Welcome to Litsy!

This book was WAY too similar to The Winter People. Read this for book club and was disappointed.
Book 68 of 2024

This was my 1st book for my bookclub that I‘m now officially part of and may I say, this was the best way for me to be initiated.It kept you on the edge of your seat and kept you guessing.It‘s about a couple who moved to a remote town to start their lives over by building their house “from scratch” by themselves on a land where a lady who was hung almost a century ago for what people thought was a witch. Things start happening.Leave it at that 🫣

Though this book contained several spooky scenes, I found the writing lacked the skill required to truly freak me out. Scariness was abrupt and thrown in like M&Ms in a Skittles bowl: not an unwelcome surprise, but didn‘t particularly mix well with the things around it.
I struggled with the rating, hovering around 2.5 most of the book, and it honestly is closer to a 2.5 for me. It took me over a week to read, so you know I wasn‘t in to it!

A beautifully written haunted house story with a unique twist. Loved this. Only the second McMahon book I‘ve read, but she‘s quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

A young couple moves out to the country to live a more relaxed life and quickly find themselves surrounded in mysteries. Things start going missing and then they both start things that they cannot believe or understand. A great mystery with a touch of supernatural elements.

The book started kind of slow. It was just at a steady pace. Not terrible but i was ready to give up. Im glad I didnt though. Half way to the book it started to pick up, things began to fall in place. I was at the edge of my sit and i could no longer put it down. Now i can say I love this book!

Ps. I knew who the villan was from the start. It didnt fool me one bit. Well maybe a tiny bit at first but i uspected. Lol

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2 for 2 of 'horror' novels read this week that were better than I'd hoped. I love this twist on a haunted house, but even more I love that it's almost more mystery/suspense than horror. Themes of intergenerational trauma and healing; connecting through family history; a lot more warmth, communication, believing the best in people, than I expected, also architectural history & exploring nature/observing wildlife. Didn't see the last twist coming!

Petition for all porcupines to be nicknamed Mr. Nibbles! ☺️

Hungry for delicious knowledge! 😋

Creepy houses have been my jam lately. 😀

This one had a bit of a different take on a ghost story. I loved that the main character was searching for haunted items to build her new home. In her search for spooky decor though she gets caught up in a haunted town history that uncovers dark deeds.

McMahon knows how to write a suspenseful tale without going too dark or scary with her subject matter.

What people don‘t understand, they destroy.

I enjoyed this! It‘s a ghost story, but not super creepy. A couple is building a new house, and the wife is basically building it haunted. Add in some murder mystery and a couple twists, and it‘s a quick, fun read.

I don‘t normally read this type of book because I‘m a scaredy-cat, but this was an excellent novel! I did have to sleep with the lights on a couple of times and tried not to read it at night, but eventually the scary parts weren‘t so scary and actually play an intricate part in the mystery and I was able to read through them and I‘m so glad I did. The only evil was in the hearts of the living. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wasn‘t bad. Got through the audio book quickly. I‘ll def continue to read her books.

Helen and Nate have left their secure live to build the house of their dreams on land near a small New England village. As a former history teacher, Helen is excited by her ability to investigate stories that the land is haunted, and to include relics from previous owners in the design of their house. Then they begin to see things they can‘t explain.

Not her best, but entertaining.

Happy Dance #PreOrder

Jennifer McMahon is always reliable for a great book! This is probably one of my least favorite books that she has authored but it was still ⭐⭐⭐💫 stars. It started slow & it took 60-ish pages for me to get into it. The paranormal element & witchy history made it a great read for October.

Cranky review ahead. The first chapter was awesome and I was excited for the rest of the book. Now, I‘m just bored as the book appears to be turning from a ghost story into domestic, small town drama. I am not here for that. Supposedly it eventually picks up with clever twists, but I want to slap Nate, Helen, and Olive. I don‘t want to spend any more time with them. (Pic of Bailey because she‘s better than the book)

I‘m slowly getting better at making book sleeves. I just finished this fun retro one with sleepy owls inside. It‘s for a friend of mine that loves anything retro and colorful. Not perfect , but I‘m happy with it.
I almost have the measurements right. I need to add another half inch to the height. AND learn to cut straight. 😕

I always like Jennifer McMahon. This wasn‘t my favourite of hers, but I still liked it. It was a bit easy to predict. But I enjoyed her spin on a ghost story. It was more comforting than creepy.
#scarathlon #TeamHarkness @StayCurious
17:55 on the readathon clock #necronomathon @Patchshank #spookoween @TheSpineView #wickedathon

I‘m suffering from a book hangover and I couldn‘t decide what to read next, so hubby pulled one from the stack for me. It‘s a cold and dreary day here. I‘m feeling a little cold and dreary, too. This should fit.
#scarathlon #TeamHendrix @StayCurious

This month‘s #bookspin and #doublespin picks are full of ghosts and zombies. Yay!!! 👻 🧟‍♀️
They will also work for #teamhendrix #scarathlon

📕 I‘m working on my #scarathlon2021 TBR
🍇 Hmmm… I love fruit… watermelon.
🤩 I have been saving all the spooky reads for October and I can‘t wait to dig into them.
💞 Today I am grateful that I am loved.

Thanks for the tag @Palimpsest
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1. Tagged!
2. Mostly playing video games but I also enjoy cross stitch, doing puzzles, scrapbooking…
3. Yes, two! The Final Girl Support Group and One Last Stop.
#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

The chapters mostly went back and forth between Helen and Olive in 2015. There were only a few flashback chapters to traumatizing incidents. This is another really good book by Jennifer McMahon. She is very good at creepy. It would have been more so if I‘d read more at night (tried to, but I fell asleep a couple of times – not due to the book, however!). Cont in comments...

Ghost Writer is still in the running, but I found a few more in my stacks that look good to me. What do you think?
#LMPBC #GROUPW #ROUND12

I struggled a little with this in beginning. It got better midway.

Great ghost story. Great mystery. Gave me goosebumps! Loved the interconnection between the two mysteries and the past and present time. Towards the end I had my suspicion on who the antagonist was. Overall the story showed complexity and depth.

1. YES! 🤣

I'm probably more of a true crime and horror person. Thrillers are mysteries are a close next.

2. Tagged. I won't say that it really scared me but there were some parts that gave a serious sense of unease

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

This is a ghost story, but not a scary one. I enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery, even though I figured out the twists pretty early on. It dragged at points, and there were some areas that could have been further explored instead (Jane‘s unhinged rage, for instance), but overall this was a solid novel.

I am listening to this on audio. I am enjoying the characters much more than the actual story. I am eager to find out how they make out! I hope to finish by tomorrow a s get back into my daily reading habit.

Two teachers quit their jobs and decide to build a house themselves in a remote Vermont town on land that used to be owned by witches. This book had a really interesting take on the whole haunted house trope - the freshest execution I've read in a while. It was a bit sluggish at times, and I didn't love the writer's style in the beginning, but by the end I couldn't put it down because I had to know what happened!

Thank you so much @sharread for all of my goodies. I love ❤️❤️ them so much and can not wait to read the books. #bestof2020swap

Really enjoyed this it was very different to what I normally read. A well written creepy ghost story with a good ending 👻

I absolutely loved this book. Perfect to read around the spooky season! Not a particularly scary book but it was eerie with all the ghosts and witches. I love a good ghost story and this one was great! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My first book from this author and I enjoyed the story. It definitely had me interested through the entire book. Good characters and the I enjoyed the ending.

A good ghost story with surprises. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#jennifermcmahon #spookyreads 👻🎃

🎧

#jennifermcmahon #thriller

Oh this was spooky, 5 stars! A couple purchases land to build their dream home on a Bog creepy things start happening. I could only read this in the day hours. Too creepy to read before bed. It started slow but then picked up in scariness by Chapter 7. 👻💀🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️

#cocoturns50 #Halloween #spooky #scary

So boring. I literally read once sentence per page and skipped through to page 78 and I still understood what happened. I couldn't be bothered to read the rest. What a shame.

Here are a few of my favorite Halloween reads. They give me all the spooky vibes. Also, I am hunting books actually set on Halloween. Any suggestions?

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/10/06/halloween-reads/

Made myself a cardamom and honey latte, pulled out my ghost story, and will be spending this grey afternoon tucked away at home. Things could be worse.

It had started when Hattie was a little girl. #firstlinefridays

Such an interesting story line with twists and turns at every chance. Another amazing book by Jennifer McMahon. Having said that, it didn‘t wow me like previous books from this author.

Stayed up way past my bedtime last night to finish this up for #lmpbc round 8. Loved this one! It was just creepy enough and had lots of surprises. It was so much fun reading everyone's thoughts along the way!
Also using this one for the #summerfun prompt A book picked by someone else.
@bookwormahn @rsteve388 @Alfrazier21
@4thhouseontheleft @StayCurious

I really enjoyed The Invited, it's a nice creepy ghost story. Nice choice @rsteve388 I'll get it out to you next week @Mynameisacolour
#lmpbc @Alfrazier21

Switching gears here after a really long run of romances. I love Jennifer McMahon! ❤

@Alfrazier21 Look what finally arrived 😸 Anyway I'm looking forward to reading it #lmpbc #GroupK

Group K - I finished this one this week and I‘ll be sending it on its way to @BookwormAHN tomorrow! 📫 I‘ll save posting my thoughts on the story, so as not to give anything away! 😬

@rsteve388 @Mynameisacolour

#litsymarkup

@Alfrazier21 I sent my book to you should get there sometime next week for Group K. #LMPBC I hope you enjoy my notes.