Last year, I finished off my Halloween reading with The Haunting of Ashburn House. I really loved it so I thought I’d give another Darcy Coates book a try. So I reached for The Haunting of Blackwood House, but unfortunately this one let me down. Let’s talk about why.
Mara’s life was filled with ghosts. She was the daughter of spiritualists that hosted seances every chance they had. Now Mara is out on her own and she wants nothing to do with the occult world that she was raised in. But after she purchases Blackwood House she has to face the fact that ghosts might actually exist.
My Thoughts on The Haunting of Blackwood House
I think I would have enjoyed this one better if there had been a different main character. Mara was ridiculously stubborn, and she treated Neil horribly. He wanted to help her but she absolutely refused. She wanted to be independent, but she came off as ungrateful.
Now let me sum up eighty percent of the story. Neil: “I want you to leave. I’m worried about your safety in this old falling down house that has holes in the wall.” Mara: “Look at me. I’m so independent. This is my house. I don’t care if the walls bleed. Ghosts don’t exist.” There, that’s a big chunk of the story. I hope I didn’t spoil too much.
Once something besides the above interaction happened it actually started to get pretty good. But by then my brain had checked out. This one just didn’t work for me, and I was so disappointed.
My Rating: 2/5
This was such a great review, thank you, I needed that! 🤭
I haven’t read anything by Darcy Coates yet.. unfortunately, I was going to start with this. Now I think I’ll try a different one.
Have a fantastic Halloween!
Thanks! I really enjoyed The Haunting of Ashburn House last year. If you do pick up one of her books I hope you love it!
Any time! And that sounds like a good one, I’ll keep my eye out for it, thanks!
Ah, bummer. I can’t do stubborn characters right now. They just drive me nuts! Thanks for the heads up!
Normally I don’t mind them, but this was over the top!