You have to give it to the author, she writes in gothic prose like she was of the century. The use of the prose and gothic mystique aided in creating a mysterious cloud around the storyline which for the most part was great. Sometimes I felt like the author did wax on a little too much but it didn’t ever feel like she got off topic for too long.

I really enjoyed this title. I liked the twists and turns and the writing style is nice and smooth. The story flows well and kept my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I will be recommending this one to friends.

such a creepy book! this book is set in the pandemic so includes quarantines and those dying., we follow the story of Sigrun meeting Edgar. Sigrun knows Edgar is married but still pursues an affair with him. when his wife suddenly dies Sigrun finds herself wrapped up in a whirlwind romance with Edgar. but she soon finds out that his wife Octavia was not his first or even his second love. he has had 3 marriages all of which his wives have died.. strange things start to happen in their house and to Sigrun, is she being possessed? is dark magic at play? you'll have to read to find out.

the characters are fantastic! the plot is amazing! I love how it's set in the pandemic! an absolutely brilliant read!

Is it love or obsession. Is this a romance or horror?

Different from the usually suspense thrillers that are dominating the shelves at the moment, however I did not enjoy the characters at all. I also wasn't too keen on the plot relating to covid as someone who just thinks it's too soon for it to be showing up in TV, books etc.

Overall I just felt it was ok.

The general vibe of the book is not really horror even though it is classified as such but the gothic tone of the novel is really one of the best that I have read in recent times. This is also probably the first book I am reading that had references to the Covid pandemic woven thru the story. I had deliberately stayed away from anything relating to the pandemic coz as such the virus had taken all the joys away from our life, in fact, the aftermath of the disease is still being felt, and I didn’t want my reading also to be affected.

Hold My Place refers to the pandemic situation in vague terms as the cause of death for a character and makes the plot a little believable as to the speed of the obsession that develops in Sigrun. Edgar’s character never completely solidifies, in fact, all the females in the story made a stronger impression in my mind rather than Edgar. Sigrun is a 30 something goth librarian, introduced as an intelligent and rational woman happy to be independent and lonely in her world. The use of the pandemic situation in explaining the off the rails character change in Sigrun was good but there are many parts of the story that I believe the author could have gone into more detail. The pacing of the story is varied with the beginning a little slow paced but the ending kind of rushed. It was a gripping read in the beginning and Cassondra Windwalker conveys the darkness of the story brilliantly, one can sense the falling into madness as soon as Sigrun reaches Edgar’s house.

The ending was unexpected, the creepiness just leaking out of the pages in that final chapter. This is one of those books that may fail to excite a reader who loves gothic romances but is perfect for those who love gothic stories with a subtle horror overlayed thru them.

Many thanks to Net Galley, Black Spot Books and the author for a chance to read and review this book. All opinions are expressed voluntarily.

This review is published in my blog https://rainnbooks.com/, Goodreads, Amazon India, Book Bub, Medium.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BlackSpotBooks for a digital advanced reader's copy of #HoldMyPlace by Cassondra Windwalker in exchange for a genuine review.

Let me start with something positive about this book - the reason why I requested this book was firstly the cover and definitely the genre. I haven't really read a lot of thrillers with gothic tones lately and this has been my first in quite a while. Another positive note is that I don't hate the ending - don't love it to bits but don't hate it as well. The names were quite unique as well and the atmosphere was what draw me closer. Now for some 'constructive' criticism - hate this part in every review because I always like saying nice things about books because I know that authors work hard on their books. Anyway, I liked the ending but I didn't like how we got to the ending - I felt like it was rushed and the ending was just slapped to the reader's faces without a gradual peeling off of layers before getting to the end. The beginning and middle bit of it was quite slow at times too - the writing style was great - the gothic tones to it and the madness as well - that was good. I recommend this to readers who love gorgeous aesthetics and atmosphere - those readers who don't really mind how the story ends or how you get to the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc!

This just wasn't my cup of tea. It was a quick read, but hard to follow at the same time. So many events happened at one time and I couldn't keep track. I also didn't like the pandemic backdrop. There were several points that lined up too closely with the world and I didn't like the feeling when I was reading it. I felt like I would blink and someone would be in love or dead perhaps and the plot or lack there of didn't make sense to me. I do enjoy romantic thrillers or something like that but this just felt off and lacking to me.

Thabk you Netgally for letting me read a copy

This book had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning when she said she committed and stabbed him in the belly, I stayed up all night reading this book.. this is the type of book that makes me enjoy reading so much I love something that keeps me on the edge of my seat.. I truly loved everything about books, libraries and Goth so this book was right up my alley it just gave me that Gothic Vibe with the librarian and that feel. so a Bravo . I say the word for this book would be obsessed LOL. #food #goth #thrillervibes #fastmoving

This book has gorgeous prose, but it's scant on the details that would help me better understand why seemingly level-headed Sigrun has decided to dive head first into an emotional affair followed by a hasty wedding to a widow with a suspicious history. If you can float by on vibes and aesthetics alone, this is an atmospheric book that will have just enough going for it to hook you.

Cassondra Windwalker consistently delivers rich, thought-provoking, harrowing tales that stretch just beyond the bounds of "normal" and into the realm of mysterious and otherworldly. Her poet's voice lends elegance to her prose, and her penchant for slow-burning gothic plots help make her one of those delicious writers of the age.

Thanks, or maybe not, #netgallery for this book in exchange for an honest review. My honest review is - no. Just no. Don't waste your time. There are so many things that I didn't enjoy that I don't know where to start.

A librarian, Sigrun falls for a married man, Edgar Lenard.. When his current wife dies from a “sudden illness,” he starts a friendship with her that ends up in marriage. When she finds letters written by his former wives, she hesitates about marriage but does it anyway. When Devlin suggests that Edgar has found a way to cheat death, she doesn’t know what to think. Will she find out the truth?

I enjoyed the dreamy, and ominous suspense throughout this horror novel. It is a story of obsession and mortality. The novel would make a good Hitchcock movie. It is more an emotional than action story. The suspense grows into a sense of doom. I think the novel will provoke thought.

What a thought provoking book. I am still digesting the ending though I finished it over a week ago. I'm still not totally sure how I feel about it. I loved Windwalkers writing style...it had a poetic feel to it. She presented well thought out characters and the story had me riveted from early on. Lots of twists I didn't expect which is an aspect I love! And it's a story that is sticking with me. I would/will read more from Windwalker. Can't wait to get it for my library, I have some patrons that will just love it.

This is the first book I've read from this author. The premise is very interesting and the fact that it deals with the current pandemic is what initially drew me in. Although I had a hard time understanding where the story was going, the mysterious relationship of Sigrun and Edgar kept me interested. I especially liked the ending because it's not your typical happy ending which to me is refreshing. What I did not like is the writing style and I found Sigrun's narrative too wordy. I felt like the author filed space with narrative that was unnecessary and took away from the flow of the story. I found myself skipping through much of this narrative to get to the meat of the story.

A big thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

First. This book is beautifully written. The way the writer describes every detail is enchanting. The synopsis of this book grabbed my attention straight away. A haunting gothic love? Please, say less.
I did find myself struggling towards the middle of the book. For me, the unfolding story seemed to stall. I had to push through, and I’m so glad that I did. The conclusion was brilliant. Not how I saw it ending, but perfect.

Overall this was a chilling story with beautiful writing. I’m rating this book accordingly (noted my struggle to push through in the middle).

Hmmmm... I heard about this book from friends on GR and went and requested it via Net Galley. I did enjoy most of the book but it ended up making me sorry I read it and rather cranky.

I have two deal breakers that make me hate books. One is using Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly called multiple personality disorder or split personalities) as a trope in mystery/suspense books. Just don't. You're a terrible person and an idiot writer if you do. Okay, so this book does not do that. But it does the other thing that makes me really stabby at the end of a book.

view spoiler: [Do not kill off the main character and have the bad guy/girl win. Just ugh. Why did I spend those hours reading this just to have some horrible woman win out at the end? This is not chilling for an ending, it's just annoying. Grrr. (hide spoiler)]

Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this book.

Sigrun, a single early thirties goth librarian meets Edgar, a handsome and charming local chef, and she’s nearly immediately hopelessly obsessed. Improbably, the apparently happily married Edgar seems just as smitten, and the two have a bit of an emotional affair. What is Sigrun doing? This isn’t her. She doesn’t act like this. But there’s just something there, some pull she can’t ignore. When Edgar’s wife falls ill and passes away, their love is allowed to bloom and becomes the kind of love that feels all consuming. The kind of love that *changes* you. But is it just love that is changing Sigrun, or is there something else going on? And why does it seem like Edgar leaves a trail of dead former lovers in his wake, even if they all died of natural causes? 

Well this was a fun little* departure for me! I don’t normally read gothic things. Or romancey things. But it’s October, time of the spooky seasonal reads, and I saw some reviews that gave this a thumbs up for being creepy and unique. Agreed! And it was a nice break from the same old recycled plots every suspense and domestic thriller seems to have these days. Partially a romance, partially a horror story, this is quite the atmospheric gothic read. 

As it turns out, I’ve now learned that I personally do not like gothic purple prose, but that’s not the author’s fault. The writing struck me as absolutely beautiful, and I do think if it’s your thing, you will be in heaven, captivated by beautiful, eloquent prose. The more I read, the less I noticed the writing, so I don’t think it needs to be a dealbreaker even if it’s not your style. I do have to say, while I enjoyed the story itself, I found pretty much every character tedious. (Except you Evan, you're a treasure) If I met any of these people in real life, my eyes would roll so far into the back of my head that surgical intervention might be required. If you can power through the “oh my god, get over yourself you precious thing” impulse and stick with it, there is a good story to be had here. A modern love letter to Du Maurier's Rebecca. 

*I say little because the book is super short. It can be hard to tell with a digital ARC, but this seems to me more of a novella in length. For reference, most books I read on my Kindle have a “location” count between 3,500 and 5,000. This one was 1,860. 

Covid CW: This doesn’t just reference coronavirus, it’s a pretty prominent plot point and comes up quite a bit. It’s given more of a creepy plague feel, and is written about in a detached “in the past” way, so that helped it seem less jarring and stressful than I would have expected it to be. But just be aware it's there.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this book. This book instantly drew me in, I got to explore through the eyes of our main character and this is always my favorite way to discover these details of the story and, it was done very well in this book. I really enjoyed this book and the plot. This author did amazing. I loved the writing style.

First the positives, I love the cover and also how the story ends. It has a nice finality and I enjoyed the eery tone it finishes on. Some of the poetic lines were lovely and relatable, and the writing was easy flowing and great to read aloud. There was a good pace in the beginning and at the end. I also loved that Sigrun was a gothic librarian but not in a stereotypical sense. She had humour and naturalness about her. The name took a bit of getting used to, but I ended up really liking it and also wondered if Edgar's name was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe? This book would be perfect as a holiday read. This is an easy to follow story with interesting characters.

Now, for the constructive criticism, it's clear that the author hasn't done enough research into Type 1 diabetes. I myself have been recently diagnosed and am in my mid-twenties. I suggest the line on page 254, "Even patients who followed every instruction lived significantly shorter lives than they otherwise might." This is completely untrue. People with Type One have the same life expectancy as people without it. This information is misleading and can cause those without the condition to be misinformed. Also, someone with type one is very unlikely to throw their only food source away, because even if you're in denial, you know that you need food to stay alive. You can also feel in your body when your sugars are dropping, so the line, "she went down in less than an hour" is very unlikely. She would have had to have been feeling unwell for a while. If Edgar was uneducated, which again is unlikely as he's a trained chef, it may have only led to extreme hypoglycemia. It's extremely unlikely for a type one to just suddenly die when out for a walk, especially if you're young and healthy. It would have made more sense to have Devlin die in her sleep, as blood sugar can drop dramatically then. Here's a quick google search result, "Type 1 diabetes mellitus increases the risk for sudden unexplained death (SUD), generating concern that diabetes processes and/or treatments underlie these deaths. Young (<50 yrs) and otherwise healthy patients who are found dead in bed have been classified as experiencing “dead in bed” (DIB) syndrome."

My only other line suggestion is "I nodded dumbly" which was somewhere in the beginning. In my opinion, a woman should never be written/portrayed as dumb in response to a male gesture or proclamation. Especially since Sigrun is built to be so strong in the end, despite succumbing to Devlin's power.

I was torn on if I liked the feel of the book. There are times when it's modern in style and then other times when it feels as if it's set/written in the victorian era. I wish it were one or the other. How old are Devlin and Edgar really? I like to think if Devlin's a spirit that can possess other bodies, she's been doing so for centuries, which explains in my head why she writes the letters in the style that she does.

I questioned around page 128 where the story was going but the ending made it worthwhile. I love the way the title comes into the last few pages and it's a great circle moment.

A bizarre love story like no other you've read.

Sigrun is a 32 year old goth-loving librarian who enjoys her life and the library in which she runs. She has just signed up for a local cooking class at La Table where she meets the charismatic head chef, Edgar. He is married but that does not stop them from taking their nightly midnight strolls around the city.

Then Covid hits. Quarantine orders are put in place and Sigrun is longing for her time with Edgar. After two weeks of radio silence she gets the text she's been waiting for but certainly not the one she was expecting. Edgars wife Ocatvia as succumbed to the virus. Sigrun can't allow Edgar to be alone in his pain and even helps make the funeral arrangements. As the days go by she finds she has taken the place of his deceased wife. Moving into her house, sleeping in their bed, luxuriating in the lavender scented bath, even wearing her clothes. How did this happen? All signs of her goth loving self have been erased.

Then she finds out that Octavia isn't his first love to die. There was Brigitte and there was Devlin. The former died of breast cancer and the latter to type 1 Diabetes. Unfortunate events for such young women. Sigrun shouldn't be concerned, should she? You'll have to read this to find out!

I love to read and have read many books and I admire and love so many authors but there is something to be said about Cassondra Windwalker. She's a writer that when I read I think to myself if I could write like anyone it would be this woman. Her turn of phrase, her poetic style, some may call purplish prose really resonates with me. I was impressed with this book as much as her previous book Idle Hands. Her stories are really unique and I do hope people take notice. What's weird is that I'd have a hard time knowing who to recommend her books to because they won't be for everyone even though they certainly are for me. Maybe I'll just keep her to myself like the greedy little reader I am. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Spot Books for my complimentary copy.