🕯️┊ “ some sunny day with a smile on my face, i'll go back to that place far away. ”

The Haunting of Bellington Cottage is a short, middle-grade novel (around 150 pages) about two middle schoolers and their respective families going on vacation and renting an eerie house in the middle of the woods. As their stay progresses, more and more bizarre events unfold. The girls discover a diary from one of the daughters of the house’s original owners, filled with cryptic entries that hint at a tragic accident. Their fracturing relationship needs to hold together enough for them to work together to solve the mystery within the house's shadowy walls.

I thought the story was the perfect amount of chilling and heartwarming, and I adored the relationship between Vee and Iris. It starts out very strained but grows into a healthy friendship by the end of the novel. The warm moments between them were definitely my favorite parts of the book, though the mystery of the ghost haunting the house was a close second!

The only aspect of the story I didn't like was the parents. While I thought Stewart, Vee's stepdad, was swee, the mothers felt like they were only really there to scold the girls. Other than that, though, I thought this was an amazing book and recommend it (especially to readers on the younger side).

This was a fantastic horror novel, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the feel of this book. It had that element that I was looking for and was wanting to figure out what was going on. I thought the haunted element worked with the story being told and was glad I read this, as Laura Parnum wrote this perfectly.

This is a short middle grade title about two girls staying in a haunted rental home. There’s a bit of a slow start but the paranormal aspects are actually pretty creepy. I just wish the characters had been fleshed out more. I still feel like I know barely anything about Iris; Vee was, unfortunately, incredibly bland. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

The Haunting of Bellington Cottage was a sweet and spooky tale about two friends who find themselves at a haunted cottage amidst trying to restore their friendship and help a ghost of a 4 year old girl from 100 years ago. It was the perfect mix of sweet with some spooky elements and I really enjoyed it. Iris and Vee navigate through their friendship troubles while helping the ghost Anna while also trying to recreate their haunted Rent-A-Bode. I enjoyed that this was a winter setting but still had all the spooky elements including your classic spooky sounds, hidden spaces and a gramophone!