This was a bit slow to start… I feel like I didn’t really start enjoying it until I was at 60-70% but then it got really good.
It’s a combination of The Secret Garden and Mexican Gothic. Both are books I loved and that started out pretty slow. I just think that is how gothic novels are. I thought that Olivia and Matthew’s progression through the novel was so great. Schwab is so great with character development.
This took some turns and was a bit spooky for a middle grade, but the majority of it is really just right for 7th-8th graders. High school kids may think it’s a bit babyish.
I listened to this and the narration was awesome! And I loved how they read the journal entries.