This book blended a variety of genres including horror and psychological thriller. Three sisters in their childhood visit an abandoned house that shows them horrors beyond imagine that haunt them to the present day. When one sister is found in the house dead, the other two have to process past trauma. This book was amazing and I will be looking forward to more books by this author!

I was a little nervous jumping into this book when I read that it fit into the “horror” genre but I’m glad I gave it a chance! It’s the perfect mix of horror, psychological thriller and fantasy!

This book is about 3 sisters who discover a haunted house that keeps luring them back in. It was super creepy but kept the horror to a minimum. The author does an amazing job keeping us engaged through multiple POV’s and timelines (past, present and future). I also loveddddd the trigger warnings in the beginning.

My only wish was that they included more background on Donny.

A gripping and anxiety book, kept me wondering what is going to happen next. It really kept me reading until the end to found out about what they saw in that house.

If you like your horror novels with a little meat on their bones, you're in luck. Through the Midnight Door is a whole meal. This book defies neat categorization, but will scare the pants off you while you're wiping your tears.

The three troubled Finch sisters have never been the same since their childhood visit to a long abandoned house. In that house they experienced something as impossible as it was terrifying and each came away with their own trauma. Years later, Claire, the youngest, would be discovered in that same abandoned house, lifeless. Now Meg and Esther, the remaining sisters, will have to try and put aside years of resentment to work together. Because the darkness that took Claire isn't finished, and it's hungry to devour the Finch family whole.

If you've ever struggled with depression or any other mental health issue, I think this book will resonate and speak to you. It's not just a bloody good time, it's also deep and meaningful, exploring family and the ties that bind. Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the review copy.

I rated this 3.5 stars and honestly initially thought I would rate this book higher. I loved some of the major themes of family trauma, mental health/illness, haunted house, and reality vs. supernatural. I thought the pacing started off really well but unfortunately in the middle the story lost momentum. I think what possibly happened was the author became more focused on the traumas experienced by the family rather than leading the reader to the answers we needed about the two crimes we had become aware of. I think the crimes and trauma could have been explored in unison somehow, as the reader is questioning the reality of the situation or if the family has serious MH issues (or both). I agree this needed to be explored and think she did this really delicately given the material, however, i think with more focus it could have been executed better and brought more punch. The characters were also (sorry) extremely unlikeable and while I understand why this was done, I think possibly it is still important for readers to connect with one character.

I can tell this author was influenced by stories like 'The Haunting of Hill House' and I think she is off to a great start, with some more executing and editing on her next story, I believe she could write a really fantastic and gripping story.

I really enjoyed the element of the missing sibling and did thing that this was revealed well, however, I wasn't sure the reveal of the killer was woven well enough into the story to be shocking or unexpected. I did really enjoy the realism of child services being involved and hos this theme linked with the antagonist traumatic experience as a child

One other recommendation, I don't remember every reading about 'The Midnight Club' more than twice in the book, it is mentioned briefly in the beginning but not explained that this is where the girls will go and explore together. Given the siginifnace to the story, I think more needed to be done in this area, to demonstrate how close the girls were before this haunting incident altered their relationships forever.

This had really good bones and I really enjoyed the authors writing style and her foreboding and spooky descriptions were perfect for this genre. The narrative and prose was well done and I found the language easy to follow and understand, which is great because I think the use of overly analytical or complex language will lessen your prospective audience.

I will be editing this review and posting on Goodreads and Instagram today to include the more positive feedback!

Thanks for the opportunity to review this book.

🏚️ T R A U M A T I C T H U R S D A Y review 🏚️ featuring “Through the Midnight Door” by Katrina Monroe!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤/5

Three sisters (Esther, Clare and Meg) spent their childhood playing in abandoned buildings in their destitute small town. One day they discovered an old house that is unlike any other: there is an endless hall of doors and 3 keys left waiting for each of them. The sisters unlocked “their own” rooms and experienced something so horrifying that they never spoke of the house again. But the darkness seemed to still follow them around …

“In her nightmares she went back to that house, opened the door to that impossible hallway, and went inside knowing what she would see. What would be burned into the backs of her eyelids for the rest of her life”.

Now in present times, one of the sisters is found dead inside THE house and the remaining sisters are desperate to seek out the connection between the house and her death. Together they must face the trauma of their past and present while navigating around the evil that has haunted them since childhood.

Thank you kindly to @katrinamonroeauthor @poisonedpenpress @bookmarked @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on August 13, 2024!

This is a chilling and emotional tale that delves into the complex bonds between sisters and the generational trauma that can tear families apart. It
had an interesting premise, a creepy house with impossible hallways and rooms and a secret that both bound and broke the sisters that experienced it. This was a great psychological horror story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

What do you get when you combine the generational trauma of "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" with a physical representation of depression like "The Babadook", with just a sprinkling of decomposition similar to "An American Werewolf in London"? THIS AMAZING BOOK, that's what!
From the startling events of the present, to the unraveling of the past, and every nonlinear clue in-between, this book makes anyone with a sister reexamine their time together. I was scared, I cried, and I was hopeful, all at once. The bonds of the Finch sisters were creepy-magic to read about, and I am ever thankful for the reminder that we are stronger together 🖤
And for those wandering in abandoned houses, beware of boys with glowing eyes, infinite hallways, buried photos, and The Darkness.

ARC by NetGalley and the publisher.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Meg, Esther, and Claire Finch spent their childhood summers exploring their struggling towns abandoned properties that lined the streets. When one day the sisters enter a home like no other, where endless doors can be seen. Once inside each sister mysteriously holds a key to their own room. When they enter the sisters are met with unspeakable horrors that haunt the rest of their lives. Years later, the Finch sisters find themselves confronting the past when younger sister Claire is found dead inside the eerily abandoned home. Meg and Esther now must find the connection between Claire’s death and the shadows that haunt them before they too are consumed.

Lined with metaphors of mental illness and trauma Through the Midnight Door completely took me by surprise. First, with its genre bending plot and then with its amazingly haunting way it connects trauma to horror. This book truly does twist a typical haunted house horror tale and as such can’t be called just a horror book. This novel blends elements a fantasy and psychological thrillers all with the dark horrors of the abandoned home. Family dynamics are a large part of this books themes as well as a few notable trigger warnings such as depression, suicide, kidnapping, alcoholism, child, loss, and self harm. The author does note a few of these prior to the beginning of the book which I greatly appreciated. Monroe hauntingly depicts mental illness and trauma while using the ominous darkness that torments our characters their whole lives, this is just one of the examples of the well-done metaphors in this novel. While the book does have frightening, eerie, and terrifying horror aspects at the heart of this book is the exploration of familiar bonds and the depth at which trauma can seep into one’s life. As someone who personally has lived through their fair share of dysfunctional family avoidance of traumas and toxic secrets this book resonated deeply within my soul. Through the Midnight Door was just so incredibly impactful and so much more than your typical spooky read. This is an absolute recommend for fans of haunted house books like the Haunting of Hill House and anyone looking for a lyrically written work that explores the impact of loss and grief within familial bonds.

Through the Midnight Door comes out August 13th, 2024.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

From beginning to near end, this novel was scary, atmospheric, fresh, great character building. I was so intrigued and interested and then it ended so abruptly, I’m wondering if I missed something?

I gratefully received a digital version of this book through NetGalley. I personally don't like reviews that give a synopsis about the book; that is what the back of the book is for. That being said, the following are simply my thoughts and opinions on the title.

This book had me continuously wanting to ignore my adult and motherly duties in order to just devour it all at once. The relationship between the sisters had me intrigued and somewhat envious of such a sibling bond. However, it also felt relatable during the moments when they weren't connecting quite so well. As individuals, Meg felt so real to me while Esther I found rather irksome at moments. Claire really fit that youngest sibling role to a T.

As a reader, I tend to find it annoying when elements of a story always seem to work out just perfectly for everyone, leaving everyone you have grown to care about in a story to live happily ever after with no snags. That is not this story, and I am so glad it isn't. While paranatural elements are contained within the pages, the less-than-perfect ending to this story felt realistic. All of the characters still maintained their flaws, and the pain seems to overwhelm so many of the characters isn't 100% nonexistent anymore.

My biggest complaint here is a somewhat lack of explanation when it comes to the "darkness". Where exactly did it come from? Has it always been there? And other questions I cannot list here due to spoiling anything for potential readers. The main antagonist, Donny, could have been given more backstory to help explain things more, allowing for a greater understanding on the readers end.

All in all, I would recommend this book to those who enjoy paranormal suspense. The writing itself was done very well, and I look forward to reading other works by Katrina Monroe.

I have to agree with most of the rest of the reviews that the multi genre aspect of this story is the selling point. As sibling face past and present horrors after one of the sisters is found dead.

"Through the Midnight Door" by Katrina Monroe is an enchanting and atmospheric novel that blends elements of mystery and supernatural intrigue. The story follows Alice, who inherits an old, eerie mansion from a distant relative. As she explores the house, she discovers a hidden door that leads to a world filled with secrets, spirits, and a dark family history that she must unravel to uncover the truth.

Katrina Monroe's writing is rich and evocative, creating a hauntingly beautiful setting that draws you in from the very first page. The characters are well-crafted, with Alice's journey of discovery and courage being both compelling and relatable. The supernatural elements are woven seamlessly into the plot, adding an extra layer of suspense and wonder.

The narrative is filled with twists and turns, keeping you on your toes as you follow Alice through the mysterious and often chilling events that unfold. Monroe balances the eerie atmosphere with emotional depth, making for a story that is both thrilling and touching.

Overall, "Through the Midnight Door" is a mesmerizing read that will captivate fans of gothic mysteries and supernatural tales. It's a four-star novel that delivers a perfect blend of suspense, emotion, and otherworldly charm.

Hmm? Okay, so first, the good: I could feel the Flanagan influence, and I agree with many of the other reviews that this is a thriller more than a horror—but I don't think either label will change a reader's opinion. The first, maybe third, of the book, is done so well that it kept my interest and made me instantly connect with the characters. However, after that, the story just dragged on, and I felt myself lose touch with the characters and maybe even started to dislike them—nothing wrong with unlikeable characters, though, so I just took it in stride.

I can see myself reading more from this author, and PPP always puts out bangers so overall I'll recommend this book to thriller readers :)

As other reviewers have said, this is definitely a supernatural psychological thriller, rather than a straight-up horror. I think it's definitely inspired by the Mike Flanagan "Haunting of Hill House" show rather than the book (despite its epigraph), so do be aware of that going in. (I don't really like that show or Flanagan, so...the book didn't fully work for me as much as it might have if Jackson were the primary inspiration).

Through the Midnight Door was such a multi-layered story. Yes, it was a horror story, but it was part mystery and family drama. A story of a family consumed by grief from a long ago tragedy, the two older sisters each living with their guilt over their secrets and lies. There was such a rawness to this story, an almost brutality to it.

One summer, the three Finch sisters, Meg, Esther, and Claire, meet a boy named Donny who takes them to an abandoned house. But this isn't just any house. It's a house filled with darkness, and what the sisters experience in that house forever changes them.

The Finch family is a family filled with grief, anger, and guilt. They have buried the tragedy so far down inside themselves that it fills them with a darkness, a darkness the house seems to feed on.

But it isn't until the youngest sister is found dead in the house and her older sisters seek out answers that the past finally has to be addressed. In doing so, the remaining sisters can finally start to heal and no longer allow the darkness to consume them.

I enjoyed the complexity of this story, I appreciated that it wasn't simply a horror story, but one that wove into it a fragile family dynamic that could be utterly destroyed by this abandoned house.

The setting was perfect for this haunted house horror. A small dying town with streets full of abandoned and derelict houses. The hopelessness of the town, reflected in that of the Finch family.

The story was told over multiple timelines and through the sisters' points of view. This non-linear telling of the story kept a certain amount of tension throughout, giving you little bits of information at one time but not filling in all the blanks until the very end.

This was the closest I'll ever come to reading a book in one sitting. It was difficult to put down. Please read the content warnings before picking this one up, though.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

Through the midnight door explores themes of grief and trauma as two sisters have to revisit the place of their third sisters death. Things start to get strange and spooky however. The sisters were quite annoying and obnoxious but I can’t fault them too much for that for that is how they were meant to be portrayed. Parts of this book felt king and overdrawn out. Overall I enjoyed it, definitely a great new murder mystery on the shelves!!

This is definitely a phycological thriller with some spooky stuff thrown in. I really wanted to like the sisters but found them all to be insufferable, whiney women. I did enjoy the when the dead sister tormented Meg and Esther and was really hoping that in the end it would have this mega spooky twist.. but alas it ended up a predicable outcome.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of Through the Midnight Door.

I rated this 3.5, rounded up to 4.

When Claire tragically passes away, her two sisters Meg and Esther try to deal with their grief while also investigating her death further, as they believe it wasn't self-inflicted, and might be tied to supernatural events that happened when they were children.

Through the Midnight Door felt heavily influenced by both the book and TV show versions of The Haunting of Hill House. Mental illness and grief/guilt were major themes, focusing a lot on severe depression and OCD. I am not well-versed with OCD, but overall the depictions seemed to be well-researched and I felt the toll these illnesses took not only on the characters themselves, but on their other loved ones. I felt it was really well-written that way. I also enjoyed the creepy/supernatural feel with the flashbacks into their childhoods, leading up to present day. Those parts of the story were gripping and it was hard to put the book down.

I did feel that this book went on a bit too long. The first 25% was really fascinating and the pacing was great, but then the next 50% focused heavily on the traumas this family was experiencing, and the investigation into Claire's death dragged on way too long. It felt like there wasn't much that happened, and the pacing really slowed down. The supernatural aspect was also put on the backburner until the last 25%, where it picked up again. If there had been less of that, or more of the supernatural elements sprikled in, then maybe it would have improved the pacing a bit.

I think what really took me out of the story was my dislike for Esther. She just seemed so cold and self-serving, however she did have a decent redemption arc that I appreciated. After the incident with her son was when I really started to lose interest in her as a character, because she knew the impact of her actions but didn't want to try to get help, and she thought everyone was being unreasonable. On the other side of things, the way Meg was guilt-tripped by her entire family her whole life (particularly her mother) to me was also excessive and I felt horrible for her. She got a lot of hate she didn't deserve. Were these depictions accurate considering the circumstances? Realistically, probably yes. However, I still felt frustrated enough that it made me enjoy the story a little less. It was very bleak, but not even in a fun or jarring way. It just felt too realistic in that sense.

Overall, this was well-done and entertaining. The commentary on mental illness and dealing with grief, as well as the impact on everyone touched by these things was handled well. It's an important message, and whether or not this was a favorite of mine, I feel like everyone could benefit from reading this.

Thank you Katrina Monroe, Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eArc of Through the Midnight Door.

The artwork cover and the synopsis drew me into read this arc and even though it's a slow burn, it has a lot to give and can be read on different levels. The narrative is told from the POV of 3 Finch Sisters, Megan and Esther and Claire and on 2 timelines, the past and present. All have their own individual personalities, voices and the timelines are clearly detailed.

The Finch sisters spent a summer exploring their home town and abandoned buildings, Having being coaxed into a house by a boy they hardly know, they stumble on a corridor that changes and presents them with 3 keys to 3 doors. Something horrifying happens, no one will speak about it and creates a rift between the sisters for years until Claire takes her own life. Megan and Esther try and find out why this has happened and they believe that she may of been murdered.

I really enjoyed the bones of this book. Katrina has a beautifully disturbing and precise way of writing the horrors that befall these sisters. Both in the past and the present. The book is atmospheric and creepy to the extent that the hairs on my arms stood up when describing certain scenes. For me, the book isn't frightening, but left me with a certain sense of unease. Katrina has pinpointed and given mental images to some very intense human emotions. Pain, grief, shame are just a few. Which is what I bonded with the most in this book.

The dynamics between the sisters when the plot was unfolding really intrigued me. So I was trying to suss out what had happened to them at a younger age to cause such a rift and to drive Claire to take her own life. The secrets we keep, the pain we hold, can and will alter us forever.

4 stars