'It Will Just Be Us' by Jo Kaplan is a gripping novel that centres around two sisters and a haunted house. With eerie atmosphere and chilling suspense, Kaplan's writing keeps readers hooked as they uncover the mysteries in Wakefield. Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, this book offers a hauntingly immersive reading experience for readers.

Sadly this book just was not for me. This sat on my kindle for quite some time - twice I have attempted to read and twice I did not finish.

Thankyou for the opportunity but I will not be providing feedback on any commercial sites for this book.

This book was brilliant! I SERIOUSLY loved every minute of this story. Such a unique and fresh take on the haunted house trope.

Jo truly writes beautifully. This is easily one of my top gothic horror novels. The atmosphere is so eerie and draws you in and scares you right from the beginning. It will have you on the edge of your seat, reading with the lights on till early morning. So don't expect to get much sleep once you pick up this novel.

As always, thanks again to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback.

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan is a heartfelt and emotional novel that explores themes of love, loss, and self-discovery. The author's writing style is beautiful and lyrical, painting vivid images in the reader's mind.

The characters are well-developed, and the story is both captivating and thought-provoking. The novel takes the reader on a journey of grief and healing, ultimately leading to a message of hope and resilience. If you enjoy introspective, character-driven stories, I highly recommend this beautiful and evocative novel.


Thanks to the publisher and neutrally for the digital arc I exchange for an honest review.

An enjoyable story that definitely draws its influence from tales such as The Haunting of Hill House. The strongest parts were the atmospheric setting and the descriptive language that lent to the chilling moments. The characters fell a bit flat for me and at times I struggled with the story jumping back and forth. I do feel like there were some unique elements to this story and it pulled me along despite some slower sections.

I really liked the creepy atmosphere of this one! Something about the house's memories and Sam seeing her unborn nephew was disturbing in a way that you crave when reading a horror. At one point in the story I felt like the Wakefield Manor was based upon the house in Stephen King's Rose Red with all the rooms that changed and the history of deaths. But that brief bit was where the similarities ended. I felt like we got a perfect mix of not knowing what to believe coupled with hoping the main character could change the fate of what was to come. I will seek out more work from this author.

I loved the wonderful atmosphere, it was so gloomy and dark. The prose was wonderful ! A must read for every fans of gothic literature and ghost stories !

I am no longer interested in this title. I couldn't get into this so I ended up dnfing this title. The writing was hard to get into.

This was so so close to being a five star read. And it has ultimately turned out to be an all time favorite haunted house story.
This is the kind of haunted house story where the house is almost a character on its own. And probably my favorite character in the book at that. The atmosphere that the house created made this such a dark and creepy read. I also really loved the writing style, which, also added to the atmosphere of the book. It wasn’t flowery writing but almost like lyrical writing and I loved it! This authors work has truly left me at a loss for words...
I’d recommend this for anyone who liked ‘we have always lived in the castle’ by Shirley Jackson as this book has similar aspects and vibes to it. And also to anyone who has a love for haunted houses and ghost stories. Please consider picking this one up!

"It is a house haunted by memory; it digests us, all of us, and spits us out again at random."

It Will Just Be Us is a Gothic haunted house tale focused on a mother and her two daughters living at Wakefield Manor. There's plenty to enjoy for an avid horror fan, namely "The Faceless Boy" but it's slow to get started. Recommended for fans of slow-burn. Gothic, psychological horror, and an overall sense of atmospheric dread.

I loved, loved, loved this so much! The atmosphere was perfect and the characters were easy to follow. It gave me the chills and I thought about long after I finished. I love a food haunted house story!

Amazing Appalachian Gothic of family/generational trauma. One I'll be re-reading for years.
A haunted house story, and cursed family story, Couldn't put it down, I loved it.

I love gothic horror and I love haunted houses, but this was so wordy and seriously needed an editor. It wasn’t that there was so much story to tell, and certainly the page count isn’t very high, but rather that the author was far too interested in metaphors and purple prose. Without all that filler, this would probably be closer to being a novella.

The writing just isn’t very concise and so the suspense and chills kind of ebb and flow depending on where you are in the novel, making for an uneven reading experience. But there were a couple of moments that gave me the creepy creeps, and all the pieces of the novel are captivating. It’s just the execution that falters.

I liked this enough, but there was something off in the finished product. It’s less than 300 pages but feels significantly longer. And the pacing and vibe of the plot are drowned in a witch’s swamp of purple prose. But the atmosphere is on point and the ending of this was quite clever. I just wish more time had been taken to flesh out the actual story and characters, instead of overstuffing it with filler. Maybe then the ending would have been more impactful, instead of feeling disjointed.

The animal abuse was challenging for me. I had to skim through a lot of this book, sadly. It was a wild wild roller coaster.

A haunted house that keeps the memories alive and on show for any who walk through it’s halls. A neglectful mother who drinks too much to dull the pain of her many losses. Two sisters who find themselves back in the decrepit mansion of their youth. A swamp that might have more history than the house itself.

The book devours you, slowly immersing you into the confusing web that makes up the history and background information of the many family members and the legends that have been passed down through them. Kaplan effortlessly ties them together to create an ending that is shocking memorable, and spine tingling.

Super creepy. Honestly, so much sadder than I was expecting. Very gothic, the writing does a great job of creating an atmosphere of horror.

I went into this book with high expectations of super creepy, good moving plot and unfortunately am disappointed. There were to many stagnant parts, the characters got on my nerves, and not enough creep factor. The blueprint of the story is promising, and it had the cool Winchester house vibes. I love the use of the swamp witch lore, that was cool! Just wished for more with this one.

I both loved and liked this book. Some parts I really loved and other parts were just okay. This is a psychological ghost story that will suck you in and confuse the ever loving crap out of you. The ending is so dark and had me sitting here thinking about it for a while after I finished it. The mother got on my nerves, the sister got in my nerves and there were moments when the main character went to work(she worked at a college) and I was like wait... am I reading the same book. It just took me out of the story and reminded me that the characters had loves outside the creepy house.

I didn't think that I would ever give a horror book five stars, but this one is getting five stars. One of the most immersive horror stories that I've ever read. I felt like I was right in that haunted mansion with that family.