think, but she's not all that great at problem-solving, ironically enough. Terri is one of those whiney hand-wringers who find lots of Reasons but not much backbone, yet who like to think of themselves as mama bears nevertheless. A Terri is not my favorite character as a rule. I found it exhausting spending 250 pages (that felt like 400) stuffed into the head of a Terri.

Then, the Mystery of the Ghost Boy. Could have been interesting, if he hadn't been up against a Terri; a Terri flies into an impotent rage or goes into hand-wringing mode before toodling off to ask Someone Who Might Know, but there's never any real tension or excitement. Things get a bit icky, and there are a few red herrings thrown about, and this one lady turns out to be improbably, freakishly old, because apparently the author did some quick mental calculating halfway into the manuscript and went "oh f*ck", and at the end it gets full blown dramatic, but all in all it was just... meh. If you do haunted house, you need atmosphere and sense of place, both of which I didn't feel here.
Sadly, not for me.

Title: The Restoration
Author: J. H. Moncrieff
Publisher: Flame Tree Press

Apparently, this book was inspired by the author’s overnight stay in a haunted, historical house which is why I was excited to pick it up. I also love reading about fictional characters restoring old farmhouses or buildings that are rumored to be haunted. It’s a favorite horror trope.
The setup here is a little tired. Terri Foxworth is hired by a suspicious older woman to live in Glenvale House for a year while she oversees renovations. Immediately, I mean like less than ten pages in, we see someone in the upstairs window looking down on Terri and this woman talking in the driveway. Terri asks about someone being in the house and of course, the older woman acts all strange and secretive saying something about how Terri needs to not have an overactive imagination if she wants the job. The last person to try to do this was too imaginative.
From here, it’s cliche haunted house tropes one after the other. Terri’s daughter even makes friends with a ghost child who was sickly when he died. Much of the book is about discovering who, if anyone, murdered the child.
However,
I want to emphasize this is not a terrible book. I enjoyed it despite its predictability. The ghost child, Niles is creepy.
How had she never noticed how pointed his teeth were before?
‘You would not like how nasty I can get.’

Moncrieff solves the “just move out of the haunted house” dilemma by introducing a new character that makes a convincing case to stay. As the story builds to its climax with all the revelations, I kept thinking about how this would make an interesting drama on BBC. It has a cozy, Agatha Christie vibe to it.

(Published in SCREAM Magazine issue 69)

A creepy story set in a gothic mansion, full of ghosts and a murderous mystery. I loved that the novel featured a strong female lead. Actually, the story's characters are all female minus one brief male appearance. This is so refreshing to see in horror stories. While the story had many frightening moments, it was not overly gory. I would not recommend reading at night because it will guarantee nightmares. The ending had a shocking twist that I really enjoyed. I really enjoyed this novel and will look for this authors other books in the future.

Terri is divorced and sees her latest renovation project as a way to re-bond with her 10-year old daughter. They move into the old, crumbling 3-story brick manor house and immediately things start to go south. There's a reason why all of the prior contractors hired for this project left. The manor house is haunted!

This is the first book by J.H. Moncrieff that I've read. I will definitely be reading more! OMG -- this story is so atmospheric and creepy! And, it doesn't build slowly. Moncrieff whips out the horror immediately and keeps it at creep factor 10 all the way through the 200 pages. Some very creepy horror action....twists.....and lots of suspense! Great story! I love a good haunted house tale!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

Haunted house is my favourite horror trope so I was excited to read this. This book has the right ingredients for a spooky ride - a delapilated mansion, a newcomer hired to fix the house, characters with agendas, dark family secrets and plenty of opportunities for scary moments. The supernatural element is immediately obvious which is a nice change from the usual "is there or isn't there?" question.

However, I found the main character difficult to root for because she behaves in inexplicable ways. She admits that she has a difficult relationship with her daughter due to her past and this project is an opportunity for them to bond. But her expectations and attitude towards her child was hard to swallow, because she puts her own desires first. A conversation with her ex-husband leads to her trying to fight him rather than thinking about the best for her daughter. This leads to implausible scenes where they still remain in the house even when their lives are in danger. The family secrets storyline end up being disappointingly predictable. The ending left a lot to be desired where it seems to flout the previously established supernatural rules. I've read similar stories so this book ends up being pale in comparison, but I think new horror readers and those who love ghost stories would enjoy this book.

I was sucked right into this book! It's a spooky haunted house story that grabs you and doesn't let go. A must read!

A Summer Job Should Never Be This Costly

The Restoration is a frightening haunted house story. It's scary, entertaining, and has some shocking twists.

I like Terri Foxworth. Her twin hopes, to do the restoration work she loves while using the live-in situation to become closer to her daughter, are very relatable. Splintered relationships with children after a nasty divorce are sadly, too common, and I sympathized with Terri.

Her daughter, Dallas, is also a compelling character. Though she's only ten, she's been endowed by the author with perception, intelligence, and a caring personality. I was charmed by her, but the same qualities made me fear for her.

It's the unpleasant characters, the living and the dead, who are objectionable and challenging. There are triggers, including violence, which may be unsettling for the sensitive, but it's a noteworthy work of horror. The ending really got me.

I was gifted a free advanced review copy of The Restoration courtesy of the author, JH Moncrieff; publisher, Flame Tree Press; and NetGalley. Without obligation, I gladly recommend it!

Moncrieff does an excellent job of giving us glimpses of the past while weaving them into present events. The reader and the characters are never sure who to trust, and there are danges from both the living and the dead. I really love the layers of this story and how it unfolds to reveal motivations you may not have guessed.
Brilliant

The Restoration was intriguing from its very first chapter until its last. It felt familiar, thanks to ghosts rumored to haunt an old house, but was also fresh and took some unexpected turns. Most importantly, it has a strong ending which I find is very difficult with supernatural horror

I've highly enjoyed other books by the author so I was excited to see another from Flame Tree Press. The Restoration takes the typical haunted house trope and attempts to rework it.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters here. The mother's actions just don't always add up. I don't know why she would have stayed and continued on the house. The daughter is the best character here and I do like that the mother/daughter relationship was portrayed in a realistic manner.

I think it had the potential to be spooky but it showed its cards way too soon for that to happen for me. All and all, it was an interesting read and I appreciated taking the haunted house trope and making it fresh.

I really enjoyed this book. It gave me pretty spooky vibes right from the beginning.
The character's voices however never felt different. Dallas's POV did not seem like a child's at all.
Overall though I enjoyed this book