I’m starting to think this author just isn’t for me. This is the third book I’ve read by her, and despite my love for haunted house stories, this one was a major disappointment. The premise had so much potential, but the execution fell flat in almost every way. The excessive cursing alone was grating and completely unnecessary. It added nothing to the story and quickly became distracting. There are also a few open-door spice scenes that I’d rate about two peppers, which felt out of place in what should have been a horror-forward narrative. There are also two queer characters, one bisexual and one gay, which felt forced, like checking off a box, and added nothing to the plot.

I will give credit where it’s due. The writing itself is solid on a technical level, and I really enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. Unfortunately, good prose cannot save a story that lacks tension, fear, or atmosphere. For a book marketed as horror, this was shockingly dull. There was very little suspense, no real sense of dread, and nothing particularly eerie or unsettling. Instead, the story leaned heavily into family drama, which quickly became repetitive and bland. I found myself bored for large stretches of the book.

The biggest reason this ended up being a low rating for me is the main character, Clio. She is one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve read in a long time. I came very close to DNF’ing this book multiple times and only pushed through because I needed to finish it for a specific podcast episode I was doing. Clio is rude, self-absorbed, vain, and obnoxious, all while framing herself as a “boss babe.” Her constant snark didn’t come across as witty or charming, just exhausting. I enjoy morally gray characters when they feel grounded and layered, especially when there is some sense of growth or self-awareness. Clio had none of that. She felt emotionally stunted and cruel, with no meaningful arc or redemption. Instead of a compelling, flawed heroine, she came across as insufferable, and she single-handedly dragged the entire book down for me.

Unfortunately, the side characters weren’t any better. None of them stood out or felt particularly developed. The siblings all felt like shallow archetypes, and the nonstop bickering became tedious very quickly. There was no real emotional payoff, no growth, and no healing within the family dynamics. By the end, it genuinely felt like the story had no point. Everyone remained stuck in the same emotional place where they started, which made the whole journey feel hollow.

If I’m being generous, the one thing this book does reasonably well is pacing in the sense that it keeps you reading just to figure out what’s going on with the house. That mystery element was the only thing that kept me turning pages. Unfortunately, that curiosity wasn’t rewarded with anything particularly satisfying. Every character became more irritating as the story went on, and the lack of development made it hard to care about any of them or their trauma. The family’s tendency to place blame in one direction also felt overly simplistic and unearned.

For a haunted house story, this felt painfully unoriginal. It reminded me heavily of Home Before Dark by Riley Sager, to the point where it felt derivative rather than inspired. I also caught strong echoes of popular horror films like The Exorcist and The Conjuring series. Instead of building its own eerie identity, the book leaned on familiar tropes without adding anything fresh. Rather than feeling tense or creepy, the overall tone came across as “light” or even cozy horror, which completely undercut what I look for in this genre. There was no real atmosphere, no sustained dread, and nothing that truly unsettled me.

If you enjoy stories with these elements: psychological vs. supernatural tension, dysfunctional family dynamics, influencer culture, a book within a book, and an unreliable narrator, then this might work for you. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the deeply unlikable main character and a haunted house story that barely felt like one. This was a huge miss for me, and I can’t recommend it.