ARC Review: Hawthorn by Jamie Cassidy

I received this novel for free from netgalley and the publisher in return for an honest review

A house on a hill.
A house filled with mirrors.
A house with eyes that watch their every move.

“I hate it on sight. It’s dull and large and clunky, a
creepy old house with a creepy house smell.”

Learmonth village has a history, a past that they hold dear, superstitions that they cling fast to. Learmonth House, however, is governed by its own set of rules, its own past and Gemma and her family are about to discover just what those rules are.
Learmonth has a pact with the darkness and the darkness is hungry.

WOW....So I thought this was going to be a haunted house novel. It was not (though I won't tell you WHAT it was)....Cause SPOILERS

This novel was really good, once I got into it I couldn't put it down. It was creepy and dark, detailed, well written and I didn't see the ending coming until it was almost too late.

This novel was written with each chapter from a different character's POV, which I enjoyed. There are two five yeas olds, then Gemma the MC a 18 year old girl, Mary (the kid's mom) and Jules the mom's girlfriend. That's right: girlfriend. It was pretty awesome to see their strong lesbian relationship proudly on display, there is even a moment where Mary has to stand up to one of the kid's teachers for being prejudiced which I thought lent depth to the characters and the plot.

There is a trigger warning for rape in this book, Gemma is magically drugged more than once which allows the bad guy to take advantage of her sexually. It wasn't fun to read, but it moved the plot forward and wasn't written simply for shock value or kicks, it has a legitimate purpose for being there.

No love triangle, no insta-love, Gemma is a decent female lead, not a Mary Sue or Special Snowflake, but not a kick ass heroine either, she felt pretty normal actually.

The back drop of the story is England and the author does a good job with the cultural references, unlike a more recent book I just read.

The reason this is getting four stars instead of five is there is a weird jump in the middle of the book I didn't care for and I felt the last half was rushed a little bit, other than those two things not much to complain about. I really liked this and will probably read the sequel.

Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto

After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother's country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger…

Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander's past love, Isobel. And she will stop at nothing to destroy anyone who threatens to take him from her.

To stop Isobel, Chloe must push her developing abilities to their most dangerous limits, even if it means losing Alex forever… and giving the hungry dead a chance to claim her for their own

I have been on a huge ghost story kick, and by ghost story I mean a good Gothic one about a big creepy mansion and a ghost. This book was very much "meh."

The parts with the scary vengeful ghost; Isobel, were pretty good. They were described well, decently creepy and her vengeful spirit and actions had a pretty good back story.

However there were some really big problems with this book for me.

1) Chloe's mom dies and without asking his two kids the dad ships them off to live in England for the winter break with their grandma. When you have kids, not matter how much grief, you do not shut down, forget to pay bills and stop feeding them simply because your spouse died. It's a horrible thing, but as a mom I would never send my kids away without at least talking to them about it before.

2) Why does Chloe see ghosts? It is NEVER explained where she got her gifts. I hate that. She was just simply all the sudden uber powerful ghost whisperer.

3) Chloe and Alex's relationship. Insta-love to the MAX. And Alex is not a good guy. Can't give it away because of SPOILERS, but Chloe spends the entire book making excuses for his bad behavior and choices when he was alive. Not to mention that they are madly in love after a day and his love for her puts not only her in danger but everyone else. Chloe doesn't seem to care that loving a dead boy is putting her grandma and little brother in danger, she wants Alex to "fight" for their love...Ummm. He.Is.Dead.

4) Love triangle crap. There is a totally adorable stable boy with a huge crush on Chloe and at the end (even after he has risked his life for her) she is all, "Sorry I just want to be friends." And he says something like, "I just wanna be in your life in any way possible." Barf Then she goes home to California.

5) Ugh...the ending...the ending *moan* What the fuck was up with the ending....

So not the best book, but not the worse book either. Ghost story not half bad, but really Isobel was the best part of the whole book.