This was an absolute delight to read! I devoured it within 2 days! It was captivating, and just right up my alley! I can’t wait for the official release date so I can snag a physical copy!! 4.5 stars out of 5

Thank you netgalley for the early read! What a great ghost story!

This book is so well written and I was completely entranced the entire time reading it. I found it to be a mix of historical fiction, thriller/horror, and romance in one book. The characters were varied and the premise was easy to hollow. There were a lot of personalities in the book.

My favorite part of the book was all the knowledge it contained from historical fashion, housing architecture, ancient ballads and Victorian flower language. I had so much fun looking up the different outfits, songs and flowers. I found myself wanting more outfits to look up every time the book skipped over a description. I also think it would have been cool to have a playlist to go along with the book as many old ballads are mentioned in the book.

Overall this was such a fun read with a mix of genres that I enjoy. Highly recommend for my gothic story lovers!

J. Ann Thomas writing is extremely detailed and atmospheric which greatly helped to build the image of Thorne Hall in my mind. I was immersed in the haunting ambience of the estate from the first page.

The characters are well developed, especially Elegy. Readers follow her journey as she transforms from a quiet and lonely young woman to someone who is strong and capable of making her own decisions.
To be frank, all of the characters, even the ghostly ones, bring a unique dimension to the unfolding of the mysterious novel.

I found it very interesting how the author was able to bring forth historical fiction and weave it into a supernatural plot, creating a narrative that felt both otherworldly and grounded.

I do enjoy books on the slower pacing side from time to time and i do think that’s an element that added to the enjoyability of the book - it did not feel boringly dragging nor confusingly fast. However, other readers might find the pacing a bit lacking, especially in the early chapters.

The main reason why i’m sadly deducting a point in my final rating is because of the amount of cursing used throughout the book. It was not used in an overly obnoxious way but it’s personally something that i do not enjoy in my books.

For those who appreciate a slow-burn supernatural mystery-romance with a richly atmospheric setting, this novel is definitely for you. J. Ann Thomas embroiders an eery tale that stays in your mind long after you finish reading it.

I wanted to love this so bad but it was a big disappointment . I just felt it was so boring, I normally love gothic books and was hoping for some creepy atmosphere but I didn’t really feel that. There are a ton of characters who start to all blend together, and I felt the writing style really bogged it down.

ARC provided by NetGalley

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. This book sounded really interesting and I was excited to read it. But it was just okay...it wasn't creepy or weird.... the stories are just kind of okay. I DNF due to I was finding the stories kind of boring. I think if you are looking for something to read something for Halloween but don't want bloody, scary etc this would be really good for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the arc!

This book blew me away. Potentially one of my most memorable reads of 2024 if not all time.

The prose is beyond beautiful. The writing is succinct but also whimsical. It was a beautiful journey captured in just over 300 pages.

A non-exhaustive list of things i loved:
- each character had a distinct personality - I didn’t fear confusing characters (because I often encounter that too many personalities in a book would end up blending together).
- Elegy rehearsing what to say in the car only for THAT so come out made me cackle. Still, that was the most beautiful 8 pages ever written on the union of two equally beautiful characters I literally started crying.
- Calliope at the end…tears.
- Hester at the end…TEARS.

I came for the romance but stayed for the ghosts.

I absolutely adored every second of this book.
I am most deeply affected by characters and there was such a diverse group of them to enjoy, the interactions between each of them fantastic! The plot & playing out of events (without giving anything away) was perfect, the twists revealed at the end all the more sweet for everything we are told through the beginning of the story. So well written that all elements of the book twined together effortlessly. I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of this upon its release!

This was a great fun read, as a lover of the gothic genre this met all the expectations for me, in the beginning it was a little slow and hard to get into it because of all the character developement. But it was really worth it in the middle and end.

I don’t normally gravitate toward gothic type books but the cover and premise really pulled me in, and I’m glad I gave it a shot! I really enjoyed it. I felt like the romance was really well done and I absolutely adored all the side characters. You really feel that creepy, gothic atmosphere from the first page. Very well done!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit of a difficult read - long, complicated sentences and a lot off characters to keep track of - but it was worth it.
Morden gothic is my favorite genre and it has been a while since I’ve read a truly gothic novel. This one checked all the boxes.
I expected the romance to be thrown in the plot to try to force character development, but I actually thought it was well executed, and added substantively to the story.
Also, there was a twist at the end I truly did not see coming. I will be checking out this author’s other books.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this work.

This was such a fun book! I loved the gothic atmosphere and the ghosts were just fun. This book kind of reminded me of that Ghosts show in a small way. You'll love all the side characters!

I really wanted to like this book, it sounded like it was right up my alley: still I should have known, any book that compares itself to Jane Eyre is bound to fall short of the mark. All the elements were there, but the idea just didn’t jell

Unfortunately, I dnf this book. While I was very excited by the premise and love a good haunted house story, I found the writing to be very overwhelming. The sentences were very long and detailed, which usually does not bother me except for when every sentence is long and detailed. I appreciate the author’s commitment to making her writing fit with the time period but I found it too convoluted and I couldn’t focus on the meat of the story. Thank you for the ARC.

Uhhhhh how I loved to read this book. I totally recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can. So so so good. I loved every single second of it. Super well created. The characters are immaculate.

I mean, sometimes you’re just forced to have ghost roommates. And sometimes a mansion is just stuck in the 1800’s (the Gilded Age). Happens to the best of us.

This book was so much fun for me! It’s a little bit different from what I normally read, but it sounded like it would be so fun and entertaining. And I’m so glad I read it because I was right.

The writing style is whimsical but not too lyrical to the point where it gets difficult or confusing to read. The style of the writing and dialogue worked so well for the type of story and for all of the different characters. And this is definitely the book for character-driven readers (like myself). There are multiple different ghosts and characters that the main character interacts with, so I’m sure everyone is going to have a favorite different side character. I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships in this book.

And boy, oh boy, is there drama and chaos!

And the potential of being trapped like this forever was so fascinating!

If you like gothic stories (like Crimson Peak, Bly House, anything in that realm - but not so dark), I would definitely recommend this to you.

Thanks to NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review! My review on TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) will be up at the end of the month with my monthly wrap-up. (I couldn't find the Goodreads for this book, but I'll upload my review there once it's up.)

A beautifully told gothic fantasy story about a woman called Elegy who lives with ghosts with a mansion stuck in time. If that intrigues you I promise it won’t disappoint.