Helpful Score: 2
This was a pretty good haunted house book. It took me a while to decide whether I liked the writing style, switching from third to first person as the ghost of Eleanor Bly was the one who actually told the story, especially when, towards the end, it’d switch from one person to another in sections within a single chapter, although at least each section was appropriately marked, which made the switch in person easier to follow.
The story itself was gripping and kept me reading late into the night. Fortunately though, this wasn’t one of those really spooky type of ghost stories that keeps you awake at night. The ghost of Eleanor Bly was not a vengeful ghost, and the house itself was more of a mathematician’s nightmare, or labyrinth, more freaky than scary. :) I don’t feel this detracted from the book at all though, it is what it is, and were the author to concentrate more on the haunting and spooky, something else would’ve been lost in the translation.
The story itself was gripping and kept me reading late into the night. Fortunately though, this wasn’t one of those really spooky type of ghost stories that keeps you awake at night. The ghost of Eleanor Bly was not a vengeful ghost, and the house itself was more of a mathematician’s nightmare, or labyrinth, more freaky than scary. :) I don’t feel this detracted from the book at all though, it is what it is, and were the author to concentrate more on the haunting and spooky, something else would’ve been lost in the translation.
Helpful Score: 1
I enjoy haunted house stories, but this wasn't really all about that. A mixture of pschological history of the main character, Wiccan covens, a might-be-real ancient text controlling the Universe and a ghost don't really add up to a satisfying story for me. And I still had some questions at the end that weren't answered.
Plus the "heroine" was really a jerk in my opinion, an adulturess who neglected her two daughters pretty much to satisfy her own needs.
Not on a par with great ghost stories like The Uninvited, The Haunting of Hill House, The WOman in Black, Hell House, et al.
Plus the "heroine" was really a jerk in my opinion, an adulturess who neglected her two daughters pretty much to satisfy her own needs.
Not on a par with great ghost stories like The Uninvited, The Haunting of Hill House, The WOman in Black, Hell House, et al.
