A slowburn Gothic YA novel with great scenes easy to visualize the creepiness. Those were my favorite parts but when I wanted more there was a lot of romance drama. Not quote my favorite but still a good spooky read.

This was chilling and creepy story! I was gripped and did not want to put this book down. Is there a supernatural force after the guests at the Wren ancestral home? Is it something more human? Can we fully trust Meg's experiences? The fact remains that the deaths are piling up.

🖤🖤Y’all this book 🖤🖤

Top 5 reasons to read

Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith

1. Incredible immersive Gothic horror
2. Chilling and creepy atmosphere
3. Thrilling twist & turns
4. Draws you in and never lets you go
5. Supernatural + folklore

5 Reasons to Read

Boarding School

Although we don’t see Meg at the boarding school in the majority of this book, her attendance at Grayscott is what brought these people together. Although as a scholarship student she already feels like the cards are stacked against her. She’s an outsider and the events of the previous summer have just made her even more disconnected from her peers than before.

Mending Fences

Meg is hoping that this weekend away will help her and Lotte come back together, and their friendship can be mended. She also wants to talk to Seb and figure out why he’s totally ghosted her since everything happened.

Isolation Trope

Meg had no idea just how isolated Wren Hall, situated in the countryside near a lake, would be until she arrived. Now she’s trapped in the manor without access to the outside world with a group of people that hate her. Now she’s not just isolated from the friends she used to have but from anyone that can help them out of this nightmare.

Irish Folklores

The lake and nearby town are connected to dark Irish folklores that give off the eerie and isolated vibes tenfold! Banshee’s and Lady of the Water vibes. Meg is hearing and seeing things that no one else is and when she comes in contact with a couple while trying to get help does she find out the manor is not visited as too many people have experienced darkness.

Secrets and Lies

Meg’s recollections of what happened the last time they were all together is fragmented. She’s not sure if it’s due to the amount of alcohol that was consumed that night or if there’s something more sinister that contributed to the events of that night on the lake the summer before.

🌟🌟🌟🌟.25 / 5

WHERE ARE MY HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE FANS AT????? Because I found the book for you!!!!

In the past year, Meg has become very acquainted with the hidden secrets of the rich and powerful. She has been going to Greyscott’s, an elite art school, on scholarship, but she made a terrible mistake - and she only has one shot to fix it. When the beautiful and very rich Wren twins, Lottie (her best friend) and Seb (the boy she thought was her’s), invite her for a weekend at their ancestral home in Ireland, she vows to apologize and fix everything so she can stay at Greyscott’s.

But something is horribly wrong with Wren Hall. Sinks leak, dirty mysterious footsteps mark the floor, and a drenched black-haired woman haunts Meg’s dreams. Meg must uncover the true and most wicked histories of the twins and their home, before she is the next body found face-down in the lake.
🌊 🌊 🌊

Boy, was this CREEPY!!!! Oh my GOSH from the first chapter, I was completely on edge. Ghosty stuff scares the JEEPERS out of me, and this book is so well-written in the scary department. The eeriness of the house and its horrors combined with the mysteries surrounding these rich entitled kids with all their secrets created a perfect mixture of suspense and horror.

Literally my only complaint is that it got less ghosty-creepy towards the end :( I’m all for a dash of real human evil with my paranormal horror, but the ghosty elements are so strong in the beginning that the fade-out is a bit disappointing. With that being said, there is so much here to love!!! I am a huge Haunting of Hill House fan, and this book gives me those same creepy house ghosty vibes with some human elements that give it depth. I couldn’t put it down; I had to get the answers to all my questions! This one is perfect for the fall, so add it to your tbr!!

👻 I received an e-arc as part of @tbrbeyondtours ‘s tour. You can find other scheduled tour posts using the link in their bio! 👻

This is my second read by this author, and it did not disappoint! Loved the gothic/dark academia vibe!

After her outburst at the ball and her suspension from Greyscott’s, an exclusive art school, Meg is willing to do anything to gain the forgiveness of her upper class peers. After not being talked to for months, Meg receives an invite from Lottie to spend Halloween at the Wren’s ancestral home in Ireland. Of course she jumps on it - this could be her only opportunity to get back into Greyscott’s. When Meg arrives, there is local gossip that something is wrong with the lake at the Wrens’ and when tragedy strikes she begins to wonder if there is something true to the gossip.

While I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the characters, I did enjoy this! The dual timelines were great but I did spend a lot of time wondering wtf happened at the ball since it kept being referenced. We don’t find out until the build up for the reveal. Some of the secrets are a bit obvious but I still enjoyed the read!

An atmospheric and evocative story. Our Wicked Histories comes across a little like the love child of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and a teen movie. Part horror. Part mystery. Part teenage angst. The world itself is well fleshed out, and I felt like I was in the action of the story rather than reading about it. Which made for a wonderfully tense reading experience. I do think it could have gone into characterization more. There were a number of “whys” that I don’t feel like we got answers to. But by not getting those answers, the story feels unfinished, and so it stays with you, which to me is more successful than a story that ties everything up in a bow and that the reader promptly forgets about. A great read for anyone looking for a suspenseful dark academia setting in which it’s hard to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Our experience of the story is Meg’s experience. And as long as she doesn’t have answers, neither do we. A lovely little gothic tale that begs the question, which is the scarier villain, the supernatural or the real people you’re surrounded by? And what if the answer is, maybe, both?

Amy Goldsmith’s Our Wicked Histories is a chillingly effective entry in literary horror, set against the haunting backdrop of an ancestral Irish estate. The story follows a teen girl’s eerie attempt to reconcile with her former friends during a weekend getaway, only to find herself caught in a sinister plot. Goldsmith excels with a richly gothic atmosphere, complex characters, and evocative prose, creating a dark academia experience that thrills and captivates. The novel's perfect pacing and suspense make it a standout read, especially for fans of fall-time horror. Goldsmith's skillful writing ensures that the eerie, immersive experience lingers long after the book is closed.

Bly Manor meets Dark Academia… gothic style with a modern appeal and stunningly atmospheric, Goldsmith crafted an enthralling tale that kept me up gasping late into the night! UTTERLY BINGEABLE!

Packed with Ivy League style in a deliciously gothic setting, this simmering, tension-filled mystery hinges on dark secrets and “wicked” histories; leaving you questioning societal classes and cultural legends, not to mention every person in the room! And then there’s the crumbling estate and dark, mysterious lake… and what nightmarish secrets are actually lying in the mist?

This is a must read for any fan of gothic mystery and suspense. It’s YA - but I’d place this closer to the adult end of the YA spectrum in intensity and overall material. VERY well done! 👏🏻

In Our Wicked Histories, the past clashes with the supernatural.
Meg is a scholarship student at Greyscott’s, an exclusive art school that teaches the rich and infamous. Her scholarship is in danger after an incident during the school’s summer ball. When she’s asked to spend Halloween weekend at the Ireland retreat of the wealthy Wren twins, she knows it is her last, and only, chance to save her scholarship. Kind-hearted Lottie Wren is Meg’s closest friend and has given Meg a chance to apologize for her misdeeds. But when she arrives at the house it is dark and damp with a cursed pond where people have died. But it is the screaming and crying of the Bean Sí, that really scares Meg. What is going on in this house? Will she live to get back into Greyscott’s?
Amy Goldsmith creates a creepy, gothic world. The house is just a part of it. She also incorporates a loch and tower; places where the boogeyman could hide and drag you to your death. The authors keep you guessing about what happens to the characters; is this a mass murder book or a supernatural book? This blending of genres creates a unique story especially when banshees are weaved in. I was on my toes the entire time.
The cast of characters are split into main and secondary characters. Goldsmith focuses more on Meg and her relationships with the Wren twins and Laure. The other characters are just supporting characters mostly tearing down Meg (other than Charlie, the only one that stayed by her side). Part of this is to keep readers suspicious of the people in the house. Is one of them a killer? It’s easy to jump to conclusions to those who don’t like Meg. But there is also enough reason to suspect them all. I kept guessing but had an idea in the back of my head that made no sense until the story reached a crescendo.
Our Wicked Histories made me keep second-guessing myself, and I could hardly put the book down. Horror fans should enjoy this one.

Thank you Random House and PRH audio for free review copies, I ended up doing a mix of reading and listening to this one! I loved this book on audio as I really enjoy a horror thriller vibe on audio.

This is a great YA horror thriller, the right notes of gothic lore are woven into this story set in Ireland while also placing the story richly in the lives of young people today, they way they talk, the way they can hurt each other, and the young minds that are working to understand bigger things about life, including revenge and anger and the complexity of relationships.

Goldsmith's work resonates with stronger gothic tones that I loved and a fast effective pace that lead to a strong twisty ending that will work well for the YA fans!

Title: Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith
Genre: YA Gothic Thriller
Pub Date: July 30, 2024

✨️ Gothic Horror
✨️ Urban Banshee Lore
✨️ Interclass Friendship
✨️ Irish Getaway Gone Wrong
✨️ Must Make Amends
✨️ Epic Betrayals
✨️ Dual Timelines

Our Wicked Histories is a YA Gothic Horror novel that follows a group of friends on an ill-fated trip to Ireland. As their friendships are tested and mysterious deaths occur, they must confront the dark history of a lake that holds many secrets.

The dual timelines made for a fast-paced read, the horror is well written for the target age group and I really enjoyed the utilization of banshee lore. While I did not develop a strong emotional attachment to any of the characters, I enjoyed their interactions (ie. catty comments, awkward/angry ex bf, lots of accusations thrown around.)
Also, I thought I had the end figured out, but I was only vaguely right and I definitely couldn't have guessed the twist! A must-read for thriller lovers.

⭐️ 4.5

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Delacorte Press, for the digital review copy ❣️

Thank you to Random House/ Delacorte, NetGalley, and Ms. Goldsmith for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I thought it might be too early to read a spooky book but apparently Halloween stuff is emerging at all my favorite stores so I guess the timing (late July?!) is perfect. And boy, did this book BRING the spooky vibes. Meg, a Londoner, is a scholarship art student at posh Greyscott Academy. She wants SO BADLY to fit in and be accepted and as a result is a little bit too try-hard; she's hampered by the fact that she has something of a (very bad) temper. Oh, and also the fact that she DID SOMETHING (very very gradually, through flashbacks, what exactly that Something might be is revealed) that has caused her to be shunned by her former friends and on the verge of expulsion from Greyscott. She's been invited to Charlotte Wren's family estate in Ireland; Charlotte is the lone friend who's kept in contact with her since the Incident. Meg goes to make amends; she feels her whole future is riding on a successful academic career at Greyscott. Meg's prickly (read: defensive, frequently hostile and occasionally outright combative) personality seems pretty on-par for a teenager off-balance and completely out of her element in every way.

So OF COURSE on top of everything the family estate is spooky at best, and haunted AF at worst. Meg tries to deny what she's seeing, hearing, feeling, etc., but eventually is convinced that something major is up at the Wren estate. I wanted so badly to shake Meg and point her in the direction of the person I thought was involved/to blame/suspicious but of course, as with TV, book characters just don't listen to me. (shrug)

Nonetheless the whole dismal, waterlogged, eerie vibe was really working for me. The Irish setting was a nice change too. I did have some questions (chief amongst them, DID she go back to Greyscott, after all?) but overall a fun ride with a great setting. Recommended for a spooky thrill.

It’s the last Wednesday of July. Can you believe it? Anyway, this month, I decided to go with a YA horror mystery mishmash. Something I would’ve devoured as a kid. Nostalgia. You know the kind of stuff. Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith seemed to fill the requirements. It was released yesterday (July 30th) from Delacorte Press. As usual, I must thank them and NetGalley for access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s do the thing!

Our Wicked Histories follows Meg as she tries to salvage her friendships and reclaim her place at a prestigious art school after she’s suspended and on the verge of being kicked out permanently. Luckily for her, her bestie and one half of the Wren twins, Lottie, invites her to a party at the Wren’s ancestral estate with a plan to help Meg make amends. But the estate is dark and dank and creepy. And according to rumors, it may or may not be plagued by a certain spirit intent on revenge. What has Meg gotten herself into? When bodies start showing up, she begins to question whether the school and her so-called friends are worth all the drama and death. But she’s stuck in the middle of nowhere with no means of escape.

As far as the plot goes, young me probably would’ve loved it. It’s pretty standard horror mystery fare. If you’re familiar with this type of book, it’s not hard to guess the killer or the motivation behind the murders. Two storylines unfold at once, the present with the murders and all that, plus the event that put the present events into motion. It’s pretty easy to follow once you realize what’s going on. Personally, I preferred the past plotline. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what was going on there either, but it wasn’t as blatantly obvious. The horror part of the story is nice until the end. It ends up feeling like it was just something thrown in so Meg didn’t have to save herself. However, this wasn’t written for post-MFA brain, it was written for high school brain. High school brain me wouldn’t have cared that she guessed everything. She would have enjoyed it.

The characters were all pretty unlikable. It’s your basic poor scholarship student trying to fit in with the uber rich kids scenario. All the rich kids are douchenozzles (even the ones who aren’t supposed to be) and Meg is annoyingly clingy. Typical teenager stuff. The only one who has any potential redeemable qualities gets stuck in the gay bestie stereotype and isn’t fleshed out at all. For adult me, it was eye roll inducing. Teen me wouldn’t have really cared. She would have been annoyed that none of the characters were relatable, but she still would’ve enjoyed it for what it is.

As far as the writing goes, it was a smooth and pretty quick read. Teen me probably would’ve gotten through it in a couple of days. It takes adult me way longer because I can’t read a book without studying it anymore. Ugh. Thanks, English professors.

Ultimately, Our Wicked Histories was okay. I enjoyed it enough to satisfy my weird nostalgia mood. It wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. I’ll check out other stuff by Amy Goldsmith if I run across anything.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy this type of story, by all means try it out. If you have a teenager who’s into the genre, let them check it out. There are mentions of sex that happens off the page, but nothing explicit. In case you need a warning about that.

Very well done gothic horror story. I’d rate this a 4-4.5/5 overall. I really enjoyed the creepy atmosphere, set at a derelict Irish estate complete with a loch and legends of a banshee. The cast of characters is comprised of a group of teenagers from a fictional, elite art school…and naturally 1 is a scholarship student who comes from modest means. While I found that particular feature not very inspired as it seems a fairly common grouping, what set it apart was that the group included a pair of twins, who feature as main characters here.

It should be noted that this story has 2 timelines: with events unfolding in the book’s “present” and flashbacks to events leading up to the present.

I genuinely was hooked on this story, and it would be the absolute perfect read for the fall. It was a little weird reading it in the summer, I’ll be honest, but still a spooky good time.

My thanks to NetGalley for a digital version of this story. My thoughts & opinions remain my own.

*Actual rating is 2.5 stars*

The premise talked about a murder mystery with horror elements, which sounded very intriguing. It started out great and I found myself very invested in the many suspicious things happening to the main character. While she wasn’t the easiest character to root for, it didn’t hinder the enjoyment of the story. Not to mention that this book is packed with suspicious things that will keep you invested in the supernatural aspects of the story. Woven in between the murder mystery are these dark events that fuels the suspension, and those were my favourite parts of the book. Be prepared for the plot twists to have plot twists, and not being sure who to trust.

But the further into the book I got, the less invested I got. Because it might have been better if the book focused on either the horror or the murder mystery, as they ended up being muddled together. But the biggest disappointment was the way the mc magically remembered everything as soon as it was convenient, without giving any good reason why she forgot them to start with apart from that it was plot convenient. So much of the story was just her being incompetent one second and very capable the next. Not to mention that I was left hanging with a proper explanation about some of the supernatural events of the place.

I really enjoyed "Those We Drown" by this same author, so I was really excited to get to read her next novel. This was so good! It was creepy and atmospheric, gothic and dark academia. It worked so well. I flew through this and I still want more. This author has such a talent for creating characters and weaving together setting, character and plot. Overall, I loved this and I am sad that it's over and I need more books from Amy Goldsmith as fast as she can crank them out!

This is the ultimate book for the Halloween season! Creepy, moody gothic horror mixed with dark academia. I was hooked from the first page until the satisfying ending.

Dark academia mixed with a gothic house made the perfect premis. We follow Meg as she tries to discover what happened and who was actually dead. My favorite character was the house and how it kept the creep factor high. Goldsmith wrote a great ghost story mixed with a redemption arch.

This book was not written for me. That is fine and it is the beauty of literature. I am just not in the target audience even if I thought I was. I couldn't relate to any of these characters. As a poor american I never went to a school where you actually stayed there. I am old.
Anyway, other people are going to LOVE this one.