The Whispering House

It was interesting but not my cup of tea but I didn’t think it was a waste of time.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4.This had a great Gothic vibe that evoked bits of Wuthering Heights, The Woman in White, and even Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Byrne House is as much a character as Freya, Cory, Diana, and Stella, and the house really seems to cast a spell on these four characters. This is a dark story about losing oneself in the fantasy of an imagined life, and not being able to pull oneself free even when confronted with the reality of the situation. Each of the four main characters are seriously flawed, even broken as we find out as the story progresses. There is an element of madness within each of the characters that contributes to their willingness to believe in the fantasy, although for Freya, this is brought on by grief and guilt, as she is probably the most sensible and grounded (at first) of the four. And while I didn't fully see the revelation of what happened to Stella coming, I was not entirely surprised or shocked. It made sense, actually.Although I understood Freya's descent into the "relationship" with Cory - and the house - there were so many moments that I felt like shaking her - like Maggie no doubt felt like doing. But, of course that is part of the theme at the core of this modern gothic. My frustration may be more a reaction to how many novels there seem to be revolving around women who are so easily drawn in to these toxic situations in spite of how sensible or strong they seem to be otherwise. It's sad to think that this may actually be closer to reality than we like to think :-(

Great gothic tale - engaging thriller

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting and based on the little I'd heard about the book, I was anticipating an atmospheric page-turner with serious gothic vibes. Actually, for the first 40-50 pages or so, I felt like this was the case, as the author did a pretty good job of setting the scene and creating intrigue around the house at the center of the story, Bryne Hall. Unfortunately it didn't last — for me, the story started to unravel early on, when the main character Freya Lyell returns to Bryne Hall again after her cousin's wedding and nonsensically inserts herself in the lives of Cory and Diana Bryne. Technically, there wasn't really a plot to speak of, as nothing much happens — but what annoyed me was that the little bit of plot that did happen was far-fetched and unrealistic. This was one of those stories where you pretty much have to suspend disbelief the entire time you're reading, otherwise it's hard to get through.Normally, I'm okay with lack of plot if the character development is good and I'm able to connect with the characters in some way. Sorry to say, this wasn't the case here — not only was every single character in this story very unlikable, they also felt like stereotypically-drawn caricatures going through the motions. The main protagonist, Freya, especially frustrated me to no end. One of the things I absolutely can't stand in books are grown up, adult characters who act like petulant children, as well as female characters who are portrayed stereotypically (i.e.: weak, hysterical, naive, irrational, emotional, wushu-washy, etc.) — unfortunately for me, Freya was both of these and worse. I hated how pretty much every single thing Freya did, every decision she made, was done in a way that made no sense whatsoever. From the get go, Freya is portrayed as naive and foolish, which I guess is the author's way of perhaps justifying why she makes one reckless decision after another throughout the entire story. Having said all that though, my biggest pet peeve is when the female character knows that doing certain things or going down certain paths is self-destructive and/or will for sure result in negative consequences either for herself or for others (oftentimes the character actually tells us so via her wn inner dialogue), yet she still insists on going forward with the decision — then, when others (usually a friend or family member) try to warn her or talk sense into her, she either goes ballistic and pushes the person away or she does the denial thing by playing dumb and pretending nothing is wrong. And that's just Freya — as if one annoying character wasn't enough, the author had to include an entire cast of them! Freya's father Roger was a jerk, her sister Stella was reckless, Cory Bryne was a delusional psychopath and his mother was a sinister witch — the only decent person in the story was Tom, but even he turned out to be annoying with his wishy washy personality.Overall, I would have to say that this was a disappointing and frustrating read for me. The writing for the most part was decent, though I felt like the "gothic" vibe and the mystery piece totally didn't work — if this was supposed to be a psychological suspense novel, it completely failed in that aspect, as the main plot points were predictable (I pretty much figured things out already within the first few pages) and the intrigue of the "house" at the center of the story was overshadowed by the loathsomeness of its occupants. In the end, I also felt the story dragged out for way too long, though I think that was because, at that point, I couldn't bring myself to care anymore. While I'm not one to DNF a book once I've started reading, I do believe that, based on sheer annoyance level alone, this one would've been an exception — the only reason I didn't is due to this being a book club read, which made me determined to push through it. With that said, the reviews for this one seem to be all over the place, so I would say read both the positive and negative reviews to get a more balanced perspective before deciding whether to pick this one up.

Beautiful prose, above average writing, Jane Eyre meets Psycho. It felt a bit done before, but most Gothic romance has been.

This was a riveting book and it truly held my interest . It had a bit of a twist at the very end with regards to Stella and Diana . I think it was in a sense a ghost story. The house was a real living breathing character in the book. It spoke to the living residents within its walls . Tom and Maggie and Freya’s dad and Cory’s dad had great supporting roles. Freya, Stella and Diana and Cory were the main characters although you don’t hear from the voice of Cory in the first person. He is the villain of the story in a sense but a damaged soul as well.

There’s some good work here in how the author portrays an abusive relationship. Freya’s treatment by her family primes her to make the otherwise unbelievable choices she makes that get the plot going, and her upbringing trains her to make terrible people’s excuses for them. However, the author relies on stereotypes rather than building out her characters, and they‘re largely just pawns that she jumps through one gothic hoop after another. The gothic atmosphere and the attraction of the house never really gel.

Honestly, the writing was well done, but for my personal taste, too dark and gothic. I read this for book club, and I try to enjoy challenging my tastes so it was a good stretch for me. It moved fast...but it really left me unnerved, and disturbed. Not that it was bad, because I’m sure it’s perfect for the genre. It’s probably something I will think about in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.

This book so nearly ticked the boxes for me. It just lacked a certain something that left me feeling a little flat. I saw the outcome coming - and it took ages to arrive. But saying that it was well written and highly atmospheric which nearly redeemed it.

There were strong recommendations for this novel I read in a magazine and couldn't believe it was so tailor-made for me... but it was. It absolutely lived up to the Jane Eyre meets Heathcliff in Manderlay that I had been hoping for.Early on in the novel, we want to root for the romance between Cory and Freya, in spite of his mother, Diana, who clearly doesn't welcome Freya in to the family home. Freya acted impulsively at first but reality settles in and she wonders if moving in to Byrne Hall was such a good idea.I recommend this for those who crave nineteenth century classics which portrayed atmospheric Gothic as standard.

I loved this book, but worked out 'who did it' less than half way through! However, that did not deter me from continuing with the read.