The concept was what interested me to read this book, and I was not let down at all! The characters were great, the entire plot was orignal. 4 stars.

This was gothic and convoluted and maybe I just wasn't smart enough to understand all the twists and turns, but I always felt as if I was missing something as I read. Which may have been the point, but it wasn't something I really enjoyed. Well-written, great concept, just not quite to my taste.

First off, I want to thank Netgalley and publishers for allowing me access to this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lynx, a grief nurse in service to a rich family to take their sorrow, their grief and any negative emotion in order to keep them Bright, happy to do people.

I liked the concept but I couldn't connect with the execution of it. I couldn't tell you if there was a plot or what exactly was going on.
I didn't really appreciate being dropped into this world without a clue as to who, what, where, why.
Everyone was weird to me and the names even weirder.
I think I gave this a fair chance, but unfortunately it didn't hook me as much as I wanted it to.
Sadly, not for me.

I think this book would be best described as a gothic mystery rather than fantasy. I felt that while the idea of the grief nurse was compelling the execution wasn't quite there for me. I do think that if it was marketed as a gothic mystery it may be better received by those who enjoy that genre.

I requested this book before i knew how to work netgalley so here is my obligatory review. While it isn't for me I'm very sure that this book has a target audience that would LOVE it. It is well written and hauntingly beautiful.

Grief is heartbreaking and tragic.
A very gothic feel, not my usual vibe but it wasn't bad

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

Huge thanks to NetGalley for providing this arc!

I was so intrigued by this when I saw the cover, and then I kind of fell in love with it when I read the description. The idea of someone being able to take grief away- especially in such a gothic and fantastical setting had me so hooked!! Unfortunately, this was just not as much of a hit as I thought it would be... it was missing a lot of those key elements that I always enjoy and look for in similar books.
I mostly struggled with the lack of world building in this- I know the bones of the setting and the idea of taking grief away, but there was no meat to fatten it up. The characters names were also so darn hard to follow and keep up with, it felt like there were just too many people always coming in and out of the storyline and I just could not keep up with it at a certain point.
For me, this is just really missing that rich storytelling you expect when reading a gothic story. Although I will say, it was a fast paced read that kept you interested the entire time (even though I might not have always understood what was going on).

This Fantasy has a really interesting set-up with the concept of the 'grief nurse', but I felt like the execution was lacking a little. There were interesting reflections on grief throughout the book, but the plot itself was less engaging. This also read a little as YA to me, and I simply don't enjoy YA and its tropes. On the whole not a bad book, though, and might work better for other readers.

This is a stunning book. Truly. I couldn't tear myself away from it. It explores the complexities of Grief and it's necessity in being human so very well. The way Spoto writes almost brings Grief to life as a character itself. A living, breathing entity that society fears so much. The descriptions are so rich and thoughtful and you truly end up immersed in Lynx's world. The character growth from all the family members (or complete refusal to grow in some cases) the deeper your understanding of their society and Lynx's place within it the further you read is just magical.

Would you prefer to be Bright but sacrifice the true scope of emotions? I'm not sure. I think I would rather be a "poor" and live without a Nurse. The interesting nuggets of classism at work and how the Nurses are viewed as objects to serve people rather than people in their own right really worked for me too.

I have read a few books lately centering around "negative" emotion in varying ways. But standouts amongst them are certainly this book, The Collector - Laura Kat Young and HappyHead/DeadHappy - Josh Silver.

This is the first of Angie Spoto's works I have read, and it truly will not be my last. Especially finding the wee nuggets of reference to Scotland peppered in tiny things, like potato scones of all things.

The story’s raw portrayal of the pain associated with losing a loved one, combined with the protagonist’s personal journey toward healing, makes it a moving and introspective read.

This is a very slow paced read involving a gothic mansion and grief. The writing is very lyrical which makes me want to read more from this author. I enjoyed the magical realism

Read if: you're looking for a character oriented literary fiction type fantasy, or you like gothic mansions on an island with a splash of murder mystery.

I really enjoyed this book. While the pace was definitely on the slower side, I found it really easy and interesting to read. The premise of this book is so fascinating and while this book didn't answer everything I would have liked to know about this world, I think it answered enough to allow me to immerse myself in this book.

I was also pleasantly suprised that the romance in this book is sapphic and that there are queer side characters. I was worried when Ms Aster didn't approve of her son's marriage to a man but, not to worry, she's just classist and wanted him to marry a rich man. This family is truly chaotic and full of some not very nice people, but they are interesting to read about.

I thought the exploration of grief in this book was really well done, and the physical manifestations of everyone's grief being different was a really enjoyable aspect of this book that helped me to connect to the characters and learn more about them without having to slow down the book with character/personality descriptions. Angie Spoto managed to give you an insight into almost every character through such a simple, but very effective, plot device. I really enjoyed thinking about what these manifestations of the characters grief meant about them.

This book was a fantastic and intimate exploration of grief and loss, and I will definitely be picking up Angie Spoto's other book soon as well as keeping an eye out for future works.

Thank you to Netgalley and Independent Publishers Group for the digital ARC. Review posted on Goodreads and Amazon, rating posted on Storygraph

Thank you for allowing me to read this story in advance! It is a moving tale about grief and all of its forms and how, in the end, it is part of what makes us all human. I enjoyed reading this very much and would have liked to see more of the interesting world it brought to life.

Who knew grief could be so… sensual.

Being an emotional support human is one thing, but being literally hired to soak up rich people’s trauma like a sentient therapy sponge? That’s Lynx’s whole deal. As the official Grief Nurse for a wealthy, powerful family, her job is to absorb their bad vibes so they can continue being their fabulous, terrible selves. But when a mysterious guest shows up at their estate, the skeletons (both literal and metaphorical) start rattling in the closets.

This book is gothic horror with a side of “why is everyone in this house so unhinged?” Think Succession meets Crimson Peak, but with a main character who’s one bad day away from rage-quitting. It’s eerie, it’s weird, and it’ll have you questioning whether repressing emotions is actually the move. (Spoiler: it’s not.)

8/10

What would it feel like to get rid of all negative emotions? Angie Spoto tries to tackle this question, and the answer that the reader gets is not only a magnetic, gothic horror, but also an intriguing "character study" of sort in a world with dark motifs and the use of emotions as a basis for the class structure of society.

Dread, Grief and Sorrow manifest themselves in a spiritual form, different for each person, that is being absorbed by the titular "grief nurses". Emotions pushed into non-existence, bubble under the surface - called with a capital letter they gain almost equal status to the people who feel them. Treated with distance and a kind of respect, in contrast to those who "fight" them - Nurses are considered a status marker, objects or almost drugs passed from hand to hand for convenience and political gain. We learn about the brutal realities through Lynx, who, by her birth, has to deal with exploitation, loneliness and persecution, and the crumbs of hope and happiness she manages to find at times, disappear under the weight of other people's emotions.

The plot starts inconspicuously with a wake for a member of an aristocratic family on an isolated island. The events unfold slowly, like in an intimate theatre play. Through dialogues and flashbacks, we meet subsequent characters and discover the sequence of events leading to the present moment. However, the whole thing quickly gains momentum, an unexpected element of danger appears, and intrigues and unclear motivations reveal their dark side. Paradoxically, for me this change of pace was a slight downside, and the "epic ending" took away some of the charm of the whole thing. As a result, something that could have been amazing, in the end is "only" very good.

This book has so much potential. The concept is intriguing and the writing good but unfortunately it misses the mark. Many places throughout the book I was confused on what was happening, what day it was, and who we were talking about because there was so little background information. However, I believe that with a lot more worldbuilding and a more drawn out timeline that this concept could be amazing!

Thank you Independent Publishers Group for my ARC of The Grief Nurse!

Based on the description, I l was excited about the dystopian concept of the elite wealthy using grief nurses to avoid experiencing grief themselves. I was entertained by this book from the first chapter. I felt Lynx was a very likeable character and I enjoyed how she saw everyone's grief in a different way. I did feel like the story lost steam in the middle for a bit and I was unsure how the ending would go/what the main problem would be but the final 1/4 of the book pulled me right back in. Spoto did a great job at developing characters and I felt that I was attached to certain ones throughout the story. Overall, this was a great and entertaining read. 4/5 stars

I enjoyed this debut dystopian novel. A new genre for me. The author did an amazing job creating a world of fantasy, mystery and romance in a very classist society. There was so much emphasis on using all the senses to create the atmosphere, which I thought was executed really well. The author explored grief in such a way that it felt intimate, and personified it allowing it to take on a life of it's own. Overall a really good read.
Thank you for this ARC.

Based on the blurb, going into this I assumed it would be magical realism, but it was definitely more fantasy mixed with locked room mystery, and a touch of gothic?

The setting was described really vividly, which I loved, but I felt there were parts of the story that were a bit lacking. For example, the Grief Nurses' are fully fleshed out, we know who they are, the unique way they look, what their jobs are and why they do them/how them doing their jobs affects people. The Faders we get little to no information on, I have no idea why they're called that, what they do, and why it's not ideal to be one, just that it's not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Independent Publishers Group for the digital ARC! All opinions are my own :)

Very emotional and heart wrenching beautifully written novel! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc!