𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
If you enjoy true crime stories then you will love this one as it is inspired by a true story. It is a page turner that gripped me from the start and gave me the chills as I read it. The setting is spooky, chilling, suspenseful, and scary. The writing is atmospheric and so vivid (which I absolutely loved), I could visualize the setting as the writing was like a picture that unfolded and was brought to life on a canvas. Did I mention that this is a DEBUT?! And a damn good one at that! I really liked all of the characters, the setting, the plot, the mixed media that was used throughout the book, and the true crime aspect. This played out like a show on ID (which I am obsessed with), and I was all here for it. There are plenty of twists throughout which I absolutely loved and did not see coming. Overall, I highly recommend this outstanding debut from Seybolt, especially if you enjoy true crime🙌🏻

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦True Crime stories
✦A page turner and gripping story
✦Atmospheric & vivid writing
✦An outstanding debut
✦Plenty of twists and suspense throughout
✦Investigation Discovery true crime documentaries


𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

It was an interesting premise, but I felt like the mystery wasn't fleshed out as well as it could have been.

Coram House is an amazing debut!

The premise of this book had me hooked before I even opened it. Our main character, Alex, has been hired as a ghostwriter to write a book on Coram House, an orphanage with a dark history of abuse. She arrives in Vermont in the midst of its freezing cold winter and is quickly entangled in the secrets of Coram House and isn’t sure who’s telling the whole truth.

This was a slower paced book, but it fit the story perfectly. There were moments where I was confused about the timeline - it felt like the entirety of the book took place over a couple days and a month, simultaneously. But that’s really the only “negative” I have about the book!

Coram House is divided into parts and before each part, we get transcripts of interviews with the former children who lived at the house. I absolutely love when books include different elements like this and I was constantly looking forward to the next transcription.

As for the big twist, I didn’t see it coming and really enjoyed how it played out! I’m rarely good at guessing twists and this one definitely caught me off guard. This was a really enjoyable read and I flew through it in just a couple of days.

Definitely recommend!

Thank you to Atria Books and Bailey Seybolt for a DRC in exchange for my honest review!

went back and forth on whether this was a 4 or 5-star read. I think sometimes I am unnecessarily hard on mystery/thrillers. There are so many parts that make a good thriller, and it is hard to get them all 100% right. The biggest thing that made Coram House a 5-star read for me was that I enjoyed it (minus all the terrible things that happen throughout it).

The protagonist, Alex, is one of the most enjoyable leads in a thriller I have read in a while. There was a time or two throughout the story when I thought she was off her rocker, but overall, she is a headstrong and relatable character. I am not sure why most thrillers have largely unenjoyable casts of characters, but Alex was a breath of fresh air.

The pacing of Coram House is phenomenal. There are occasional inserts of the victim's depositions that raise more questions to the reader than what you are getting from the plot alone. I was never bored! That terribly boring final 20% of a thriller was also missing. The mystery is taken up to the end.

I had two different options of what I thought the "big twist" could be, and I was right. While it is unfortunate that I guessed the ending, I'm almost happy about it. I just read a thriller where the ending was so unbelievable that it was borderline ridiculous. Sometimes, the more obvious route for an ending is the best because at least the reader can rationalize it in their mind.

Coram House was a great mystery/thriller read. The fact that it is Seybolt's debut novel makes it even more impressive. I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

*I was to extend a huge thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!*

Received an ARC via NetGalley.

Even though I had a hard connecting to the narrator, I still got into the story and was curious as to how it would unfold. I picked up on a couple little tidbits dropped along the way but I couldn’t figure how they’d play into the ending and ended up being surprised by the outcome.

This one really took me by surprise. Once I got into it, I was invested and I did not see the ending coming. Alex is hired to write a story about a shuttered orphanage in Vermont. In her research she finds a missing child that she tries to track down. While she is in town she connects with many past residents of Coram House, locals and law enforcement to get deeper into what really happened.

I hope someone is in the middle of trying to lock down rights to this book for one of the streamers. This was perfectly paced, with just the right amount of detail, mystery and vagueness with each of Alex's interactions. I thought I had the ending worked out, but was surprised again about a page before the twist was revealed.

It felt like a fresh take on this genre, to me it was a perfect blend of fiction and true crime.

I am really looking forward reading more from this author.

When Alex Kelley is hired to ghost write about abuses at an orphanage 50 years ago, she thinks it could be the break she needs to help her career. But as she goes through old files and starts asking questions, more people die. Is her poking around causing people to panic or is she seeing connections that aren't there?

The story was a little slow getting started but I was definitely drawn into the mysteries involved and found myself trying to figure it all out. You can't help but want to know who could harm innocent children. The author did a good job making us care about what happened.

Inspired by a true story in Vermont, Seybolt not only showed the grittiness of the orphanage but taking us inside the cold of a winter in Vermont.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A slow burn atmospheric mystery.
Alex is an author that needs to make a come back after her last investigative book went terribly. She is contacted by someone connected to a super cold case at a catholic orphanage. The orphanage was shut down after many cases or abuse and neglect but one person remembers a child dying and no one believes her. Alex is hopeful she can uncover what happened and write a book that rectifies her last mistake.

I thought it was a little slow in the middle but I was engaged and interested to see what actually happened.

Thanks to netgalley and atria books for an eARC

Holy smokes folks?! This is a debut?? I am shocked! Coram House gave True Detective vibes for me, and I was here for it.
Based on chilling true events, we follow a ghostwriter’s quest to find answers regarding the horrors that took place at the St. Josephs Orphanage in Burlington and let me tell you-its dark and heartbreaking.

This was exceptionally researched; the pacing was pretty spot on and the characters realistic. I read this in one sitting because I just had to know what the outcome was going to be. I also enjoyed the mixed media inserts with interviews from past orphanage patrons. It kept me on my toes and engaged.

Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy***

I was given the ARC for this book.

"The story feels like a tree. Every time I manage to answer one question or find a new piece of information, the story branches out into three more questions, ten more, growing thinner and harder to grasp as it grows towards the sun."

That sentence from the book pretty much sums it up. This story had a lot of elements and took many turns. It's told in present day and in flashbacks to depositions given by the characters. All of the characters are complex, with both good and bad sides, depending on who is describing them. One minute you despise them, the next you have pity for them. There are so many pieces to this puzzle, and most are very hard to piece together. I was as lost as the MFC seemed to be. I did not see this book ending the way it did, but that's the fun part of thrillers. Overall this book is a tragic story, mainly because it is something we've all seen play out in real life. It will drag you through a whole range of emotions and keep you hooked until the very end. I highly recommend this book, but you will need a moment to process it all before you begin your next read.

80/100 or 4.0 stars

This was a compelling story. The writing style worked well and hooked me into the story within the first chapter. I don't want to give spoilers, so I can't really speak about the story/plot, but the story as a whole was well thought out and had a good ending too.
I am definitely going to want to check out future releases by Seybolt!

Coram House had an intriguing premise, but it took a while to really get moving. The slow burn made it difficult to stay fully engaged at times, though the tension did build as the story progressed.

One of my biggest struggles was the sheer number of characters—some felt unnecessary, making it harder to keep track of who was who. A few seemed randomly inserted without adding much to the story, which made the narrative feel a bit cluttered.

That said, I really enjoyed the different formats, especially the testimonies. They added a unique layer to the storytelling and kept things interesting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Unfortunately, this book was not my cup of tea. Somehow I found it both too boring and too scary for my taste. Depending on the content, I may be interested in reading more by Bailey Seybolt in the future.

Coram House is set in the late sixties, following a young boy's disappearance from Coram House. Fifty years later, crime writer Alex picks up the story with the determination and curiosity to figure out what happened as more victims emerge from Coram House. I found the plot intriguing, and was curious the whole way through to figure things out alongside Alex, however the pacing was slow at times but always managed to bring me back in. This book is excellent for fans of Ruth Ware or Lisa Jewell, or if you're the kind of reader inclined to pick up a slow burn, dual timeline mystery. 3/5

Atmospheric mystery set in snowy Vermont. Desperate for a fresh start, non-fiction writer Alex Kelley has left her life in NYC and taken up residence in Vermont to research and write a book about Coram House, a former orphanage that was the subject of multiple abuse allegations and a few mysterious deaths. As Alex digs into the death of one young boy, she faces roadblocks from long-time residents as well as information lost to time and memory. Will she be able to write the book she wants to write or be forced to stick to the more sanitized version and leave the past alone?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Atria Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Coram House
⭐️⭐️
📚 Thriller
🎶 A House Is Not a Home - Luther Vandross
✨Publication Date: April 15, 2025

One sentence synopsis:
Inspired by a true story, this novel is about a crime writer who risks everything as she investigates the mystery of two deaths, decades apart, at a crumbling Vermont Orphanage.

Book Review:
The started off as a pretty decent thriller. You have this outsider coming into this community, trying to write a book about this mysterious house. She kind of starts to uncover some stuff that’s sketchy and things unravel from there.

This is a pretty classic case of the main character just needs to mind her business and stop meddling in a whole bunch of stuff. Yes, of course in the end she discovered who the murderer was (they always do) but it got really messy and I really feel like she just made things worse. Honestly, I got to 80% and I really just skimmed the rest because I didn’t care enough to fully finish. When the truth was revealed, I barely even remembered who the person she discovered was the killer even was.

I’ll be honest, the cover of the book says this is for fans of Tana French and as one of Tana French’s big fans, I think this was a pretty big letdown and disservice to her writing.

"Coram House" by Bailey Seybolt is a powerful and moving novel that delves into the depths of human emotions and relationships. Set against a backdrop of hope and redemption, the story follows characters as they confront personal challenges and experience transformative moments.

Seybolt's evocative prose draws readers into a world that feels both real and relatable. The richly developed characters, each with their unique stories, will resonate with you as you root for them through their struggles and triumphs.

The exploration of resilience, friendship, and community is handled with remarkable sensitivity, making this not just an entertaining read but also one that encourages reflection and empathy.

Readers who enjoy reading about the human experience will love this book.

The premise of this story sounded just like the thrillers/mysteries that I love, however this story didn't hit for me. It was too slow and lacked urgency to the point that I became disinterested in what was happening. Alex the MC was also unlikeable and she lacked depth. I wish this author good luck but this story wasn't for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the chance to read this early in exchange of an honest review.

The premise of Coram House makes for an intriguing read. While I enjoyed the book, I would not call it fast paced and certain passages I thought were unnecessary and/or too contrived.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book!

Imagine, if you will, a bone-chilling Vermont winter, where snowflakes dance like specters in the frigid air. This is the haunting backdrop of Bailey Seybolt's "Coram House," a slow-burn mystery that will send shivers down your spine long after you've turned the final page.

Our protagonist, Alex, is a crime writer we can't help but root for. Battling the twin demons of grief and a career setback, she takes on a ghostwriting gig that plunges her into the dark, twisted history of Coram House. What was once a children's refuge now stands as a monument to unspeakable horrors, its walls echoing with the whispers of long-buried secrets.

As Alex delves deeper into the mystery of Tommy, a missing boy whose fate unknown, we're drawn into a labyrinth of conflicting testimonies and half-truths. Seybolt masterfully weaves a tapestry of intrigue, each thread a tantalizing clue that keeps us guessing.

But hold onto your seats, fellow thrill-seekers, because this is where our tale takes a sharp turn into the macabre. Alex's research morphs into a deadly game of cat and mouse when she stumbles upon a fresh corpse – a grisly discovery that hints at a string of murders tied to Coram House's sordid past.

Seybolt's prose is a delicious slow poison, building tension with exquisite patience. The author navigates the weighty themes of grief, abuse of power, and vengeance with a deft touch, never letting the gravity of these issues overshadow the pulse-pounding mystery at the heart of the story.

Overall, I highly recommend this atmospheric, heart-pounding mystery.

Thank you, Atria Books and NetGalley, for my free books.