The way everything tied together was phenomenal. It feels like coraline but more grown up and with more at risk. Beautiful writing wrapped itself around a story that felt brand new in a familiar way. The narrator being mute was an interesting way to tell the story, and it helps the readers feel her frustration at every new turn. 

I really enjoyed this book. I liked its somewhat spooky vibes and its mystery. I did find the ending a little lackluster. While it was somewhat satisfying, I feel like Olivia is still somewhat unfulfilled as a person. Her main longing, for a family and people who genuinely care about her, feels both met and unmet. She ends up with a few people, yes, but I wanted her to have more of a community. I don’t know exactly what I would have wanted instead, but it left me feeling a bit upset.

I did really enjoy the gothic atmosphere of this book and the elements of mystery. But I felt like the end was a bit anticlimactic and I was left with a few questions that weren’t answered by the time I had finished reading. 

Gallant follows Olivia Prior, a young nonverbal girl who's grown up all her life in an orphanage. Among the abusive Mothers and the bullying children, she's never felt like she's found a place where she belongs. All she has is her mother's journal and the ghouls that only she can she -- the ghosts of people who'd once lived and died there.  

And then, one day, she recieves a letter from her family, calling her back to her family home where she belongs, and where she's wanted. But when she gets there, it's not what she expects. 



This story was very enjoyable. It was an easy read with beautiful prose. I can't say that the story was especially deep -- it sometimes feels more like dressings than a fully realized story -- and the ending was anticlimactic, but I still very much enjoyed myself throughout the entire story.

As an aside, the book itself is beautifully out together too. I had the Illumicrate special edition, which is to be expected for some of the extra flourishes -- the journal pages were designed to look like journal pages and the section dividers were lovely -- but even the regular editions that my friends read had beautiful ink drawings and certain pages were white text on a black background which I thought was an especially nice touch. I'm a big fan of when books put forth just that little bit of extra effort to make their books something special.