NetGalley – The Proctor Hall Horror by Bill Thompson – A Review.

The Proctor Hall Horror by Bill Thompson. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ascendente Books for the ARC of this book.

Synopsis… “Set along the beautiful Bayou Lafourche near Thibodaux, Louisiana, it’s a more traditional ghost story than some of the others from this author. Back in 1963, a fourteen-year-old boy who’s never spoken a word is found sitting quietly on a stairway in his house. In a nearby sitting room, his mother, father and younger sister sit next to each other on a couch.

At least most of their bodies are on the couch. Their heads are neatly arranged on the mantel. The boy – the only living person at Proctor Hall — is deemed unable to stand trial and spends decades locked away. When he’s released at last, he comes back to live at in the old house.

For a class assignment, a university professor sends a team to the old plantation with a goal to learn about the now-abandoned house and its mysterious past. As the students uncover secrets, the school project becomes a tragedy beyond imagination. Landry and the crew are called in to investigate. As they learn the truth, the dark things that lurk inside Proctor Hall may claim even more victims.”

Overall rating 5 out of 5 stars.

My review…

I think this may be my favourite read of the year so far, it had everything I could have wanted from a ghost story.

From the opening pages I was hooked by the story of a young girl who goes missing in front of the Proctor house and as the first chapter progressed I was drawn deeper into the story.

As we start the main bulk of the story we meet a group of teenagers who are attending a class led by a professor seemingly interested and drawn in by all things ghostly, we later discover this isn’t the case and there are far more sinister things going on…

I was drawn in by every character in this story, they all had a role to play and they did so perfectly. They were woven together creating the perfect mix to make this book explode into ghostly goodness.

A personal favourite of mine was Professor Julien Girard who was written so well that I did not see his twist coming at all…

The writing itself was excellent, the chapters were the perfect length to build up shock and suspense and there were several points I had goosebumps and I was scared (it’s not that easy to scare me with a book or horror film haha).

Because the book was written in third person we got see the story through multiple sets of eyes, which I loved because we saw so many different angles.

I loved the ending too, it was the perfect way to round off what was a truly excellent ghost story.

And despite being the 7th book in the series everything made perfect sense without having to had read any of the previous books, which I thought was great!

Until next time, Em xxx

Gerald’s Game, Stephen King – A Review.

Gerald’s Game by Stephen King.

Synopsis… “A game of seduction between a husband and wife goes horribly awry when the husband dies. But the nightmare has just begun…“

Overall rating 4 out of 5 stars.

My review…

There is a trigger/content warning with Gerald’s Game for child sexual abuse. I will not be mentioning this in my review but please be aware of this should you wish to read this book.

Anyone who knows me will know I adore Stephen King and his writing and Gerald’s Game was no different, it was, in a word, brilliant.

We are launched straight into the story here, the opening of the book involves Jessie already in handcuffs, and I’m glad that King didn’t waste time setting the scene or the drive to the lake house when that would have held little relevance to the overall story.

As always, the suspense creeps up on us and Gerald’s Game is no exception to this. I had permanent goosebumps reading the first chapter of this book! I was literally terrified for a good chunk of this book. Especially when Jesse starts hallucinating (or does she…) and seeing things in their room.

I particularly enjoyed how despite Jessie being alone (other than Gerald’s body) the book never seemed to stop or fall into a lull, or feel claustrophobic. This, for me, was aided by Jessie’s inner monologue, which I loved.

The inner monologues also allowed us to learn more about Jessie, her relationship with Gerald and her life in general, which I felt added a human element to the characters and helped me to form a connection with them.

King was clever in his chosen moment for the flashbacks or inner monologues, so that there was never a point where we would feel bored from being stuck in the same room for so long.

There was a point that I felt the book could have ended, and for me I wished it had of done. The last few remaining chapters were unnecessary and spoiled it a bit, in my opinion.

On the whole, I did really enjoy this book and I was terrified at points, the suspense really got to me! Let me know if you’ve read Gerald’s Game, I’m off to watch the film now on Netflix as my treat to myself for finishing the book.

Em xxx

Third Child: A Psychological Thriller, Kate Mitchell – A Review. [SPOILERS].

Welcome to blog everyone, aloha, hello! I’m here again with a review, this time of a free Kindle book that I downloaded a few weeks ago, it’s Third Child: A Psychological Thriller. 

I DNFR this book, so my review and rating are based on the 35% of the book that I did actually attempt to read…

Overall rating 1 out of 5 stars. 

Where do I start, it seemed like such a good book, the blurb and small extract I read beforehand promised twists and turns like no other, a story sure to take you on a wild ride. I mean we went on a ride sure, but one that made no bloody sense.

From what I read of the book I really struggled to understand what was going on… It felt like there was no structure to the story, or any real idea of how it was going to progress.

One minute Cecilia is running away to a B&B after Angelina, a lady who got in contact with her to tell her a terrible story about the abortion clinic she works in, was “accidentally” hit by a bus. Next thing, she’s met some guy in the B&B (here comes the love interest *rolls eyes*) and then 4 lines later we’ve skipped forward 2 years… The writing here felt forced, unnatural and the author was trying to progress the story far too quickly.

And Cecilia, who was clearly going to be the main character, was just so damn annoying. She did not come across in a positive way at all, and when we’re meant to be rooting for her, experiencing her feelings and emotions, it was impossible to!

I really think I wouldn’t have enjoyed this book if I read right the way through, so I’m glad I DNFR. 

Let me know if you’ve managed to read it all the way through as I’d love to know what you thought!

Till next time, Em xxx