The Ghost Woods by C. J. Cooke

Started: 12.6.26

Finished: 14.6.26

Paperback

TBR Prompt: Gothic vibes

It took me a while to get into this book, there were a couple of times when I almost DNF'd it. It follows the timelines of two women, Mabel and Pearl, both pregnant but unmarried, which means they are sent to Lichen Hall, a mother and baby home. Here, the expectation is that they will give birth and then their babies will be adopted. Their timelines are only about 6 years apart though, and some of the other characters appeared in both, so I was often very confused about whose story I was reading.

The book demonstrates the social constraints and degrading treatment faced by unmarried pregnant women at the time, and touches on the fear and discrimination felt by the LGBTQIA+ community too. Apparently it's the third book in a trio dealing with nature and motherhood, the first two instalments being The Nesting and The Lighthouse Witches, but I believe they're standalone novels.

I didn't find the creepy elements of the story to be particularly scary at all, but I think that's because I'm a bit over the whole 'botanical horror' trope.

Blood On Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen

Started: 6.3.26

Finished: 12.3.26

Paperback

TBR Prompt: 4 word title

I can't actually remember the last time a book made me feel a little bit sick, but this one succeeded! Obsession, hunger, madness and a LOT of body horror! Coincidentally, I was reading this at the same time as reading Weyward, and although two different stories, they both featured wronged women fighting against the misogyny of the time. There was female rage and revenge (in both books), and I can't say I was sorry about it!

The Apparition Phase by Will Maclean

Started: 6.2.26

Finished: 9.2.26

Paperback

This has been on my want to read list for a while, being described as a "gothic ghost story". It started off really well; I don't always like child characters, but I did enjoy reading about Tim and Abi, perhaps because I was also interested in ghosts and the macabre when I was young, though not to the extent that they were. I liked the concept of them faking a ghost photograph, only to be told that the ghost was real and that they'd invited it in, and I think I'd have preferred if the story had continued this angle. For me, it felt like the middle part of the book lost its way, but that might just be because I'm not really a fan of seances, and it was hard to know which of the other people in the group could be trusted. Plus the whole experiment and reason for them being there was quite ambiguous too. I did find the parts at Yarlings interesting, but only because I was waiting for something to happen, to link back to the events from a few years earlier. In the end things did kind of come full circle, just not in a way I expected. I know 'ghost' and 'ghost story' can have many different meanings; I definitely enjoyed this, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.