The Manor of Dreams is one of those books that feels like wandering through a lush, haunted memory—beautiful, unsettling, and layered with generational heartbreak. The vibes were immaculate (think: crumbling glamour, ghostly secrets, and messy family tension), and while I didn’t fully click with the pacing or some of the timeline shifts, I was still totally pulled in by the atmosphere and emotional weight. Christina Li really knows how to write characters who linger in your brain, even when the plot felt a little foggy in places. It’s not a new fave for me, but if you love gothic drama with a side of inheritance-fueled chaos and quiet devastation, you’ll want to move into this mansion—ghosts and all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of The Manor of Dreams.
I really wanted to enjoy this book, however it was too slow and boring to catch my interest. I found myself not caring much for any of the characters in the story either. This is totally a me problem, and I hope that others will love this as much as I had hoped to.

Manor of Dreams follows two families drawn together after Vivian Yin, the first Chinese actress to win an Oscar, dies. Nora Deng has no idea why a famous actress would bequeath her mansion to her mother, Elaine, instead of her own two daughters. As far as Nora knows, Vivian Yin is a complete stranger. But as she spends more time in the house, and more time around the other family's daughter Madeline, she learns their families are far more interconnected... and hiding more than one secret about what happened in this house.

I am typically not a horror reader, but because Manor of Dreams is by Christina Li AKA one of my favorite authors of all time, I had to read it--and I am so glad I did. Manor is a sweeping, twisting story spanning three generations and two timelines, and I am in awe at how Li wove all the timelines and POVs together without confusing or repeating information. Each character felt like a well-rounded individual with clear motives, and the tension between their past actions against the present was just delicious. Without giving away too much, the way that the present mirrored the past was just... beautiful. And once the midpoint hit, and there was enough information to start piecing together why the house was the way it was, this book became un-put-down-able. I read the back-half of this book in one sitting, even though I had several school assignments to get to. I had no reason to worry about the horror elements, either--they were thankfully tame enough that I could read this and sleep soundly afterwards. Well, as soundly as I could with thoughts of this broken, complicated family refusing to leave my brain.

Thank you eternally to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Two families are trying to claim the house belonging to former Oscar winner Vivian Yi. One family is made up of her daughters. The other family are a family that used to work for Vivian and claim she left them the house.

There are mysterious roses that bloom over night in the tangled, overgrown garden of weeds, mysterious noises and ghosts who antagonize the families.

I found myself caught in who's life I was following and where in time I was. It was a really good storyline, but I couldn't always keep up with the characters.

I did enjoy the book for a quick read, and plan to recommend it to friends, but didn't feel as close to some of some of the characters as others.

I was given the opportunity to read this novel by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was captivating right from the start. The author’s writing flows beautifully and she perfectly captured that creepy gothic house vibe.. Her descriptions of the house made me feel like I was in it, easily able to visualize and it absolutely felt sentient. There was just enough character development to help feel attached to the characters, especially Rennie. I loved the secrets spilling and the mystery to it all. Fabulous read!

Thanks for the opportunity to read in advance!

This is a book that I was very excited to read, however I struggled with it. I had a hard time with the book in the beginning, for some reason it just didn’t hook me and that made me really struggle with the book in general.

I have been yearning for a haunted setting story for a long while now and nothing has satisfied that itch until now. I love when a setting becomes a character, where it stands up against its human inhabitants. I especially loved that this house had a dark, twisted, layered history that, as time went on, grew with each death.

If you couldn’t tell, the house was my favorite part of the book. You felt the majestic possibilities when Vivian and her husband move in. You felt that deteriorating with each year until the house was a decaying, hurting thing. The juxtaposition between past and present flowed seamlessly and it added more layers of complexity to an already beautiful but complicated history of the house and the people residing within its walls. A fast and enjoyable story that I cannot recommend fast enough.

They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But silence can be deadly.
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Sapphic gothic horror is my jam.
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After the death of Chinese actress, Vivian Yin, her two daughters, Lucille and Renata, as well as Lucille’s daughter, Madeline, head over to her manor for the reading of her will. Unexpectedly they run into Elaine Deng (The daughter of Vivians beloved housekeeper) and her daughter, Nora, there as well. According to Vivian’s attorney, there was a last minute change to the will before Vivian died handing the manor over to Elaine Deng instead of her children. Lucille refuses to believe this is correct and as an attorney herself decides she’s going to prove that Elaine had something to do with manipulating her mother into changing the will and possibly, her death. Strange things start happening and the manor is showing everyone their nightmares and making them all doubt their own eyeballs.
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Told over three generations and multiple POVs this is a story that full immerses you into it. Secrets start being revealed and peeled back slowly, the two families fued starts making more sense to the youngest daughters, Madeline and Nora, as they work together to figure out what their mothers are keeping from them. Madeline and Nora also form a close and romantic connection.
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There manor of dreams is Christina Ali’s debut adult literary novel. Prior she has written mostly children’s book and YA. I will admit some parts of this book read YA but I don’t mind that too much knowing the authors background. I loved this story and it is so unique and fun, there does seem to be a lot going on and it can feel convoluted at times. The ending felt pretty rushed but does leave an impact. The multiple sapphic love stories make my heart happy. This doesn’t feel like horror to me, the haunted manor seemed very back burner to the story, I would say this is a story of familial secrecy, betrayal, greed, and a false sense of what is the American dream.

This was a did not finish for me. The pace was too close and I found the characters unlikable. Thank you for the ARC.

Gothic and old Hollywood? Yes please. A bit of this reminded me of the 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which is one of my favorite books. I loved everything about this book. The plot, the setting, the characters, the pacing and the story. This book was full of emotions and just enough gothic elements to make it creepy as well. Highly recommend!

I enjoyed the majority of this book, however, there were some sections that just seemed like they didn’t fit very well with the story overall. They were either underdeveloped, or just didn’t make sense to be added to the story.
I did really enjoy the character development and how the story was told from multiple POVs and timelines. The ending was also really interesting and somewhat tied up all the loose ends.

Overall, this book was a decent read and entertaining.

I thought this book was so intense!!!! Omg but I loved every second of it!!! Flawlessly bleeding family issues and heritage and secrets with paranormal, and lgbtq vibes. This book will captivate you from the first page. Christina perfectly described the trauma from family secrets and such to a tee! Great relationship building with all the characters as well. I would say this was more a thriller book in my opinion but I would definitely recommend regardless!!!!

This book was a pleasant surprise.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was a quick read and a good time.

When Vivian Yin, the first Asian-American actress to win a best actress Oscar dies, her family, and a close friend gather to hear the reading of her will. But of course, where money and possessions are involved, anger, and chaos will ensue. Soon, her daughters and the daughter of her former friends/employees are embroiled in a bitter battle over the ownership of her home. As the women fight to gain ownership of her palatial home, her granddaughter and the daughter of the family friend begin noticing extremely disturbing things occurring in the home. Not only that, but the girls begin uncovering deeply hidden family secrets that no one wants to talk about.

This book is told from multiple points of view and along multiple timelines as the story of what happened in the home in between the two families is revealed.

This book is an amazing blend of both the real and the supernatural in that as the story of what has occurred over the years between the families, and even between the different characters in the book, is revealed it also reveals what is haunting the house. Because make no mistake, this is as much a ghost story as it is a dysfunctional family story. And if you want to talk about dysfunction, these families have it in spades. And they absolutely don’t want to talk about it in the beginning of the book so there was a lot of suspense built up as we wait to see what is going on and what is going to happen.

And it was definitely worth the wait! There are plenty of twists throughout this book and each one was just as exciting and suspenseful as the last. The author reveals just enough throughout the book to add a layer of suspense and keep you wanting to read more, but leave you guessing and turning pages.

The ultimate ending is really good and definitely haunting. I’ll be thinking about this book for a long time. It is very unique and definitely one that I highly recommend for anyone looking for something different and with a good mystery with a supernatural twist.

I’ll absolutely be looking forward to more from this author.

The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li is an gothic novel about the lives of two Chinese American families connected to the late Hollywood starlet, Vivian Yin. This was a 'meh' read for me, the premise gives 'Mexican Gothic' and 'Rebecca' vibes which are two of my favourite books but I feel like this story just didn't live up to the hype. There were too many threads to try to remember and ultimately I don't feel like it did the story justice; there were just too many holes! The premise was there but the execution did not see it through.

this book is one for the lovers of haunted houses, the lovers of gothic novels and the lovers of troubled mother-daughter relationships.

manor of dreams is a story about two families who are called in for the division of a will after Vivian Yin, Oscar winning Chinese actress, is found dead. while Vivian’s daughters anticipate getting the manor, they are left shellshocked when the manor goes to another family with a deep rooted history that we slowly learn as the story unfolds.

the story spans multiple generations as we follow present day and Vivian’s life in the past. while the book is marketed as horror, I would consider it just a general gothic novel instead! while there are grotesque scenes in the book, the slower pacing of the novel and description of the horrors didn’t leave me with any bone chilling feelings. despite the slow roll of the story, I still found myself itching for the next page.

I love love loveeeed Vivian’s story, probably more than present day time. I wish we had gotten more back and forth between the timelines so we could directly see the consequences of what happened in the past reflected in the future. In this same vein of thought, I really wish the last part of the book was longer! Once we found out what had resulted in the haunting of the house and what drove all the mysterious and horrific happenings, I wish we had more time with that revelation. The last portion felt a little rushed and left me with some questions, but overall I really liked the reasoning behind the haunting. It tied together the whole story very well.

As much as I loved some of the romances in this novel, I found myself much more attached to our secondary romance rather than the main pair. The present day couple felt random and forced. I enjoyed them by the end of the novel but their blossoming romance felt like it came out of left field. Whereas the pair in the past felt so very natural, and I rooted for them the entire time!

All in all, I enjoyed this read and hope to see more people pick up this novel when it releases. A solid 3.75 ⭐️ for me, rounded up to a 4 star here!

Two families come together as one and each character within the family has something to offer. This book will send you through various emotions, from the happiness of romance to the fear of horror with much more in-between.

Finished Reading

Pre-Read notes

I'm 30 pages in and so far it's excellent. The premiise is completely captivating to me, because I'm drawn to stories about sister's and big family drama as the backdrop for a really scary narrative. I love this formula and predict with hope, I will find that here!


Final Review

She nodded toward the door and took a deep breath. “Okay. She was involved in our mā’s death. I’m sure of it.” p21

Review summary and recommendations

Reading Notes

Seven things I loved:

1. But now Rennie was back, broke, sitting in her childhood bedroom with plans to pawn her late parents ’ valuables. A bit pathetic. She took a deep breath and drank. p24 This is right at the beginning, and this fmc is a handful!

2. Whatever it took, she would get her childhood home back. There was no way Mā had given the house willingly to Elaine, that scheming vulture. p45 I love when narrators get down in the muck with the characters. It always lives up the narrative.

3. I really love a good old-fashioned haunted family home for a setting, characters haunted by spirits and memories. I adore the descriptions of the architecture!)

4. I love the Chinese symbols scattered throughout the book. Like these tiny pearls that I can see but not touch!

5. The theme of the history of Chinese immigrants in the US seriously enriches this story. It's both fascinating and eerie in turns, depending on which era I'm reading about.

6. The plot is so twisty and unpredictable!

7. She was surrounded by so much blue on all sides. The sand was softer than silk. The sun touched everything: the wine , their shoulders, the water. Still, she felt so empty inside. She thought of what it would be like to float into the ocean; to sink into it and dissolve like seafoam. She closed her eyes. Light filtered through her eyelids and she saw only a muted shade of red. p185 Beautiful descriptions of emotion in this book.


Three (or less) things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. This story has a huge cast. The number of named characters is bewildering large. Some readers handle that better than others. Since I rely heavily on my ears to consume stories, I have trouble with large casts.

Rating: 🏰🏰🏰🏰 /5 / huge old creepy haunted mansions
yes
Finished: Feb 28 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🏚 scary houses
👤 psychological horror
👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏾 sibling rivalry
🪢 family drama and mind games

Thank you to the author Chtistina Li, publishers Avid Reader Press, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of THE MANOR OF DREAMS. All views are mine.
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I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Creepy, romantic, and suspenseful.

The characters were intriguing, and I loved how the author delved deep into their backstories, revealing how they ended up in their current predicaments. The plot was filled with eerie moments and suspenseful twists, as the house itself seemed to be the main character, driving the story forward.

The book was well written with a wealth of details and descriptions that kept me engaged and captivated from beginning to end. The ending was jaw-dropping—It never even occurred to me.

This review is entirely voluntary, and all opinions expressed reflect my personal views.