This book took me longer to get through than I expected; not because I wasn't enjoying it, but the story is very detailed and you have to give it 100% of your attention.

Hecate is a seer that works in the library in a catherdral. There are some very, very odd things going on and she is the one that can help figure it all out.

This book is full of feels. I felt every range of emotion from joy to a straight sucker punch to gut that moved me to "almost" tears.

If you enjoy Historical Fiction, Dark Academia, Spirtual/Magical with a touch spells and minor witchy references, THIS is a book for you.
The books is set in 1881 London, one POV, and one timeline.

TW/Spoiler: There is talk of possession but it is not graphic. Any mention is not very graphic in nature. The setting is mostly in a cathedral.

Also, this ends on a cliff hanger, no resolution. Book 2, The Cathedral of Lost Souls, releases 11/11/25.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* Love this author!!! she has so many great books in what seems like the same world! i love it!!

I really enjoyed this story. I switched back and forth between the ARC and the audiobook, and both were well done. I am looking forward to the sequel.

I’ve enjoyed reading books by author Paula Brackston for years, and was so excited to get to her latest novel,
THE HAUNTING OF HECATE CAVENDISH.

The atmospheric setting and storyline gripped me right away, and I found myself settled in for the entertaining ride. Transported back in time to the late 1800s as Hecate Cavendish is offered her dream job as an assistant librarian.

The story was well written, and I loved the characters! The audio format was great too! I paired the book with audio to allow myself the most immersive read, and loved it.

*many thanks to St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

At first, I thought the narrator was speaking waaayyy too fast for the non-native English speaker I am, but I got used to it and ended up really enjoying her narration : she was expressive and energetic, and each character had a distinctive voice or intonation.

As for the story, it was good, but not exceptional. I find myself not caring much for what comes next, although I had a good time listening to it.

It is 1881 in England and Hecate Cavendish, a bit of a rebel, wants to live her life the way she wants to; she has no desire to marry and have children. While she has dreams and aspirations for her life, she is happy working as an Assistant Librarian in Hereford Cathedral, watching over the collection housed within its walls. There is one thing that is strange about this library however, and that is that the books are chained. The library is also home to a medieval world map containing illustrations of mythical creatures around its borders, the prized possession of the library. Another strange thing about the cathedral and its library? It is home to ghosts both kind and not, and Hecate can see them.

The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish is a beautifully written novel that I was able to immerse myself in. Hecate is an independent, strong female character and I enjoyed going on this journey with her. There were some parts that were rather slow going and I found myself a little bored, but overall I was hooked by the narrative and wanted to read on to see what would happen. I also liked the magical and mythical aspects of the story, especially some of the ghosts.

The audiobook added to my enjoyment of the tale. Calin uses pace and inflection to add to the emotions of the characters and events of the story. She brought life to the story and to the characters; I really hope that she narrates the next novel in the Hecate Cavendish series.

I love anything that Paula Brackston writes - she is an auto buy author for me! This was definitely a great one. I loved the story and characters!

The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish by Paula Brackston was a superb audio with an incredible narrator. This story was easy to follow, and the characters are extremely well written. I was so delighted to find out this is a series & that we get more of Hecate’s story.


Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for an ARC copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good genre-blender.

Fantasy and Romance and Mystery. Oh my!

There was so much going for this book. The characters are fleshy and likeable (particularly Hecate’s father). The setting is moody and gothic. The story was twisty and turny.

And the best part? It’s the start to a whole new series!

Can’t wait for the next installment.

I'm interested enough in this to continue the series (this main character! the setting! the dark academia of it all!), but it definitely feels like a part one and was sort of unsatisfying on its own. However, I loved this audiobook narrator and she definitely made the main character even more endearing.

After taking a job in the library of her local cathedral, Hecate Cavendish soon finds something amiss. She has the ability to see and communicate with spirits within the cathedral walls. When dark spirits begin inhabiting the living, Hecate must enlist others in her fight against evil.

This was a fun listen! The audio was well done and the plot moved quickly. The 1800s dialogue was interesting and full of humorous conversations. Somber of this supernatural mystery also tugged at my heartstrings. Happy to have picked up another title from this author!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for an ALC of this title.

I listened to the Audiobook version of this story and I thought the narrator did a wonderful job, the story was easy to keep up with and I liked the characters a lot especially Hecate, this is my first book from this Author, I would check out her other stuff based off of this book! 3.5 ⭐️‘s

Thank you to the Author and Narrator for your hard work and thank you to
NetGalley for the opportunity.

I received this book for free from netgalley for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity. I have followed this author for a long time and she just keeps getting better. The wonderful magical realism that she has woven into this is beyond compare. She is the only time travel romance that I will read.

I really really wanted to like this one, but it just kept dragging on. I needed it to get the point sooner. I think other people will like it, it's definitely got mystery, fantasy and intrigue, it just wasn't for me this time.

I liked the idea of this story. I hadn't realized that it is a series. As such, it does have an ending but not THE ending. I did not enjoy the narrator of this book. Her delivery was bothersome. I liked the different voices she had. I just didn't like the cadence and the delivery. This is the first Paula Brackston book I have read. I liked it but it left me slightly flat. However, I am interested enough to read the next book in the series when it comes out.

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s a historical ghost story and I feel like you can’t get much better than that. I really enjoyed Hecate. I loved watching her and John’s relationship blossom. I was sad and disappointed in the ending. I did find moments suspenseful and spooky. It was a good one to read for October.

An interesting take on a historical fiction mystery, with ghosts, necromancy, and magic.

Hecate Cavendish is a slightly unusual girl (aren’t we all?) raised by her traditional mother and her archaeologist father (who has less strict societal expectations of Hecate) she takes a job at the Cathedral library, and in the process discovers that she’s more unusual than she ever could have guessed, and that dark things are afoot in the city.

I enjoyed the magic system in the book and the way it wound through different aspects of the story.
I didn’t connect massively with Hecate, but mostly in a ‘I am older and can’t imagine myself in you anymore’ kind of way - I think younger readers would empathise with her desire for more than society expects her to be happy with.
The plot was interesting and kept me wondering. It developed in ways I didn’t necessarily expect, which I enjoyed.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would probably continue the series in the future.

3.5 stars
The Haunting of Hecate Cavendish follows an eccentric young woman who gets her dream job, only to find out that she can see ghosts and some malicious spirits are following her. I had some issues with this book. For example, I found that neither Hecate as a character nor the romance really developed until the final third of the book, and the pacing felt incredibly slow at times, but there were also aspects that I loved. I really enjoyed the premise of the books and some of the darker elements it introduced (both in terms of horror and tone). Although the beginning felt slow, the end really hooked me. Overall, my main issue with this book is that I just couldn't get my brain to latch onto it and care about it. While this would normally be a red flag for me, I believe that in this case I was just in a bit of a reading slump. Additionally, this book feels like it's meant for a slightly older demographic (older women who like cozy mysteries, not young adults who want fast paced romantic fantasies). So while I did find this story slow at times and didn't form a strong connection to it, I think that is all subjective, and overall, this is a pretty solid mystery with fantasy elements.
Thank you to the publisher and Macmillan Audio for the eARCs in exchange for an honest review!

This author is new to me, so I traveled slowly through Hecate's world.

I loved the map, the griffin, Hecate's backstory and her sensitivity to all things paranormal. Also enjoyed the fiance found, all the haunts, the supportive family, as well as the many tangibles with minds of their own - totally enjoy this kind of fantasy.

My three stars suffered from an ending that fell short - considering all that had been sacrificed to arrive at that last page, I needed more than I got. But. . .did get the griffin and that was Not Nothing. Will be reading more of this author!

*A sincere thank you to Paula Brackston, St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.*

This book was very good, it did have some slower parts but on a whole offered a sense of adventure, fantasy, mystery and a little love. The character development was decent, I didn't feel overly attached to any one character however and therefore didn't have overly strong emotions during sadder parts of the book (trying not to give away spoilers here!). I did like the plot and how it developed. Would recommend to anyone who would like a lighter read but still enjoy the journey.