Plot and story were told by multiple characters with a great premise. This makes for interesting reading, but can be confusing if you don't keep track of whom is speaking when. Thrilling read, recommended.

This book was ok for me , but I felt that the characters were a bit boring. I didnt feel that heart pumping as I usually do with thrillers so I would have to say its more of a mystery book.

this was a great thriller novel, I enjoyed the relationship between Megan and Melissa. This book had me hooked from the beginning and didn't let go till the end.

This book had all the elements to make me a one excited reader, but unfortunately the execution missed the mark completely.
The writing was disjointed and overly descriptive. The main character was describing her home for pages and pages and pages and omg just stop already, you're living in a mansion, we get it.
None of the characters are properly developed, none of them sympathetic in any kind of way, none of them interested me enough.
This book is not long, but the way it's written made me feel it's like 1000 pages long and it felt like I've been reading it for 9 months instead of 9 days.
The final "twist" is not really a twist, it's all sort of obvious if you've read like two thillers in your life.
I'm also really tired of seeing mental illness as a trope. Like, come on....

It took me quite a while to get into this book as the backdrop was provided for the story, but then the pace picked up in the book and it then kept me wanting to read on. This is very cleverly written and tells the story of Megan, who is deaf and suffering from a mental health condition, returning to her family home after three years for the death of her older sister. Whilst there events from the past resurface as a new take and new evidence is discovered about events in the past.

This is a cleverly written story told from two viewpoints, Megan and her childhood friend Carla. Rather like an onion, one layer of the story is revealed at a time and this all builds to a captivating end to the story as events lead to a great reveal, almost Agatha Christie in style. Great suspense is maintained through the book as events from the past are revealed.

Happy to recommend this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book for me, for an an open and honest review.

3 for neutral, a bit too slow for me! Was unable to finish on the occasions I tried, but will update when finally able to.

This is a twisty turner book that will have you walking through the mind of Megan Melvick. Having just returned to her family's estate "The Italian House." To say that Megan is resistant to return home is a full blown understatement. The Melvick family has an impeding haze of death around them that has taken Megan's grandfather, best friend, and now her older sister Melissa. With more questions than answers going through Megan's head she wonders most importantly if her mother, who walked out on them three years before, will return for the funeral? Megan's delicate mental state and trying to keep herself stable during a trying time appears to get harder and harder the more time passes in the house.

This is a very well written book and all of your answers are given by the end but it just didn't excite me quite the way I wanted it to. I think if you are targeting something with good character development you should definitely jump into this though. Thank you to Caro Ramsay, Canongate, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads review link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4104253909

This book was pretty slow for me and wasn't "thrilling" for me. I didn't connect with any of the characters. In reading some other reviews, it looks like a lot of people enjoyed this book, so maybe it's just me and a mood thing. I will try this book again at a later time to see if I enjoy it more.

3.5 ⭐️‘s
The Italian House was a refuge for the Melvick’s ... or was it? Megan has returned after leaving three years ago (shortly after her mother left them), to say her goodbyes to her dying sister, Melissa. The whole village is hopeful that their mother will return for the funeral, Megan most of all. Tragic events have plagued the Melvick’s for generations and secrets abound. Will the new detective finally be able to put things to rest? While this was a well written modern day gothic tale set in Scotland, the characters were a bit difficult to connect with.

Lots of secrets waiting to be uncovered which the author does slowly ,with great suspense. Complicated characters with their own stories.

“As a family dyeing our hair was frowned upod but hanging yourself out in the woods was perfectly acceptable.”

Megan Melvick returns home after a three-year absence to visit her dying sister, Melissa. Some memories started coming back. A lot of things had happened in her family estate. Some she remembers, other things she had forgotten, and there are few memories were shut down by her mind because she couldn’t cope with them. The last word her sister said before she pass away was ‘sorry’..

What did happen on her sister’s wedding day five years ago? Who died that night? Why did her mother leave them and go without a word said? Who is Megan trying to forget? Many things start to unravel as you read this story.

The Cursed Girls is a psychological thriller told in two different voices, Megan and Carla. Two friends divided by class. In a way you really don’t know which voice you should rely on in telling the story, because a lot of the times there are two point of views on the same situations….

I enjoyed how both voices were very distinguished.

Unfortunately, I did not get attached to any of the characters. While reading you could get hooked by wanting to know what the other character had to say about what’s happening. But somehow you still just want to finish… A lot of the times it just felt dragged and too detailed.

After reading the book I had to check the reviews; the majority were on the good side. For some reason, I could’t be sucked in.
I tried very hard to enjoy reading it. But the story overall wasn’t for me.

Thank You NetGalley and Canongate for this copy.

A stand alone novel from the author of the wonderful Anderson and Costello police series.
Great plot and character development about the two sisters. The author really deserves to be more read here in the States.

Felt the ending of this one was a bit clumsy, as if there was a mad rush to tidy everything up that had become unravelled.

Has elements of a good read, but the only thing that kept me reading at times was frustration that at some point it must make sense somewhere, like I would find a link to some logic in the story.

There are some clever wee hints throughout which (if you pick them up) will make you wonder. That just makes the ending feel more clumsy though. That such clever breadcrumbs can be laid throughout the story only to have such a weird bellyflop of a finale is oddly disappointing.

Talk about a dysfunctional family. Megan comes home to the family estate in Scotland in time to hear one last word- sorry- from her sister Melissa, an anorexic. What happened three years ago at Melissa's wedding to Jago and how did Megan's friend Carla die? And where is Megan and Melissa's mother? All good questions. Megan and Carla tell this story of a family with mental health issues, among other things. Frankly Megan is not especially likable but I kept reading because I was intrigued by Carla. It's not especially twisty but it does creep up on you. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A family story that revolves around a very unfortunate family living in a sort of a cursed place? Yes please! I was very intrigued by the blurb of the novel and I knew I had to read it.

The plot unfolds when Megan Melvick, the younger daughter of the Melvick family returns to her family home in Scotland to see her sister, Melissa for the last time before she dies. The family had to go through a lot of tragedies and are on the way of collapsing. In Melissa's wedding a few years ago, there was a death and the family had to endure the pain of losing it's members by suicide, a child watching the hanged body of it's grandparent will forever be imprinted on the young mind. Megan and Melissa's mother has been missing for three years- it is astonishing that the living family members are holding their sanity after one tragedy after tragedy.

The dysfunction family has no members that one can put their trust on. The reader will not be able to guess who committed the crimes and will be enticed in the dark brooding atmosphere of the novel. A once beautiful but now decaying house, filled with family portraits of the dead ones as if they are looking over the living members in a not very guardian angel way adds to the spookiness of the plot. There are supernatural presences and a mysterious forbidden woods that's like icing on the already eerie atmosphere.

Megan comes back to face all the demons of her past and to investigate all the unfortunate happenings to the family. The characters are untrustworthy, unlikeable but well constructed. With the dark setting and the darker characters it was a fast paced good one time read for me!

I had received an e-ARC from Netgalley and Blackthorn. All opinions are my own.

I felt this book had potential that it did not live up to. I found this slow going & hard to get into. While I wanted to know the answer to the mysteries in the book, I felt the outcome was underwhelming.

I didn't like it, like, at all.
I finished the book, and i kid you not, i still don't get what the main focus was on..
The writing was so messy and at the beginning of the book, it was so repetitive and overly descriptive.
The main character wasn't a reliable narrative because she spent all her days describing her house, and the second Main character was just a bitter, know it all girl that kept getting on my nerves.
Overall, not for me.
* I received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review via netgalley and the publisher*

Years after the mysterious death of her best friend, Megan is returning home to see her dying sister.
Why was "sorry" the last thing that Melissa said to her sister Megan, with her last dying breath. What really happened on Melissa's wedding day five years ago?
A suspenseful, twisted psychological thriller in which memory, reality and even sanity cannot be trusted.

This is a Thriller. I have to say this book pull me into it, and the storyline made me kept reading it. I found the characters to be a little bit weird, but I think the storyline wanted them to be like that. I did enjoyed reading this book, and I found the ending good. I did not find the ending to have this big twist or super great. I have to say I found this a very good read, and I really enjoyed reading it. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Black Thorn) or author (Caro Ramsay) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that. This book is schedule to be release on July 6-2021.

This is a fast paced read with lots of twists and turns. Its well written but i was not too keen on any of the characters.