Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review.

OMG!!! This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I highly enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Kept me listening.

This book was good but not great. I loved the atmosphere and the writing style, and yet something about it just felt lacking for me, I think many people can enjoy this, however it was just ultimately not what I wanted.

The Death of Jane Lawrence had so much promise. I was seeing this book ALL over social media and I couldn’t wait to pick this one up. The mood of this book was dark and gloomy. However, it lost its flare for me. That amazing gothic setting of the book was perfect but the execution was poorly executed. Sadly, the story line didn’t work for me. I really wanted to love this one.

Thank you so much to St Martin Press and NetGalley for this gifted audiobook and physical copy. It’s got a stunning cover and it’s what I love most about this book. I’m thankful for the audiobook as without the narrator’s stunning performance I would have DNF’d this one. The pacing was great. I just struggled with this storyline. This is my first book by Caitlin Starling and although this one wasn’t for me, I would still try another novel by this author before giving up on their writing style.

This book took twists that I wasn’t expecting and kept me on my toes. The spooky aspect was great and I felt that I was right alongside the characters.

I wanted to like this but I could not get into the story or the characters. I felt that it was pretty far fetched and not something I could connect to.

When spinster Jane Lawrence's guardians decide to move abroad, she is left with a choice to make. Should she accompany them? She decides instead that she will get married. Not a conventical marriage but one where she and the man she marries will respect each other but live as separate entities. She meets and approves of a local doctor, Augustine Lawrence. Her demand is to be able to work and keep the books of his practice; his only demand is that she will never go to his ancestral home. They marry and the first days pass easily.

But an unforeseen event leads Jane to Augustine's home and she starts to learn that he isn't exactly the man she thought she had married. He is keeping secrets and she slowly starts to learn them. She also realizes that she is actually in love with him and he with her. But can she live with a man who has hidden a first marriage from her as well as the fact that his wife died during an operation he performed?

Jane meets with a group of Augustine's college friends and they introduce her to beliefs in magic and the practice of it. When Augustine disappears, Jane tries to locate and save him with the black magic Augustine was adamantly against. Will she be successful?

This novel was an NPR Best Book of 2021. It reads like a Victorian novel but seems to be set some time later. Jane is an independent women who is determined to make her own way and have a marriage that works for both of them. She changes when magic enters her life to become more dependent on others and becomes full of misgivings and fear. It felt like the novel could have been edited to be shorter and pack more punch but was still an interesting read. I listened to this novel and the narrator 's English accent really added realism and interest. This book is recommended for horror readers.

If I’m honest, the only thing I loved about this was the cover. It is stunning. The story, however, was mediocre at best. I didn’t hate it, but I can’t come up with anything else I really enjoyed about this one. I’m grateful for the Ada need copy, but this won’t be one I’ll recommend.

Honestly it was ok book. It held my interest enough to finish it . Wasn’t my favorite book to tell the truth but I may reread it later to see if I still have same opinion. However it was ok ghost story and if you’re looking for good supernatural themed book , I would recommend you give it a try. Again it wasn’t terrible, just not sure it was for me. I guess is best way to describe it. But again wasn’t bad and I would recommend it.

Thank you Goodreads for the ARC of this book. I am grateful for the opportunity to have listened to it on audio. I thought this was a wonderful, kind of slow burning good old fashioned Gothic novel. The author did a nice job setting up the storyline and dropping us readers into the world she is creating for us. As I was listening, I found myself asking 'Okay, what is actually happening here? What's real? What's not?' In my opinion, the best Gothic novels make us ask those questions.

The audiobook received via NetGalley did not function properly. I ended up reading this in print and the rest of the review will be based on that experience.

I was in a bit of a reading slump at the beginning of this, but I'm happy to report that this got me out of the woods. I'm a huge fan of Crimson Peak, so this was right up my alley. I adored Jane and loved the writing style as it allowed the reader to experience the full scope of what was happening. This wasn't what I initially expected - that twist at the end was a welcome departure from what I was already enjoying.

This book gave me some Crimson Peak vibes. I enjoyed the gothic horror of it all, but it didn't live up to my expectations.

The place it fell short for me was that it went in some pretty strange directions. Usually that is what you want and expect from this type of book, but it didn't work in its favor. It had magic that wasn't explained well, and ad much as it added to the story, it also took away because it was so bizarre. It was just too jumbled to make sense enough of it to fully enjoy.

I wanted to love this book so badly! It gave me major Rebecca vibes from the very beginning and I loved Jane’s trying to figure out the secrets Augustine was hiding. It started out so dark with perfect spooky vibes! I love stories that have houses with hidden secrets, and Lindridge Hall was a fantastic setting! But the weirder things got, the more the book lost me. At about the point where Jane starts dabbling with magic, I didn’t really understand what was happening anymore. And the author probably wants to disorient the reader as Jane is disoriented, but I feel like I missed something. And I’m not quite sure I understand the ending, which is definitely an issue in a book like this. I think I’m going to have to give this book a second go in the future and read the print version instead of listening to the audiobook.

Dnf- I am a mood reader and I kept trying to come back and pick this one up because I did want to enjoy it so much. I love all things harrowing and spooky. Unfortunately for me this just fell short. The narrator also had a thick accent that increased my disinterest and made it less spooky feeling.

This had a fantastic start. A homage to all of my favorite Gothic novels. The last 100 pages or so took a strange ass turn, and I honestly have no idea what I just read. Jane lives with the Cunninghams, who are her guardians. They're preparing to relocate to Camhurst, and Jane realizes she won't be able to afford the lifestyle they'll be leading there. She concludes that marrying is the greatest option, but solely for business reasons, not for love. She has her heart set on Dr. Lawrence, but he refuses to marry. She persuades him, but there's a catch: she can't spend the night at his place. She agrees, but it doesn't work out that way. Due to a violent storm, she is forced to remain at Lindhurst House, where odd, strange things begin to happen. The first 200 pages of the book had me hooked. It was fantastic. But the last 150 minutes were just bizarre, and nothing made sense. I became increasingly perplexed and irritated. I had to force myself to complete it because I was desperate to put it down. I'm extremely disappointed since this book looked fantastic and held so much potential. Unfortunately, that was not for me.

In "The Death of Jane Lawrence," a classic ghost story is told with a twist. There are the elements of a haunted house, a character's fall into madness, and the fight between what is real and what isn't... all with the added bonus of witchcraft, romance, and feminist themes. A woman fights for autonomy and her life in a world which constantly seeks to own both. This book was slow in the middle but got me with a stunning ending, I really enjoyed this read.

Great narrator. Fit the feel of the book and matched the age of the character.

I was expecting so much more from this book. In all honesty, it was kind of boring. The end was a jumble mess of mental breakdown and magic. I wish I had loved this book. The premise and the historical aspects sounded so perfect to me but the premise also made it seem like Jane stayed at the house after a while, not the first dang night they were married. With that quickness, it left no time to build up the suspense of the house. I also found it kind of strange thst they consummated the marriage so quickly even though this was a "business arrangement". There were just a lot of things with this book that I wish had been different.

An entertaining gothic theme tale. I found the narrator very easy to follow along and she managed to act out scenes that had to show a lot of emotion. This magic and horror novel gave me gothic horror vibes. Definitely worth reading it. I enjoyed listening to it!

I should have researched the genre of this story before listening to it. If you love books about ghosts, spirits and magic this one's for you. As for me I like historical fiction and horror, but can do without the Gothic features.

Publishing has been on an absolute role with gothic horror this year, and The Death of Jane Lawrence is just yet another incredible addition. Increasingly disturbing gothic medical horror, all the vibes of haunted mansions and medical practices, societies with secrets to hide, and a fascinating couple dynamic in Jane and Augustine.

As with all gothic horror, I must start on the vibes. The vibes, the atmosphere, the look-over-your-shoulder-just-to-make-sure-no-one-is-there impulses come out so well. Jane’s newfound husband, Augustine, runs the local medical practice and we immediately dive into the horrific aspect when Jane is called to assist in surgery and discovers a tumor of impossibly mangled flesh. Starling impeccably describes Jane’s spiral of disgust, yet fascination into this hidden side of her husband’s life and the luring madness that comes with Jane’s every discovery.

Of course, the most driving character in this book is Jane, who spends the beginning of the book maneuvering herself into a marriage of convenience. Jane has such a strong determination to continue working, her conviction that a traditional societal marriage would never work for her despite coming from an upper society where such things are expected. I don’t think this book is explicitly set in any particular historical time period, but I was getting strong Britain post-WWI, with the references to war and gas. What I love about her depiction is that Starling doesn’t go full #girlboss with Jane’s character like we often see with ‘Victorian noblewoman who’s not like other girls’ stories. Jane’s very much a product of her times and manipulates where she can to work around the parts she doesn’t like.

Plotwise, this book is slow. The first half really focuses on Jane and Augustine’s developing relationship (and damn are they cute together) and building up the mysteries around them. There are many visits to Augustine’s haunted manor, nights of disagreements between the newly wed couple, and all the while Jane attempting to piece together the inconsistencies in Augustine’s stories. The latter half is really where the horror aspect of this book comes in and damn is medical horror really disturbing. I’m taking off one star because I did find myself lost at the ending (or maybe I just couldn’t follow all the rapid plot twists). I think I would have done better had I read this book in print instead of audio.

As a side note, towards the end of the audiobook there were a couple moments where the narration sound completely changed, probably due to a re-recording being edited in where the narrator used a different mic/soundproofing setup. It’s not too distracting but it was very noticeable. Hopefully this was just an issue with the ARC and was fixed for release.

Overall, I rate this book a 4/5. The gothic vibes and the medical horror really shine in this book and Jane is such a complex and interesting character to follow.

I am still utterly conflicted and confused as I write this review. I devoured the first part of this novel. It felt wonderfully gothic and haunting, fully transporting me into its world. The writing was atmospheric, and I fell in love with Jane and all her gentle rationality. Yet, I have to admit that I ultimately did not finish this book. I skimmed the last third to know what happened. The twists and turns of the novel became too weird and mind-bending for me. I felt that the story could have been a masterpiece of gothic fiction on its own, without the unnecessary complications introduced later in the novel. Genuinely, I felt that the novel would have been better for me if it had been simplified.

That being said, I've also read the author's descriptions of her work. She fully acknowledges the bizarre turns this book takes, and claims that with every edit she made the draft of the work became weirder and weirder. This is a big part of what makes her love this book, even as this is what turned me away as a reader.

In the end, I think this is a book that most will find too strange, but that some will love wholeheartedly. I will be recommending this book sparingly and with great caution. Readers will need to love a gothic/horror setting and have a strong stomach for depictions of surgery, violence, and gore.