The Lamplighter surprised me. I don’t think I was prepared for how well written of a horror this book is, given how short it is. At times it was quite harrowing and throughout the narrative and plot you feel this unnerving sense of discomfort and I think this is down to the earie, almost haunting way the world building is done. Each character seems to have some emotional turmoil going on, and there were times when I could really feel Temp’s (our FMC) frustration. I enjoyed the is-it-really-who-we-think-it-is at the halfway point in this horror, however I stood firm in my first suspicion and they were honestly soooo much worse that I first imagined!

Book overview:
The Lamplighter brings us into the world of Temperence. After her Da’s suicide, Temp takes over his job to keep the Lanterns lit at night for the town to keep the mysterious thick fog at bay that takes over at night. Her role is to guide people home and make sure nobody gets lost in the dark.

When a young girl mysteriously disappears in the Wabler town, Temp’s job comes under scrutiny, accused of letting the lamp light go out and not doing her job properly. As the soul provider for her sister and mother, her livelihood swings in the balance. In search of answers, Temp uncovers some unsettling truths about the history of the Figureheads that reside on the Warblers ships. As more villagers start to vanish, Temp has to make a choice. Will she fight the authorities to get her truth heard? Or will she keep quiet for the fear of loosing everything she loves?

The Lamplighter officially released yesterday so you can get your hands on it now! thanks again @netgalley for giving me access to this read before its release.

Wow. This book is stunning. It was beautifully written, and draws you in almost immediately. After her father's decision to end his life, she has to take over his role, the fog being the danger the lurks reminds me a bit of the mist, waiting, looming. The wonder that a women should be holder of the lamp is in constant discussion among the town.
This is a slower more immersed book, discovering what happened to Molly, the missing women, having to deal with the responsibilities of being the holder, trying to not make regrets, and where mystery and secrets are around every corner. Trust no one, and especially do not trust the fog.

In a quaint 19th century whaling village, a girl seeks to expose the dark truth behind missing villagers at the risk of the lives of everyone she loves... assuming anyone will listen to a female in the first place.

I devoured this

Tempe has taken over her father's lamplighting duties after he's been found hanging from a lamppost in their 19th century New England whaling town of Warbler. She does this in order to continue to support the family, even though the town thinks it's not such a good idea to have a woman perform these duties. She also comes under fire when a local girl goes missing on her watch. She must decide what she must do in order to protect her position and the ones she loves, but she tends to take on all problems herself, not wanting to burden others.

This Gothic horror novel had great world building and was beautifully written. The struggles Tempe dealt with as a woman and her stubbornness to carry everything on her own shoulders were frustrating, to say the least, but her determination was admirable. The author made you question everything, and the ending was a shock. The story was entrancing and made me want to read more by Crystal J. Bell.

ARC was provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
📚THE PLOT:

In the misty village, where the lamplight struggles against the thick fog that blankets the land each night, a series of mysterious disappearances has gripped the community with fear. Tempe, a resilient figure in a town rife with misogyny, takes it upon herself to unravel the truth behind the abductions, risking her family's cherished legacy in the process.
As Tempe digs deeper into her investigation, she uncovers unsettling truths lurking beneath the village's tranquil facade amidst the fog of uncertainty, Tempe emerges as a beacon of strength and determination, defying societal norms to protect her loved ones and uncover the sinister forces at play. But as the truth comes to light, Tempe must confront the painful sacrifices required to bring justice to her community.

💭MY THOUGHTS:
You know, I was really digging the whole vibe of this foggy village—super eerie, right? But man did the ending let me down, I was rooting for Tempe the whole way through, expecting some epic character but the ending disappointed me, I was expecting more from Tempe.
🚩

TW: abuse, adult/minor relationship, alcoholism, animal death, blood, body horror, death, death of a loved one, fire/fire injury, grief, injury/injury detail, mental illness, misogyny, murder, pedophilia, physical abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, suicide, violence.

First off the cover for this is just "chefs kiss"
The Lamplighter is a very slow-burn horror story. Warbler is a whaling town with this fog that rolls in every night. The fog is so thick that people just disappear with no trace if the lamps aren't lit every night. This is where Thea comes in. After her father's death, Thea took over his job lighting the town lamps every night and extinguishing them every morning. She takes her job very seriously, she needs it to take care of her mother and sister, and it's her family legacy.

When people start going missing, Thea starts digging into what's happening, she's dealing with that as well as this guy she absolutely hates courting her sister. Which causes a lot of friction between them. However, a lot of that could have been resolved if Thea had told her sister what happened when it happened.

I loved Thea's determination to figure out what is going on in Warbler even when it puts her in danger. The bad guy and what going on are pretty unique and I enjoyed uncovering it all.

The first part of the ending was pretty good even though it didn't go as I expected, however, the second part was a bit of a letdown. I don't want to spoil anything but it felt like we got a whole lot of build-up and just nothing. We get a bit with her sister and I expected a bit more from that.
WHile the ending didn't 100% work for me I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the plot so I will definitely be checking out this authors future works.

I feel a bit...empty, after finishing this. Not necessarily in a bad way, but definitely in a "scraped raw and gutted" kind of way. I loved Tempe and was so heartbroken at what she persevered through. This is a slow read with a lot of tension - I was definitely stressed through the whole second half.

Recommended if you enjoy historical gothic horror and are ready for lots of tragedy. Thank you to NetGalley and Flux for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first YA horror I’ve read and it’s definitely thrown me for a loop. The horror and suspense aspects are mild but the story is so good it doesn’t matter. Though I’d sell an organ for a picture of Gideon in that last chapter, I believe that might haunt me.

Lamplighter built a unique story and from the beginning I struggled to see the direction the story would unfold. Were the hints all red herrings? What if the villian what’s his story? And her father? I honestly did not see the twists coming and once they started they really didn’t stop. The second half of this book I was GRIPPED. I had to know what happened next and I so desperately wanted Temperance to kick some ass.

Really truly I don’t want to give too much away but the last line. The epilogue. I was gaping.

If you like paranormal horror, getting your feelings hurt, old towns with secrets, mysterious fog, and a passionate FMC this is for you. But also if you’ve never read horror and want a place to start I think this would be an awesome place to start, it’s a fast read and I don’t think you’d be disappointed.

I also want to thank Net Galley, Flux, and Crystal J. Bell for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

The Lamplighters is a gorgeous Gothic Horror with a unique historical setting and fantastical twist. I literally couldn’t put it down and read it all in a few hours!

The story follows Tempe, a young lamplighter in a creepy 19th century whaling town, who starts to realize that all is not well in her small town as young women go missing and the man she fears wants to marry her young sister.

The writing was atmospheric and establishes a good sense of creepiness and dread. The fog especially was a foreboding presence throughout the story. I loved the historical detailing and care taken to present a historic whaling town. The magical twist in the story was unique, and having seen whaling figureheads before up close fits perfectly with how eerie they are. I think the only place this book fell short for me was the ending. The story did a good job of bringing in feminist themes and commentary on women’s roles and positions in society, but it kind of fell flat with the ending. I do like the open-ended ending, as it fits well with the horror genre, but it was also a bit frustrating with the feminist themes.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book!

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a girl disappears after two lamps go out on Tempe’s watch, she scrambles for answers, hindered by the village authorities' call for her to be removed from her lamplighting work. More villagers vanish under her watch, and she discovers unsettling truths about the village's famous figureheads and her father, the former lamplighter. Her warnings are ignored, and she faces the choice to look the other way or risk speaking out and dooming herself and her sister to the missing girl's fate.

I had two main issues with this book, and both of them are the selling points in the official book description: the fog and the figureheads. They are the most prominent aspects of the book, yet somehow the most forgettable.

The town is infamous for people disappearing into the nightly fog, and the lamps being lit are synonymous with safety and protection. The atmosphere is eerie and poetically described, and the bare bones of the storyline's mystery were creative, so I thought I was going to be enthralled by some mystery fog as I have often been in the past. However, the fog just...didn't seem important. People seemed to disappear purely due to poor disability and not being able to find their way home if a lamp went out. However, <spoiler>it is revealed that the local sentient people-eating forest released the fog to lure in victims</>, and I am all for a plot twist, but I didn’t feel as if the book laid out the groundwork for this to be a believable twist. It came out of nowhere, and the lack of explanation and development due to how late it appeared in the plot made it fall flat for me.

The town is famous for its lucky ship figureheads. To my memory, we don't find out a huge amount about why they're lucky, or any particular desire for them, or really any mention of their significance outside of the plot twist. <spoiler> The girls who go missing get turned into the figureheads. How? I don't really know. There's a figurehead-in-progress in a workshop that looks vaguely like it's been carved to look like a girl, but it briefly comes alive to show that it is the girl. I don't know if they turn into wood, or if the carving captures their spirit somehow. Also, the other missing people are found in the forest getting consumed by tree roots</spoiler>. Are the forest and the figureheads connected? I don't actually know. I couldn't get a firm grasp on what was being said on the page, and any twist that could connect them happened so late in the story there was no time left for development and clarity.

Overall, this is one of the first times where I don't think I enjoyed anything about a book, so it's one star for me finishing it, and another because I've read books that physically pained me to read, and this one wasn't quite that bad. The characters were insufferable and made constant illogical decisions. The pacing was inconsistent, and therefore, so was the suspense. The conversations on misogyny (and later assault survivors) were poorly handled, and overall circular thinking became very tiresome.

But still, there are worse books out there.

I have to say – this book would have been a great read in October and indeed, I may have to re-read it for October. This book is perfectly creepy, what with a fog that covers the town of Warbler every evening. Even creepier when you discover where that fog originates from.

I loved Temperance. She is fiesty and protective of those she loves. Her insistence on making her own way and working as the lamplighter, as well as her troubles as the lamplighter because she is a woman are a grim reminder that even today, women are not always seen as equals to men.

Prudence is another character I was fond of. She is fiesty, loyal, and protective as well, but in her own way. The sisters have very different ways of living their lives, which is well played out in the book.

Gideon… well, at times I liked him, but most of the time I despised him. Which is probably what was intended.

Josiah was a sweet character and I wish we’d seen a bit more of him in the book. But alas…

The plot for this book is pretty amazing. A small whaling town overtaken by fog every night. If the lamplighter doesn’t do his/her job, then people go missing because of the fog. This one is full of twists, turns, and will make you second guess yourself constantly.

While I loved the ending, it makes me hope for a sequel because… well, once you read the book, you’ll understand why it is I hope for a sequel. Ms. Bell, if you are reading this, I beg you, please, write a sequel. Your ending begs for one!

I gave this 4.5 stars because it is an amazing book. I can’t wait to see what other YA Horror gems she writes.

“The Lamplighter” by Crystal J. Bell is one of the debut releases I've been looking forward to all year and it gave me goosebumps! It's so eerily and beautifully written and hooked me right from the start.

The author transports us to the foggy New England coast where Temperance - the town's lamplighter - sheds light into the darkness and saves the villagers from disappearing into the turquoise fog. From the very beginning, I was gripped by the mytical small town atmoshphere and Temperance's work as Warble's first female Lamplighter. It's clear from the start that something strange and sinister is going on in the town. When girls begin to disappear in the night, the people of Warbler turn their accusing eyes to Temperance, and so begins a challenging battle for Temp, who wants to preserve her honor as a Lamplighter.

I love how Temp tries to assert herself in this ignorant, male-dominated world. She is a strong young woman who has to live through a lot and fights for safety for herself and her family. I loved the dynamic family-constellation and and how Temp's father was involved in the past.

As more and more girls go missing, a suspicion arises for Temp and while the town doesn't do much to keep the women safe, Temp goes on a hunt for clues to find the suspect. I loved the darker elements - especially about the figure heads. A lot of it was unexpected and I had goosebumps!

While I enjoyed the horror and fantastic elements and especially the twisted ending, - many twists and turns were a little bit predictable. The pacing was also so weird and I had to push through to get to the finale scene. Nonetheless, the end creeped me out and I loved the outcome!

"The Lamplighter" is exqusite horror through and through! It's definitely one if the most eerily written debut novels that I've read and it deserves all the praise!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me but I'm giving it three stars because there wasn't anything majorly wrong with the book and I don't want to give a bad rating when I didn't even finish it.

The Lamplighter is very atmospheric but I found the story and descriptions lacking.
Passed maybe hair colour I couldn't tell you what any of the characters look like so I had a hard time picturing them and I don't have a clue what age anyone was.
I don't mind a slow pace usually but I was just extremly bored and skimmed a lot because it felt either unnecessary or like I was just reading the same thing again.

I really wanted to love this one but it just wasn't for me

The Lamplighter is a beautifully written gothic historical fiction horror story that will have you guessing till the very last page! It's not a fast paced story but its a chilling story about a young girl wanting to be heard and protect what she loves most! The characters are flawed and very life-like! The descriptions of the setting are fantastic and it makes it easy to see and feel everything that's going on! Overall it's a great story with a surprising ending! Thank you Tbr and Beyond Tours and Crystal J. Bell for sharing this book with me!

The Lamplighter is a YA historical horror book about a young woman in a nineteenth century whaling town. She has taken over the position as the town lamplighter after her fathers death and takes care of her mother and younger sister. When a young woman goes missing in the fog one night when two of the lamplights have gone out he town starts to turn on her and places blame on her for not confessing that the lights had gone out. In the meantime a prominent man in the town has been courting her sister and asks for her hand in marriage. This just happens to be the very same man our lamplighter has been warned away from and who had once attacked her in the past. When another young girl goes missing and a man from a whaling ship begins to harass women from the town no one can be trusted and soon our main character must take matters into her own hands.

Thank you to Netgalley and Northstar for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review. I found this book to be very enjoyable and i am giving it four stars.
While I did find myself frustrated by the actions of most of the characters in this book , it made them feel relatable and more human. One aspect that I enjoyed was that I genuinely did not know what was happening exactly or who was the culprit of the kidnappings until about 50% of the way into the book. Usually these things are pretty easy to guess this was written in a way that had me unsure for a good chunk of the book and I was happy to have it that way.
I will definitely be posting a positive review of this book on my social media (TikTok and Youtube) about one week prior to the release date in May. This review will be edited to show that the review has been posted and a link will be provided once posted.

Once again, I found this book to be very enjoyable and a good spooky read, it would do well as a fall release as well to take advantage of spooky season vibes.

Link for social media post (TikTok and YouTube) added 5/17/24

This book had me hooked from the beginning. I finished it within an afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it. Every time I flipped a page I couldn't expect what was going to the characters next. The ending was insane! I could not believe what was happening. The characters had me engaged, there were parts where I was on the edge of my seat. Overall, this book was a great read and I couldn't recommend it more.

Well, that ending hurt a lot, very rude. However this was good.

Honestly my favourite part was the characterisation of Warbler, like it was a character of its own accord [which makes sense after the ending] and I think it was really well done, the vibes especially. I always love when inanimate objects, places, concepts are a character, it makes a story feel so much more grounded.
I did really like Temperance and I'm so upset for her. This is why I can't read books like this, because the endings always make me very angry and upset, though I know a happy ending would have cheapened the story, like I think it was the ending the story needed, but that doesn't mean I can't think its awful and unfair.
Also I really liked Tempe's relationship with Pru, it was very well done and they were both fleshed out despite Tempe being a somewhat biased narrator.
I do think that some of the themes were a little heavy handed in the telling rather than showing, and it occasionally took me out of the story a bit. Tempe always being very self aware and being like "its because I'm a woman obviously" and like you can be explicit with those themes, but I think there are ways to blend in the dialogue more smoothly. I think it took me out just because of the setting, had it been a modern setting I would have been more ok with it, but because its 19th century it felt out of place and a bit too like modern rhetoric sometimes. But overall this hurt, not jumpscare horror, just more insidious and at times realistic, which to be honest is worse.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and North Star Editions, Flux. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: YA Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Historical Fantasy
Content Warning: Threats to women, death

THE LAMPLIGHTER caught me in the ambiance of the alternate world with whalers, lamplighters, and magic.

I felt worried through the entire book (inherent to the genre). The threat to women is as thick as the fog in the forest, omnipresent and shades every interaction of the women and men. This has a feminist bent. I felt like it is adjacent to old, classic novels with the difference between the city versus the woods/forest.

I had a haunted, eerie vibe through the entire thing. There were moments when I wanted to shake the characters to wake them up to what was happening. And I mean this in the best way since I was vested in the outcome.

I think anyone who loves a dark vibe is going to eat up this novel.

Happy reading!

*Thank you to NetGalley and North Star Editions for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!*

This was a beautifully written, gothic-type horror read. I was enjoying reading things from Tempe's perspective, what she faced and such. The setting was engaging and the author knows how to set the atmosphere.

The only critique I have for this novel is despite its relatively short length, the pacing is kind of slow and I kind of found myself wishing for things to pick up. It's a relatively minor thing though, and I enjoyed it!

Crystal J. Bell offers us a story that combines my two favorite settings, a coastal village and the woods. I also love her use of boat figureheads, objects that both act as guide and protector on the open sea, but are also created by man and bound to their ships, even if they sink. They are inseparable from their creator, and serve one purpose, all while feeling alive. Bell uses all of this to tell a story entrenched in gothic, from sentient fog to disappearing girls. I think readers will enjoy the slow build of dread as she tightens the gothic screws on us.