whitneydaniell

by: Lisa M. Matlin
published: Sep 26, 2023
genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
288 Pages, E-Book ARC Courtesy of NetGalley
GoodReads Link

Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.

But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.

When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.

GoodReads Synopsis

I went into this book completely green of the horror genre — I didn’t know what to expect. I honestly don’t know what to say about it, this was a tough book; I wasn’t engaged with the story.

I. Characters

Sarah Slade is trying to turn over a new leaf after, fleeing her hometown with her husband. In Part One, we learn that Sarah’s family is gone; her sister and mother are dead. In an effort to reinvent herself, she has thrown herself into becoming a social media influencer, an honored therapist, and a best-selling author. But is that what defines Sarah? After moving to the infamous Black Wood House, something begins haunting Sarah. Maybe her past is finally catching up with her.

The story is told from the point of view of Sarah for 99.9% of the story and toward the end, we get a chapter from her coworker, Emily. There are not many side characters, which I appreciate, because that means that, there are not too many stories to follow. But, with it being a small town, there are quite a few neighbors who add to the suspense even though, I saw through the smoke screen that Lisa Matlin was trying to put up. There are people in the town who give off the vibe that they know more than they’re letting on but, it’s all a farce.

Sarah, however, is a menace! Part One lays the foundation for her insanity. She often drafts blog posts that are completely unhinged and, thankfully, deletes them all before posting, but something is still off about her intrusive thoughts. She is distant and dismissive of her husband, there is clearly something deeper going on between them. She is rude, crass, and uncaring to her patients and her coworkers — it is not lost on me that she does not have many friends, she is an awful human being. And what is it about this cat, Reaper? She talks to the cat and believes that the cat is talking back to her. Now, I fully believe that animals know things but, the relationship with the cat was weird. In Part Two, it is solidified that Sarah is clinically insane and should be committed. *Put her in a padded room with a jacket that makes her hug herself*

I have a shopping problem. And a bit of an alcohol issue. And oh, everything else. Doesn’t take a therapist to realize I’m filling up the voids in my life with a whole lot of shit.

Sarah Slade

II. The Story / Plot

Again, I wanted to like this book but, the story moved at a snail’s pace and I was not intrigued, I had no motivation to finish the book besides the fact that Net Galley is expecting feedback from me.

Part 1: The story jumps timelines a few times but I’ll admit, it’s not distracting. There are news articles that are from the future and then there are dialogue and diary entries from the past. In my opinion, the news articles were overdone and as a reader, I would have liked to see the word count used on the news articles in the development of the story and its characters. Nevertheless, in Part 1 we’re introduced to Black Wood House, its history, previous owners, and the new owners, Sarah Slade and her husband, Joe Cosgrove. We get to learn about Sarah and her penchant for getting sh*tfaced and then making a game out of figuring out if she knows where she is or if she can get home.

We’re also introduced to the town of Beacon and some of its colorful characters. Because, of course, this small town, where everyone knows each other and everyone knows the history of Black Wood House, would be welcoming of a newcomer </sarcasm>. The townspeople are alarmed, they’re shocked, and in a state of disbelief because, why would anyone buy this murder house but, the undertone of everyone is more like, they’re waiting… Waiting to see what this house does to the new neighbors. They all know something and they’re not telling Sarah!

Part 2: Now we’re in the thick of Sarah’s full unraveling. We know her dirty little secret. But we are also seeing the blossoming of her friendship with her coworker Emily — which is borderline, inappropriate. But at this point, there is nothing about Sarah’s life that is appropriate. She is blowing off work and becoming erratic and unstable, her husband has long since removed himself from the house and stays away most days and, night and, her neighbors are over her sh*t, and the only person she trusts is Emily (who she has known maybe a month) — that says a lot. We watch her mental health decline rapidly.

With Part 2 however, comes a lot of unanswered questions. Questions, I can’t ask here without spoiling the book. The pacing of the story was very slow yet, the last couple of chapters, it was so rushed that as a reader, I felt like there was still so much of the story that hadn’t been told.

III. The Writing

This was a quick and easy read, the e-book was only 267 pages, which is extremely short in my opinion. The author, Matlin, lives in Australia and the setting of this book is in Australia but, I didn’t find any issue with following along or getting context behind some words that I was unfamiliar with. I did have to look up “echidna holes” because they’re mentioned a few times and I had no idea what they were.

IV. My Final Thoughts

If you’re stepping into the horror genre but, don’t want to be so scared that you can’t read before bed, then this is a great introductory book for you. If you’re an intermediate reader (like me) and you’re looking for more suspense, more character development, and a more fleshed-out story, maybe grab this if you have a short flight somewhere or, a long wait at the doctor’s office, idk.

This book won’t make my top 10 for the year and sadly, the minute I finished and went to start on this review, I had forgotten so much about the story that, I had to open it back up in front of me to finish this.