Thank you to netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for my honest review. The following opinions are my own.

This is my first Joel A. Sutherland novel. I was too old for his Haunted Canada series when he was writing them. So this was my chance to get a feel for his writing. This book was definitely for a younger audience than me. But I'll also say that it didn't feel as strong. There were a lot of characters who seemed like filler and 2 dimensional. There was also a lot of focus on what a character had for breakfast. A lot of pages dedicated to that. Which I found a bit strange to say the least. I'm beginning to think I have a very specific idea of what I like in my horror.  Maybe I'm just too old for this particular book.

So first I love love gothic landscape style books and this was definitely one of them.  I loved the ghosts as well.  One thing that I’m not a fan of is the third person but if y’all like it that’s perfect you’ll love it.  I may read this again around “spooky” season or summerween 3.5/5 ⭐️

Boo!

Did I scare you? Well I hope so, it would be a fraction of how much this book spooked me! I am a self described scaredy cat and I'm not afraid to admit it but this cover was just to beautiful to pass up. I read it over the course of a week (my fragile heart couldn't take much more then that) and found that it made me hit all of the emotional beats it was after while keeping me entertained enough to fight through the fear!

Josephine Jagger is a seventeen year old girl who has strange abilities... She’s a talented writer but she has voices in her head and when her family moves into a new home they inherited in Vermont, the line between reality and fantasy begin to blur for Josephine. She begins to see more shadows and hear whispers. Then she begins to see the woman, a woman who is in shadows with long hair and pale skin... and her name is Dorcas and she’s the witch who died three hundred years ago. Dorcas was summoned to consume the entire family in order to rise from the grave. I’m normally a huge fan of witch stories and horror stories but unfortunately this one just didn’t grip me. I just wasn’t that interested in the story and the writing style just didn’t work for me. Sadly I just found myself wishing the book would end already. Despite the fact that it didn’t work for me, if you like witch stories give this one a go maybe you’ll have a better time with this one than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada, Tundra Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I enjoyed this YA spooky read!   I received this ARC through Net Galley for an honest review.
Johanna has special abilities she can't control or understand and things only get worse when her family take a trip to visit a gothic old house that they inherited over Christmas.  Laurence the ghost was interesting and Dorcas, yikes!
With roots in the Salem witches, this book was suspenseful and kept me guessing.  I loved the cover, that is what drew me in.  I would really want to read this around Halloween and it just might make it to my yearly spooky reading list.  The only thing I didn't care for was the story being told in the third person.  I think a first person point of view from Johanna would have made it better.  3.5 stars and a definite Halloween read.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THIS REVIEW COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.

Josephine's family has unexpectedly inherited a home in Vermont from their great-grandaunt. The Family has decided to celebrate Christmas there to check the lifestyle of that particular small town, moving there permanently is also an option as the financial situation is tight. No one knows that Josephine has special abilities that are not even in her control and she had made a mess in the past and doesn't want to repeat it. Something is bothering her, that new house has shadows lurking in the corners and the atmosphere is shady. Except for Josephine, everyone loves the house and everything about it. She has to single-handedly figure out the mystery and save her family.

I avoid reading Horror as I don't get the point. I decided to try horror this year so decided to read it plus cover was interesting. This book is directed toward a younger audience so I get why some things were in a certain way. But I still think that story was dragged. Many characters felt like filler especially the younger sister and so many pages were dedicated to her day-to-day eating habits. The story was catered to the audience who preferred suspense over a fast-paced story. In a nutshell, this book wasn't for me and I skimmed it a lot.

Loved this. Has some unexpected bits that kept me guessing and leaves me wanting a sequel. Would love to see what happens next to Josephine and her family!

Thank you for this opportunity. This was a very twisty very dark book. It says on the blurb it is like house of salt and sorrows which I find incorrect. There is no whimsy or sweeps gothic horror to this book. This was straight up insidiously horror. No whimsy. For a ya horror book this packed a punch. Loved it

4.25/5 stars! The cover of this book was super creepy, which made me extremely excited to read it. This is a YA horror story that hits all the right notes. The storyline itself was edgy and kept me guessing, which is what I want in my horror books. The only part I didn't really enjoy was the use of third-person. It didn't seem to match the tone of the story as well as I think first-person would have.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I really enjoyed House of Ash and Bone!
It has really great creepy vibes and some great characters.
It was a good YA Horror read!
I definitely recommend it!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

House of Ash and Bone was definitely a creepy and graphic horror story I was not expecting. The characters definitely read as young adult's and even the story was pretty YA but some of the descriptions and scenes were graphic and definitely felt like something out of a horror movie... I loved it! I also definitely got Conjuring vibes from this book. The creepy house in Vermont with the twisted witch history, the main character having psychological powers... Definitely Conjuring vibes, and the author delivered them well! The world building and the creepy settings were awesome as were the horror parts but as for the characters themselves I didn't love any of them which took away from the story a bit for me. Josephine was a pretty cool character as she tries to figure out all the insane stuff happening around her and to her family. Overall I think horror fans are going to love House of Ash and Bone!

The book was interesting and kept me guessing. The author using third person threw me off, but that’s just me having a preference for first person. It made me feel disconnected from the characters. I like the mystery involved and the articulation of the storyline and plot. Would recommend to a young YA audience!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#NetGallery

Always enjoy reading books from Joel A. Sutherland, he has a great style for a horror novel and it's always a good read. The characters were what I expected and glad I got to read about them. It lives up to the "The Haunted meets House of Salt and Sorrows" and from other books by the author. Can't wait for more.

"You don’t even need to say anything. Just nod. But listen. If you want me back, if you need anything—anything—you call Dorcas, and I’ll return. But for now, for this to be only happening in your mind, in your sleep, you nod your head. And you’ll wake up in bed. And this will be a bad dream, slow at first to forget, but it will fade, it will be gone, and then . . . ”

I enjoyed this story of a family fallen victim to a witch named Dorcas. I liked the interaction between the sisters and there were definitely some creepy moments. This is a good book for a younger horror fan.