This book was interesting, but slightly disappointing. I loved the eerie cover, and yes I know judging a book by the cover is a no no, but I am the queen of cover judging and a lot of the times it works out well for me. The title- Perfection. The Local-fantastic. When you look at all of that you have to ask, why were you disappointed.

To begin with, I liked the story, I was fond of the main character, I mean she drove drunk and had a list of things I really disliked , and I would never be friends with a person like her. The local was totally my vibe, I can not pass up a creepy old house, however I should, they never seem to be the cozy quaint old houses the characters think they are. But like all good Gothic stories, you need an overly creepy house, this did give me that.

Now here is the kicker, the story as I said was good, but it wasn't really creepy or gothic, other than the house. I felt that I was reading a domestic family story with just a bit of creep thrown in. Yes it had some murder, but it just didn't have what I was expecting it to have.

BUT, please do not let my review stop you from reading. It is a decent story regardless, and there will be people out there, that want just that little hint of creepiness and not the huge amount I wanted.

Gothictown was an entertaining blend of B-rated horror and mystery that kept me engaged throughout. The plot and pacing were a bit all over the place, but this only added to the chaotic energy of the story. I particularly enjoyed the experience of loving to dislike the female main character—her actions made her both frustrating and fascinating to follow. Despite the unpredictability of the plot, there were enough tense moments to keep me hooked. It was an enjoyable ride overall.

Thank you NetGalley and RBmedia for the chance to listen to this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Emily Carpenter masterfully crafts an eerie and atmospheric thriller in Gothictown, a suspenseful tale that lures readers into a seemingly idyllic town where nothing is quite as it seems. When a family moves into this picturesque community, the offer they receive is too good to refuse—but as they soon discover, everything comes at a price.

Carpenter excels at building tension, weaving a slow-burning mystery that keeps readers hooked as the layers of the town’s dark secrets gradually unravel. The suspense intensifies with each chapter, leading to a series of shocking twists that make for an unforgettable reading experience. The setting itself becomes a character, its gothic charm masking an unsettling truth beneath the surface.

With a gripping plot, well-developed characters, and an atmosphere thick with intrigue, Gothictown is a must-read for fans of dark suspense and psychological thrillers. Carpenter delivers a compelling narrative that lingers long after the final page.

After losing her restaurant due to the pandemic and her mother running off to join a cult, Billie Hope is lost and waiting for a sign. Then, an email appears with an offer she can't refuse. The town of Juliana, Georgia started an initiative to revitalize their town and offered Billie an old beautiful Victorian home for the measly price of $100 and a business grant to start a new restaurant. Her husband, Peter, Billie, and their daughter Meredith decide to take the chance and prepare for a fresh start. Shortly after arriving, this town seems too good to be true and is completely picture perfect with some of the most warm and inviting citizens. Billie thinks she's hit the jackpot, but Peter isn't too sure. It seems that this sunshine-y Georgia town is hiding something much darker than they could have ever expected.

I'm not sure how I completely feel about Gothictown. The premise was super interesting and unique with great potential. I definitely expected to have much more present horror elements, but it turned out to be much more of a cozy mystery than a typical Gothic or Southern horror. However, with the expectation of such, it made this book drag a bit for me. Not to mention, Billie was so unlikeable in so many ways. Unfaithful to her husband, completely self absorbed, and would forget to even mention the existence of her 6 year old daughter for long stretches of time.

The audiobook was also just okay, but I did have a hard time getting fully immersed into the story. Not sure if that was an audio problem or a plot problem in general. This one wasn't for me, but I do think a lot of people would like if this if they went in with the expectation of a mystery book over a horror book!

Thank you to Netgalley, Emily Carpenter, and RB Media for this advanced listener copy!

Thank you to Net Galley for giving me the opportunity on the ARC audio. This was a first for me on a book of this style. The story did start out great and had me hooked. However, 50% through it lost me. I had hopes for a scary and creepy book. It was neither of these for me.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of Gothictown.

The start of the book had a promising start. It seemed to draw on though. Nothing really exciting happened till about the 64% mark.
The prologue pretty much gave away what was going to happen in the book. That’s why I don’t read the prologue, but since it was an audiobook i did.
The characters weren’t that great to me. The FMC was a whiny baby most of the story about how her mom moved away to live her own life.
Then the ending was a total disconnect from the whole book.

This novel stressed me out in a good way. It concludes semi-happily but Billie Hope, the main character, and her family are really put through the ring. Billie sees an email in her inbox one day from the Juliana, GA Initiative. In exchange for moving down south and opening a business, she and her family can purchase a huge Victorian mansion for$100 and receive another $30,000 toward her new business. Billy and her husband and young daughter jump at the chance. The offer seems too good to be true and in actuality, it really is.
From the first day, the family experiences insomnia and worry. Their family cat becomes feral and Billie's husband knows there's something rotten in Juliana. But Billie is thriving and even though she knows there are issues, she's content to work through any problems. However, when her husband up and leaves after another argument, Billie finally tries to piece together what is actually happening in Juliana.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books for this digital audio e-arc.*

Gothictown by Emily Carpenter is a Southern slightly horror novel set against the backdrop of a pandemic. The concept of the story is intriguing, and the atmosphere is effectively eerie, with a strong cult-like vibe permeating the town. I found the ending to be a bit too neatly wrapped up, the story kept me hooked from start to finish. The narrator was excellent.

Disjointed, needed another few rounds of edits, if it was supposed to be a modern gothic horror it fell horribly short. I honestly DNFd it 50% through. I kept waiting for something to happen and it never did.

This is a southern gothic novel with elements of mystery, horror, and thriller. The timeline skips between Billie’s new life and dark events throughout the town’s history, giving the reader insight that Billie is missing. This does add to the growing sense of dread and unease, but also means some major plot points are revealed well before Billie herself figures them out. I found that the plot veers between folk horror and cosy mystery, never quite landing on either side for long.

I thought the audiobook was very well done - the narrator balanced the accents well, and it worked well for Billie’s inner monologue.

3.5 ⭐️ This was a fun thriller/mystery to listen to on audio 🎧 my only complaint was that the towns ‘attractive hot guy’s’ voice did not match the voice the narrator was giving 😅

If you want a thriller with creepy culty town vibes then this is it 👏🏼

2 ⭐️ 4🎧

DNF @54%

This book had everything it needed to be a great horror read. A deal too good to be true, a mysterious town with a deadly past, terrifying dreams and a FMC stop stupid and selfish to realize there is anything amiss.

I don’t expect to love or relate to MCs in a a psychological thriller but Billie was entirely unlikeable and I found it very hard to find any sympathy for her. Her mommy issues were staggering, especially since she was married to a psychiatrist or was it a psychologist? Either way. She just made one bad decision after another. Poor Peter and Mer were the only characters I felt bad for and wanted better for them.

I ultimately DNF because I found myself struggling to pick it up after setting it down. I did skip ahead to see how it ended because I was hoping for one outcome but was disappointed.

Cassandra Campbell did a great job narrating. I’m not sure I would have made it as far as I did if not for the great job she did.

Gothic town

Juliana, Georgia is an ancient town with a dark, yet unknown to the public, history. Starting with a history of what makes the town special then flipping to the future in a post-pandemic world. Billie receives an email that feels too good to be true. For a small cost, through the Juliana initiative, she can get a new house in a Victorian like city and start up grant funds for a business. While it felt too good to be true, it also was typical for towns to rebuild their population and economy post- COVID.

She decides to take the bait and moves to the small town with her husband and daughter. Their welcoming is whimsical and has the family feeling like this is the best choice they’ve ever made. Shortly after arrival though, things start to feel off. The citizens of the town, the nightmares they start getting, creepy house sounds, and weird violent behavior coming from Peter, her husband.

Creepy small town vibes ! Love these kind of books that make you think, are they crazy? Is something paranormal going on? Am I going crazy and even connecting the right dots here?

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 3/25/25.

Ugh this concept had so much potential. If you want to know what is going on read the start of the book until the protagonist starts narrating. For some odd reason everything is explained before we even met her. It made reading the book a real slog since I already knew what had happened and there was no suspense. It keeps everything that could be a mystery from being mysterious, even the inevitable deaths (it's horror, don't tell me deaths are a spoiler. Also, again, the 'why is this happening' is all explained before we even meet the protagonist. So this book spoils itself for some reason.)

Also there are romance novel style scenes which were just dull. Could not get through those fast enough, and when they get together a second time I literally said "ugh this again?" out loud.

Finally: The title made me actively turn down a number of opportunities to read arcs of this book before this opportunity arose. It's not an interesting title at all. I only read it because somebody whose taste I trust talked me into it. Then I spent the entire book thinking "Why isn't the title 'Gentle Juliana'?" It's a more intriguing title, and fits the vibe of the town. The town wasn't gothic at all, everybody was super friendly in an obnoxiously small town resident who feels entitled to your personal information kind of way. That's not gothic. Creepy, sure, but not Gothic.

An eerie, mysterious southern gothic story set in the modern town of Juliana, Georgia post-pandemic of 2020 tells the tale of a family looking for a fresh start. Lured in by the ideology of a new restaurant to run, open space for their daughter, to ignore her own internal problems, own a house and join a community Billie Hope all but twists her husbands arm into packing up and leaving the cramped and changed city of New York for lush, spacious, and unsettling Juliana, Georgia. Gentle Juliana as the locals call it.

Once moved in to a beautiful mansion set on 12 acres of land with a restaurant freshly up and running her cat and her husband start taking on a whole new personality. With these changes comes misunderstanding, fear, mistakes and pain Billie never knew her life could evolve into.

The storyline is so eerie and off-putting and the situations Billie finds herself in are as well. For someone who has a mother in what she has deemed a cult or whatever Billie can't seem to help being the pot calling the kettle black unbeknownst to herself. What transpires in this novel is quite simply the perfect example of "If it's too goo to be true, it probably is." and we see just how much that rings true in this small, tight-knit town. For my negative gripes on the storyline while trying to avoid spoilers: I think at some points there's some unnecessary filler; it doesn't harm anything just drags a little for little to no reason. There's also a loose end or two I didn't see tied up that i desperately wanted it to be. Also not a negative gripe just a statement: Peter is the real MVP of the story and inherently my favorite character, I love him so much and I deeply empathize him and his storyline.
In the story there are jumps from past to present that directly explain a lot of what is going on here and I both like it and don't like it. I like it because it helps me better understand the full extent of what's going on; and I don't because there's no big twist for me. I already know who is public enemy #1 and that takes a bit of the fun out of it for me. I already realize how deep into the rift that Billie and her family is based on the obvious signs of cultish behavior, BUT I feel like keeping the "why" of it all until the end would have been significantly better for the reader experience.

The characters are second favorite part of this story. The introduction of Billie, her husband Peter and her daughter, Meredith, was already such a sweet and endearing moment. Special mention to Ramsey the cat, love you down buddy. The explanation of the pandemic causing such hard and painful changes and how that related to my life in a way already made me feel so attached and close to them. The movement to this new town and trying to get their bearings and meeting all these new eccentric characters was also done so well. Like I said before, Peter you're a real one and I send my hugs and tears in a non-spoilery way. I really wanted some lose ends tied up and one of those came in the form of a certain supporting character and to avoid spoilers I won't elaborate on that.
Billie's characterization of a middle-aged woman still trying to figure herself out, loving her husband and being unloving towards him, struggling with her mom and their relationship and trying to be a better mom than the one she currently has was perfect. She ignored problems, made mistakes, misunderstood things, directly got herself involved in a religious based cult just you know was a solid example of a human in a lived experience. A very multi-faceted and morally grey imperfect character, a human. She wasn't the best at anything except cooking because that's her job and I find it really refreshing to see a character with personality.

All in all, a fantastic story, a gripping premise with a great execution and flawed characters. In very specific ways I could relate this to The Lottery by Shirley Jackson so I definitely think if you enjoyed certain executions and topics in that story you may enjoy this.

Thank you to RBmedia and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to listen to this ARC in exchange for a honest review.
Originally Published: March 25th, 2025.

Well-named book about a town that seems too perfect and welcoming on the surface, hiding a secret past that influences the decisions made by the town’s elders or founding families. A NYC family accepts the opportunity to move to Juliana, GA where their daughter will have land to roam and the MFC can reopen her restaurant (the original shuttered during COVID). The residents are very welcoming and all goes smoothly until the insomnia and nightmares start…. We know from the prologue what originally occurred here, but it’s interesting to see how that long-ago horrifying decision played out to the town of today, and what our MFC can do about it.
My thanks to the author, publisher, producer, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #Gothictown for review purposes. Publication date: 25 March 2025.

One of NetGalley's best features is the addition of audiobooks for review. I often have more time to listen to books than to read, so getting Gothictown by Emily Carpenter, narrated by the brilliant Cassandra Campbell (one of my favorite narrators), was like receiving an early Christmas present.

I've read several books by Emily Carpenter; my favorite ones are Burying the Honeysuckle Girls and Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters. However, she has written several other good books. As for Gothictown, I found the story not to be as intriguing as the titles I've mentioned. It's a good book; I just found myself not completely enamored with the story.

There were several things I liked about the story: the beginning of the book, when we get to know more about the history of the town; Billie arriving with her husband and daughter in the town and their new future. However, I felt detached from the characters; I never really warmed up to any of them, and that made me feel that the story never really got under my skin. I did like the ending of the book; it felt very satisfying.

It's a good book, just not up there with the top Emily Carpenter books.

Loved the vibe of this southern gothic horror. I felt this book could have been more concise as I felt the pacing tapered out towards the end. The narrator did an amazing job, especially with the accents! The cover really caught my eye as I love gothic literature, but I think it gives off more Victorian/traditional gothic connotations. I think if the cover were truer to the story it would look a lot like an Ethel Cain album cover. 3.5/5 - enjoyed it and could see myself recommending it to someone looking for something within the specific southern gothic sub genre.

I really enjoyed this southern gothic but the MC was so unlikable and her decisions were so baffling, I found it hard to root for her. Narrator Casandra Campbell did an AMAZING job in bringing this story to life. Though the characters were questionable I enjoyed the plot.

Unfortunately, Gothictown didn’t work for me. While Carpenter’s writing is undeniably atmospheric—her descriptions of the town were eerie and immersive—the story itself fell flat. The main character was especially frustrating; at times, I wondered if we were meant to dislike her. She sees herself as a strong, protective mother, yet she repeatedly makes baffling decisions, essentially abandoning her daughter (and her job?) for days without much thought. It was hard to stay invested when her actions felt so inconsistent. The gothic vibes were there, but the narrative and character choices left me more irritated than intrigued.