This was an impressive debut novel by this author that is for sure. I enjoyed it a lot. It was well written and paced. It was atmospheric in the setting. The plot was engaging and kept me turning the pages. It was creepy and dark in places. There were twists and turns. The characters were interesting and well developed. My only issue and why I took a star off was the ending. It just left me confused. Basically, WTF happened at the end?? If anyone can help a girl out with answers, please drop me a line!

I've just finished reading The Breathless and the only thought that keeps running through my mind is "what the fuck did I just read?"

I have no clue what went on for 350+ pages. There was nothing (pardon the pun) fleshed out about this book. The setting is just... The author tries to make it whimsical and mysterious, but, instead, it's just confusing. We jump from time to time, place to place, and there is no logic, no reason. It's just exhausting.

The characters aren't that fleshed out either; I'm completely unsympathetic to all of them. Honestly, there was no depth no realness to it; you could put any generic American teen into the story and nothing would change. There was nothing to care about. I just kept hoping that all the characters would die and the novel would end and I could move on with my life.

There are just too many unexplained questions in this book to make it a good read for me. Why can Mae suddenly see ghosts? How can she see ghosts? Why do things magically appear and disappear and how do the protagonists keep losing ENTIRE DAYS and not realizing it?? Does the author realize the book is still filled with typos? Does the author realize that by trying to making the beginning and the end of the book sound poetic, she just comes off as pretentious?

The world may never know.

DNF @ 16%

It was just so mehhhhhhhh. I honestly wish that I had more to say, but all I have is that I bored. It seemed intriguing, but the moment that 3 different points of view were introduced within the first three chapters, I was just not as interested since there were so many storylines going on. I couldn't find myself intrigued to even read the pages other than to flip to find if I could find something more interesting. Again, nothing really wrong with this other than I was completely bored.

No crowns because it's a DNF and a Snow White rating.

If you like stories that are dark, twisty, suspenseful, and full of gothic style plot lines with the kind of intrigue that drops the temperature around you just enough to make you feel a little jumpy then this is the book for you. Goedjen delivers a complex tale full of secrets with beautifully detailed settings and a smooth way of switching the story between different time periods as you journey into the family lore.

Her richly detailed world is haunted with compelling, unique characters that help push the mystery surrounding the death of Roxanne to become more than just another simple plot device. We can feel the pain as the characters are left reeling to discover the truth and deal with their grief in the process.

I had friends going to see the new version of It this past weekend but I couldn’t make it and decided to settle in with this instead; by the time I was done I didn’t feel cheated out of missing a creepy, horrific time at all. I’m running on only a couple of hours of sleep as I was up until almost 2a needing to finish this and jumping at every weird sound I never realized my home makes that late. How could I not get into that goosebumps kind of mood when presented with a story that includes tragedy, death, creepy mysteries, magic, crumbling architecture and the Deep South all elements from the perfect Horror movie.

Life and death, the ties that bind family and friends in this life and the next are all examined through the lens of her realistic creations. Despite the prevailing darkness of the story she still managed to piece together some beautiful writing that will capture your attention and make you want to read this cover to cover in one sitting.

I was lucky enough to get an early copy, and I was so excited because from the moment I read the synopsis I knew this book was for me.If you like mystery and suspense in your stories you are going love this one!It kept me guessing until the very last page!

"Neither girl realizes the life is both good and bad, dark and light… the way it has been since the beginning of time. Neither of them can see the shadows swirling around them, hovering close, because shadows are drawn to the light.”

The ending was very good ,twisted and you could say a little bit dark,I would love to read more books from this author.

I'm actually really surprised with this book. It was really creepy but hopefully it didn't scare me out since I'm a chicken and I don't read horror books.
I really enjoyed the story and how mysterious it was. It kept me at the edge of my seat and made me want to continue reading it to know what really happened.
However it was really confusing and I didn't really understand what was going on until the second half of the book, which had its good part in a way.