What a dark, dark young adult novel. This will not leave you feeling good at the end.

Tempe and her sister Pru are two teenage girls in an era when women weren't allowed much of anything. After their father dies and their mother goes into a fugue state, the two girls are left to pick up the pieces, with Tempe given the unusual allowance to take over her father's job as the town lamplighter each night, saving her family from destitution.

Her role is immensely important as there is an unusual fog that takes over the town every night, and over the years many people have disappeared in it.

I can't say much more without giving it away, but Bell does essentially reveal all halfway through, making the rest of the story a tense cat and mouse hunt as poor Tempe does everything she can to prove what's really in the fog - not that anyone will believe a silly girl.

The ending is rough, emotionally. I was not prepared for how dark this book would be, there are no happy endings in this world. But wow, what a well-written story. Seriously, well done in atmosphere and characterizations. I really enjoyed it, even if I need to surround myself with fluffy puppies and kittens for the next week after finishing it.

this artwork for the cover is absolutely stunning. Though I'm not sure I'll ever get around to reading it.

You *need* this story in your life! Imagine a moody, 19th-century village called Warbler, where Tempe’s job is to keep the lamps burning and protect everyone from a creepy fog—something her father used to do, but it's rare for a woman. When villagers start vanishing, everyone turns on Tempe, and now she’s got to prove her innocence, keep her family safe, and figure out who (or what) is behind it all. Crystal spins this dark and twisty tale with characters you’ll love and a setting that’s somehow cosy *and* spine-chilling. You’ll be hooked and flipping pages till dawn.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Flux for access to an eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

what's it about? ⬇️

When Temperance found her father's body, the small whaling town of Warbler was left without a lamplighter to light up the inky darkness of the night, and so Temperance took over the position, keeping in mind her father's old saying: "It's an honor to bring light to the dark." And though the town has it's doubts about trusting a woman, let alone a teenage girl, with this responsibility, she is good at her job and takes it very seriously.

The darkness of the island has long been known to lead outsiders astray in the mist that travels down from the depths of the woods, but one night when two lamps have gone out on her second check of the town, Temperance chooses not to report the outages and her ability to perform in her position is brought into question by the town council when a local girl is discovered to have gone missing in the mist as well--a far more rare curse that hangs over the island. And as she is dragged deeper into the dark history of the island, Temperance begins to question the suddenness of her father's death and to look at his old teachings and advice much more closely.

Between searching for evidence that the missing girl is still out there somewhere, proving her own innocence, solving the mystery of her father's death, researching the haunting 'lucky' figureheads that have been Warbler's greatest staple, and continuing to care for her mother who has not spoken since her husband's death and her little sister who is unknowingly stepping deep into the dangers of the island, can Tempe juggle it all and still come out on top? Or will she end up six feet under?

my thoughts? ⬇️

The Lamplighter has got to be one of my favorite examples of slow burn creeping horror that I've come across in a long time. Warbler is a truly terrifying town to call home between the thick, cloying mists and the heavy darkness, and it has always been the lamplighter's job to bring light to the dark, to be sure the lanterns are there to guide the people of Warbler safely back to their homes in the night. And despite her grief and her trauma, Temperance is determined to save not only herself and her family, but also the rest of the town from whatever darkness haunts them.

She was a brave, kind, responsible character, and at the same time had real flaws that were allowed to be showcased front and center, and there's nothing I love more than a flawed heroine. And speaking of flawed characters with the right intentions, Tempe's father's story as well as her mother's and her little sister's were so incredibly written and well incorporated into the story, and Tempe's love story was so heart wrenching and beautiful.

The book also had so many crazy twists and turns and played so much with gross, terrifying body horror while never becoming too grotesque or outlandish, and all of the magic made perfect sense with the world Crystal J. Bell worked so hard to create.

Honestly, I think this book is one I'll revisit in the future and that will stick with me for a long time to come. I will take 10,000 more historical horrors just like it, please.

trigger warnings ⬇️

death of a parent, murder, violence, death, blood, gore, body horror, plant horror, fire/fire injury/fire death, grief, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, sexual harassment, sexual assault, pedophilia, adult/minor relationship, mental illness, grief, suicide, suicidal thoughts, child death, confinement.

Okay so this is a complicated one. I’m going to give this one a 3.5 with the 0.5 deducted for the ending. I hate an open ended ending and this one just was unsatisfying. I feel like we never learned if the objects in the story could be recovered (I’m being vague because of spoilers). That was such a huge question that I NEEDED answered. I also don’t love a story where it relies on women constantly being gaslit by every single person they know including other women. I wish Tempe had at least someone on her side.

That being said, I really did like this book. I would classify this as folk horror which is some of my fav horror. I loved the small town whaling village setting with the constant in the story being the lamp posts. The characters were all pretty vibrant and each one unique. I liked Tempe even if she made some very questionable decisions sometimes. I would recommend this to people I like Small Favors by Erin A. Craig. Very similar vibes from the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of the book so I can provide an honest review.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I got this to do a book review on my blog, I ended up DNFing this book, it sadly was not for me. The blog went up as a promo.

this whole book is a gaslighting metaphor, but i wasn’t expecting the main character to be gaslighting herself the entirety of this book! i really enjoyed this aspect.

i would have liked to see a bit more of pru and gideons exchanges prior to her figuring out he was her secret admirer, or at least some development that explains why pru was so eager to jump head first into a relationship with a man her sister (and late father) warned her against.

tempe constantly makes bad decisions and while this can be quite aggravating, i live a flawed character. that said, i felt like i knew where each bad decision would lead instead of being on the edge of my seat with worry.

the atmosphere of this book was brilliant. each night the town is overcome by a dense fog that seems alive. it embeds fear in the towns folk and it's been blamed for several disappearances and deaths in the area, including tempes father who is said to have gone mad from the fog and as a result dies by suicide. while i foresaw the truth of this, i thoroughly enjoyed the journey of tempe coming the realisation.

There are elements of this story that I absolutely fell in love with. It's very creepy and atmospheric, and for those elements I would recommend this. There was a nice twist but overall, the story was a mix between a slow burn and a drag. There was some repetitiveness in the action, dialogue, and monologue that took me out of the story. It’s not a very long story but I feel like it could have been shorter for the sake of pacing.

It's a three star for me but I'm going to round it up because I feel like it deserves four star, it's a pretty good book and I don't want to deter anyone from reading it.

I simply LOVE this book. An atmospheric, haunting tale of one woman's fight to have her voice heard and protect what she loves in the face of truly chilling evil forces. Spooky as it is, I adore the setting of historic Warbler and wish I could just sink into it forever (maybe without the threat of missing women, though). This is a must read !

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

CWs/TWs: Sexual Assault, Suicide, Depression, Mental Illness, Adult/Minor Relationship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Sexism

I really wanted to like this book but i felt that the characters were dull and i was unable to get into the plot.

the cover was absolutely lovely, but the way that abuse and assault were dealt with and mentioned bade it really hard to continue reading.

I absolutely loved the vibes of this book!
But I have to say that it took me a while to get into it. I dropped it once cause it was a bit slow, but then after a few months I managed to get into it and enjoy the reading.
The writing is okay, nothing crazy, but good enough to keep me entertained.
Maybe the book could've been a bit shorter, cause I feel like the protagonist just kept going on and on about the same things, same thoughts and feelings.
I do like the mystery of the plot, it was the main reason I kept reading.
Overall I think it was an okay book, I kinda enjoyed, kinda got tired of it.

The author did a great job creating the creepy feel of this Victorian seaside town. It definitely creating an unsettled feeling. I struggled to keep reading, but I was invested in learning what was behind everything. Unfortunately the payoff was, for me, not worth sticking with the book. I was hoping for something less supernatural.

The Lamplighter is a spooky YA historical fiction horror novel about a New England village that is famous for their unearthly realistic figureheads. They also have a nightly mist where people sometimes disappear. Temperance is a lamplighter who helps to provide light so people don't get lost in the mist. When Temperance's younger sister receives a marriage proposal from the enigmatic figurehead maker and more girls get lost in the mist, she starts to investigate what may be lurking behind the town's quaint façade.

First off, very cool premise! I also loved that this is a historical fiction novel set in a small New England whaling town. I always love when horror and historical fiction are brought together, and thought it was cool that this is also a YA novel.

This book is way more graphic, violent, and just generally firmly in the horror genre than I expected for a YA novel. And I'm really happy about that! Young people are often really into horror and I'm glad to see a real horror novel written for teenagers. However... it was too graphic for me. I'm definitely more of a thriller than real horror person and I don't like vivid depictions of death, violence, etc. This book definitely had it! If that's your cup of tea, you won't be disappointed. If you're more on the edge of a horror interest like I am, some scenes will haunt you forever.

HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD

Okay, I had two problems with this book, and they're big spoilers. First, the ending! I was not expecting everything to not wrap up. It is very dark and ends on a bleak note. If it doesn't have a sequel, which it doesn't seem that it will, it's pretty dark. I don't necessarily mind this if it ends in a satisfying way, but I was kind of thrown by how dark it was and how everything just seemed kind of dropped.

Next, the depiction of suicide. It is a HUGE problem for me when a book has a character who dies by suicide (in this case Temperance's father) and the twist is that they were murdered and didn't die by suicide. My issue with this is that we saw a character describe real grief from a loved one's suicide and grapple with real things like guilt, feeling betrayed, unloved, abandoned, confused, etc. And then it's revealed that the person didn't actually want to die and was actually murdered. I understand why this is often a twist in fiction, but it bothers me so much that we witness all of the emotional struggle that real people feel when a loved one dies by suicide and then have all of the character growth yanked away when the twist happens.

I had a pretty good time with this book, although it was generally a bit too graphic for me! I recommend if you're in the mood for something spooky and don't mind reading about violence. 3 stars. Thank you to North Star Editions and NetGalley for the eARC of this book, my thoughts are my own!

CW: Description of a body from a suicide on the first page, suicide of a parent, detailed descriptions of dead bodies, physical violence, sexual assault

"**Lamplighter**" by Crystal J. Bell is a captivating and imaginative fantasy novel that skillfully combines magic with a richly detailed world. Bell’s vivid descriptions and engaging plot create an immersive reading experience full of intrigue and wonder. The well-developed characters and compelling storyline make it a standout in the genre.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange of my honest review.

A slow burn spooky historical fiction set in the nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler.

It’s as if the fog itself is a character.

“Fog, a living, breathing creature in the dying light of the setting sun, will soon roll out of the woods, creep down the streets, pour onto the wharf, and smother Warbler Seaport entirely. Buildings, ships, and streets will become mere suggestions. And the villagers themselves? Wraiths forever adrift in the murk.”

I didn’t see the twist at the end. I recommend to those who love spooky atmosphere.

This book was a beautiful read, capturing my attention with its elegant prose and intriguing plot.

The author skillfully weaves a narrative that is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant.
While there were certain parts that didn't entirely resonate with me, they did not detract from the overall experience. I found the story to be compelling and would still highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well-crafted novel that brings in fresh air!

Thank you for the ARC!

I was on the edge of my seat reading this book, I loved every minute of it, the characters were well constructed and the over all storyline was really well paced

This book was a very slow burn and cozy read. It’s very well paced and enough moments for you to doubt what you know and who you can trust. So engaging!

I was a bit disappointed, but overall I liked it and would recommend it

this was a quick atmospheric read that you could easily finish in one-to-two sittings.

this would be a good book to read if you're just starting to dip your toes into horror books. instead of being super dark and creepy the whole time, you are also getting commentary on relationships, social status, and female empowerment.

read this one if you like slower paced, atmospheric books!

3.5/5