This is definitely a phycological thriller with some spooky stuff thrown in. I really wanted to like the sisters but found them all to be insufferable, whiney women. I did enjoy the when the dead sister tormented Meg and Esther and was really hoping that in the end it would have this mega spooky twist.. but alas it ended up a predicable outcome.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of Through the Midnight Door.

I rated this 3.5, rounded up to 4.

When Claire tragically passes away, her two sisters Meg and Esther try to deal with their grief while also investigating her death further, as they believe it wasn't self-inflicted, and might be tied to supernatural events that happened when they were children.

Through the Midnight Door felt heavily influenced by both the book and TV show versions of The Haunting of Hill House. Mental illness and grief/guilt were major themes, focusing a lot on severe depression and OCD. I am not well-versed with OCD, but overall the depictions seemed to be well-researched and I felt the toll these illnesses took not only on the characters themselves, but on their other loved ones. I felt it was really well-written that way. I also enjoyed the creepy/supernatural feel with the flashbacks into their childhoods, leading up to present day. Those parts of the story were gripping and it was hard to put the book down.

I did feel that this book went on a bit too long. The first 25% was really fascinating and the pacing was great, but then the next 50% focused heavily on the traumas this family was experiencing, and the investigation into Claire's death dragged on way too long. It felt like there wasn't much that happened, and the pacing really slowed down. The supernatural aspect was also put on the backburner until the last 25%, where it picked up again. If there had been less of that, or more of the supernatural elements sprikled in, then maybe it would have improved the pacing a bit.

I think what really took me out of the story was my dislike for Esther. She just seemed so cold and self-serving, however she did have a decent redemption arc that I appreciated. After the incident with her son was when I really started to lose interest in her as a character, because she knew the impact of her actions but didn't want to try to get help, and she thought everyone was being unreasonable. On the other side of things, the way Meg was guilt-tripped by her entire family her whole life (particularly her mother) to me was also excessive and I felt horrible for her. She got a lot of hate she didn't deserve. Were these depictions accurate considering the circumstances? Realistically, probably yes. However, I still felt frustrated enough that it made me enjoy the story a little less. It was very bleak, but not even in a fun or jarring way. It just felt too realistic in that sense.

Overall, this was well-done and entertaining. The commentary on mental illness and dealing with grief, as well as the impact on everyone touched by these things was handled well. It's an important message, and whether or not this was a favorite of mine, I feel like everyone could benefit from reading this.

Thank you Katrina Monroe, Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the eArc of Through the Midnight Door.

The artwork cover and the synopsis drew me into read this arc and even though it's a slow burn, it has a lot to give and can be read on different levels. The narrative is told from the POV of 3 Finch Sisters, Megan and Esther and Claire and on 2 timelines, the past and present. All have their own individual personalities, voices and the timelines are clearly detailed.

The Finch sisters spent a summer exploring their home town and abandoned buildings, Having being coaxed into a house by a boy they hardly know, they stumble on a corridor that changes and presents them with 3 keys to 3 doors. Something horrifying happens, no one will speak about it and creates a rift between the sisters for years until Claire takes her own life. Megan and Esther try and find out why this has happened and they believe that she may of been murdered.

I really enjoyed the bones of this book. Katrina has a beautifully disturbing and precise way of writing the horrors that befall these sisters. Both in the past and the present. The book is atmospheric and creepy to the extent that the hairs on my arms stood up when describing certain scenes. For me, the book isn't frightening, but left me with a certain sense of unease. Katrina has pinpointed and given mental images to some very intense human emotions. Pain, grief, shame are just a few. Which is what I bonded with the most in this book.

The dynamics between the sisters when the plot was unfolding really intrigued me. So I was trying to suss out what had happened to them at a younger age to cause such a rift and to drive Claire to take her own life. The secrets we keep, the pain we hold, can and will alter us forever.

4 stars

Through the Midnight Door follows finch sisters Meg,Esther and Claire.They loved exploring places and doing things together until one day they visited an old abandoned house..They never addressed what each of them witnessed in the house and it created issues between them.Meg Left the house as soon as she turned 18 and Esther did the same.

However they are once again united upon the death of Claire .This destroyed the other sisters driving them to find more about her death.Inorder to find that they have to unleash their past about the house and the things happened.

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book where we get all the spooky vibes and also the things getting revealed slowly.The drama between the sisters was reasonable and it made me happy to see them trying to find things as they have each other and don't want to lose other again.The scary things were less in the book and the ending felt very average.Apart from this it was very entertaining and fast paced.

A beautiful and propulsive story about the bonds of sisterly love and grief. Ripped my heart out in the best way

Although heavily influenced by Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House, this novel doesn't come close to its inspiration text. It's absolutely terrifying, yes - Monroe writes shockingly precise, nightmarish descriptions of the visions haunting three sisters - but the underlying story revealed at the end is unsatisfying.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this ARC.

This book was the definitive "haunted house with a picket fence" experience that I've been searching for. Katrina Monroe has created something so haunting and so gorgeous- a story of sisters, loss, and fighting tooth and nail to crawl out of the darkness of grief. Reminiscent of movies like the Babadook and Hereditary, with an atmosphere not unlike a Shirley Jackson novel, I can confidently say that this will be my favorite horror/thriller of the year when it's published. Esther, Meg, Claire and Julie are complex women full of depth and life and they will stay with you long after you've finished reading about their sisterhood. I am so thankful I was able to read an ARC of this book, and I really look forward to seeing how loved it will be in the future.

When one of the Finch sisters is found dead in a home that has been haunting them since their childhood, the two eldest find themselves struggling to move past their grief. When they were children, the house changed them, but denying the house's power only has led them to dark thoughts and a difficult sibling relationship. Now Meg and Esther must come together to uncover what really happened in the home so it never happens again. The novel was much slower than I anticipated. I did enjoy the multiple POVs and the dual timeline, but given the long chapters it seemed to drag on.

I love Katrina's stories but this is definitely my least fave of the three. I enjoyed the sisters' relationships and reading about their personal lives and struggles. I felt like some things could have been explored better and more background given. I'm excited to read more from Katrina Monroe in the future.

This one started off as a nice and creepy haunted house/ghost story evolving into a murder mystery/thriller with some family trauma thrown in for good measure.
An enjoyable read, i was liking the spookiness of the beginning and slowly uncovering the family secrets. While it dragged a little for me in the third quarter, it did tie up all the ends into one nice bow at the end.

Loved this one. I typically love everything by this author and Through the Midnight Door didn’t disappoint.

I loved the characters. The dynamic between the three sisters was intriguing and realistic. Meg, the eldest sister, was particularly engaging. She struggles with survivors guilt and it’s totally destroyed her life. Esther and Meg have a complicated relationship but they have a tenuous bond over trying to figure out what happened to their youngest sister, Claire.

We have 3 POV’s; Meg, Esther and Claire. And 2 different timelines; the past and present.

The supernatural elements were extremely creepy. An abandoned house with seemingly personalized doors and keys for each sister. What happened behind each door is traumatic.

This is a book about loss, grief and familial trauma. The sisters and their parents have suffered great loss in the past and the present. Instead of grief they’ve chosen avoidance.

Great read! Will continue to look forward to Katrina Monroe’s books!

Slow burn and spooky vibes. I enjoyed the different viewpoints from the three sisters. The horror level was low for me but it’s hard for me to get scared. I would recommend.

Through the Midnight Door was a story that while horror was also very much a study in relationships and family dynamics. How people deal with trauma and the ramifications of unresolved feelings of guilt and anger. The horror was tinged with the fantastical and left me questioning if it actually existed at all. Excellent pacing and character development made for an enjoyable and immersive experience.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this title free of charge. I am leaving an honest review voluntarily.

This was a beautiful book about darkness in all of its hideous forms. I loved some of the characters and absolutely hated others, but found the narrative to be textured and compelling.

I want to call you a haunted house book, but it's a haunted house of a different color.

Meg, for whatever reason, was my favorite character. Take that as you like.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I can really see what the author was trying to do here. There is a lot to be said for psychological horror that is as emotional as it is scary, but sadly I feel like the mark got a bit missed by this book. The past catches up with the protagonists more than you would expect, and the demons of the past show that they will always be with the people that they haunt.

I think that this one would have benefited from a little more editing and that there could have been a bit more of a focus on the suspense side of the story. I enjoyed it, but I thought that it could have been a little bit more pulled in on the horror elements. Haunted house stories are good, but they are certainly limited to a certain place - and I was hoping that it might have taken the horror a tiny bit further.

My first Katrina Monroe book and I'm sad to say I wasn't super impressed. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it but I think I was expecting to be more spooked and freaked out and I really wasn't. The door thing confused the you know what out of me and even after finishing I still don't fully understand it. I honestly hated the character Esther and I dreaded anytime I was reading a chapter from her POV. I understand that each sister was dealing with her own mental illness which I can appreciate but some of the things she said and her actions I couldn't stand. There really wasn't much thrilling to me at all and there were a few times I found myself skimming to get this book read faster. The big plot twist at the end, if you can even call it a plot twist, was not surprising at all, you could see it coming a mile away. I don't know if this author's writing style is really for me unfortunately.

Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for the review copy!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was well written. Dark. Atmospheric. Although it is not my genre of choice, I did enjoy it for what it was.

I loved this book. Creepy, spooky and kept me interested. A good pace. Solid characters and a good length to get the story told and not feel rushed or anything left out. Highly recommend this

"Through the Midnight Door" is a poignant exploration of sisterhood, trauma, and the lingering specters of the past. The Finch sisters, once inseparable, are now fractured by grief and the weight of buried memories. When youngest sister Claire is found dead in the eerie house they once dared to explore, Meg and Esther are forced to confront the demons they've long tried to bury.

Author masterfully weaves a narrative that blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural, as Meg and Esther grapple with their sister's tragic death and the unsettling mysteries surrounding their family's history. As they delve deeper into the secrets of the old house, they uncover chilling connections between Claire's suicide, their own traumatic experiences, and a long-buried loss that has haunted them for years.

"Through the Midnight Door" is as emotionally resonant as it is haunting, delving into the complexities of grief, guilt, and the bonds that bind us together. With its atmospheric prose and gripping storyline, this novel is sure to captivate readers from beginning to end. Fans of psychological suspense and atmospheric horror will find much to love in this spellbinding tale of sisterhood and the darkness that lurks within.

This book is a great example about how sometimes your past catches up with you.

The Finch sisters, Esther, Meg, and Claire, decide to explore an abandoned house and are each presented a key to one of the numerous rooms. Each girl witnesses something horrific that they refuse to talk about. Years later, the youngest is found dead in the house. When the surviving sisters explore the house again, the ghost of Claire haunts them and informs them of things that have went on. As the sisters work through the house, they learn that things aren't always what they seem.

This book is quite spooky at times and downright eerie at others. Well-written characters and a unique plot. Pacing was slow at some parts but picked up in others.

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Katrina Monroe for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.