I did enjoy this however I am aware that I gave it more lassitude due to the setting. I admit I was also expecting more in the way of creeping dread and scary scenes. Instead this is a story of found family with a gothic backdrop and a hint of dark fantasy. Enjoyable but maybe a little too slow paced.

Ooh, a creepy story just in time for spooky season! What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin is a spooky ya debut that follows a group of paranormal investigators following in their parents footsteps. I loved the eerie and tense vibes throughout the story. This coming of age story is full of haunted houses, family drama, humor, and more. I'd definitely give this a try if you're looking for a spooky ya read.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a creepy and spooky story. I really enjoyed the characters and the relationships between all the characters. This book will make a great spooky season read.

I liked this narrator. She had a lovely tone to her voice and I could easily understand the Irish accent.

The writing was OK but I didn’t always like the dialogue between the characters and the pacing felt slow at times. But I will always appreciate a good haunted house story.
Overall it’s a pretty solid ghost story with HOD and queer representation.

What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin is a fast-paced YA horror set in haunted Hyacinth House. It follows a group of paranormal investigators bound to the house by their own personal attachments: siblings Raven and Archer O'Sullivan, whose father died mysteriously there, and whose mystery drives their determination toward an explanation; and Éabha McLoughlin, who hopes to learn more about her supernatural abilities.

Character development is one of the strong points of this novel. It details the maturing process of the characters in the formation of intense connections among them, given the terrifying experiences they have gone through. Relationships, more so between the siblings and new friends, are well thought out to give a reflection of actual conflicts or problems teenagers go through.

The horror elements, though well done, aren't as frightening as others would think. The supernatural elements do start quite strong, piercing into the sense of eeriness in its reading, but it shifts a bit from a lot of romance, which may be a letdown for most readers who would want a purely horror-based tale.

Of course, what everyone likes most about this audiobook version is the narration. Voice modulation makes its atmosphere eerie. Writing that's good, and scope does exist for expansion, but in a narrative carrying great depth with multiple POVs.

Overall, What Walks These Halls is an enjoyable debut with really good horror balanced against character-driven storylines and character arcs that will leave readers wanting more paranormal adventures from this cast.

The story revolves around the O'Sullivan siblings, Raven and Archer. Their father died during a paranormal investigation at Hyacinth House five years ago. Raven blames herself and struggles to move forward. She suffers from fragmented memories of the event and avoids anything related to the supernatural. On the other hand, Archer is determined to learn the truth about their father's demise. He jumps at the chance to return to Hyacinth House when offered a new investigation into the supposed ghost residing there.

Another main character is Éabha McLoughlin, a gifted young woman with a unique ability to see and hear things others don't. Éabha has always felt ostracized and misunderstood. Yearning to understand her powers, she joins Archer's newly reformed paranormal investigation team, hoping to find answers.

As the story progresses, the characters' narratives intertwine beautifully. Secrets unravel, revealing a deeper connection between the O'Sullivan family and Hyacinth House. The investigation takes a thrilling turn as the team faces a series of unsettling paranormal encounters, pushing them to confront their deepest fears. The chilling atmosphere within Hyacinth House is masterfully crafted, leaving you with a constant sense of unease that keeps you turning the pages (or listening intently in the audiobook case).

Clarkin's characters are the heart and soul of the novel. Each is meticulously developed, with unique personalities, vulnerabilities, and motivations.

The audiobook, narrated by Róisín Rankin, adds another layer of depth to the story. Her captivating Irish-accented voice perfectly captures the characters' emotions and the chilling atmosphere of Hyacinth House.

This is a debut novel that deserves all the praise!

A ghost hunting novel that is solidly plotted but disappointingly short on atmosphere. Essentially, it’s a good premise for a story, but there’s just nothing truly scary about it.

I think it’s hard for a ghost-driven horror/suspense novel to be truly good if it doesn’t spook you at all, and though the idea behind this could have achieved that, it has so little atmosphere that it loses most of its potency.

While the characters are likable enough, they’re not especially unusual or nuanced, and all the dialogue and relationship-driven content comes at the expense of the sense of place that this book needed to be successful.

It’s a fine read if you aren’t super picky or if you scare easily, and the pacing is well-executed. But it’s definitely not the gothic horror it professes to be, and it would be a stretch to call it truly suspenseful.

"What Walks These Halls" by Amy Clarkin is a gripping mystery that keeps listeners hooked with its atmospheric setting and compelling storyline. The narrator's voice and pacing enhance the immersive experience, drawing listeners deeper into the story. Clarkin skillfully weaves together elements of suspense and supernatural intrigue, making for a thrilling audiobook experience. This novel is perfect for fans of mysteries and ghost stories alike.

I honestly only picked up this book because it was set in Ireland and that's not representation that I usually get, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it! Part of that is definitely because it was set in Ireland, so naturally I had no problem understanding the Dublin accent or any slang. The characters were interesting and mostly well-developed, although one or two were somewhat flat and felt more like fillers than anything else. The LGBT+ representation was definitely appreciated as well! The plot was also interesting, but I felt like it left many questions unanswered and I found the ending unsatisfying since the group's "solution" could easily have been done on purpose many years ago, which would have saved a lot of trouble (and lives!)

Thank you for the arc of this audiobook i absolutely enjoyed this book and the characters and the narration was fantastic i loved the found family aspect very much as well

I honestly did not expect to enjoy What Walks These Halls as much as I did, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.
The plot was fast paced and slightly spooky and I can't wait to read what the characters will be up to in the sequel.

3.5
It started off great and creepy but slowed towards the middle and I got a bit bored. I listened to this one and the narrator is great I just wished some of the creepiness from the beginning stayed throughout the book

This was a chilling story to listen to, it was unsettling and kept the tension going throughout the story. Even though it deals with the supernatural, our protagonist, Éabha, is a character who can sense ghosts and read minds, the characters were well fleshed out, and very realistic when dealing with more common problems that face teenagers; exploring their sense of identity, combative relationships with parents and siblings, making new friends and so on.
I love a mystery and a mystery in a haunted house is even better! Éabha becomes involved in an paranormal investigation at Hyacinth House, a house no estate agent can sell. Archer and Raven's dad died while investigating the same house 5 years previously, and even worse Raven was there when he died and is not keen to go back and rediscover the traumatic memories that she has lost.
It was a fun audiobook and I will be buying the paperback for my library!

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I got a copy of this on audiobook through NetGalley to review.

Thoughts: This was a fairly typical haunted house type of story. I wasn't a huge fan of it. My main complaint is that this focused a lot more on the characters and their issues than it did on the haunted house and ghost itself. There is a lot of the characters angsting about their decisions, their past actions, etc, etc. I found the resolution and reveal around the haunted house to be disappointing.

The book changes POV willy nilly. I had to backtrack at times to figure out whose POV I was listening to at a given moment. This is confusing and breaks the story up.

This did remind me a bit of Stroud's "Lockwood and Co" series because of the way a group of misfits band together to hunt ghosts. However, it only reminded me a bit of that. This book is set in modern times, doesn't have very good world-building, doesn't have the ghosts and hauntings in such frequent gory detail, and the characters aren't nearly as entertaining as they were in "Lockwood and Co".

I listened to this on audiobook and it was okay. The narrator confuses voices at times and the characters' voices are not very distinct from each other.

My Summary (2/5): Overall, while I finished this, there were quite a few times where I almost didn't because I was just bored by it. I didn't have another audiobook to listen to at the time so I thought I might as well keep listening. In the end I probably should have just stopped listening, this was predictable, anti-climatic and a bit boring all the way through. I found the end disappointing. I don't plan on picking up another novel by this author

A haunted house, families splintered by grief, and a precocious group of young adults who decide to resurrect their parents' paranormal research business...what could possibly go wrong?

Archer and Raven O'Sullivan lost their father to an accident during a seance in Hyacinth House 5 years ago - Raven was there but Archer was not. Now, with Archer resurrecting their parents' paranormal investigation business, he is hired to look into Hyacinth House again and Raven is thoroughly unhappy that they're being dragged back to the site of one of the worst nights of her life. The group also includes their old friends Davis and Fionn, and recent addition Eabha - a clairvoyant who was raised to believe that her abilities are a curse rather than a gift. The group has to work together to determine what is happening in Hyacinth House and what - if anything - they can do to cleanse the house of the spirit that seems to linger.

I enjoyed the eeriness that the audiobook brought over me, as well as the GBTQIA+ and disability representation in the main characters. I found the book enthralling and greatly enjoyed listening to the story while driving to and from work.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bolinda Audio, and Amy Clarkin for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

What Walks These Halls by Amy Clarkin is a slow burn, gothic, atmospheric cozy horror story set in Ireland. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Róisìn Rankin. This story includes found family, fledgling relationships, self-acceptance, and sibling family dynamics. Éabha is coming to terms with her clairvoyant gift. Raven and Archer restart their paranormal investigation service. They revisit Hyacinth House where their father died five years ago. There was a twist where I gasped but mostly this story didn’t enthrall me personally. ALC was provided by Bolinda Audio via NetGalley. I received this advance listening copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to netgalley and Bolinda Audio | Bolinda/O'Brien audio for allowing me a copy of this book. I enjoyed the spooky scary elements of the book

I don't have much to say, because there was nothing happening in this book. Conversations, feelings, insecurities. That's it. At the 95% of the book there was a little of action and it lasted for 10 min.

This was an exciting story to listen to with perfectly pitched narration.

The story is intricately plotted with many secrets being hidden and slowly revealed. The ending was very exciting with some unexpected twists. There is a developing same-sex relationship which is delicately handled and gave an interesting dimension. It's not the sort of book I would usually read, as I am not keen on horror, but this was more of a revenge/suspense/thriller plot.

I found Eabha's family dynamics hard to accept and her parents did not deserve her, though a lot of the relationships in this book are fractured and require some rebuilding. She is lucky to have met the O'Sullivan's to help her to learn to control her extraordinary skills.

This is a YA title and I think suitable for age 12+. Four and a half stars from me.

Raven’s family has a history with Hyacinth House – her parents, a famous paranormal investigative duo, undertook the challenge of the house five years ago but her father didn’t make it out alive. Their family has fractured since then, leaving them all fending for themselves. But when Raven finds out that her brother is planning to reopen the family’s paranormal business, she realizes it’s time to reconnect. When the opportunity to investigate Hyacinth House presents itself, the siblings find themselves at odds with what to do – but will they ever be able to find the answers they yearn for without revisiting the House?

This story is told using four POVs. The voices of the characters were unique and were necessary for the narrative as they offered varied perspectives. This was well done as the author didn’t introduce all the characters in a row, but rather gave the reader a chance to get situated before adding another POV. This created a great balance with the narrative and made it easy to keep everyone separate at the beginning. I did want a bit more from the characters as the book went on, as they began to feel a little too surface level in their development and trusted/loved much too easily, but they were good enough to not detract too much from the story.

The book started to lose me a bit in the last third. Everyone started coupling up and romance/relationships/making out became a much bigger focus of the work, which detracted from the tension that had been building up. The other thing was how many times the conversation, A: “It’s my fault!” B: “Of course it’s not!” A: “But my character needs the depth of unnecessary guilt!” came up with several of the characters claiming guilt for various things that were obviously not their fault. This became immensely frustrating, as it happened with multiple characters and multiple times for each character. I’ve been noticing this use of guilt more and more lately (especially in YA), and it’s feeling greatly overused as an unnecessary addition of depth or conflict to the characters.

There were a couple good and creepy moments in the book that gave me high hopes for the book as a whole, but that feeling disappeared with the last portion of the book. The ending was quite good, however, and was satisfying overall. If you’re looking for a good YA supernatural mystery/light horror then you’ll likely enjoy this one. It definitely has an ending that’s set up for a sequel but would still work quite well as a standalone. My thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions are my own.