Novella Review – In the Shadow of the Spindrift House by Mira Grant (3.5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Subterranean
Release Date: June 30, 2019
ISBN-13 : 978-1596069220
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
“Nature abhors a straight line. The natural world is a place of curves and softened edges, of gentle mists and welcoming spirals. Nature remembers deviation; nature does not forgive. For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But “teen” is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it’s up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory. Welcome to Spindrift House. The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they’ll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House—and why. The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery. Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go. Nature abhors a straight line. Here’s where the story bends.”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone novella that I borrowed from the library.
Story (3/5): Harlowe has a violent and mysterious past but after her parents’ deaths she went to live with her grandparents. There she formed friendships with some neighborhood kids and eventually they formed a detective agency. As they are all poised to move on to more adult lives and pastimes, Harlowe gets an offer they can’t refuse. If they can figure who owns the deed to Spindrift House they will be granted a prize of millions of dollars…the only catch is that once they enter the house they aren’t allowed to leave it.
I really liked most of this story but it does take quite a while to set up the story and get into Sprindrift House. Once Harlowe and crew were in Spindrift House, things just weren’t as creepy as I expected. I was not a fan of the end of the story which just seemed….so abrupt.
Characters (4/5): The characters are well done and all have quirky personalities and issues. Their relationships to each other are anything but normal. I liked the uniqueness of these characters even though I struggled to engage with any of them.
Setting (3/5): The set up for the setting of Spindrift House was amazing. I loved the desolate coastal setting and the creepy history of the house. However, once we were in the house I just found it kind of lacking. There wasn’t enough description for me to really picture the house well and the story wasn’t as creepily atmospheric as I was hoping for.
Writing Style (4/5): The writing style bounces around in this book. The prelude and Harlowe’s dreams are very literature-like, discussing the philosophy of life as a curve versus the straight lines humanity places on it. These were beautifully written but had to be very deliberately read. The parts of the story with Harlowe and her friends were much more typical fictional story-telling sort of style. The pacing was a bit off and it took a long time to set up the story; I felt like a lot less of this took place in Spindrift House than I was expecting. I also felt like things were tied up really quickly which didn’t match the pace of the rest of the story.
My Summary (3.5/5): Overall I was really looking forward to reading this and it was a bit of a let down for me. The pacing was kind of off and it just wasn’t as creepy and atmospheric as I was hoping for. It wasn’t a bad story, but it didn’t really tread any new ground. It does explore themes of madness and the Deep and at times has a very cthulhu tone to it, but it felt a bit forced. It was short so I didn’t mind reading it, but I didn’t love it either.
