gothic horror in its best. corpses, ghosts, death, and slowly mentally slipping farther and farther away? sign me up

What a fantastic surprise!

I’d put off reading this one because the early reviews weren’t particularly positive. I should know better. This story surpassed all my expectations.

The writing has a beautiful, lyrical quality, without being pretentious. It’s easy to read and fully immersive.

I loved how the eeriness crept under my skin, making me feel uneasy while keeping me fully engaged.

“Must love be about suffering?”
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My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen 🪦🥀
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I listened to the audiobook and I feel like the best way to really convince readers how vivid the imagery was for me while I was listening, is to just show you. So I made this collage.
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-Horror
-Gothic
-Romance
-Sapphic yearning & love
-Occultism
-Suspense
-Mystery
-Netherlands
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A dark, creepy, haunting tale of a young woman who is deeply connected to the spirit world. She lives with a woman she calls mother who exploits her natural gifts. A widow frees her from this bondage and the two women live together in the ancestral estate called Rozentuin—but they are never alone…🪦🥀🖤💀
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I LOVED THIS AUDIOBOOK, and this story, and Johanna van Veen is a new favorite. Highly recommend! It’s a perfectly balanced blend of scary, gruesome, romantic, and suspenseful.

Going into reading this book, I was expecting a primarily gothic atmosphere and some supernatural investigation. And while I did get the gothic atmosphere (the decaying manor with strange odors, haunted halls, etc) but I also was impressed by the psychological depth and coping mechanisms. I was expecting romance of some kind due to the tags that I stumbled across upon goodreads, and was pleasantly surprised by the development of romance incorporated with the sinister backgrounds. I do think the author did a good job utilizing the historical fiction part by connecting character's desires and history with World War II and that it added a great amount of depth.

I found this book to be quite interesting and found myself rather taken by it. Dark, gothic and Poe-ish if you will. Filled with note worthing quotes, I also found the book to be written beautifully. I am a sucker for a good debut and My Darling Dreadful Thing proves that there are great things to come of Ms. Johanna van Veen and I am happy to announce that I am along for the ride!

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the honor of letting me get my hands on this first!

Dark and mysterious, I blew through this book! The relationships created in the book were solid and I loved switching from her story and the doctor notes.it added a sinister layer to an already haunting tale. The imagery was magnificent and this would be interesting to see adapted. The bit of spice was 10/10 as well!

3.5 stars rounded up - arc provided by publisher

What a gothic atmosphere! Like others have noted very Edgar Allan Poe esc!
A possession/ ghost story with a twist and just a splash of gay - so obviously right up my ally!

I did find it a little long and I wished the last 10% had started a little earlier. But the atmosphere Van Veen creates is so lush you could just sit in it all day

4/4.25 ⭐️

I am a sucker for gothic vibes. This book gave me a similar feeling that I get when I watch, "Crimson Peak" and I actually had to watch the movie after finishing this book. The storylines are different and the time period, but ghosts, gross visuals, and a decaying creepy mansion all line up.

1950's European setting. Roos can see ghosts. She has been able to since she was child. Roos has freshly entered adulthood (21) and she has experienced a tough upbringing at the hands of "Mama," a woman who she was only supposed to be housed with temporarily. After the death of her father, Roos is kept on by Mama and forced to help her perform fake seances in their home for income. Mama neglects and abuses Roos. As Roos gets older, she begins to perform the seances herself with the assistance of a spirit named Ruth. Ruth is a long deceased woman who barely has flesh and would probably scare the absolute crap out of me if I saw her at the end of a dark hall. No one but Roos can hear or see Ruth. Ruth is both a loyal friend and protector to Roos. Ruth is able to possess Roos's body when permitted. Roos and Ruth have a special bond and companionship and Roos is often comforted and cared for by Ruth, replacing the love she does not receive from Mama. Roos suffers and continues doing her duties for Mama with no end in sight. Then suddenly, Mama sells Roos to a wealthy widow named Agnes (who had attended one seance), whose intentions with Roos are unclear. Roos' story continues as she relocates to a rotting estate in the country.

My opinions:

Pacing was a little low. Descriptions of the spirits and their actions were downright fricken nasty at times. I loved the eerie feeling I got while reading the book. It wasn't scary, but it was haunting, quite dark, and interesting. I felt like the storyline was unique so I applaud it for that. I did not particularly enjoy Agnes's conclusion and Peter and Roos' involvement with that. It just kind of grossed me out and it felt wrong to me. Those two points were really the only thing I didn't love about the book.

I plan to also listen to the audiobook soon and relive the story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to the arc copy. I greatly appreciate the opportunity!

"It’s a dangerous thing, to try and give someone everything. One day, you might find you’ve given away things you should’ve kept."

Roos has been haunted for as long as she can remember - Ruth has always been with her. This was a wonderfully dark story. Roos was an interesting character - she had such a sweet heart but was also very unsure about the world or how it all worked. I loved the multiple POV - the now and the previous. It was a great way to tell the story - it kept a dread going because we know something horrible has happened because Roos is in a center and she's trying to explain Ruth and how it wasn't her that did something.

This cover is gorgeous and gives the perfect feel of the story. I loved this one!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Don't make a ghost jealous may be the frightening lesson of “My Darling Dreadful Thing” by Johanna van Veen, a hauntingly beautiful Gothic novel that intertwines a murder mystery with supernatural elements.

The story follows Roos Beckman in post-World War II Holland and her centuries-old spirit confidant, Ruth.

An only, lonely child with an invisible ‘ghost’ for a friend, Roos was forced by her mother from an early age to act as a psychic medium during fake seances.

As time passed, Roos became more contentious about her mother’s fraudulent scams, especially her part in them.

Following one seance session, a wealthy widow offered Roos lodging at her home, and Roos was excited to accept the invitation—all to her Mother's displeasure.

Anticipating a life of new beginnings, stability, and normalcy free from exploitation and the opportunity to develop genuine friendships and relationships is not precisely what Roos found awaiting her at the widow’s mansion.

Johanna van Veen’s opulent imagery and atmospheric details pull readers into the time and place of the novel, as they explore themes of psychological abuse, love, envy, sanity, death, and the supernatural.

JoyReaderGirl1 graciously thanks NetGalley, Author Johanna van Veen, and Poisoned Pen Press for this advanced reader's copy for review.

Great debut and an even greater gothic novel. Can't wait to see what is next!

thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC!

This book was a hard one for me. I tried to give it a chance, but it was average to me. Very interesting premise, but I found it lacking and was a little bored. I thought the author should have gone into more of a back story of the companion ghosts.

Oh my gosh, I absolutely loved this book. My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veer is a haunting and emotional debut horror novel about two women who find one another and bond of their connection to spirits. This gothic beauty is full of dark and eerie prose that will leave the hairs on your arm standing. It's hard to find a horror book that not only makes your skin crawl, but also makes you nearly cry. I was surprised at the depth of emotion this story had. The sapphic romance was a realistic slow burn with just a tiny, tiny hint of spice. It was one of the best hauntings I've read in a long time. And the ending hit much harder than I thought it would. I really have nothing but praise for the world building, plot, characters, and really everything about this one.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe a little predictable but still a really enjoyable read. I loved the atmosphere of this one and the back and forth between the doctor interview and the main story. Well-written with a satisfying conclusion. Will definitely keep an eye out for future works by this author!

This was a hauntingly BEAUTIFUL story. The overall feel of the book, and the way Johanna writes captivates you and makes you feel like you're there in the story. If you're looking for something to read for fall i highly recommend this book!

A haunting gothic tale that blends horror and poignant romance. The tension between reality and the supernatural is well crafted, keeping the reader guessing about what is real. It is a chilling yet heartfelt read.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am late in reviewing this but I am a mood reader and I wanted to read this to kick off spooky season. This was the perfect seasonal read! First off, this cover is BEAUTIFUL! And immediately interested me. I loved reading about Roos and Agnes, although I would have liked more background on Roos. The writing was hauntingly beautiful and will be one of my favorite gothic genre books in a long time. The pacing of this book was wonderful. Thank you so much for the ARC!

I went into this book almost solely because of the cover but I quickly became hooked by the story. In the vein of Atwood's Alias Grace or Collins's The Confessions of Frannie Langton, our main character is a young girl being evaluated to see if she stands fit for trial for some gruesome event that we find out about as the story progresses.

The narrative structure here did a lot to add the creepy atmosphere and sense of tension as the story builds. There were a couple of reveals that had my jaw on the floor too, like even when the shape of the "twist" was expected, the details were most definitely not.

I loved the "case episodes" sprinkled in that show Roos in the present timeline speaking to the doctor evaluating her. I also really appreciated that this take on the was it real or was it mental illness trope didn't demonize mental illnesses. We also see sprinkles of historical Netherlands which were really fascinating to me. There were references to the Nazi occupation, and the wealthy young widow, Agnes, is Indonesian so we see reference to Dutch colonies too and the history nerd in me loved those details.

This was dark and gothic and sapphic and everything I didn't know I needed it to be, but wow will I be recommending it all spooky season long (and beyond). I cannot wait to see what van Veen writes next!

This ghost story is inspired by Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw," which was recently loosely adapted into The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. For fuller film context, see The Innocents (1961) directed by Jack Clayton.

Consider this the story of what would have happened if Miles and Flora grew up - the whole weird skeevy relationship those two kids had continuing into adulthood. What if Miles had to marry? How would Flora handle that?

This story is well done. We see the story through the eyes of an outsider, Roos, who has a spiritual guide named Ruth. At a seance, she meets Agnes, a recent widow, who ends up buying Roos from her mother to serve as her companion.

Agnes takes Roos home to an elaborate estate, complete with a bog nearby. Agnes chooses Roos for one simple reason: she also has a spiritual guide named Peter Quint (named after a character in "The Turn of the Screw"). With her husband dead and an ailing sister-in-law, we travel into a very dark world where two siblings are still at their worst. The sister will do anything to have her brother back, including tricking a young Roos into helping her raise his ghost.

Thank you Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Johanna Van Venn for the eArc of My darling Dreadful Thing.

After reading the synopsis and eyeing up the beautifully dark cover, I read/listened to this within a few sittings. Set in a time where status and money were everything. Roos finds herself with a spirit companion, Ruth, helping her Mother to hold seances. Until one day, appalled by how her Mother is treating her, a rich widow takes Roos away to her crumbling home. There is much to be said about this old house, the people in it and then a murder is committed.

Roo's story is told on two timelines, in the past as first POV and also through the notes of a psychologist. Both come very neatly together to tell her story as it unfolds. I really enjoy these dark, psychological horrors, It always leaves questions throughout the narrative, leaving doubts whether Roos is actually mentally unstable or she does indeed, have a spirit companion. The whole atmosphere of the book had my hairs standing on end at one point or another and does delve into some dark places of the mind.

I also had the pleasure to listen to this book, which is narrated by Jess Nesling. He voice has the right cadence, tone and a nice edge to it. Which really added to the whole atmosphere

4.5 stars Storygraph rounded up to 5 on Amazon, Netgalley and Goodreads