While the atmosphere was incredible and the bare bones of the mystery were creative, this book suffers from a rash and impulsive main character incapable of thinking things through or gathering evidence. There was a lot of circular thinking that grew very tiresome.

2.5 stars

“I’m the one who brings light to the dark.”

I should have loved this book. A horror novel that takes place in a 19th century whaling village? Love the concept.

It failed in the execution for me. The pace was horrendously slow and the characters were sort of unbearable. In an attempt to fill the story with atmosphere, it killed the stories ability to create suspense and the actual horror of the story was flat. I very much skimmed post page 100.

I will say, the epilogue was interesting. I would rather a book that started there than ending on that note. Now THAT would be a folklore/horror novel.

I found the feminist narrative in this one to be surprisingly heavy-handed and as a result, tiresome. This one sadly didn’t work for me the way I was hoping, but I'm hoping it will find its audience!

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.

Crystal Bell is able to create an environment of growing unease and anxiety throughout the novel. Tempe, a small Connecticut port towns' lamplighter, becomes obsessed with solving the cases of girls going missing in the fog. While I devoured the book in two days, I found a lot of the novel's reveals to be a bit obvious and the tense feeling that was growing on me throughout the book were just waiting for these "surprises" to be realized by the main character. I did appreciate the well-rounded female characters and the originality of the evil within the novel.

The Lamplighter is a seriously and spooky tale that combines the myth, magic, and grit of historical maritime seaside villages and the constant, low-grade horror of being a young woman in a world built by/for and controlled by men. This was a beautifully crafted tale in a world you fully believed in. While reading, I half expected to look up and see a fog had crept in around me. I will never look at a lamp or a lantern the same way again!

Eerie and atmospheric, this book gave me a deep appreciation for a new genre mash-up: historical horror.

In a New England whaling town, something lurks in the nightly fog. Temperance, the town lamplighter, is haunted by the light post where her dad hung himself, but soon she begins to suspect that something worse than her memories is creeping around. It's her job to keep the villagers and visiting whalers safe from disappearing forever into the fog. But when two of her lamps go out the same day a girl goes missing, she finds herself under fire in a town that resents her for being female.

After her father's death, Temperance was allowed to take over his job to provide for her family, but the town still feels unease about the role being filled by a woman. Temperance is constantly butting up against society's expectations with her need to be able to take care of herself. But standing out can attract the wrong kind of attention, in more ways than one.

I loved the relationship between Temperance and her younger sister, Prudence. Though they fought and disapproved of each other's choices - especially Prudence's courtship with the much older Gideon - they had each other's backs in the end.

The ending was both unexpected and absolute perfection.

Thank you to the publisher for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so to tbrandbeyond for including me in their book tour of this novel! My full review will be updated here and posted to Instagram on scheduled book tour date, 5/22!

This book really has me stumped because although some parts were good and well-written, others gave me a bit of an ick and the characters were a bit off for me- I think I backtracked a few times as well. 😅

Moody and foreboding, this historical fiction novel has a supernatural twist. Temperance is a lamplighter to light the way in the foggy darkness of her 19th century fishing town, and grows increasingly wary of the figurehead carver, Gideon, amidst villagers disappearing into the fog. This is as much a family drama as it is a tense supernatural mystery. Readers who get drawn in by an evocative setting and those who like a touch of weirdness in their stories should enjoy this!

1.5 stars!

i was very disappointed by this book. the story was all over the place. the characters were very annoying. and there were only a few moments that shocked me.

prudence was the worst of them all. we were told she was more grown up than her age but still acted like a child. like why wouldn’t she listen to her sister and make her feel worse?!? this story wants to put across a feminist message, but it is lacking a lot. i was hoping for more with this, but i found things predictable and slow and just so disappointing.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for a honest review.

*Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for giving me and e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

2.75/5 stars

I wanted to love this book- I really did. The premise sounded like something I would adore. It has a strong fmc, a small seaside town, supernatural elements, and a touch of eerie horror.

Firstly I’ll start with what I did enjoy: I loved the main villain as a character. Without spoiling anything, I thought they were genuinely scary and threatening. At a couple different points I really feared for our main character and had absolutely no idea how she was going to succeed. The action scenes present in this book were definitely thrilling and well-done. I also liked the number of twists- most of which I didn’t see coming. They kept me interested in the story and motivated me to finish it.

Now for what I didn’t like as much: Basically, I found the first 60% of this book to be incredibly slow. So slow I almost dnfed this book. I found it very hard to connect with any of the characters and be interested in their survival/success/goals. I think this book would have worked much better for me if those scenes were shortened and replaced by more action scenes. Additionally, while the ending was very unexpected, it felt vague and unsatisfying. It almost feels like the author is setting up the plot for a sequel book but without really concluding anything from this one.

Overall, I didn’t think this book was particularly bad, it just struggled to keep my attention and be something I’m interested in. I would still suggest other readers give it a shot if they’re interested- especially if they’re ok with a slower start. I do think there are readers who would love this story, I’m just not one of them.

Not the book for me. Bad things happen to important characters and it doesn't evoke any emotion. Tempe spends a lot of the book being criticized by other characters, and they're all right, but not compelling enough for me to care about them. Vibes were good though.

This is the best possible way I could articulate my thoughts about this book, but it is unfortunately, very terrible. I rarely DNF when I’ve progressed to 41%, but I cannot say anything that makes this book redeemable. I am part of the minority who disliked this and these are just my thoughts.

CWs/TWs: Sexual Assault, Suicide, Depression, Mental Illness, Adult/Minor Relationship, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Sexism
Bell’s writing paints an eerily atmospheric picture. It is poetic and has lots of potential but is very dragging. Almost halfway through and I could see why other readers did not like this at all. With these amount of CWs, you’d think the writer would’ve handled these issues in a manner that compliments the story and its main character’s purpose, but the execution was bad. I am not intentionally being mean, but this story made me so uncomfortable, especially with the Adult/Minor relationship and how Temperance (the fmc) dealt with SA. The FMC’s goal was to provide for and protect her sister, which I have nothing against, and SA survivors do not owe the world their story, but Tempe was clearly protecting her sister and she failed to do so by hiding substantial information from her, defending her abuser by disguising his actions as rejection. This was a constant reminder throughout the book that it just lost how crucial this should’ve been addressed. In the end, her sister ends up with a pedophile who preyed on her emphasizing how he’s “pushing her for another child” despite her not being ready and our main character loses her mind. It strayed away from the purpose of the story as a whole. I am not trying to be harsh here, but if you want to write a book that says “fuck the patriarchy” then don’t write a book where men still win.

📚The Lamplighter
🖋️Author: @crystaljbell
📝P.g.:304
🖌️Publication: @northstareditions
📆Publication date: 21st of May
🗂️Genre: Historical Fiction- Horror- Teens & YA

•𝒜𝑅𝒞 𝑅𝐸𝒱𝐼𝐸𝒲•

‘’Your bell doesn’t just notify the constables of the beginning of your shift. It reminds the rest of us to be on our guard. To get home while we can- before it begins to hunt.’’

‘’Any moment, I could fall to the ground, my body bursting into fog, unable to do anything but watch as people walk through me.’’

📌Summary:
In The nineteenth-century whaling village of Warbler and it’s lucky ship figureheads, Tempernace, the protagonist
of the story, has the most dangerous job of all, the job of the Lamplighter. She has to light all the lamps every night and patrol the village, because of the fog that envelops the place when the sun sets.

When a girl disappears, Temperance- apart from the villager’s belief of her incompetance, has to unravell the mystery and find what happened to the girl. As more people start to disappear, she comes face to face with gruesome realisations and the choice of either looking the other way in order to protect the ones she loves or putting an end to it for once and for all.

📌Review:
Tha narrative is so atmospheric. I got chills while reading the scenes where she has to light the posts at night, how the fog
seemed to hide secrets and boogeymen. Thinking that she is all alone and responisble for the wellbeing of so many people. The author really succeeds in placing you beside her and thinking you are with her in the fog.

Temperance holds a special place in my heart. She is a strong independant woman, who is the head of her family and finds meaning in her job, while people around here don’t value her very much. You could say she resembles Jo March.

The novel is full of plot twists. The one special twist in the end had me gasping. I really hope there will be another book in the series.

📌Thoughts:
If you love Historical Fiction with horror elements this book is waiting for you to pre- order it on Amazon. I strongly suggest you read it, because it’s refreshing and very well- written.

#thelamplighter #crystaljbell #northstareditions

A girl must face off against a dangerous monster of a man who is closing in on those she loves most in this horror story set in a 19th century whaling village. In the little village of warbler, famous for it's lucky ship figureheads, people have been known to disappear in the nightly fog. It is the job of lamplighters to light the lamps at night to guide people home. Temperance loves her job as a lamplighter, it lets her support her ill mom and her sister. After her father's suicide, Tempe has been trying to be everything for her family. The only thing that she hates is Gideon, the wealthy and respected individual man in town that her father had warned her about... and the very same man who had assaulted her when she was 16 and now is her sister's new fiance. Tempe wants to do everything in her power to save her sister but she refuses to tell her sister the truth about what he did. Tempe begins noticing more girls disappearing and finding a connection to Gideon as well... she knows she has to stop him but he might be more powerful and monstrous than she could have ever imagined. This book started off interesting but I just did not have a good time with it. I loved the premise and loved the setting, however, I did not enjoy Tempe as a protagonist and that ending just left a bad taste in my mouth. The characters were all so frustrating and it just does not end well. I love horror books, especially historical horror, and this one missed the mark for me. If you enjoy historical horror with women suffering, then this is for you, otherwise I would absolutely steer clear of this one.

*Thanks Netgalley and North Star Editions | Flux for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I LOVED this book! It was mysterious and spooky and creepy and gothic and romantic and scary and it hooked me from the very beginning!

Temperance works as the lamplighter of Warbler like her father before his suicide. Warbler is plagued by a thick fog when it is dark, making Temperance’s job crucial for the safety of the people in the port town. However, when a girl goes missing, Temperance’s position is put into jeopardy and she begins investigating what might be behind the mystery, all while she is struggling with her life at home as her family’s provider.

The Lamplighter had a great atmosphere, sinister and mysterious. Often, I could not stop reading, because it was so suspenseful.

In general, the characters were well done, especially with their different ways of coping with their struggles.

While the plot could be somewhat slow, the pace was still fine and didn’t stop this book from being an entertaining read.

However, Temperance could sometimes annoy me, because she often blamed others and misogyny for the consequences of her own actions. There were some misogynistic actions, but Temperance just began using that as an excuse for her poor choices often enough to be annoying. If Temperance was so aware of her social situation, then I hoped she’d make better choices, especially when explaining herself.

While a big part of the ending was obvious, I still liked the ending in a way as it seemed fitting.

I would also recommend it to people who like to read some gothic and slightly spooky things, because this aspect of the book was greatly done!

Thank you to Netgalley and North Star Editions for the early egalley in exchange for my honest review.

Gorgeous cover, and the occupation of the main character of lamplighter in a harbour town sounded really interesting to me.

Unfortunately, I just couldn’t stay interested and DNF’d at 14% in favour of something more fast paced. I really want to try again at a time I’m in a better place for it.

It’s an honor to bring light to the dark.<

And it was an honor for me to read this book.

Chilling, daunting, I was mesmerised by everything, and I literally mean everything.

Plot, characters, lore (I personally would have loved having more lore to sate my thirst for knowledge and understanding), pacing, an amazing book cover, but most of all - the writing. Now, this was some damn good writing to read. And if Bell is going to write other books she for sure will have a buyer.

Temperance made me cry, Josiah made me cry, Molly made my heart crack. Prudence nearly made me throw my Mac on the ground for how hard I wanted to slap her. This was the effect this book hand on me even if deep down I knew I couldn't really hate her for thinking the way she did. Every page gave me anxiety, each time Tempe seemed to finally find her way out, to finally find the way towards the light out of a chasm full of darkness we were back to where we started.

I feel very proud of myself for figuring out the mystery behind the disappearances before we were actually told, even if I was NOT expecting this ending. No, this is one of those endings where you scream until you have no more breath to spend.

Yes, there was some scenes, in terms of thoughts that the main character had that for me just didd not make sense, but at the end they did not hinder the reading in any way.

This is the first time I truly want to buy an actual copy of the book after reading the arc. The way Bell played with us until the end should be illegal.

Now beware, there are some trigger warning that people need to know before reading. Such as:
-S.A.
-Mysogeny.
-Self Immolation and Murder.
-gore in very few but strong scenes.
-Alcoholism associated to a secondary characters.


This was such an entertaining ride, one of the best.

Thank you NetGalley and Flux for this ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flux for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Gothic horror in the truest sense, this YA debut hits the ground running with its bleak, haunting prose. Much like the fog itself, this book has a bit of a slow start but it quickly becomes an all-encompassing obsession as the occult happenings spiral out of control. The ending is absolutely wild!!

Heed the list of trigger warnings provided in book if sensitive to things like suicide, familial trauma, sexual assault, and pedophilia, among others. This book tackles the weight of both familial and societal expectation. Our protagonist Temperance struggles to keep her family afloat after her father's suicide and as her mother's crippling sorrow consumes her.

By carrying on the family tradition of being a Lamplighter, she can provide for her family yet at the cost of being a normal teenage girl. Constantly belittled and disregarded by members of her community for fulfilling a traditionally male role, "Tempe" knows she has so much to lose if she falls out of favor.

Providing light in the swirling fog that plagues her whaling town, Tempe offers slivers of safety in the otherwise enroaching darkness. When the number of seemingly random disappearances increases and her own livihood is at stake, she takes her duty as a light-bringer very seriously and begins to investigate that which is so closely kept secret. She will get to the bottom of these disappearances and ensure her family's safety, even if everyone in the town (and at times her own home) is against her.

Those longing for evocative descriptions of the whaling industry and the secrets of small towns will be delighted. This book really reminds me of my favorite parts of the "Dishonored" video game franchise, but without the steampunk elements and a heavier emphasis on the occult instead.The book does an excellent job of grounding its horror. Parallels between the possibly supernatural cause of the myriad of disappearances and the more realistic danger of lascivious men are constantly made.