About the Book
1988. Beth Soames is fourteen years old when her aunt takes her to stay at Raven Hall, a rambling manor in the isolated East Anglian fens. The Averells, the family who lives there, are warm and welcoming, and Beth becomes fast friends with their daughter, Nina. At times, Beth even feels like she’s truly part of the family…until they ask her to help them with a harmless game—and nothing is ever the same.
2019. Sadie Langton is an actress struggling to make ends meet when she lands a well-paying gig to pretend to be a guest at a weekend party. She is sent a suitcase of clothing, a dossier outlining the role she is to play, and instructions. It’s strange, but she needs the money, and when she sees the stunning manor she’ll be staying at, she figures she’s got nothing to lose.
In person, Raven Hall is even grander than she’d imagined—even with damage from a fire decades before—but the walls seem to have eyes. As day turns to night, Sadie starts to feel that there’s something off about the glamorous guests who arrive, and as the party begins, it becomes chillingly apparent their unseen host is playing games with everyone…including her.
My Review
Oh, she a creepy one. The setting of Raven Hall provides the perfect backdrop for this gothic thriller, along with a family that doesn’t appear totally normal in 1988 and a ‘this can’t end well’ game in 2019. If this were a movie I would have been watching with one eye closed, as the whole novel reads on edge, just waiting for the next turn to spook you or confuse you. I enjoy books that take us from past to present and it helped me keep me engaged to get both sides of the story, though a few times the plot got a little convoluted and congested to stay totally invested in. Still, I had a good time reading this creepy thriller and the ending definitely gave me an eyebrow raise.
4 stars
