This is an interesting story based on the history of Indian boarding schools in Alaska. I wrote my Masters dissertation about a local 'lunatic asylum' and the people associated with it in the late 19th century, and I am always interested in fiction based on any sort of institution, so this was going to be a winner with me regardless.
This story involves the controversial opening of a long closed boarding school as a hotel and museum. It was thought to be haunted by a young girl who had died there in mysterious circumstances.
The main characters Mare, a journalism student, and Kat, a former member of a dance group with her sisters who found fame on TikTok, are employed there as a receptionist and kitchen assistant when it opens. There is some friction between them at the beginning as they were allocated their roles on who arrived first. So it is a little enemies to lovers.
They aim to find out the truth behind not only the haunting but there are also mysterious goings on that they witness. Determined to find the truth they are drawn to each other.
Needless to say in getting to the truth they enter into a relationship - each unsure of the attraction of the other.

There is quite a bit of research in this story -
the story of the Indian children removed to boarding schools for ethnic cleansing, eugenics and to assimilate them
Alaska
Spiritualism post WW1 (an extremely interesting phenomenon)

The romance in this book is woven into the story and both work well.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

if you like ghosts and haunted houses this is the book for you....

when young jenny Adjuk died in 1964 it was investigated right away.... but the boarding school not long after shut down....

60 years later Mare Mason learns about this case and decides to investigate after all. can a place really be haunted ..

Kat Howard also joins the staff in the newly opened hotel.....neither kat or mare have any experience in hotel work and clash over their roles but its not long before they join forces to find out all they can about the history of the boarding school and also to see if jenny really is hanging around haunting it

with a murder and tension abound kat and mara have their work cut out for them... plus their growing attraction to each other may get in the way...

not a bad read

DMF 4%

I was super intrigued by the premise, but the moment we got to Kat’s pov it’s so much rampant fatphobia, I’m just going to nope-topus right on outta this book cuz NOPE. Self directed fatphobia is bad enough, but when one of the protags is talking about a secondary character “needing to lose her own 50 pounds” im outta here.

I really wanted to like this but the story is just all over the place. As someone who is autistic the whole autistic creep schtick but maybe he's not is poorly done. Instead of looking at the harm of ableism it comes more off as victim blamey. And the indigenous angle isn't done justice at all, all though it importantly talks about the harm of residential schools and the critique on using indigenous stories for sensationalism is important too it just doesn't get worked out well.

A quirky mystery that unravels the story of a young girl, Jenny, whose death at Lee House some sixty years earlier, was shrouded with suspicion. The story is told from the viewpoint of the 2 MC's, Mare and Kat, who find themselves in present day, working at the mysterious Lee House that has been tranformed into a 'haunted' hotel catering for guests interested in the paranormal, with Jenny's ghost being the main attraction.

Both MC's are drawn to the house for different reasons. Mare sees it as an opportunity to write an expose into the growing paranormal tourism trend and the morals of those who finacially benefit from other's misery, whereas Kat is looking for a spiritual conduit that will lead her to finding answers about a sick relative.

After a series of dead ends leave the gir.ls stumped, they begin to feel that there is a lot more to Jenny's death than they first thought.

It's an entertaining read that has no real scary parts, but does have a good level of intrigue woven in. I think it's well suited to the YA category given the ages of the MC's.. 4 stars

Not too bad. It was very informative and I read until the end to see what happened.
Could develop the story more but a solid 4 stars

In 1964, young Alaska Native Jenny Adjuk mysteriously fell to her death from the roof of the infamous Elmer Lee House, a boarding school in Silver Lake, Alaska. The school was shut down soon after, left abandoned along with its secrets. Sixty years later, journalism student Mare Mason discovers Jenny’s forgotten story. When the abandoned school reopens as a “haunted hotel,” Mare takes a job there, determined to expose the owners for exploiting Jenny’s death. Former social media star Kat Howard also joins the staff, hoping the hotel’s eerie past can help her escape her own.

Mare and Kat clash from the moment they meet. But strange things start happening—unexplained noises echo through the walls, Kat begins seeing visions of Jenny’s ghost, and a murder rocks the nearby Denali National Park. As the town whispers that Jenny’s restless spirit is responsible, Mare and Kat are forced to confront their growing attraction—and the reality that something far more sinister may be at play.

This was a fascinating read. I learned a lot about the boarding schools that was very disturbing. (One of the reasons I like to read historical fiction is that I get to learn about times and places that I haven't experienced. Love it!) The characters were well-written, and the pacing was really solid through most of the book. I felt the ending was rushed, though. If you enjoy mysteries and histories, check out this spooky read!

This was an okay read for me. I would say it was very educational, and informative. But, it still didn't grab my attention like most of the books that I have read. It could be that this is a mystery inside of a mystery fiction instead of the romance that I am used too. But, I did read this book to the end to see how it ended. And, It did end satisfactorily.. I would probably read more books by this author again. Hopefully the next book will be much better.

What Happened at Lee House was not a typical read for me, but a wonderful choice for an October read nonetheless.This story was a mystery at heart, which sat at the intersection of sapphic romance, supernatural, and historical fiction.

It presents a dual point of view between Maren and Kat, who each find themselves working at Lee House over the summer. Maren, an aspiring journalist student who endeavours to reveal the nasty truth behind the capitalistic venture taking place at Lee House at the disservice of its history. Kat, once a social media star and now attempting to rewrite her future, who must meet Jenny Adjuk, the resident ghost. Kat and Mare have their own unique backgrounds, but unfortunately I did not necessarily connect with them, despite their established personalities and interesting backstories.

I found the story to be paced well through most of the book, but the events at the end of the book occurred at a very fast pace. The many loose ends were tied up within several pages of the last incident, which I found difficult to truly digest. There are some storylines which felt like they were not done justice in the end, particularly Norman, an autistic side character’s story, and (without giving spoilers) the explanation for the modern mystery within the story.

This book did do a wonderful job at teaching me about the realities of residential schools in Alaska, where young indigenous people were taken from their families and mistreated under the guise of education. This novel orbits around the story of Jenny Adjuk, who while entirely fictional, represents the experience of indigenous ‘students’ at these institutions. The way Jenny’s story was resolved in the end didn’t entirely make sense to me, but again, as an infrequent reader of the mystery genre, I admit I may have missed some points. The elements of Jenny’s story were revealed quite abruptly at the end of the novel. I do wish this resolution came in a slower or more suspenseful manner.

If you are a lover of the mystery genre, and also enjoy historical, supernatural, or sapphic reads, this story may be one you enjoy - unfortunately it just didn’t click with me!

p.s. I received this as an ARC through NetGalley but it is out now! Thanks to NetGalley and Bella Books.

Sixty years after a tragic death, a former residential school is reopening as a haunted hotel, and aspiring reporter Maren Mason intends to debunk the stories.

Kat Howard, former child star, actually does believe in ghosts and hopes to meet the supposed spirit, Jenny Adjuk. For reasons that are revealed later...

Maren is attracted to Kat but the other girl is dealing with her own issues. And as the girls work at the hotel, there are increasing signs something is not right.

Good, solid read. The real life horrors of the residential schools are shown in dark relief, and the heroines are interesting and well written. The mystery did not go where I thought it would, but was a entertaining read.

3.5 stars out of 5.

I'm not sure how much I really enjoyed this book but it did take my attention and I had to read to the end just to see how it did end. It did have a satisfactory ending. I'm just not sure if I would read any other books by this author. More because it turned out that it really wasn't my kind of story rather than the actual writing.