I absolutely adore gothic horror so I knew I would love The Death of Jane Lawrence. And while this book does begin as gothic horror, it take a bit of turn a little after the midpoint that makes it something else entirely. Even though I wasn't expecting the direction the book took, I loved the inclusion of magic and science and the way the author blended them into a genre-defying read. Jane was also such an interesting character to follow. Like the gothic heroines before her, she makes some choices that I wouldn't, but they all made sense for her character. I would definitely recommend this to fans of dark fantasy (and fans of gothic horror with the understanding that this book is not only that genre).

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was a perfect combination of gothic and modern. The writing was modern enough for younger readers to comfortably be able to get into the story but it was gothic enough to have the slow-burn revelation of what the actual creepiness was happening.

This one wasn’t for me. I tried the audio and the print version but I couldn’t get interested in the story.



I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

The Death of Jane Lawrence was absolutely gripping! It has a very unique magic system and an unreliable plot. You truly don't know what is real or not until the very end, and even then, you question sanity. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me access to this book!

THIS IS TOO MUCH! I wanted gothic fiction, maybe some horror, maybe throw some occult in there. What I didn't expect was for it to echo a million previous novels and to try to get into every single genre ever. It is a mess.

I really wanted to love this book because it reminded me of Jane Eyre. However, it took me months to get through this book. The story started out strong but began to fizzle out. I thought that Jane was mostly a weak heroine. She doesn’t seem to stand up for herself. The story is atmospheric and has some very creepy elements. Therefore, I recommend this for fans of Mexican Gothic, The Mad Woman Upstairs, and The Shape of Darkness!

I didn’t care for this one. ilI thought it was too slow and the characters weren’t that interesting. I really struggled to finish it.

I loved The Luminous Dead and of course I jumped at the chance to read The Death Of Jane Lawrence. While the writing is still exemplary, I found myself just not getting into this one. I wish I could pinpoint why - I even put it down and waited for the audiobook to see if a different format would help. Alas.

There are lots of reviews by people who adore this book, so please still check this one out. It well written, it’s a spooky gothic tale, and well worth the time to see if you love it.

I'd previously read Luminous Dead and was excited to see a new book coming by the same author. Gothic romance? Dilapidated Victorian mansion? Narrator who is logical almost to a fault? This one checked a lot of my boxes. I also loved all of the mathematics and metaphysics involved. While I do think this suffered a bit from overwriting, I had a good time reading it!

A gothic ghost story...yes, please. And this cover...perfection.
This was my first book by this author and can say it won't be my last. This story was super original and intertwined some old-school horror with modern-day twists. The ending had a few repeated scenes but nothing that I couldn't overlook. Overall, def recommend it to those who enjoy creepy gothic historical fiction novels

Honestly, this cover is so good and I was instantly drawn to it. I am good with gore (and this book has A LOT of it! Don't eat and read this one!) and I'm good with things that go bump in the night. I love horror. But this one was. . .confusing? Yes. Gross. Sure (but not a deal breaker). But this felt gross to be gross. It was instant surgeries and holding open things that shouldn't be. It was gore from head to toe and strange things moving in it. The friend visit didn't cast a lot of information on the matter and the 6 days of none sleep and visions was even more confusing. What did she see? What's with the house? Who is Augustine and what happened before?

I'm done, and I'm still not sure I know the answers.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I forgot to say that this was literally the best horror book of last year. With school I completely forgot to upload my review but I did hand sell about 50 copies of this novel during holiday season when I worked at the indie bookstore Mojo in Tampa.

Jane Shoringfield, an orphan, finds herself in need of a husband. Jane calculates and chooses Augustine Lawrence, who agrees to her arrangement on the condition that she never spend the night in his family house. Jane agrees, but finds herself trapped in the house on the night of their wedding. The rest unfolds slowly.

Perfect for any gothic fiction lover. Perfect! Atmospheric and creepy. Highly recommended.

1.5 stars

Oh it kills me to say this but I really did not like this book and I should have stopped reading way before I did. The synopsis set up such a fantastic read but the finished product did not meet my expectations. It was boring in some places, pretentious and over written in others, and it felt like the author didn’t know how to write a complex character— the main character, Jane—and so it felt like I was reading a different person in different settings and chapters. Like I said before I’m bummed because I was excited and really wanted to like this but I found myself putting it down and taking breaks from it more than I was reading it.

ARC given by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

In terms of books that I've been looking for to give me That Crimson Peak Feeling, this one definitely came the closest out of everything else I've read thus far! Overall, the story started off very strong for me and then became slightly less engaging around 75% of the way through, and I have a very firm feeling that that might have been when the rewrites happened (at least, per the author's note that she'd had to go back and change the ending of the story due to being dissatisfied with how it was initially coming together). I think the thing I would've enjoyed more from that last quarter of the book would've been a consistent presence from Lawrence throughout. It felt as though he basically disappeared from the story altogether after a certain point, I was much more invested in the book when it followed his and Jane's relationship dynamic and was less compelled in reading each time it came down to her being alone in the house. Still, overall, a very diverting book, and it kept me reading straight through the day until I finished, so I'm glad I finally got around to reading this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Caitlin Starling knows how to build atmosphere. The Death of Jane Lawrence was a fantastic gothic horror novel, with great characters and pacing. I loved the suspense building and seeing how the whole story unraveled at the end. Will definitely recommend.

This book was a fun read. At the beginning, I wasn't sure where it was going and then when magic entered into the story, I really wasn't sure. However, I felt it all wrapped up nicely and not with a predicable tale.

I’ve been a massive fan of Caitlin Starling’s work ever since I read her jaw-dropping debut The Luminous Dead. It was the perfect balance of horror and sci-fi that was loaded with tension from start to finish as Gyre was put through the wringer of isolation and both physical and psychological horrors. Starling’s more recent works are heavily influenced by Gothic literature and as much as I loved the futuristic world of The Luminous Dead, I’ve become a bit obsessed with the alternate histories created in Yellow Jessamine and The Death of Jane Lawrence. I never really got into Gothic fiction earlier in my life, but with these two books Starling has completely opened my eyes to a world of awesome books I’ve been missing out on.

The titular Jane Lawrence is a character reader’s will love to root for as she goes head to head with the dark and esoteric history of Lindridge Hall and with rumblings of a sequel, I would LOVE for that to happen. The Death of Jane Lawrence is a masterfully told story that honors the traditions of the genre but also utilizes them in bold, exciting new ways.

Is there anything scarier than seeing your whole world view change in a matter of seconds?

Jane Shoringfield, a young practical woman, has proposed a business deal to Doctor Augustine Lawrence: they should get married, for purely practical reasons. The doctor agrees under one condition: she will never set foot in his family manor, Lindridge Hall. But things never really go according to plan, and after an accident on their wedding night, Jane has no other option than to stay in the mysterious house, where she quickly learns there is something horribly wrong there.

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling is many things; a gothic novel, a haunted house story, a mind-bending journey, a tale of obsession and guilt, as well as a horrifying exploration of the darkest reaches of our minds. But above all, it is the story of a doomed marriage.

If someone would have told me this was written at the height of the romantic and gothic movement, I would have believed them, and I mean that in the best way possible. Starling manages to build the perfect atmosphere for a book of this kind, where you’re pulled into a dark, mysterious and frightening world of magic and occultism. As you follow Jane’s journey you find yourself trusting no one, not even Jane herself. Once readers enter the all-consuming hallways of Lindridge Hall, they’re met with things that will make their blood freeze.

As I read this, I truly felt hunted, not only by the apparitions and ghosts, but also by the emotions of the characters and the nature of their actions. The characters in the story were well-developed and fully realized. Each of them (especially Jane and Augustine) feels like the center of their own world while not distracting from the other. Jane, who is our point of view character, works as the pragmatic foil to the world of the supernatural, balancing the possible and the impossible masterfully.

All that being said, my favorite part of the book has to be the way scenes are constructed: the descriptions of events, the power of the emotions, the ways Starling’s words wove the story together. There were moments in this book where I felt utterly disgusted, where I was terribly afraid, and others (not too few) where I felt pure despair. The way this book is written truly entrapped me, even when I was busy, there were times I couldn’t let myself put it down. I would lie if I said I didn’t gasp at some moments… to be completely honest, I even dropped the book once – purely because of shock.

If you are a horror fan, you should read this book. If you like haunted houses, you should read this book. And if you are a fan of gothic novels you NEED to read this book.

I truly believe that The Death of Jane Lawrence itself is haunted. Once you are done, it will follow you. It will hide in the deepest corners of your mind. The emotions within it will leave scars that you will not find until afterward. This is one of those books that possesses you, transforms you, and leaves you wondering who you were before you read it.

I am, to put it mildly, a snob about horror books. Not for any proper reason -- I just know the tropes, I can tell where a book is going long before it is even hinted toward that direction, and my threshold for disgust is significantly high. Caitlin Starling managed to subvert every expectation I had in The Death of Jane Lawrence. Though there were moments when the story lulled for me, I can appreciate that they were probably intentional (a moment of pause, as a director may provide in a movie, so the audience can settle and prepare for the next big scare). Every time I thought I had it figured out, Starling pulled the rug out from under me! Every. Single. Time! And the GORE. Ohhhh, THE GORE.in this book. I loved it. The characters are so real, too. They have such depth to them!

This is a fantastic book. It deserves every bit of praise it has received.