Set in an eerie mansion and drawing inspiration from other classic gothic stories, this book dives deep into complicated familial relationships and haunting mysteries.

From atmospheric writing to complex characters, I loved everything about this book. There are ghosts, constant rain and thunder, a touch of horror, a murder mystery and a general eerie feeling -- everything that makes a gothic novel amazing. There's a lot of mention of other books from this genre and the whole book is highly meta. I loved how the characters were acknowledging the atmosphere and almost knew they were in their own gothic story!

'For a moment, as she drives, she thinks the rain is finally stopping. The novel of which she's the reluctant heroine will not - cannot - continue under the warmth of the sun. This is not a request or a recommendation; it's a staple of the genre. The rule. Maybe, just maybe, Blake's story is shifting into the realm of a feel-good drama.
By the time Blake pulls into the circular drive at the front of White Hall, however, she sees she was wrong.'

The twists didn't quite make me gasp out loud, but they were still crafted very well and made this a very interesting read! I must admit reading this at the dead of night was creepy to say the least, which only further proves how the author succeeded in atmospheric writing and gothic sense! I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Gosh, this was so good ! Gothic to the max but backed up by a twisty mystery. Thalia and Blakes stories tied everything together but try as I may I could not work out how it all fitted together till the end. It was pure old fashioned gothic but although not an altogether happy ending, a very satisfying one. The author played the classic gothic themes well but twisted them into something different. I absolutely loved this book. A great winter read.

4.5/5 ⭐
Thalia is shocked to get a letter from a sister she never knew she had. She is even more shocked when she finds out that her sister died a day after sending the letter. Thalia heads to her island home to investigate what happened to her sister.

I really enjoyed this one! I thought it was a good mix between a thriller and a mystery. I was worried we were going to flip between Blake and Thalia's sections but I'm glad Carmen did all of Blake and then all of Thalia's sections. I think it worked well. Plus it allowed us to see a bit more when Thalia went to investigate. There were some good twists and turns as well!

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having grown up in Rhode Island I’m a sucker for anything that evokes the nostalgia of my youth. Of course nothing that actually happens in this gothic suspense novel resembles my actual youth (lol), but it is a location I’m somewhat familiar with. This is a wild story full of twisting mysteries, starting off with Thalia receiving a letter from Blake, the sister she didn’t even know she had. Are we getting a happy reunion? No. Blake dies, though half the book explores Blake’s story while the other half is Thalia attempting to figure out what happened to her, amongst other things. Wonderfully atmospheric, the island and house feel like characters in their own right. If you’re a fan of gothic suspense/thrillers I’d definitely recommend giving checking this one out. I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of The Daughters of Block Island.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R13RQAM1054AJY/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

I really wish the author would have just written an homage to gothic novels without constantly referencing them and making them part of the story. I didn't need characters to say "it was just like Manderlay" or "remember when we read Northanger Abbey?" to understand what she was trying to accomplish here. It just put a pretty weak modern adaptation of those same situations (and "rules") up against legit classics that this book could simply never live up to.

I do love a good gothic thriller, so it's easy to understand why The Daughters Of Block Island caught my attention immediately. There was just something about the blurb that made it impossible to resist this story, and the promise of an island setting, old mansion and bad weather was just the icing on the cake. And I have to say, I was very impressed by this story! While the pace was a tad slow in points, it was also an extremely atmospheric read and I had an excellent time reading it.

There is no doubt that this story has a proper gothic vibe, and both the Block Island setting and the mansion itself play such an important role in the plot. I always love a small town setting, and this island sure has its share of secrets and intriguing characters. White Hall is the star of the show of course, and it was fascinating to learn more about the mansion and its history. The weather itself also made for such a perfect backdrop for this story; the constant rain and storm really enhancing the already there gothic atmosphere.

The Daughters Of Block Island is divided into two different parts, which I could personally appreciate as we get to know both sisters a little better this way. The many references/comparisons to other gothic stories I could also really appreciate, but even if you haven't read any of the classics yet it's still easy to get the gist of what this book is referring to. The story starts out with Blake, who can be a bit frustrating as she keeps making those typical mistakes that make you want to shake her. Her story is important to the plot though, and it gave you an idea of what was going on while also providing more questions than answers. That said, I did prefer the story once the other sister Thalia came into play, as it was more of a murder mystery at that point and the pace was faster.

As with most gothic thrillers there is also a hint at the paranormal and the possible existence of ghosts. I wouldn't call it a proper paranormal read though, and I thought the execution of this element was both subtle and well incorporated. There were a lot of secrets, twists and turns to unravel, and while I did guess some of the truth early on, I never did see the full picture. The last third of the story or so is especially suspenseful and engaging, and I liked how everything was wrapped up in the end.

In short, if you enjoy a well written and atmospheric gothic thriller with a small island setting, lots of secrets and don't mind a slower start, The Daughters Of Block Island is an excellent choice. There are quite a few heavy topics incorporated into the plot, so make sure to brace yourself for an emotional ride though.

As you all know I love a good atmospheric, hauntingly gothic read, that is centered around a mansion. That has lived numerous lifetimes, has witnessed deaths, love, wars, epic storms, you name it the house has witnessed it. The Daughters of Block Island bring all of this and more. I was completely enthralled from the first page. The details and descriptions are spot on. The endless days of rain, the pounding waves, the thrashing winds, will make anyone's mind go crazy. The characters are fantastically formed and draw you into their lives and nightmares. So much has occurred on this island. Will the secrets stay beneath the surface?

Thalia could not leave Block Island fast enough after she graduated from high school. She never returned, just touching base with her mother once a month. They never had a stable relationship; her mom is a little cold hearted. She is shocked when she receives a letter from a woman claiming to be her sister. Could this be the reason her mother is the way she is? Thalia decides it is time to return home to confront everything that made her run in the beginning. She ends up staying at White Hall, the same place her sister stayed before her death. The entire place seems off. Strange occurrences, floorboards creaking in the middle of the night, ghostly figures hidden in the shadows. Thalia is determined to figure out what happened to the sister she never had the chance to meet.

This is such an entertaining and engaging book. I was at the end of my seat the entire time. The setting was spot on, the characters were spotless, and have I mentioned it is set around a mansion. Thank you to Christa Carmen and Thomas and Mercer for my gifted copy of this chilling tale.

This is a fantastic Gothic mystery with a twist. It was haunting and atmospheric with a wonderfully descriptive setting and well developed characters. There is a lot going on in this book with different elements to the story many going far back in history but the author intertwined it all beautifully. Pages filled with mystery, suspense, twists and surprises that sucked me right in and kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end.

The Daughters of Block Island is full of mystery, family secrets and murder. The perfect ingredients for a gothic tale. I loved the nods throughout this book to classic gothic novels. The sheer amount of rain was something of a send up and was entertaining amongst the more chilling atmosphere. The twist on classics was done well. The plot holds it own with a great ending. Overall a good read that I would recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Where do I start with this book...what a disappointment! In the beginning I was really loving it and thought it had potential to be even better than The Fiction Writer that I just read and enjoyed. Then the MC was beginning to annoy me and became really dramatic. But then she died (not a spoiler, it's in the synopsis) and we began following her sister, so I was okay with that. But then it really dragged as her sister discovered and rehashed all the things we already knew. Then the writing got weaker and weaker and when the reveals came they were so ridiculous! I wish I could state why but they are spoilers. By the end I really disliked this book. It was a waste of my time and I wish I would have just DNFed it when things got boring.

This book was absolutely fantastic! As a lover of gothic stories it was wonderful to see how the books like The Castle of Otranto and Rebecca played into this book. I also liked that despite most of the characters being well rounded and interesting the evil characters were just plain evil. The story was intriguing and I loved the twists and turns and the reveals were brilliant. I will definitely be interesting in reading more by Christa Carmen!

REVIEW:
I loved this book. It feels like a very contemporary story on many levels, but it also has so many gothic strands which delighted me. I felt Blake was a very cool character. Christa’s short fiction is compelling, dark, and imaginative. Block Island is as well. Although you can spot many Gothic references, Crista Carmen has her own voice, and full disclosure that I am a big Gothic reader and fan, so this story really spoke to me. The setting is phenomenal and really intriguing. So, haunted house? Check. Characters who may or may not be embroiled in something highly emotional, and possibly supernatural. Big check. Creepy settings? Check. Mystery? Big check. I highly recommend it and it’s one of my favorite reads of the past few years, without doubt.

This review appeared in my newsletter DISPATCHES November 2023

This was a great gothic story! It's very atmospheric and well-written. I will definitely be checking out more from Christa Carmen. Thank you to Christa Carmen, Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This is one of those books where I didn't feel all the pieces fit together properly. The first 1/4th of the book is told from one sister's perspective and immediately shifts to the other sister's. The mystery itself is not a mystery. It stares you in the face from the beginning. Also, don't take a drink everything gothic is mentioned. You won't make it. The author leans very heavily on this trope and keeps reminding the reader of how much a character loved gothic fiction. It got to be tiring after a while.

The Daughters of Block Island is perfect for fans of Gothic novels! We follow two sisters who never had the chance to know each other. A newly sober Blake has grown up in orphanages and foster care. She travels to Block Island seeking answers from her birth mother. Her search brings her to a very creepy B&B on Block Island's rocky shores. She manages to send a letter to Thalia, the older sister she never knew, but unfortunately dies soon after.
Upon receiving Blake's letter, Thalia returns home to Block Island looking for answers of her own. Why did her mother keep the pregnancy a secret and who is responsible for Blake's death?
The atmosphere in this book was so eerie, with the constant rain and isolated setting of Block Island. There were some genuine creepy moments throughout the story, as well as a solid murder mystery. I look forward to seeing what Christa Carmen has in store for us in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advanced copy!

{3.5 stars}

When Talia gets a letter in the mail from a sister she never knew she had, she is rightly shocked. As she starts to research this woman’s name, she finds out she was murdered just after the letter was sent. Now, to get answers she must go back to the isolated island she has fled from and face her mother, who she hasn’t spoken to in a decade. When she gets there, she realizes the island has more secrets than she knew and her reality is completely upended. The more information she gathers, the more danger she is in.

This was a like, not a love for me. I definitely liked the Gothic vibes and the old mansion house. But I didn’t really connect to Talia or Blake as much as I wanted to in order to feel their terror. I did really like their mother Maureen, but we didn’t get that many scenes with her. While I liked the vibes, I think in the end, it just wasn’t twisty enough for me.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions above my own.

This book is told in two parts: in the first, we follow the story of Blake, who, having discovered the identity of her birth mother, arrives on Block Island, hoping to meet her biomom. But once on the island and checked into the island’s grand bed & breakfast, White Hall, finds herself surrounded by mystery and intrigue. Feeling pulled into the island’s past, Blake feels like she’s in the middle of a gothic novel she can’t get out of - and she doesn’t. But before she’s found dead, she sends off a letter to a sister she never knew she had, Thalia. In the second part of the book, Thalia returns to Block Island to face her and her mother’s demons and figure out happened to her sister. But some people are determined to keep the past buried, no matter the cost.

This book was really good. Like really good.

It has the perfect mixture of gothic atmosphere and present-day mystery, mixed with historic elements and creepiness. It was a great page-turner in that made me want to just keep reading and reading to figure out what was going on because there were a lot of moving parts, but they weren’t overly confusing. I could easily follow the plot and keep everything straight. The ending was really good and felt appropriate for the book.

I also liked the focus on female characters, as you can probably guess from the title. But seeing all the different characteristics of each character was awesome. Each character was unique and had their own struggles. It was nice to see that kind of range in female roles in a story, and not have them all just be wooden. The women took the lead and that was precisely the way it should have been.

I’m really glad I read this coming up into the Halloween season. It was a perfect atmospheric choice for the season. Anyone looking for a modern-day gothic thriller will enjoy this one a lot!

This book sounds amazing but I couldn’t get into it. I put it down over a month ago and have since read quite a few books while avoiding this one. It has potential and I think it’s worth trying if it feels like your type of book. It just wasn’t for me.

Grade: C

I am a sucker for a good old gothic novel, and the allure of the gothic drew me to this title. The problem was, no matter how many times I was told this was a gothic novel, it never felt that way.

We start with Thalia receiving a letter from Blake, who ends up being her previously unknown half-sister. Then, we find out what happens to Blake. Then Thalia goes to find out what happens to Blake. Hijinks ensue. There is a house, White Hall, that tries to be the central gothic building, but it just isn't.

To be fair, there were things that I liked with this one. Carmen does a good job with the pace and I did keep turning the pages. There are a number of crucial descriptive scenes that Carmen executes well and I could clearly see what she was trying to say.

But, ultimately, this book didn't work for me. Not only did it fail to live up to its gothic promises, I found the main character of Blake to be just incredibly stupid. She is supposed to be a lawyer and a lawyer should clearly know better than to make the choices she makes. Also, as a lawyer, she would know how to get the information she needs and accomplish the things she needs to accomplish through legal means. Instead, she's running around like an amateur sleuth with a death wish.

Christa Carmen can write, and I'd be open to reading something else by her. This, however, was not a success for me.

Huge thanks to Christa for sending me a digital ARC of her debut novel!

The Gothic novel. Ahhh… my old nemesis. Those dark corners, those subtle nods to the ‘otherness’ in the room… Much like Epistolary stories, Gothic stories can be a hit or miss for me, but having previously read (and greatly enjoyed) Christa’s work, I was very intrigued by what I’d discover on Block Island.

This novel reviews itself slowly, layer by layer as more of the story is revealed and it seems like the perfect October-curl-up-in-a-blanket-by-the-fire type novel, which I think will have fans of this type of story over the moon.

What I liked: The novel begins with Thalia receiving a letter from a sister she didn’t know she had. Blake has reached out from Block Island, a place Thalia told herself she’d never return to. After doing some digging, she discovers that Blake passed away not long after sending the letter – and that Blake was on Block Island, searching for her own mom she’d never met, having been giving up for adoption, as well as for Thalia, the sister she didn’t know she had.

Carmen does a wonderful job of keeping the complexities of this island and its inhabitants sinister, as though Blake (and later Thalia) and annoyances and intrusions, while being superficially friendly. It captures the feeling one gets well, when going on vacation and having those who wish you stayed away let you know they wished you stayed away.

There’s a delicate paint-brush-stroke-esque to the way Carmen reveals this story, a textured softness that belies the darkness that seeps into every cranny, a fascinating misting of the readers brain that says ‘don’t get too comfortable.’

This remains in place up to (and including the afterword) the very end, when the story opens wide and the reveals take place. While this novel does wear a lot of its influences on its sleeves, its that familiarity that keeps this grounded in a slow burning tension from page one until the very end.

What I didn’t like: Like most Gothic stories of any length I read, I do struggle with some of the pacing. Carmen keeps things moving and keeps the reader engaged, but for some it may possess a pace that is less than what they typically enjoy and will hinder their progression through such a wonderfully written novel.

Why you should buy this: This novel feels like a modern throwback to the classics, where a rain-soaked woman is illuminated by the flash of lightening, while she flees from the horror within the home.

Carmen has done an immaculate job of building the setting into the story as much as the characters drive the novel and throughout we get quick, sharp stabs of horror, which worked so well to keep the reader on their toes.

As for me, I enjoyed it, but still had to work my way through it, this type of novel not one I’d normally ever go out and choose. So, for me, this was a solid 3/5 read. For those who’ll eat this one up and are desperately waiting for this to arrive, it’ll be an easy 5/5. So, I’ll split the difference and go with a very solid 4/5 overall, and one I definitely suggest you grab if you love this type of book!