Publisher: Amulet Books
Series: None
Format: e-ARC
Source: Netgalley
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After hearing voices among an eerie copse of trees in the woods, seventeen-year-old Curtis must confront his worst fear: that he has inherited his father’s mental illness. A desperate search for answers leads him to discover Gravenhearst, a labyrinth mansion that burned down in 1894. When he locks eyes with a steely Victorian girl in a forgotten mirror, he’s sure she’s one of the fire’s victims. If he can unravel the mystery, he can save his sanity . . . and possibly the girl who haunts his dreams.
But more than 100 years in the past, the girl in the mirror is fighting her own battles. When her mother disappears and her sinister stepfather reveals his true intentions, Mila and her sister fight to escape Gravenhearst and unravel the house’s secrets—before it devours them both.
It's been awhile since I have read a supernatural/horror fantasy that kept me hooked from the first few pages.
House of Ash has two POVs. One is from Curtis, who is in the present, and the other is from Mila, who is in the past. Both characters are dealing with horrific events in their lives, that they soon find out are connected.
Curtis is living in a crumbling house with his younger sister and his father. His father has had serious violent episodes for many years, and Curtis is struggling to keep him from destroying himself and his family. To make matters worse, Curtis has been having weird headaches which result in him hearing voices since he was young. He is wondering if he is going "crazy" like his father.
In the past, Mila is moving to her new home in Canada where her mother will marry a recently wealthy man named Andrew Deemus. Along for the ride is her younger sister, Wynn. As soon as they arrive at Gravenhearst, Mila can tell that something is very, very wrong. She will do whatever it takes to save her family, before it's too late, because the Deemus women have been disappearing for hundreds of years, and nobody seems to know why.
I really enjoyed reading things through both POVs. It really added to the creepiness factor of everything that was going on. It did start off really slow, but as soon as the story kicked off, I was hooked! Although I did enjoy Mila's more, because she was dealing with the supernatural aspect of the story as it was happening.
There are a lot of "F" bombs throughout the book, from Curtis. He is seventeen and his emotions are all over the place because of the issues with his father.
Trigger Warning: Suicide. There are passages with attempted suicide in the book, so be mindful of that if you want to read this one.
Throughout the book there were some illustrations, but I do not think they really added anything to the story.
Ending wise, I do feel like everything wrapped up a little too nicely, as I was expecting more conflict. But I am hoping that there is a sequel, because too much was left unsaid!
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