This wasn’t a bad read and I liked the premise, but it dragged out with too much reiteration of plot points. If you enjoy a historical fiction with some light paranormal elements and don’t mind that, it could be a good fit. But I didn’t get any horror or atmosphere from it. 

 

Energy: Watchful. Self-conscious. Contemplative. 

 

🐺 Growls Repetitive, slow-moving narrative. Story circled the same plot points, worsened by the MC’s indecision. The plot kept stalling out with lots of inner musings and over-explaining small details. Atmosphere after the first chapter was minimal and eventually lost the sense of place. 

 

🐕 Howls This is more of a historical fiction with a bit of paranormal elements, with the curse explained through family history rather than ominously present day to day. It was too long for the amount of story. Read like a YA book (on the younger side) in writing style and over-explaining. 

 

🐩 Tail Wags Audio easy to listen to while multi-tasking. The concept (premise, setting, and characters). 

 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Louisiana on a family plantation.

Perspective: Our main character is hired as a tutor for above average pay. As they come to learn more about the family that hired them and their connection, they discover what they were really hired for and why they were lied to. 

Timeline: 1960s

🔥 Fuel: Hope and redemption. Race against time. Backstories and family drama. Will our main character be affected by the curse? Can she reverse it? Why was she chosen to deal with it? 

📖 Cred: Gothic fantastical spiritual realism

 

Burnt taste. Oak trees. Seance. Distant singing. Smoky scent. Bones. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Racism (historical; segregation, prejudice, persecution, internalized). Loss of loved ones (mention, recall). Incest (cousins). Classism, elitism (bloodline, race). Familial rejection. Mutilation (off page;

tongue removal

). Adoption (reluctant). Forced gender roles.  

 

Rep: American. Cis. Hetero. Dark, brown, and pale skin tones.

 

📚 Format: Library Audio