This was a very sad tale, unreliable narrator. Very short. I liked it, but wish it would have gave a bit more detail.

Ariadne, I love You is quite the atmospheric book. Ashley-Smith used all the senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch to place the reader right into the story. As with many ghost stories, the question is "Is there a ghost or is the main character insane?" With this unreliable narrator it's a coin flip whether he's haunted or insane. That, to me, makes for deeper reading than when there's an obvious ghost. There's a creepy kid, too. Creepy kids are always good.

There's whole bunches of smoking in this book. I'm surprised the creepy kid wasn't smoking, too. The story would be half as long if they quit lighting up. Okay, I exaggerate but I haven't seen this much smoking since 1950's noir. I'm sneezing right now thinking about it.

All in all it is a crawly, gothic story mainly set in an old moldy train car. With a ghost. Or is there?

Thanks to Netgalley and Meerkat publishers for letting me read this digital ARC of Ariadne, I Love You.

This novella is absolutely one of my favorite pieces that I’ve ever read. The prose is 12/10. The story 12/10. The well developed and imperfect, relatable characters: also 12/10.

I read this twice in the span of two days. Didn’t put it down the first time I read it! Ashley-Smith has a serious talent for capturing emotion and the macabre. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone—especially if you like a darker story.