a unique spin on a orphanage story, the girls all had a deep and very convincing character, one could not help but hate the matron.
a must read for gothic lovers who love to be swept away in a mystery.

I apologize, but this book isn't for me. I had high hopes for the plot, but despite my best efforts, I was unable to continue reading.

Spoilers

I received a copy of What Happened at Hawthorne House for review.

Overall it was a quick horror read. Hawthorne House is an orphanage for girls. The girls in the book get bored living in the orphanage so they make up a pretend game of hierarchy. The goal is to be queen but they aren’t queen for long. They pull all kinds of stunts and pranks on each other mostly involving spiders and other bugs. These girls are mostly 9-10 year olds but they are extremely mean, rude and violent to each other.

One day while in the Throne Room, one girl tells another to light a candle. The candle eventually burns the house down. The house is then filled with spirits. Years later, a man takes takes a job to renovate the Hawthorne orphanage to use for war refugees. He plays their game becomes the ambassador between the girls’ spirits and the outside world. These girls like this man more than the previous adult that oversaw Hawthorne House prior to the fire so they don’t cause him too much trouble.

Check trigger warnings prior to reading.

There’s something cathartic about reading these 9 year old girls being so desperate for control that it literally makes them evil. Like, I kinda get it.
A uniquely disturbing story but I did find it a little hard to follow at times, mostly in the beginning. 4 star concept with a 3 star execution. The cover really drew me in as well.

I was so sad when I realized this was only novella length! GIVE ME MORE!

The characters and the world are so well developed, I would love to dive deeper into the world Hadassah Shiradski created at Hawthorne House!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Conceptually, this is a really great novella. A haunted house with well-equipped ghost control, there is a lot in here that makes for a winning formula. The structure is where I struggled with this book, however. There are two stories within this book, and one is significantly better than the other. I found the segments (which was the bulk of the book) dedicated to the girls and their nasty little hobbies just too lengthy. The second half, with an obsessed man bent on ensuring the safety of the common people when dealing with the ghosts was far more interesting, but just so short!

I thought the perspective of the girls made this border on YA in parts, which was a little frustrating. Yes, they were terrible to each other, but I would have liked to have seen that told through the lens of the ghost story and people investigating that, instead of having their (sometimes incredibly irritating) POV voices. I think that we could have done with a clearer motivation from some of the girls as well - some were vindictive without any real rhyme or reason, and it resulted in a bit of a haphazard approach.

I did enjoy the solution to the court game and the approach taken by the ghosts to their prey in the future times, however, and the writing is, at times, absolutely beautiful. I just feel like it could have been longer and done a bit more - but it is a solid novella for something so short, and I look forward to seeing more from the author!

📖 What Happened at Hawthorne House by Hadassah Shiradski

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. While the premise sounded intriguing—a childhood game spiraling into a dangerous power struggle—the execution left me wanting more.

I struggled to connect with the characters, and the pacing felt off. The dark themes had potential but didn’t quite deliver the depth or tension I was hoping for.

If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts—did it work better for you?

✨ #BookReview #WhatHappenedAtHawthorneHouse #NotEveryBookIsForEveryone #HonestReview #Bookstagram

Thank you to the author and Brigids Gate Press for allowing me to access a copy of this via Netgalley!

Summary: this book is a short, spooky novel about a group of orphans who are involved in a tragic accident in the orphanage.

What I liked:
- this book really explored the development of children without parental figures who are around toxic & abusive adults
- it’s a great paced novel that is short and very easy to read
- this is a book that you cannot stop thinking about after reading it
- the atmosphere is creepy

What was missing:
- I would have loved to have had more background to the characters. We get some information about their history but it’s brief

Rating: 4/5 stars (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

This was by far one of my favorite arcs to receive. It’s very rare to find a gothic novella that is as captivating as it is spooky. The author does a terrific job of creating a spine tingling atmosphere throught the entire book. This will be one for the reread pile for sure!

Loved this! Very spooky, and time shift midway was fun and welcome. I do wish the unreliable narrator element with Rosalyn was more fully explored- the set up with the first half being through her perspective and the second zooming out gave the opportunity for more reveals or at least more hints towards an alternate account, which would have been richer and more interesting imo.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hadassah Shiradski for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for What Happened at Hawthorne House. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. It was shorter than I thought it would be, but I thought this was a really interesting novella. I love gothic historical fiction. I thought the characters were good and well-rounded given how short the story was. I definitely wanted more. I would definitely read more books by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys gothic stories!

Set in a girls orphanage where a game goes disastrously wrong, this creepy ghost story is a really good read.

I loved the plot and how the story unfolded, and as it is a shortish read it was perfect to read late at night.

recommended read..

"What Happened at Hawthorne House" is an eerie, short ghost story about what happened to the girls at the Hawthorne House orphanage. We are thrown right into the story, and it took me a few pages to understand where we were and what was happening.

The story features an interesting cast of characters who felt very believable. It was fascinating to understand the dynamics between the girls at the orphanage and see how their play evolved into a power struggle.
The first part was a bit difficult to follow, and I had to concentrate to catch all the details. The second part was easy to read and captivating. This was a good ghost story that can easily be read in one evening.

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC. The descriptions and atmosphere that the author created was great, however I was confused in the first part with who was princesses and queen but I guess that made sense as the novella went on. Wish it would have been longer with some more explanations about things that happened.

Well this was so unnerving, creepy and just completely hostile.

This is a short story that really proves children can go too far and that games can start out innocent, but the stakes can take a dark turn. I felt so creeped out and just felt sorry for each of the girls at different points because the suffering was real.

Rating 2.75 rounded to 3.0, it had atmosphere.

The book is about a game where the girls pretend to be royals, where to be queen you have to trick the other players and get them in trouble, until something happens as Rosalyn tries to take the throne.

I would have liked for the ending to have been more creepy. I also want to know more about the game, particularly at the end and an explanation as to why the girls behave like that towards each other.

I enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to readers who like horror and are not affected by violence.

If you are going to read this book be prepared to not be able to stop reading until you finish it. As you accompany the orphans in their daily lives you will see how the queen and the hierarchy change. Before reading this book, readers should read the content warnings.