I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting and based on the little I'd heard about the book, I was anticipating an atmospheric page-turner with serious gothic vibes. Actually, for the first 40-50 pages or so, I felt like this was the case, as the author did a pretty good job of setting the scene and creating intrigue around the house at the center of the story, Bryne Hall. Unfortunately it didn't last — for me, the story started to unravel early on, when the main character Freya Lyell returns to Bryne Hall again after her cousin's wedding and nonsensically inserts herself in the lives of Cory and Diana Bryne. Technically, there wasn't really a plot to speak of, as nothing much happens — but what annoyed me was that the little bit of plot that did happen was far-fetched and unrealistic. This was one of those stories where you pretty much have to suspend disbelief the entire time you're reading, otherwise it's hard to get through.
Normally, I'm okay with lack of plot if the character development is good and I'm able to connect with the characters in some way. Sorry to say, this wasn't the case here — not only was every single character in this story very unlikable, they also felt like stereotypically-drawn caricatures going through the motions. The main protagonist, Freya, especially frustrated me to no end. One of the things I absolutely can't stand in books are grown up, adult characters who act like petulant children, as well as female characters who are portrayed stereotypically (i.e.: weak, hysterical, naive, irrational, emotional, wushu-washy, etc.) — unfortunately for me, Freya was both of these and worse. I hated how pretty much every single thing Freya did, every decision she made, was done in a way that made no sense whatsoever. From the get go, Freya is portrayed as naive and foolish, which I guess is the author's way of perhaps justifying why she makes one reckless decision after another throughout the entire story. Having said all that though, my biggest pet peeve is when the female character knows that doing certain things or going down certain paths is self-destructive and/or will for sure result in negative consequences either for herself or for others (oftentimes the character actually tells us so via her wn inner dialogue), yet she still insists on going forward with the decision — then, when others (usually a friend or family member) try to warn her or talk sense into her, she either goes ballistic and pushes the person away or she does the denial thing by playing dumb and pretending nothing is wrong. And that's just Freya — as if one annoying character wasn't enough, the author had to include an entire cast of them! Freya's father Roger was a jerk, her sister Stella was reckless, Cory Bryne was a delusional psychopath and his mother was a sinister witch — the only decent person in the story was Tom, but even he turned out to be annoying with his wishy washy personality.
Overall, I would have to say that this was a disappointing and frustrating read for me. The writing for the most part was decent, though I felt like the "gothic" vibe and the mystery piece totally didn't work — if this was supposed to be a psychological suspense novel, it completely failed in that aspect, as the main plot points were predictable (I pretty much figured things out already within the first few pages) and the intrigue of the "house" at the center of the story was overshadowed by the loathsomeness of its occupants. In the end, I also felt the story dragged out for way too long, though I think that was because, at that point, I couldn't bring myself to care anymore. While I'm not one to DNF a book once I've started reading, I do believe that, based on sheer annoyance level alone, this one would've been an exception — the only reason I didn't is due to this being a book club read, which made me determined to push through it. With that said, the reviews for this one seem to be all over the place, so I would say read both the positive and negative reviews to get a more balanced perspective before deciding whether to pick this one up.
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