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My Darling Dreadful Thing
My Darling Dreadful Thing: A Novel | Johanna van Veen
10 posts | 7 read | 4 to read
Goodreads Most Anticipated Horror of 2024 | Goodreads Most Anticipated books in May | She Reads Most Anticipated Horror | Polygon Must-Read books of 2024 | Novel Suspects Most anticipated novels 2024 "Dark and decadent, with the haunting allure of a true gothic tale, My Darling Dreadful Thing is a sensation that horrifies as acutely as it delights. Johanna Van Veen is a force to be reckoned with and will stain your thoughts a brilliant shade of crimson." Rachel Gillig, New York Times bestselling author of One Dark Window Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears. Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruthstrange, corpse-like, and dead for centuriesis the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection. Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air at night, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable. Then, someone is murdered. Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove whoor whatis at fault or lose everything she holds dear. "A Sapphic sance of preternatural proportions, My Darling Dreadful Thing summons a stunning new literary voice to be reckoned with. Johanna van Veen reaches beyond the veil to conjure up a gothic shocker like no other." Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters
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IMASLOWREADER
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11 likes1 stack add
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BookwormAHN
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Thank you so much Amy @bookish_wookish I love the book choices and the socks are fantastic. The bookmarks are gorgeous. The book sleeve is awesome and thanks for the candy 👻
#AHRS2024 #AllHallowsReadSwap
@MaleficentBookDragon

bookish_wookish Wait did the lollipop melt??? 😩 2mo
KT1432 Omg the socks!!! 😊 2mo
BookwormAHN @bookish_wookish Yes but the Twix held up. Don't worry about it 😺 2mo
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bookish_wookish Oh no! Im so sorry! 😔 im glad you liked everything! (edited) 2mo
MaleficentBookDragon I love Bentley Little. We can be It twinsies. I got the Tim Curry Pennywise socks, 🧦🤡 2mo
BookwormAHN @MaleficentBookDragon Yay 🤎🤡🤎 2mo
48 likes6 comments
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Eggbeater
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Pickpick

Possessive (literally and figuratively), spooky spirits in 1950s Holland. This is a well crafted, gothically influenced story, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe. It's also a queer romantic tragedy. The reader has to figure out what is real and what is not. I loved the ambiance, the fact that it kept me guessing, and the vicious protectiveness of the ghosts.

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JenniferEgnor
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Mehso-so

I was stunned by the gorgeous cover of this book. Set in the 1950s but feeling much more like the Victorian period, an abusive mother decides to hold fraudulent seances upon the discovery of the strange spirit that inhabits her daughter. When a grieving widow comes to them for spirit contact, the old spirit has a violent reaction. At times I was confused at who was talking. Themes of dissociative identity disorder. I liked this story but I⬇️

JenniferEgnor didn‘t love it. As a medium myself, it infuriates me that anyone would create lies to monetize off of someone else‘s pain. The history of spiritism is a fascinating thing but that is not how spirit communication works. 3mo
13 likes1 comment
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starlight97
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Mehso-so

I wasn't a big fan of this one. The plot itself was okay but I wasn't in love with the characters. It's a good seasonal read though 👻🎃
#horror #gothic #ghosts

starlight97 And a quotation mark is missing on the photo, ugh how frustrating 😫 3mo
26 likes1 comment
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NicoleCeBallos
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Pickpick

I love Gothic Horror and was a big fan of this. I knocked off a star because the characters talk and act like they're from the early 1900s, and the setting feels like the early 1900s or before, but the story takes place in the 1950s.

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AmandaBlaze
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this book. It's full of gothic tropes: seances, crumbling mansions, spirit companions, and more. At it's heart, though, it's a love story. 4.5 stars.
#ReadAway2024 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
#LitsyLoveReads @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @TieDyeDude @Read4life

DieAReader 🥳🥳🥳 5mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🖤🖤🖤 5mo
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AmandaBlaze
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AmandaBlaze
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🖤🖤🖤 5mo
23 likes1 comment
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AmandaBlaze
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Loving this, so far.