Today I’m reviewing a book I pretty much binge-read last November–author Helen Power’s debut novel, The Ghosts of Thorwald Place.
Firstly I’ll start by saying that this was an interesting concept to me, and a plot I’d never seen before. Also, the cover art and title were pretty intriguing in a creepy but ‘I want to know more’ kind of way.
Even in the first few chapters, the descriptions were pretty vivid–you could basically see everything from what these people looked like to what they sounded like, seeing the murder of the main character to seeing everything from her point of view moving forward–creepy, right? The way this was done was also interesting, describing everything as a sort of greyish color, being able to watch and move but not change what was happening–it gave me major Twilight Zone sort of feels.
This book is scary, but not so scary that you have to put it down–there’s apprehension yet you want to keep reading. In fact, this book was so easy to read in large sections, that I read the last forty chapters in one sitting of two hours.
The twists and surprises come at every turn, from new characters to more bodies to being shocked by who the real psychopaths were. Everything about this book was insane–I can usually pick out the psycho killers from the second they step on screen or appear on a page, but not with this book.
There are a lot of characters, but for the most part, it was pretty easy to separate them from one another, with their own plotlines tying into the main character of Rachel’s. There is a lot of insight into these characters’ lives and the fact that everybody hides a part of themselves from the public eye–no matter how well you think you know someone, there’s most likely a secret they’ve never let out.
Not only did I have no idea who the killers were, but I had no idea what was going to happen to any of the characters at all; everything was so crazy and mind-blowing that I couldn’t stop turning the pages. When I reached the last page, I literally stared, jaw dropped, for a good five minutes before shutting the book. Even then, I found myself going back to random pieces of the book and realizing that there were clues all along, and understanding dawning on things, for example “omg, that’s why he didn’t remember the broken glass”. I kid you not, I have never had so many “omg”‘s and “wtf”‘s in a book before.
While there were certainly a few things that seemed a little hard to wrap my mind around (for example, spoiler, Rachel not being able to tell the difference between her husband and her brother, thus having many interactions with the brother including, ahem, sex, and having no idea until they were both dead), overall the entirety of the book pretty well thought out and believable (you know, as believable as a fictional thriller/mystery can be).
One thing I really liked was seeing a strong female character actively trying to get out of an abusive relationship, something that isn’t seen too often in works of fiction but should absolutely be portrayed more often. Melody was one of the best characters of the book, and a lot of it had to do with her being as courageous and intelligent as she wound up being.
One thing I decidedly did not like, and a big part of why I’m not rating this ten stars, was the murder and mutilation of Rachel’s cat, and it’s disturbingly descriptive manner. Not only was it disgusting to imagine somebody doing such a thing, but it was scary in a not-good-scary way. Everyone, go hug your cats, and if you read this, be warned that this was one of the primary triggers I noted (along with death/murder, descriptive gore, disturbing rituals, physical abuse, the list goes on really, but what do you expect from a thriller sort of mystery).
All in all this book was scary, disturbing, shocking, intriguing, sarcastic and funny all at the same time, wrapped together into an incredibly original and well-written novel, rated for me at a whopping nine of ten stars.
SheReadsWorlds 