3.5- Young women's family burden delays her living her life and finding love.

Elegy Thorne has lived her life frozen in time in her family's 1890's mansion. She can't wear modern clothes and speaks in an old fashion manner. This is due to the spirits that reside in the home with her and her father. For generations it has been the family's responsibility to control and keep the collection of spirits that were gathered decades before by her ancestor.

When one of the child spirits floods a bathroom, the Thorne family sends for their preservationist to restore the damages. He brings along his son, Atticus and once Elegy meets him, she knows she wants more than life trapped in the mansion with the spirits. But her father's health is failing and once he passes, the collection will be her responsibility. Can she hope for more from her life outside the walls of Thorne Hall or will the spirits and family duty dictate the rest of her days?

I really enjoyed this book. Its got a little bit of everything going for it: love story, horror, gothic vibes, paranormal, and historical fiction. Elegy is a loveable character to hope for and the writing was whimsical. There was a small section that I was kind of zoning out through so that brought down the rating some for me, but overall enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audiobook for review.

3.5⭐

I will always like gothic romances and is my favorite subgenre and this story is no exception. This story was gothic and atmospheric. The story was unique and had a twist at the end I was not expecting. It's also not often that the author narrates their own audiobook but J. Ann Thomas did a great job with the narration. My only cons is the love seemed a little too instalove for my taste but it was at times, had to keep track of who was ghosts and who was living. Overall, I rather enjoyed this story.

Set in a crumbling New England mansion, in the shadow of a cruel family curse, Elegy is forced to maintain the mirage of a gothic life as she manages the spectrum of spirits, both quaint and dangerous, that are bound to the house. A chance meeting with a stranger forces her to decide between duty and freedom: will Elegy find love and free herself and the spirit collection, or will she be trapped in the mansion with them forever?

I thought this was well written and very descriptive - the setting and situation are somewhat unique and the author did well to immerse the reader within. The audiobook narrator also maintained the intended atmosphere. While it was slow paced and there were many characters to keep track of, this didn’t deter from the general plot, which is a mix of contemporary, historical, love, and ghost story elements. Mostly cozy, there are some chilling sections that added to the stakes and created the urgent tension. I thought the instant romance was also a bit weak, but overall, this was a well written and satisfying read. If you’re looking for a captivating supernatural tale with a touch of both romance and spooky action then this is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Can horror and cozy coexist? Because they somehow coexist in this story. Elegy is, by birthright, to be the mistress of Thorne Hall and all the collection of ghosts that haunt its halls. Elegy has never known what it is to live life for herself until a preservationist’s son steps into her life. This is an endearing story of the struggle between one’s duties and living your own authentic life. And, of course, it is a precious love story. The author writes like a classic author (think Emily Brontë) but with a smidge of a flippant tone that echoes Elegy’s personality. The story’s pacing can get a little slow, but overall it was enjoyable.

I listened to the audiobook for this. I overall enjoyed the narrator. My biggest issue is that sometimes you could tell when the narrator had stepped away and started over in her narration. I don’t know how else to describe it other than her voice will suddenly change and then go back to normal.

Thank you Alcove Press and Dreamscape Media for the gifted ALC!

This is a slow story, nostalgic and contemporary wrapped together. It was a little unsettling to marry the vintage writing vibes with the modern day setting. At times I felt like I was at Manderly, but then the explitives brought me right back to modern day! The slowness of the building of the story really was difficult, my mind wandered alot. I am sure I missed some bits because it was definitely hard to focus.
I did like the narrator, a cozy voice, similar to the narrator of the Shady Hollow series.

A story that starts in an 18 hundred house. Full of ghosts and a few living people.
Elegy Thorney is the next person to inherit the house.
Elegy doesn't want to stay, she wants her own life, but the ghosts don't want her to go. They sabotage the house so she will have to stay and fix it.
It's a fantastic story with wit and love.
The poetry at the start of some of the chapters are brilliant.
The narrator did a good job of making it fun.
I was blessed to of been given this arc, and this is my opinion of the book.

This book felt more like a gothic romantic mystery than a horror novel. That being said, the story was entertaining with a great cast of characters, including the main character Elegy and the many spirits bound to Thorne Hall and the Thorne family. This was a fabulous ghost story laced with the family curse and magic, and the author did a great job narrating her story.

A gloriously ghosty, gothic, romance. This book really surprised me. The story is well written and captivates you from the beginning. The characters are fantastic. I really fell in love with the MC and how strong she was and how she grew and overcame her circumstances. Highly recommend!

4⭐️ I really enjoyed this haunted house mystery romance. It was all atmosphere and vibes and I am here for it! The writing was great. It can be difficult to make a sheltered character relatable, but the author did an amazing job of portraying the balance between Elegy’s areas of strength and her areas of naïveté, especially as the book progressed. I would have loved more development of some of the secondary characters, as there were definitely depths unplumbed. Read this if you like: gothic atmosphere without horror, turn of the century historical fiction vibes, a cozy mystery with suspense that doesn’t dangerously elevate your heart rate, haunted houses, stories about found family, or you loved Starling House by Alix Harrow.

The audiobook had good production quality, without any notable cut-ins with changes in volume, intonation, etc. The narrator was good overall, but had some frustrating mispronunciations of common words. It was not excessive enough to truly disrupt one’s enjoyment, but is a particular pet peeve of some (myself included), so worth noting.

Overall, definitely recommend this one!

Many thanks to the author, Dreamscape media, and NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

👻 ARC REVIEW 👻

THE SPIRIT COLLECTION OF THORNE HALL by J. Ann Thomas
4/5 🌟
Pub Date 🇺🇸 : ALREADY OUT!

This ghost story was unlike anything I've read. It's a little horror, a little romance, and a lot of emotion packed into one book. I was impressed that the author didn't stick to convention, which led to an amazingly authentic-feeling story.

The book follows a young woman learning to manage the 15 ghosts living on the estate, soon to be hers. Isolated for her young life of 25 years, she gets a taste of romance and freedom when the contractor's son shows up to Thorne hall in his father's place. Please read if you like the following:

🏚 Immersive worldbuilding packed with 19th century facts
🏚 13 GHOSTS type situation
🏚 Sexy contractors willing to take the time to woo 😉
🏚 Selfless women who find their footing in the face of greed and selfishness

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC!

🔖 #netgalley #thespiritcollectionofthornehall #bookstagram #books #booklover #book #bookworm #bookstagrammer #reading #bookish #bookaddict #booknerd #bibliophile #readersofinstagram #booksofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations #read #bookcommunity #bookphotography #bookshelf #bookaholic #bookblogger #booklovers #booklove #booktok #reader #instabooks #authorsofinstagram

I really loved this gothic historical fantasy debut about Elegy Thorne who has been trapped living in her family's estate and tasked with keeping the 15 spirits collected there over the years happy and contained. When a young spirit causes enough mischief that an outsider needs to be called in to restore areas of the house, Elegy meets his son, Atticus and starts to long for a life of love and freedom. This was a haunting story of love, magic, family secrets and love triumphing over evil and I gobbled it up. It was great on audio and I can't wait to read more from this author! Highly recommended for fans of authors like Hester Fox. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the premise of this book the writer is fantastic taking you back in time with the turn of phrase she uses .

I can only say this the author should not be the narrator find someone else .

I couldn’t get through more than 6 chapters her voice isn’t suited to the story. You need someone with a calmer spooky voice.

I’ll buy the book when it comes out as it will be fantastic in my own mind characters being formed with my own voice .

WOW! I LOVED this modern-day gothic romance with soooo many ghosts and secrets! How is this J. Ann Thomas's first book? After finishing, I immediately went to add her whole catalog to my TBR but this is the only one LISTED??! I need more!

Elegy Thorne has never left her stately gothic mansion in the Berkshires, Thorne Hall. As the heir to the family legacy, Elegy will inherit the 15 ghosts collected by her ancestor who now all torment the inhabitants of Thorne Hall. She has resigned herself to an arranged marriage and a miserable existence when she meets her contractor's yummy son, Atticus. Romance ensues and Elegy decides to fight for the life of her choosing, or as her friends so poetically put it, "F*&% up some ghosts!" Huzzah! You'll be cheering for Elegy's HEA too.

I was gifted an ARC of the audiobook, but I think I'd have preferred to read a paper or e-copy just to help keep all the ghosts straight, go back and re-read certain sections and to be able to slow down during the more complicated plot points and love scenes. The narrator did a fantastic job and kept me glued to my headphones.

"The Spirit Collection of Thorne Hall" by J. Ann Thomas presents an intriguing premise that combines elements of gothic romance, family curses, and ghost stories set against the atmospheric backdrop of a Gilded Age mansion. While the concept shows promise, the execution leaves room for improvement, particularly in its audio format.

Thomas creates an evocative setting in Thorne Hall, and the premise of using folk songs to manage spirits adds a unique magical element to the traditional haunted house story. The integration of Gilded Age history with supernatural elements shows creativity, and the various spirits inhabiting the mansion each bring their own intrigue to the narrative.

However, the audiobook format, narrated by the author herself, unfortunately detracts from the story's potential. While author-narrated audiobooks can sometimes provide a special connection to the material, in this case, the narration lacks the professional polish that could have brought the characters and atmosphere to life more effectively. The delivery often feels flat where it could have been dynamic, particularly during crucial emotional moments or supernatural encounters.

For readers interested in this story, I would recommend experiencing it in print format rather than audio. The written word might better serve the atmospheric qualities of the setting and allow readers to imagine the characters' voices and emotional dynamics for themselves.

This book feels like a mix of Gallant, Mexican Gothic and Strange Sally Diamond.

It's a slower book for sure but the vibes are immaculate. I received an audio copy and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I received this as an ALC. Although the story was alluring, I couldn’t get past the narrator’s monotone voice. The narration made the story dull and unlively.

This should have been a historical fiction. Period. It was trying way too hard to be it without being so and it honestly made the whole book disjointed. The poetry sections were also a bit excessive at times too. I don't know if it was the way they were written but they were painful to listen to with the cadence they were spoken in.

Not the worst book I've read. Not the best. It had so much potential that I think it fell short of.

This is an story about a young woman (Elegy) who is destined to inherit a house stuck in 1890 with 15 "ghosts" (they're closer to zombies) of her ancestors living in it. Her ailing father doesn't believe she can keep the ghosts under control after one of them purposefully breaks a pipe and floods the kitchen. The repairman brings his hot son with him to fix it, and Elegy wonders if maybe she can return the spirits to the afterlife and live as a normal person with him.

I requested this ARC because I am a big fan of gothic/dark fantasy, but I did not vibe with this. I just can't get behind "it's 2024 and these people are living and dressing like it's 1890." This woman had a governess in the 2000's? They've been wearing the same clothes passed down through generations for at least 140 years without a single new piece? A lot of Thaddeus' illness is described like tuberculosis, and it's even being treated with "tinctures"... but this is 2024. If it's cancer, why not say cancer? If it's tuberculous, the lack of masks when dealing with such an incredibly infectious airborne disease would be ridiculous. So many parts of the plot constantly struck me as implausible to scoff-worthy. I'm meant to believe two teens ran screaming through a house full of guests and no one heard them? There's also a lengthy section where Elegy's father "tests" her control over the collection, and it's... actually a really good training exercise that shocked me no one had asked her to do before?

There's way too many characters. I couldn't even give you a single trait of all 15 of the ghosts. There's at least ten other characters on top of that, and they come and go so quickly I couldn't develop any feelings for them.

The romance is the worst part. On Elegy's part, being an extremely sheltered 25-year-old, it makes sense that she would fall immediately for the first hot man she saw and fret over him like a love-struck tween. But why does this 32-year-old CEO also immediately fall in love with her? He's willing to do so much for her when he had only known for for like 9 days, it struck me as kind of creepy. At the same time, he had so little personality I would forget he existed when he wasn't on the page.

On top of all of this... the book is slow as molasses. The epilogue in the audiobook is 30 minutes alone and covers the final fates of at least 6 characters, and this story didn't earn such a long goodbye at all.

The final note about the audiobook: it is extremely cool that the audiobook is read by the author. She has a great voice. But this book is filled with people singing, and all of the songs are read out loud as either regular dialogue or like a poem, and it struck me as odd.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

4/5. Thank you to Ms. Thomas, the publisher, and netgalley for the early listening copy (ARC).

I'm not positive what I thought I was getting into, but I really enjoyed what I got! The story is both enjoyable and creepy, following the growth of Elegy Thorne as she not only learns about her past, but decides on her future. The character development she undergoes from when we first meet her as a child to when we leave her as an adult was a great read.

In the Berkshires, Thorne Hall sits with its dwindling family (Elegy, her father Thaddeus, and her step-mother Fletcher) stuck both in time and with 15 spirits that have been bound there since the 1890s. Elegy is the heir to the mansion, the estate, and the oversight and keeping of the Collection, which are all of the spirits that live there. And they're not restless souls, each one providing their own troubles that Elegy is supposed to be able to control.

As she grows into accepting her role as Thorne's heir, she meets Atticus, who may actually change how she views things. And as her mind changes, she starts to believe in things that were once unattainable. Following her journey from a resigned fate to resolute free-will is what makes this novel a wonderful read.

I think the characters and relationships in this story were where it excelled. There's a real life to Elegy and her friends, and even some of the ghosts. Of the 15, certain spirits get more of a spotlight than others, as expected, and those were really interesting. The setting and world around Elegy is also creative, being stuck in the 1890s while the town modernizes around her. The plot is interesting, new things revealed slowly but in a sensible way.

I very much enjoyed Ms. Thomas narrating her own audiobook as well. Knowing how she wanted the story to be read, with inflections and emphasis on certain things, makes it feel like a more well-rounded listening experience.