You might remember me gushing over Dawn Kurtagich's The Dead House. So when I heard there was a novella that tells the story of Naida, that kind of fills in some gaps, and maybe answer some leftover questions, I desperately wanted to get my hands on it. But I kept putting it off, because I was really scared of being disappointed.
Now that I've read it, I can say that even though it's a great story, it wasn't quite as dark as I had hoped. It still explores mental health, just like the original story, it still gave me the idea of not knowing what is actually happening, if it's a really scary paranormal story or a really dark contemporary. However it didn't give me the full closure I was hoping for. I was hoping it would give me some kind of idea of where Carly and Kaitlyn were or if they were still alive, if it somehow all happened in Naida's imagination, anything. The story does however give something that the original book didn't give, or at least not from what I remember: a long-term timeline. It gives a rough idea of when these documents and recordings, from both books, were discovered, which is great if you ask me.
Although I was hoping for more, I'm glad I read this book. It reminded me of why I loved The Dead House, and it proved to be just the right read for Halloween.
Rating: 3 cups
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***
I've always wondered how exactly did Eve die. I know it was before Stolen, but I couldn't remember the details. This short story tells the story of how she and Savannah were captured, their failed escape and, lastly, how Eve died.Initially I gave it 5 cups, because the writing is, as expected, amazing, and Eve is my absolute favorite witch. Thinking about it now, however, I am a bit disappointed with how she actually died, enough to reconsider my rating and lowering it to a 3.5 cups. It's not that it's a bad story, but I wish she had gotten a better death. Does that make sense? In reading it I did got my excitement up to read the series again, so I'm thinking a reread is in my very near future.
Rating: 3.5 cups
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