This novella is wrought with impeccable prose that underscores the connection between beauty and horror that permeates the story. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer; I wanted to know more about Hawthorne House and the dead girls who lurk there. An instant classic—I wouldn't be surprised to see this title on college English syllabi in the near future.

What Happened at Hawthorne House is a relatively short and quick read. However, I just could not get into the story due to it lacking the horror aspect and that it took way too long to get into the story. The premise is interesting, but it's a pass for me.


Thank you for the ARC Netgalley and Brigids Gate Publishing, LLC. All opinions are my own.

Rosalyn and her peers live at Hawthorne House. Bored and growing up with the constant punishments of their matrons, the girls devise a game to keep them occupied: The Clover Court. They're ranked as Queen and Princesses, and each girl strives to win the crown in a series of ever crueller pranks, until things truly escalate.
This was such a fun horror read. Of course, it's "only" a novella so a shorter story is to be expected, I just had wished that it wasn't split into two parts - I was much more interested in what the girls got up to and how they came up with the game. Nonetheless the writing was sharp and easy to read, even though the themes sometimes weren't. I would definitely pick up another story by this author, but I'd be very excited to see what they do with a longer format since this felt like there could have been much more to tell.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book had a lot of potential to be good and interesting. However, despite how short it was it just felt flat and the characters didn't stand out to me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are my own.

I liked the premise of this book when I read the description. Unfortunately, the repetition throughout the book and the lack of connection I felt with the characters and writing didn't draw me in.

I recently got approved for this on netgalley and giving that it was a short story I thought it would be perfect to pick up and read

QIt follows a bunch of young girls who residing at hawthorn house orphanage decide to make up a game, it’s a make believe game in which each girl gains a role in the royal court system they’ve assembled, upon playing the game one of the girls Rosalyn is determined to become queen and will quite literally do whatever it takes to get there

What’s super spooky about this book is it is told from two different perspectives, the first 50% is told through the eyes of the children mostly Rosalyn so we get a full understanding of this game that’s at play, then the second half of the book is told from a decade later from the point of view of a man named Andrew who is trying to rebuild the now abandoned Hawthorn house as a tour house to view and meet the spirits of the young girls who once played there

This took me a little longer to get into as I hadn’t initially realised I was reading from a child’s perspective so I was a little confused, but once I caught grasp of what was going on I definitely became immersed, it wasn’t the most groundbreaking book I’ve ever read but it was very unique and cleverly crafted & some of it genuinely gave me the creeps!
It’s a great spooky season read for sure!

The plot was great. Even if the game is important through the whole book, I think you could have done more. Specially when Andrew was introduced to the equation. As soon as I read the prologue, I thought I would found more of what happened with him there, but nothing. It's like he wasn't important... but the girls would consider otherwise. Either way, I like your way of writing and I would love to read more of your books.

I am not sure what it was about this story, but I could not get into it. I tried to read it so many times and ended up not finishing it. Maybe it started too slow for me, maybe I was expecting it to be very spooky right off that bat, but it did not grab me or keep me invested at all. I hope others have success with this one!

It's dark and creepy, a children game that turns into something very dangerous.
The author did a good job in creating the atmosphere and the characters
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was really difficult to follow. I kept having to re-read passages because I was lost and I also wasn't that interested in what happened to the characters.

Quick and fun to read, very creepy at times. It would be perfect for the Halloween season. I'd happily come back to this author's works.

Horror books have a special place in my heart. Prior to working at the library, our collection of horror books was slim to none. We had the typical Stephen King/Joe Hill books but not much other selection. Since working here we have buffed up our horror collection to include diversity, different levels of horror, and book length.

What Happened at Hawthorne House was a good book overall, there were some parts that seemed like it didn't add to the storyline and they were only there to bulk up the book.

I'm not sure if we will be adding this to our collection, but will keep an eye out for it.

I found this book to be really engaging and I loved the premise. I'm a sucker for ghost stories so this story was right up my alley. I am looking forward to reading other books by the author.

What Happened at Hawthorne House is a gothic horror novella, without any real horror. The first half of the story concentrates on the members of the Royal Clover Court, orphans left to a dark world of make believe to survive their harsh realities. But as the girls get more and more cruel, we edge into the second part.

I wanted to love this book. It sounded perfectly spooky for Halloween but ultimately was a giant flop for me. There was absolutely nothing scary other than the attitude on these girls. Take mean girls, distill Regina George into the body of some 8-10 year olds, and boom. There was no horror. I was not scared. Instead I was bored and struggling to finish. The characters were all unlikeable and I just could not suspend my belief to get into this one. The redeeming quality is the writing itself was well done. Should the author write more, I would love to give them another shot. This was just not the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all views expressed are my own.

This book was the perfect hauntingly beautiful gothic novel.
Who doesn’t love ghost stories so close to spooky season?
The first half of the book was a bit slower for me but the second half is where all the good stuff happened.
NO SPOILERS just read this for yourself if you’re a fan of the gothic genre and spooky stories!

"It was a game of one-uppance, wherein each player must play a trick or prank, often cruel, on the players higher in rank."

As if being an orphan wouldn't be hard enough, the older girls create a game of a royal court. One in which they are constantly trying to one-up each other with a crueler, nastier prank to be crowned Queen. Hadassah Shiradski does an excellent job at making you despise the characters and their vicious nature. This was a dark and eerie read all the way through with some supernatural elements as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Brigids Gate Press, LLC for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for goodreads

I was excited to pick up this novella about a haunted burned-out girls home. The premise was stellar. Unfortunately, the fist 2/3 of the book was actually focused on telling us what happened. Which made the part about it being haunted completely underwhelming. There was no mystery to solve. There was no questioning about why their ghosts remained, how to help them, or why they behaved the way that they did. In the end, I was disappointed.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

A children’s game created to absolve boredom in an orphanage, a group of young girls play in hopes of besting their peers in achieving higher ranks within their hierarchy. What begins as meaningless pranks quickly escalates into a disturbing game that ends with everyone’s demise.

This story is told in two different timelines. The first part tells the events that take place while the girls are residing in the orphanage. The second half takes place 13 years later after the tragic events took place. The girls still reside within the home. Their spirits continue to roam the property, scheming and plotting the same cruel pranks, and even in the afterlife, the dangerous game continues.

This book was creepy and had the bones of a great gothic horror novel. However I do feel I would’ve enjoyed this story much more had there been deeper character development with the girls, as well as their caretaker the Matron.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review. This will be posted to GoodReads as well.

A nice little children’s ghost story.
“ We were bored, and so we made up a game. We were bored of reading the same books and playing the same games, and so we made up a new game. We were bored of pretending to get along when we didn’t like living with each other, and so we made up a game of one-uppance, of besting each other in pranks and tricks. A game that we each had a chance of winning. A pretend game of a Queen and a court of Princesses. A game set in our castle, which the adults called ‘Hawthorne House’.” it sounds SO good that I couldn’t wait to read it, however, that feeling didn’t last. It may be me, but in the beginning I had a hard time keeping the characters and their “ranks” separated, I wish a little more background on each child was given, in a block, so that I could learn and remember them straight away. I liked the story build-up and had fun building up the scenes in my mind, The game they made up was awful and they were so mean to each other, I felt sorry for them. Once part 2 comes in I finally had a handle on who each other was, and what was taking place. I liked the faster pace and they story building. I felt though I needed more, I wanted to see “what happens” and the story left me hanging. Overall a pretty good book, not exactly what I thought it was going to be, and felt it lacked something, which is the reason for my 3 star rating.

OH MY GOODNESS! This tapped into emotions from days back in primary/middle school when my friends and I played and said things to each other that felt fine back then but now looking back, things sometimes got conceited. The hierarchy and competition, the constant one-uppance, jealousy...

This Gothic novella explores that, but what if the game goes too far as neglected and abused orphaned children are left to fester malicious emotions?