Pubilication Date: June 30, 2020
Publisher: Dutton Books
Rating: ★★★★★
Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.
Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.
Review:
This was my second Riley Sager book and I was definitely not disappointed in this new release! This mystery was definitely that and it gave me all of the spooky vibes in the summertime. The main thing that this book gave me was the Haunting of Hill House vibes and I loved that.
Maggie’s father wrote a book called House of Horrors about the experience that him and his family had at Baneberry Hall. It took only three weeks before Ewan and Jess, Maggie’s mother, ran away from there for good. Or so Maggie thought. Maggie never believed anything from House of Horrors as she couldn’t ever remember what happened during those three weeks. Maggie finds that her father never got rid of the house or sold it and it is now hers to do what she wants with it. In the time that Maggie decides to fix it up to sell it, many things happen to make Maggie believe that her father’s book might have not been made up at all.
First, Riley Sager’s writing had me on the edge of my seat the entire novel. I was curious and had suspicions of what was going on, but by the next chapter, there was something else going on in my head. I found this to be exceptional writing as I had really no idea what was going on until the end of the book where the twist is. Some might say it was clear to see, but I didn’t see it coming at all. The fact that I couldn’t tell if this was going to end paranormal or not was actually quite fun.
I loved the fact that the book went back and forth between Maggie’s point-of-view and her father’s book. It was interesting to see the similarities between her and her father’s experiences. It was looking at current day versus back when Maggie was just a little girl. It was clear to see that she wasn’t even close to the same person.
Finally, I don’t think I could’ve found a flaw in this book if I tried. The characters developed in an amazing way, the story kept me interested the entire time, it was just overall an amazing book. I could relate to the characters as well, which is always good.
I need to read the rest of Riley Sager’s books. Both of his books that I read were five-star ratings for me and I will always continue to read what he puts out in the future. His writing alone is enough for me to want to read one of his books.
Lacey's Library 