The Girl at Maywood Manor is a gothic young adult thriller that masterfully blends suspense, eerie settings, and emotional depth—perfect for lovers of dark and twisty tales.

Holly May always throws herself into fixing everyone else’s problems. Holly has been invited to her estranged grandmother's eerie manor but as Holly uncovers the dark secrets lurking in her grandmother’s past, she fears her so-called ‘blessing’ may actually be a curse—and there’s no one to help her escape. Can Holly unravel the truth in time, or will the manor’s secrets claim her too?

A wonderful eerie story for teens and young adults, if you like quick reads, mysteries with
supernatural elements and Disney references then this book will be perfect for you.

For my personal star rating, I have went with ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I feel it’s not as thrilling or as eerie as my usual adult reads but this will be great for younger readers. I personally feel there is space for a little more world building and depth. I was definitely left with questions at the end that I would have liked answered in the book whilst it could have still been left open ended as intended (without adding spoilers).

“𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙫𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚”


✦ 𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮:
Holly heads to her estranged grandmother’s isolated manor for a birthday "blessing," but things turn dark fast. The house radiates eerie energy, her grandma isn’t who she seems, and buried family secrets start to surface. What was meant to heal the family might just destroy her instead.🏚️🖤

✦ 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
🏚️ Haunted House / Creepy Manor
👵 Estranged Family
🌫️ Supernatural Mystery
💔 Emotional Void / Inner Healing
⚠️ Found Warnings Too Late
🧠 Gaslighting Adult Figure
✨ Paranormal Romance Elements
🕯️ Dark Family Secrets
🧩 Slow Unraveling Truth
⚔️ Final Girl Energy

✦ 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 (𝘾𝙒):
🧠 Psychological manipulation
💢 Emotional trauma
☠️ Toxic friendship
👻 Paranormal themes / hauntings
🕷️ Mild horror elements (eerie imagery, suspense)
🖤 Death / loss
🫥 Gaslighting by a trusted figure
🌌 Isolation and fear

✦ 𝙈𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨:
This book was dark, mysterious, and honestly... so good. 🖤 I love stories that explore the supernatural, and this one had me hooked from page one. The best part? I had no expectations or theories—I just followed the story with full attention, eager to see where it would lead. 🕯️

✦ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨:
KitKat really frustrated me at first—how could Holly do something so reckless and naïve just because her friend asked her to? But when the truth was revealed... ouch. It hurt, and I understood. 💔
What I loved most was how Holly filled the void inside her; that was the key to her strength and ultimately, the solution. ✨

Sawyer? I liked him right away. Mysterious and strange, but everything he said just felt right.

And Charlotte (the grandmother) and Austin... oh, no words. Just pure chills. 🧊

✦ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜: was a little open, which added a psychological tension that lingers—leaving the reader wondering what truly comes next. 🌀

If you’re into gothic thrillers with a supernatural touch and emotional depth, this one won’t disappoint! 🕯️🏚️

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for approving me to read this book, I’m rating it 3.75 stars.

This was a short mystery with eerie vibes following our FMC as she tries to figure out her family lineage and why her family is so disconnected. She’s invited to her grandmothers home who she is estranged with and the story unfolds from there.

The story really reminds me of The Bell Witches book and The Skeleton Key film. It definitely kept me engaged and wanting to follow the mystery to its conclusion. The ending felt a little open ended, but this just added to the somewhat dark mystery surrounding the characters and story.

I finished this book in one reading session, the story was so interesting and I wanted to know what was going to happen with Holly and the other characters we met in the book. The plot twists I actually didn't see coming, but they were very well written and I hope there will be a sequel to this book. I bet I'll finish the sequel as fast as I read this one.

Thank you, Net Galley for an ARC of The Girl at Maywood Manor by S.A. Sebuchi!

This novel follows 16 year old Holly on a trip to visit her estranged grandmother that leads up to her birthday. She thought that getting to know her grandmother would be a great way to reconnect with her father and the divorce from her toxic mother and agrees to go. It starts off kind of slow but quickly turns into a mysterious tension building whirlwind of hidden secrets and lies.

I really enjoyed the focus on the fact that Holly ultimately was also trying to figure out who she is in the mix of things. Each chapter will keep you guessing for the ultimate twists and turns. The ending definitely caught me by surprise!

"The Girl at Maywood Manor" immediately pulled me in and kept me hooked from beginning to end.
While the story contains elements of magic—something I don’t usually gravitate toward—I still found it thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. I hadn’t realized this was a teen fantasy novel, which isn’t my typical genre, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I connected with the storyline. I was especially eager to find out what Holly would receive for her birthday, and I truly appreciated the underlying message about self-love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As much as this book is a young adult thriller, it’s about so much more. Self-love being the main theme which so many people can relate to. Very easy read and finished in one sitting. I enjoyed the story.

finished this book in one sitting. amazing storytelling with great plotwists. in my opinion this book is so much more than just a thriller, it’s abt self love and discovery of themselves. great character development, just would have like to see how hollys friendships became after everything. other than that great book!! 4.5⭐️

This book started off a little rocky, but it definitely picked up to what I think is a good young adult gothic read.