This was beautifully haunting. At the heart of it, it’s a love story and it made me feel so much emotion for Roos and Agnes and everything their lives were. I would love to read more from this author.

This was an interesting read filled with lots on mental health and how one perceives things. I thought the seance concept was cool and then the secluded residence where the ghostly encounters were happening added that extra creepy level. It was definitely a dark read. I did find it a bit slow at parts and was hoping the pace would get a bit faster but it still expanded on everything as it went along. The side plot where it was the main character being interviewed by a doctor made it intriguing since you are reading along, trying to figure out how they got into the situation they are in. This would be a good book for those that like macabre, gothic books.

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen is a slow burn gothic sapphic horror story. The slowest of burns but the payout is spectacular. Roos Beckman has a spirit companion, Ruth, who enters her body in order to CONvince séance patrons that their loved ones on the other side are communicating with them. Her mama uses Roos/Ruth for money from this spirit business and is abusive, sometimes starving the girl. Agnes Knoop attends a séance where Ruth thinks she sees her and soon pays Mama for Roos companionship. At this time Roos is twenty one years old but looks much younger. Agnes actually can see Ruth and in fact, she has her own spirit companion named Peter. The novel is divided into two storylines with one part, A Doctor’s Case Study: Inhabited By Another. Doctor Montague questions Roos in order to see if she’s fit for trial for murder. This is one of those books that I would pick up for the beautiful cover alone. At 80% in, I couldn’t stop reading and continued until the last page was read. ARC was provided by Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A disturbing tale involving seances, spirits and dysfunctional relationships. Definitely in the gothic tradition, with very little happening until something suddenly happens. And it's a circuitous route to get to the truth and even then you can't be entirely sure what really happened. Not sure if I'd call this one enjoyable, but it was interesting.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Press, for providing me with a free copy of "My Darling Dreadful Thing" by Hanna Van Veen in exchange for an honest review.
Roos, accompanied by her spirit companion Ruth, catches the eye of the wealthy widow Agnes Knoop during a séance. Invited to Agnes's eerie estate, Roos finds herself drawn into a web of mysteries, including strange occurrences and a murder. As suspicion falls on her, Roos must unravel the truth to clear her name and protect her newfound connection with Agnes. I was very interested in this gothic sapphic romance and was excited for the opportunity to read it. The beginning of the book moved fast for me, but I felt bogged down toward the end. The book has a good plot, but the build-up was lacking. I found myself losing interest in the middle and realized the book would be receiving a 3-star rating for its lackluster suspense and predictable conclusion. I would recommend it for someone interested in a slower-paced gothic read.

Slow moving but in the best way, this novel is gothic and beautiful. I loved this story and really look forward to reading more work by this author.

Haunting descriptions, wild story, full of twists and turns and supreme gothic-ness. Very interesting premise that had me second-guessing everything.

A book with so many different elements: gothic, horror, romance, LGBTQ+. I really liked it. Very different to what I tend to pick up and read. There can be a lot of psychoanalysis done to the characters. They are quite complexed and raises the question were they sane or did the ghost actually exist. This book felt like a combination of Rebecca and Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. The ending didn’t blow me away and I predicted it, hence the four stars. I much prefer books that have that shock factor at the end. Especially with this type of usual genre, I did expect something a little more juicy, so to speak. I will be sharing my review on Instagram on the day of publishing. Thank you for letting me read something so different!

I'm very conflicted about this book. On the one hand, the gothic elements are excellent. There's a lot of dread, a lot of ick. Definitely read the author's note (at the beginning) for more on this.

On the other hand, Roos was just so painfully boring. I was bored reading it, and with all the darkness, I shouldn't have been. Perhaps it was me, perhaps this isn't what I need to read at this point in time. But it was a completely forgettable story.

Holy sh#t! It was amazing! Weird but amazing! Crazy but amazing! This story totally blew me away!

Thank you Johanna and NetGalley for the opportunity.

3.75 stars

My Darling Dreadful Thing is a feral, sapphic gothic fiction, complete with toxic relationships, ghosts, murder and mystery. It really leaves you questioning what happened and if any of it was in fact real. van Veen is an amazing writer. This novel is lush and atmospheric and it really engrosses you and feels as if you're right there with the characters.

I love that this was set in the Netherlands too, as I don't read many books with Dutch characters. I was pleasantly surprised this touched on aspects of colonialism especially in Indonesia, I do wish it had explored that a tad more but understand it wasn't the focus.

The vibes of this were just perfect. I actually felt so creeped out and disturbed while reading certain parts and I loved it. This book truly is a work of art in such that art is to disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. I truly feel for the characters and what they went through and wished the book had been different purely so they had some piece in life.

If you love Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House this is for you.

I'm so sorry to say, but I dnf "My Darling Dreadful Thing" around 9% because I'm unfortunately not in the right headspace to read something this dark at this time. Mind the content warnings, y'all, because the author isn't playing around. This is truly a gothic novel.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC. 🖤

the author’s note was my favorite part of this novel—she begins by warning the reader how dark the novel is, which set this expectation in my mind that unfortunately wasn’t quite met. this gothic love story between two women who can see ghosts was beautiful at points, but felt tepid. i do think my feeling meh about the darkness & plot was more an expectations problem than a plot problem.

My Darling Dreadful Thing was a dark and mysterious tale of love and obsession and the blurred lines between the two. I adored Ruth and Roos’ sticky codependent relationship, and how it juxtaposed Roos and Agnes’ relationship which, while still dark and creaky, would have been a step in a more positive direction for Roos.

The gothic atmosphere was so well crafted, helped along but the presence of Ruth and Peter whose creepy ever changing appearances which leant a certain level of surreal-ness to everything. AND THE MYSTERY ELEMENTS! Each reveal made me gasp with horror but it was so delightfully twisted to discover each one.

If this story was comprised solely of the life and Roos as she suffered the mysteries of Rozentuin, it would be a solid 4 stars for me! Roos desperation to please Agnes and the tenuous foundation of their relationship was compelling. I wish I could splice those parts of the story apart from the oddness of of the rest of it,,,

While I loved the writing and the main story of it all, I found myself in turns baffled and frustrated by the interviews with the doctor. At first it was an interesting tilt on the ghostly story to inject a bit of realism, to throw doubt into Roos’ story. But soon it was being used to undermine much of the sense of mystery. We weren’t allowed to sit with any ominous foreshadowing before the Doctor was spelling it out for us, as if we couldn’t draw the conclusions ourselves.

**SPOILERS** The doctor’s presence was especially redundant during the trial. Any doubt that was created about Roos actual mental health and the realness of the ghosts was ruined when the lawyer outright proved Roos couldn’t have done anything she was accused of, veritably proving the reality of the ghosts and destroying any mystery. From there the story limped on a few more baffling chapters of Roos starting her new life and getting better? Question mark? But still having Ruth and still firmly believing Agnes would come back to her. It felt like, especially with the inclusion of the excerpt of the Doctor’s writing, that the author was still trying to draw back to the doubts about Roos’ mental health and the reality of Ruth, but by that point it felt thoroughly shattered. At least for me!

Anyways while I loved the main story, I didn’t not appreciate the use of the Doctor as a story telling element and felt he greatly diminished much of the appeal of the main storyline. For that I can only give 3.5 stars :/

The cover alone drew me to this book and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! I was definitely hooked from the start and didn’t want to put it down until I was done. It definitely was a quick read which allowed me to finish it in two days. I liked that mental health was a subject of the story and made you think if it was an illness or if Roos was really seeing ghosts. This was definitely a unique ghost story with some twists thrown in and I did quite enjoy it!

DNFing at 11% unfortunately. Too much of this story is giving me a massive ick. The men leering at this little girl and the mom just going along with it for the money, I can't do it. I loved the premise of a spirit taking over this girl that she communicates with but I can't get behind everything else. This book does have a gorgeous cover though.

This book and it's characters will stay with me for a long time. I haven't ever read anything like it. There's mystery, horror, intrigue, body horror, everything! I thought that I had already read the best book of 2024 last month but I was wrong. I enjoyed this book so much! The author is wonderful at evoking depth of imagery in your mind I could clearly see the story happening. A masterful author at showing what is happening instead of just telling. I loved the main character and could feel what she felt. An amazing read that I highly, highly recommend.

Roos does what her mother says. Always. She is underfed, mistreated and has one thing most people don't - a spirit companion called Ruth. When Roos does a seance for wealthy Agnus Knoop, Agnus see's just how much trouble Roos is in, and besides, who could ignore that chemistry between them both. But when something goes amiss, and Roos is caught red handed in a crime, a crime that insists is the doing of Ruth, she'll have to prove her innocence and her sanity, or lose everything.

My Darling Dreadful Thing is a beautiful blend of gothic horror and a hint of paranormal. The additions of the seances helped lend the atmosphere to an incredibly creepy, and haunting story. The use of the doctors notes helped this to become a unique read, giving us the point of view from the narrator as well as the medical professional handling the case. Our main character Roos is well developed, however some of the other characters do fall into the background and that is my only negative take on this read.

Johanna Van Veen has created a haunting, sapphic read perfect for lovers of gothic romance, horror and intrigue. Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for an advanced copy for review. My Darling Dreadful Thing will be released May 14th, 2024.

Three words - sapphic gothic horror. Could you ask for more? It turns out you can, because not only does My Darling Dreadful Thing have a fantastic premise, but it is beautifully executed. The writing is poignant without being too flowery, the characters are complex and compelling, and the plot kept me hooked until the last page. As the author mentioned, while this can easily fall under the horror genre (although it’s certainly not too scary for a non-horror enthusiast to enjoy), at its heart, it is about love, romantic and otherwise. This would be the perfect read for fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor. My Darling Dreadful Thing is a rare mix of touching, spooky, and sultry, and I would recommend it to anyone! Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a chance to read this fantastic work!

My Darling, Dreadful Thing (hereafter referred to as MDDT in this review) is an absolutely lovely, dark, and haunting piece of gothic fiction with delicious hidden pockets of horrid secrets tucked away like terrible treats right up until the end.

We’re in the Netherlands and it’s the 1950s (probably early 1950s). Our protagonist is Roos, who is being examined by a psychiatrist (sadly, a Freudian) to ascertain whether or not she’s mentally responsible for the death of her employer, a Mrs. Agnes Knoop.

Roos is of the opinion that she both is and isn’t. It’s a long story, and it starts when she’s only about five years old and her mother traps her for interminable hours underneath the floorboards of the house in order to better play a fake spirit medium.

MDDT is told in two timelines, with two formats: One is the main story, told from Roos’ first-person POV, and the other is in the format of interviews the psychiatrist has with Roos in order to evaluate her mental state. This format can be hard to nail, but I thought van Veen did an absolutely fantastic job showing both sides of the coin. The psychiatrist comes across as understandably and realistically skeptical, and even though he’s a Freudian thinker (yuck), he never comes across as vulgar. He also does also seem to be truly interested in understanding Roos instead of exploiting her.

The main story, Roos’ story, is the stuff gothic fiction dreams are made of. A cruel mother, a childhood full of suffering, and a rescue from that wretched existence by a rich and lovely widow who brings Roos to her estate ostensibly just because she they are so similar and she couldn’t stand to see Roos suffer in those conditions. However, in every gothic novel there must be a Manderley or Thornfield, and Rozentuin is the setting for where everything goes wrong in this book, because Rozentuin is where all those horrid secrets have been tucked away and left to fester. With Roos, Agnes, their respective spirit companions, and Agnes’ slowly-dying sister-in-law all inside this old house with all their combined secrets and personal ghosts it’s not too long until things start to go terribly wrong.

It was really a terrific book and satisfied every need I have when it comes to gothic fiction. I definitely recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Gothic Fiction/Historical Fiction/LGBTQ Fiction/Occult Horror/Sapphic Romance