REVIEW: IT WILL JUST BE US by Jo Kaplan
A few awesome quotes from the book:
“A house is haunted by memory.”
“Are they the ghosts, truly, or am I?”
“The past is everywhere, here, wrapped up in the present.”
I love a good ghost story and this one weaves in a historic Winchester-like house. The gothic horror reads slowly with gorgeous visual description and rich literary writing. I felt like I was touring the house along side the main character, Sam, and I had lots of creepy shudders myself. Sam grew up with the ghostly memories of the house, so none of them phased her until she was met with a new ghost, who scared her and wasn’t behaving like the rest. Through this, she learns that she needs to do everything to protect her family. And the end wrecked me! I didn’t see it unfolding that way, but the author did an incredible job!
If you’re a fan of haunted houses, horror, and the supernatural, you won’t be disappointed in this story!
Title: IT WILL JUST BE US
Author: Jo Kaplan
Rating: 5 | 5 stars
Available Sept. 8, 2020 from Crooked Lane Books. Preorder today!
About the story: Sam Wakefield’s ancestral home, a decaying mansion built on the edge of a swamp, isn’t a place for children. Its labyrinthine halls, built by her mad ancestors, are filled with echoes of the past: ghosts and memories knotted together as one. In the presence of phantoms, it’s all Sam can do to disentangle past from present in her daily life. But when her pregnant sister Elizabeth moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts. Already navigating her tumultuous relationship with Elizabeth, Sam is even more unsettled by the appearance of a new ghost: a faceless boy who commits disturbing acts—threatening animals, terrorizing other children, and following Sam into the depths of the house wielding a knife. When it becomes clear the boy is connected to a locked, forgotten room, one which is never entered, Sam realizes this ghost is not like the others. This boy brings doom. As Elizabeth’s due date approaches, Sam must unravel the mysteries of Wakefield before her sister brings new life into a house marked by death. But as the faceless boy grows stronger, Sam will learn that some doors should stay closed—and some secrets are safer locked away forever.
Thank you to NetGalley, Jo Kaplan, and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.