maria2's 3 favorite reads in 2024

Usually I avoid reading paranormal horror because I get so irritated with the paranormal aspect and specifically how there are never clear rules to it, and it just bends and changes in order to accommodate the plot. If you're the tiniest bit like me you're going to love this book, because in this case, the rules are there and they're pretty specific.

The concept in itself is so new and fresh, something that is absolutely needed in the "haunted house" subgenre. Choosing Margaret as the person through who we explore this story was a brilliant choice because of who Margaret is: ready to compromise, she follows the rules, nerves of steel, accepting of what's happening around her.

Moreover, usually the "underlying" meanings in this type of books are not so "underlying", which can feel kind of pushy, if not even annoying, but this one was *chef's kiss*.

I absolutely loved reading this, despite being deeply annoyed with Katherine throughout the whole book. It may be that I don't have similar experiences to her, but I don't know, her actions felt kind of irrational and didn't really make sense to me. However, this didn't affect my reading experience so much, since I really liked the premise of the plot and Margaret, the main character.

The gothic element, the whole book inside a book concept, murder house, and claustrophobia blend in so well in this one, accompanied by flawed and interesting characters. The chapters were short, and I couldn’t help myself but just keep reading.

I also loved the way the cruelty the high-quality artistic process is so often rumoured to be connected to was depicted. I absolutely despise people who believe that art requires suffering, and there was a perfect representation of that in this book. It just sounds so pompous and ultimately stupid to me, I don’t know. I don’t think that everything must have a deep meaning, especially with the current debate on ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ literature.

I had seen a lot of tiktoks where they praised this book, so I kept it in mind as a coping mechanism for a bad day. The bad day was here and I finally read it. It is indeed criminal minds meets Y.A. and I didn’t think I could love it so much, but I do.

I am so happy for myself that I picked this one up because it absolutely lived up to its hype and I can’t wait to read the next books in the series.

Right from the very first pages I was hooked and I didn’t put it down until approximately three hours later that I finished reading it. It is brilliantly written, funny, with just the right amount of romance.

The characters were very interesting and they seemed so real. I wanted to learn more about all of them since they are all so captivating.

The plot twist wasn’t that surprising, but the killer’s past was. I am intrigued to see where all of this leads. It certainly leaves you wanting more.