A very atmospheric, Gothic novella about a group of orphans in the 1920s and the horrible thing that happened to them. I really enjoyed this story.

Welcome to Hawthorne House. An orphanage full of awful, little girls playing deadly games for a chance to be queen.

The rules are to one up the other girls by either playing tricks on them, or getting them into trouble with the Matron. It starts out innocently enough; throwing clothes out of the window, leaving bugs in their shoes. After two sisters show up to the orphanage, the tricks start getting more cruel and dangerous.

Theses are mean little girls that obviously have some issues. The first part of the book was interesting enough, following the girls in their day to day life, while playing tricks on the others to become queen. It was hard for me to differentiate which girl was which. I had to really think about who was who.

The second part of the book was promising, taking place years after the tragedy at Hawthorne House. I wish the ending had more of something. There was no real action, then the story just ended. I just wanted it to be more climatic, I think.

I love a good horror story that will genuinely freak you out.....the only issue with this one is that...it was kind of cliched and not all that engrossing.

Right off the bat this book gets points for writing horror where children are invoked. I think that immediately makes any story, movie, etc. scarier! I think even though this concept (ghost game gone wrong) is done frequently in media and novels this book stands apart! Would definitely recommend to my other book friends.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

Welcome to Hawthorne House. An orphanage full of awful, little girls playing deadly games for a chance to be queen.

The rules of the game is to one up the other girls by either playing tricks on them, or getting them into trouble with the Matron. It starts out innocently enough; throwing clothes out of the window, leaving bugs in their shoes. After two sisters show up to the orphanage, the tricks start getting more cruel and dangerous.

Theses are mean little girls that obviously have some issues. Just thinking about certain scenes makes me queasy. There are TW for the book, so read those before you jump in.

The first part of the book was interesting enough, following the girls in their day to day life, while playing tricks on the others to become queen. My main issue was that it was hard for me to differentiate which girl was which. I had to really think about who was who, as all of them didn't stand out individually as much as others.

The second part of the book was promising, taking place years after the tragedy at Hawthorne House. I won't say much because of spoilers, but I wish the ending had more of something. There was no real action, then the story just ended. I just wanted it to be more climatic, I think.

I can see others really liking this book, but it just wasn't the right one for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This shirt creepy story is one of two parts. Part one follows a group of girls in an orphanage during 1926, leading up to a horrifying incident. In a 'Lord of the Flies'- esque situation, the girls delve into a make believe world of the royal court in which the violence is anything but make believe. The second part of the book follows a contemporary setting as those rebuilding Hawthorne House must learn to navigate some spiteful spirits.

I was excited to read this; the book description drew me in but unfortunately I found it hard to keep me engaged.

2.5 ⭐

I loved small portions of this book but unfortunately didn't love it overall. I thought it was a great idea but I struggled to stay engaged with the storytelling.

Setting: Loved (Orphanage (1920s)) ✅
Characters: Strong ✅
Storytelling: Really struggled ❌
Ending: Loved ✅


SPOILERS
^^^^^^^^^

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Loved the fire. Loved that everyone perished. Loved that they became ghosts. Loved the ending. Loved the rules. Loved the ghost descriptions.

This is a great little gothic horror short. The setting is spooky enough but when you add in children who only get creepier by the page turn, you’ve got the perfect night time read.

Review will be posted to goodreads

I still don’t really know what this book was solely meant to be about. For me it felt rather disjointed. I loved the concept and I liked the characters (although I didn’t find them developed or individual enough so I often confused myself between who was who). I think this would have been such a better book with a bit more editing and extension.

I just finished reading "What Happened at Hawthorne House," and it's like, seriously messed up! It's about these girls who start playing this game, and it starts out all fun, but then it gets super dark and twisted.

I mean, the way the author describes the atmosphere is like, wow. You can feel the creepiness radiating off the pages. And the characters, they're so well-written. You can tell they're all trying to cope with their own stuff, but the way they do it is like, whoa.

It's not a super fast-paced book, but that's okay. The author takes her time to build up the tension, and it's masterfully done. You can feel the suspense growing, and it's hard to put down.

I wouldn't say it's for everyone, though. If you're looking for something light and fluffy, this isn't it. But if you're into psychological horror and suspense, you'll love it. Just be prepared for some serious chills and a few sleepless nights.

This was such an incredible short story! The atmosphere is tangible and the pacing is fantastic. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a quick and spooky read.

Was a good read to pick up here and there while I was busy with school. I didn’t find much that made me want to continue reading all in one sitting , but was enjoyable and entertaining.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this!
Super creepy and dark. There was a few mishaps with spelling throughout the book, but nothing that nerved me. The girls were so hard to figure out. I understand they were all messed up in their own way but man were they cruel. Rosalyn was one of my favorites. She seemed nicer but also just as vindictive. Very sort of gothic in a way. Definitely will be recommending this to others!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

What Happened at Hawthorne House is half ghost story and half examination of trauma in pre-adolescent girls. The first 60% of this story is very strong. It focuses on the girls, their social order, and their cruelty toward one another. This makes for a disturbing but very realistic portrayal of young girls who have experienced massive trauma. The second portion of this story focuses on a man over a decade into the future trying to buddy up to the spirits in the house so that he can fix the property for a new purpose. The second half of the book honestly detracted from the first half. The children are far more interesting than this random dude.


This is a quick read that’s overall pretty interesting. Worth checking out for sure.

This novella is wrought with impeccable prose that underscores the connection between beauty and horror that permeates the story. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer; I wanted to know more about Hawthorne House and the dead girls who lurk there. An instant classic—I wouldn't be surprised to see this title on college English syllabi in the near future.

What Happened at Hawthorne House is a relatively short and quick read. However, I just could not get into the story due to it lacking the horror aspect and that it took way too long to get into the story. The premise is interesting, but it's a pass for me.


Thank you for the ARC Netgalley and Brigids Gate Publishing, LLC. All opinions are my own.

Rosalyn and her peers live at Hawthorne House. Bored and growing up with the constant punishments of their matrons, the girls devise a game to keep them occupied: The Clover Court. They're ranked as Queen and Princesses, and each girl strives to win the crown in a series of ever crueller pranks, until things truly escalate.
This was such a fun horror read. Of course, it's "only" a novella so a shorter story is to be expected, I just had wished that it wasn't split into two parts - I was much more interested in what the girls got up to and how they came up with the game. Nonetheless the writing was sharp and easy to read, even though the themes sometimes weren't. I would definitely pick up another story by this author, but I'd be very excited to see what they do with a longer format since this felt like there could have been much more to tell.

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.

This book had a lot of potential to be good and interesting. However, despite how short it was it just felt flat and the characters didn't stand out to me.