Review: House of Ash

House of Ash
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

After hearing voices among an eerie copse of trees in the woods, seventeen-year-old Curtis must confront his worst fear: that he has inherited his father’s mental illness. A desperate search for answers leads him to discover Gravenhearst, a labyrinth mansion that burned down in 1894. When he locks eyes with a steely Victorian girl in a forgotten mirror, he’s sure she’s one of the fire’s victims. If he can unravel the mystery, he can save his sanity . . . and possibly the girl who haunts his dreams.

But more than 100 years in the past, the girl in the mirror is fighting her own battles. When her mother disappears and her sinister stepfather reveals his true intentions, Mila and her sister fight to escape Gravenhearst and unravel the house’s secrets—before it devours them both. 

So....retrospectively I kinda wished I'd saved this for Halloween instead of reading it like right now because this is such a good Halloween read! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going in, but I ended up reading this in one sitting and I got totally hooked! 

I liked how the narrative flowed so easily between the two different POV's and time periods, it was very smooth and very well done and kept the pace moving forward. The writing is very atmospheric which is perfect for this book, it gives you a huge sense of foreboding as well as being appropriately creepy at points. The descriptions are brilliant too!

I actually really felt for Curtis, I wasn't sure about him at first but I really felt for him. He's trying his hardest to make everything work and I felt like Sage came off as a whiny, ungrateful brat once or twice. I got her point of view too, but seeing as we where in Curtis's head and we could see how much he was struggling I really felt for him. Uncle Frank is one of the most unpleasant characters I've come across in a while, he wasn't there for them at all and was sticking his nose in and trying to tell Curtis what he should and shouldn't do like...really dude? 

As for Mila, I loved her so much. She was fiery and she didn't stop fighting throughout the entire book. She was determined, and I felt for her and I was rooting for her to succeed. Avi I mostly liked, although he irritated me with how he handled Curtis at one point and how he phrased things but for the most part he was a great character too and he came through when it mattered. He was funny too! 

I got sucked in to the story more and more and it was so evocative and creepy and I just had to keep reading because I wanted to know how everything fit together and what was going on! Great storytelling, memorable and relatable characters and nice doses of creepy!