3.5! solid but i felt like the plot and romance weren't integrated very well. cws for csa, animal death (not just for the taxidermy), abuse (spousal & parent/child)

This was a surprisingly fun book. I always wanted to keep reading to figure out the many mysteries of Lockwood Manor even when I got the end, which was surprising and just excellently done. I liked Hetty and Lucy as individual characters even if I didn't like them much as a couple. I would have loved them as a couple but I just don't think the writing sold me that they were great together or had a deep meaningful relationship -- in this context, I feel like the writer could have shown more than just tell us they loved each other. But I loved them individually as characters, their perspectives, anxieties, nightmares. Even though sometimes it felt like the chapters got a little repetitive establishing how they felt about things, it moved the plot along consistently and made the ending all the more believable and the perfect ending to the book.

I liked all the additional characters as well. The major, the housekeeper, Mary, etc. They all contributed the underlying feeling that more was going on in the house than one would expect. And although again, it felt repetitive at times, I liked how for most of the book, Lockwood Manor felt like a character itself. It came so alive, dark and encroaching, and sucked you right into the realm of a gothic novel. It was a fun escapist read and I greatly enjoyed it!

A museum curator follows part of the collection brought outside of London due to the war, but then dead things begin to stir.

The high concept of the book is good, a nice twist on the stranger in a strange land that ought to be familiar. And in general, the treatment of the tropes of gothic fiction is good, verging on clever. It is a response to every madwoman in the attic. And the mystery has a satisfying, somewhat ambiguous, solve to it that I like. And it's been a while since I felt like I was rooting for a character as much as here.

Unfortunately, the text is something of a mess. The first person narration hurts by providing far too much telling as opposed to showing. In particular the romance plot has all its energy drained by that, and its somewhat...porny method of description (take a drink every time the heat of touch comes up) that telegraphs everything. That the first person narration switches characters seems like one of those 101 mistakes, and at least in my edition the choice to make some whole chapters italicized makes them functionally unreadable. Which is a shame because that was the more interesting POV. The writing is dry. The historicity is not quite there, and it feels like a lot more could or should have been made of it, and instead is just a sort of casual way to stand out a little from similar texts.

So solid ideas, but the execution is a drag.

I downloaded this historical novel because of the beautiful cover. I also love gothic fiction!

It's 1939 and war has broken out. Hettie Cartwright works at a natural history museum in London. As the two senior male members of staff have enlisted, she has been given the job of overseeing the evacuation of the museum's collection of stuffed animals to the country - and she's thrilled at the responsibility. However, once the collection is installed at Lockwood Manor, Hettie realises she's taken on more than she'd bargained for. The staff, taking their cue from the irritable and sexist Lord Lockwood, refuse to take her seriously. Some exhibits go missing and others are deliberately damaged, but is there something else going on behind the scene? There are rumours of a curse and the late Lady Lockwood had seen the ghost of a woman in white before she died. Meanwhile, Hettie finds herself falling under the spell of Lord Lockwood's beautiful daughter - but is Lucy all she seems to be?

I do love a good gothic mystery and The Animals at Lockwood Manor ticked all the boxes for me. A spooky old house, mysterious owner, mad woman in the attic - the twist being that Hettie falls for the enigmatic lady of the manor rather than the lord. The writing is beautiful, the setting deliciously creepy and I loved the sweet romance. The story is slow burn but with plenty of chilling moments. I think my only disappointment was that I was expecting a different ending.

Recommend to fans of gothic mysteries and authors such as Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca), Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre) and Sarah Waters (The Little Stranger).


Thank you to Jane Healey and Mantle (Pan Macmillan) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.

I have to admit I went into this book with certain expectations and that expectation was turn completely upside down by the time I had finished. There is an air of suspension that follows you through the whole story. I loved this feeling and not knowing exactly where the feeling was coming from. The author does a really job of nudging us with mysterious happenings while giving us no solid answers until the truth I sprung on us at the end. The characters are very well written, both those we are meant to like and those we aren’t. I loved getting to know them and seeing how the develop in the midst of the tension and dread.

oh to live surrounded by decaying taxidermy while i exchange loaded glances with a beautiful heiress and also the house is certainly haunted, whether by the past or by literal ghosts or both

Thoroughly enjoyed the gloomy, gothic atmosphere of this book. The changing POV was immensely enjoyable too, though it was at times a bit hard to quickly identify who was talking. The pace may be slow to some, but I personally think it suited the theme of an old, infested manor and its inhabitants quite well. The feeling of being trapped with no way out was pouring out of the pages. The one thing that disappointed me was the resolution - I suppose I expected the "twist" to be something entirely different and definitely not as abrupt. While the better chunk of the book is developing slowly and steadily as the tension grows, the ending feels sudden and - in my opinion - unsatisfying.
Still would recommend, though probably more as gothic romance than gothic horror.