HOUSE OF THORNS

In order to deal with her past, a teenage girl must return to the terrifying house her family ran away from.

When she was 13, Lia Peartree, her mother, and her sister Ali fled Brier Hall, the seemingly haunted house in Eastwind, California, that they'd inherited from her estranged father after his death. They lived there for two years, but after Lia’s eldest sister, Avery, vanished, they left in search of a fresh start. Five years later, Lia is trying to live a normal life in Daley, located several hours away, despite everything that’s constantly pulling her back there: the mystery of Avery’s disappearance, troubled Ali’s addiction, her connection to childhood crush Rafferty (who’s still in Eastwind), and what seems to be the house itself calling to her. When Ali tells Lia she’s going back to Brier Hall because she believes Avery is still alive, Lia decides to follow her—against Ali’s wishes—and face the secrets she’s been trying to forget. With the help of Ali and Rafferty, Lia confronts everything that’s been haunting her for the last five years. While the prose is lovely and frequently poetic, Lia’s redundant internal thoughts do little to push the slow-moving action along. The plot, which lacks any broader themes to elevate it, ultimately falls flat. Main characters present white.

An atmospheric but underwhelming take on the traditional haunted house story.