Author: Rachel Donohue
Genre: Gothic
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
I got a little nervous when I picked this one because I had started it over twice. The first time I got halfway through the second chapter of Louisa's POV and had re-read the back of the book, and started it all over again because I thought I might have been confused. I wasn't, the facts were still the same I just needed to trust the author's process. And, I'm glad I did because I really liked the narrator's that Donohue picked for this. Both of them were a little unreliable, but I don't think this story would have worked with just the Journalist's point of view.
Honestly, I can't think of a better setting than an old isolated private school that is one term away from closing. Temple House is a boarding school that thinks so much of itself, and its reputation and alumni donors are the only things keeping its doors open in 1990. The curriculum is dated and all it took was one scandal to close their doors. The way that both the Journalist and Louisa describe Temple House, sets up the reader for something weird to happen. The isolation of the "girls on the hill" also plays into all the aspects of this story. If they were so isolated would this of happened? If this school was more upgraded and Louisa treated better would this have happened?
It's hard to say for certain.
My favorite piece of this book is how Donohue kept me guessing. At the start of the story, I wasn't sure what to think about the disappearances of the student and teacher. The first couple of sections with Louisa didn't really lead me anywhere, and the Journalist wasn't really getting anywhere. It wasn't until I hit the halfway point that this book became hard to put down. Little things that Louisa would say lead to me wonder if maybe she'd killed Mr. Lavelle and Victoria helped her hide the body. I even thought I knew where they'd put the body.
A few chapters later I thought maybe Helen had done something to them. For about a hundred pages I went round and round until I finally got the last few pages. I was sort of right, in the I'm apparently really good at knowing where to hide a body, kind of right.
For me the reason I really liked this was Louisa's version of the story. Her journey of nearly finding herself and not knowing what to do with the pieces she found that don't exactly fit. The love she has for someone that can't love her back. Her chapters were my favorite and honestly, I think I would have liked the book a lot better without the Journalists' point of view. I found them boring, and as I write this I can't even remember the character's actual name. But the way Louisa told her story was wonderfully tragic, the perfect ode to a Gothic.
The perfect setting really. I thought the whole mystery was wonderfully laid and painfully beautiful. For a debut novel, I give kudos to Rachel Donohue. This was wonderful, I just didn't care for the bumbling Journalist. The epilogue was also not really needed, felt a bit extra, I just skimmed it. But as I whole I really liked this.
Donohue's writing style was wonderful and the mystery was well put together. As I said I love the idea of decaying boarding school for this tragic teenage love story. Probably one of the few love triangles I didn't hate. Because this one really kind of was a real love triangle. I will die on the hill Mr. Lavelle was a little in love with Louisa, as creepy as that thought is.
So I'm eager to see what this author writes next. Personally, this is one of the best "modern" Gothics I've picked up in a while. Definitely recommend it if you are in the mood for something spooky, but not scary.
Honestly, I can't think of a better setting than an old isolated private school that is one term away from closing. Temple House is a boarding school that thinks so much of itself, and its reputation and alumni donors are the only things keeping its doors open in 1990. The curriculum is dated and all it took was one scandal to close their doors. The way that both the Journalist and Louisa describe Temple House, sets up the reader for something weird to happen. The isolation of the "girls on the hill" also plays into all the aspects of this story. If they were so isolated would this of happened? If this school was more upgraded and Louisa treated better would this have happened?
It's hard to say for certain.
My favorite piece of this book is how Donohue kept me guessing. At the start of the story, I wasn't sure what to think about the disappearances of the student and teacher. The first couple of sections with Louisa didn't really lead me anywhere, and the Journalist wasn't really getting anywhere. It wasn't until I hit the halfway point that this book became hard to put down. Little things that Louisa would say lead to me wonder if maybe she'd killed Mr. Lavelle and Victoria helped her hide the body. I even thought I knew where they'd put the body.
A few chapters later I thought maybe Helen had done something to them. For about a hundred pages I went round and round until I finally got the last few pages. I was sort of right, in the I'm apparently really good at knowing where to hide a body, kind of right.
For me the reason I really liked this was Louisa's version of the story. Her journey of nearly finding herself and not knowing what to do with the pieces she found that don't exactly fit. The love she has for someone that can't love her back. Her chapters were my favorite and honestly, I think I would have liked the book a lot better without the Journalists' point of view. I found them boring, and as I write this I can't even remember the character's actual name. But the way Louisa told her story was wonderfully tragic, the perfect ode to a Gothic.
The perfect setting really. I thought the whole mystery was wonderfully laid and painfully beautiful. For a debut novel, I give kudos to Rachel Donohue. This was wonderful, I just didn't care for the bumbling Journalist. The epilogue was also not really needed, felt a bit extra, I just skimmed it. But as I whole I really liked this.
Donohue's writing style was wonderful and the mystery was well put together. As I said I love the idea of decaying boarding school for this tragic teenage love story. Probably one of the few love triangles I didn't hate. Because this one really kind of was a real love triangle. I will die on the hill Mr. Lavelle was a little in love with Louisa, as creepy as that thought is.
So I'm eager to see what this author writes next. Personally, this is one of the best "modern" Gothics I've picked up in a while. Definitely recommend it if you are in the mood for something spooky, but not scary.
HAPPY READING!!
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