5/31/24 8:14pm

T H E W H E E L H A T H S P O K E N

next book is The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates!

Everyone knows about Ashburn House. They whisper its old owner went mad, and restless ghosts still walk the halls. They say it's the dwelling place of something cruel and sinister. But when Adrienne―desperate and in need of a place to stay―inherits the crumbling old mansion, she only sees it as a lifeline... until darkness falls. Strange messages are etched into the walls. Furniture moves when she leaves the room. There's something here―something powerful, angry, and hell-bent on shaking things up. Worse, a grave hidden in the depths of the forest hints at a terrible, unforgivable secret. Eventually Adrienne can't ignore that a twisted thing lives in the house, its hungry eyes ever-watchful. Chasing the threads of a decades-old mystery, it isn't long before she realizes she's become prey to something deeply unnatural and intensely resentful.She has no idea how to escape. She has no idea how to survive. Only one thing is Ashburn's dead are not at rest.

another darcy coates book! i generally liked from below, so why not try another?

tag is #bats reads hah

6/3/24 10:06pm

ooo we have named chapters that's always fun

6/5/24 5:02pm

i like that right out of the gate we're tackling the "just move!" argument that gets levied against a lot of haunted house books. she's broke as shit, she can't move. i'm glad that the horrors of the housing market became a more prominent theme in haunted house horror, it works way better than protagonists who could move but are just stubborn jackasses about it

6/5/24 6:44pm

girl does your phone not have a flashlight?

...she does have a phone, right? this book takes place in mostly modern day, she has a laptop and emails, so like. what's up? are we gonna at least acknowledge that she doesn't have a phone or are we just gonna not mention it?

i hope we get an explicit explanation of some kind. i just kinda have a specific beef with horror that doesn't deal with the cellphone problem. like i don't even really like period pieces anymore lol

6/8/24 4:59pm

we have addressed the cell phone question, i am now at peace 😇

6/8/24 6:56pm

a little annoyed that she's literally been attacked by a zombie and knows what happened with marion and just thought she saw something but still hasn't put 2 and 2 together about ditching the mirrors

6/8/24 7:10pm

Addy. Honey. Sweetie. Light a fucking candle. You know people can see the light from town. That was the entire reason you tried out your other plan. Yeah you knight have to wait for the smoke to clear but. Come on. Please use your brain.

6/8/24 7:36pm

secret evil twin who was a sociopath and also a reincarnated witch. sure. why not.

6/8/24 7:37pm

also i was double right about how addy should have lit a candle which annoys me even more

6/8/24 7:57pm

at least the ending was cute

6/8/24 8:01pm

okay final thoughts. it was fine i guess. it didn't have the main issues i had with from below. Addy was unfortunately not the brightest bulb in the box. pacing was a bit slow but overall the book was readable. solid 3/5.