Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Josephine Jagger is a talented writer with special abilities she doesn't fully understand. Over the years she has developed methods to cope with the voices she hears in her head, but the old house her family has inherited in Vermont makes Josephine question what's real and what's not more than anything she's ever encountered before. It's filled with shadows, and whispers, and the unshakable feeling of being watched. Josephine then catches her first glimpse of a shadowy woman with long hair, pale skin, an impossibly wide smile and hollow pits for eyes. Her name is Dorcas, the ghost of a witch who died three hundred years ago. She has summoned the family to Vermont to ensnare them — then consume them — in order to rise from the grave and live again . . .
Review
House of Ash and Bone has everything a horror novel needs. Creepy house, check, ghosts, witches, and minor gore... check, check, and check! The suspense was perfectly paced and kept me turning the pages.
With everyone's memories being messed with, there was not a lot of character development, but the plot and small character developments were enough to propel the story along. Josephine hearing the thoughts of others could have easily been abused, giving her more information than her character should have, but I never felt like it was overused. I was glad to see her ability tied into the story and wasn't just a plot crutch.
Overall, this was an incredible spooky season read that every horror fan should add to their list. Don't let its Young Adult classification scare you away!
Thank you, Tundra Books, Penguin Random House, and LibraryThing, for my copy of this excellent novel!
Dates read: Oct 28, 2023 - Oct 28, 2023