Author: Kate Moretti
Series: None
Publication Date: November 1, 2020
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Pages: 330
Obtained: Publisher via NetGalley
Genre: Gothic, Psychological Thriller
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: A wonderful, creepy gothic story involving a creepy castle, family secrets and a small town
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: When Hannah Maloney’s aunt dies in a car accident, she returns to her family’s castle in the Catskills and the epicenter of a childhood trauma: her sister’s unsolved disappearance. It’s been seventeen years, and though desperate to start a new life with her fiancé, Hannah is compelled to question the events of her last summer at Brackenhill. When a human bone is found near the estate, Hannah is convinced it belongs to her long-lost sister. She launches her own investigation into that magical summer that ended in a nightmare. As strange happenings plague the castle, Hannah uncovers disturbing details about the past and startling realizations about her own repressed childhood memories. Fueled by guilt over her sister’s vanishing, Hannah becomes obsessed with discovering what happened all those years ago, but by the time Hannah realizes some mysteries are best left buried, it’s too late to stop digging. Overwhelmed by what she has exposed, Hannah isn’t sure her new life can survive her old ghosts. ~amazon.com
Review: It's that time of year when creepy ghost stories that are set in a small town with a mysterious castle are a perfect read and Kate Moretti's Girls of Brackenhill, definitely fills that need. We are introduced to Hannah when she's informed that her Aunt has died in a tragic car accident and needs to return to Brackenhill to settle her affairs and decide what to do with her dying Uncle. This triggers Hannah's flashbacks to that final summer when her sister, Julia, went missing. Hannah is determined to find out what happened to her and why rumors swirl around her aunt and the curse of the castle.
Hannah has a new life that she's tried to cultivate away from her family's tragic past and even has a "steady-eddy" fiance in Huck. She's never told him much about her family and now she finds herself transporting herself back by returning to Brackenhill. Huck likes order and the details of her past are not orderly. Not to mention, Wyatt, who was her first love is the one involved in looking to see if her aunt's accident was an accident.
Things start to spin out of control when Hannah's dog, uncovers human bones and an investigation team finds human remains. Is it Julia? If it's not Julia, who is it and why are they on the Brackenhill property? If it is Julia, will it help put Hannah's unanswered questions to rest?
Hannah is an interesting character because she's buried so much hurt and pain from her past and it's starting to ooze out of her. She's sleep walking, having dreams that seem real and starting to really lose it when it comes to figuring out what happened 17 years ago in the castle. Snippets of her past come rushing at her, she starts to unwind. She starts to investigate the past and how it's tied to people she didn't even know existed.
As a reader you begin to wonder what is real and what is in her head. You see Hannah unravel in front of you. In the end, you yourself wonder what is real and what is in her head. I loved the ending and am still thinking about it days later and trying to make up my mind on what I believe. I'm totally ok with the non-tied bow ending for this novel.
If you are into Gothic mysteries, then you will want to dive into Girls of Brackenhill.
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