For most of her adult life, Laura has lived in the UK, her ties to her Brisbane upbringing all but severed. When her parents, Bruce and Eliza, perish in mysterious circumstances in the Queensland outback, she and her family must return to settle their affairs and sell the now-dilapidated house of her childhood.

As Laura and her family start to pack up their home, things seem off. Are they just from tiredness and grief? Or is there something bigger happening?

It was a really interesting story that definitely hooked me in quickly. I loved the story being told from both Laura and her daughter Tilly’s perspective.

While I was hooked the whole way through, I felt like the ending was skipped over a bit and it ended a little too abruptly for me. Like “oh this is it, thanks bye!”

What strikes me the most about this book is how normal it feels. The supernatural elements are not overdone and as such feels very real. I enjoyed the references to the Australian literary cannon but I think it could have been developed more.
Unfortunately, it takes a long time to build the suspense and then resolves too quickly, before the spooky vibes have a proper chance to land.

To be honest, the ending in this book was really disappointing. and I really struggled to connect with the characters . Repetitive at times which turned me off completely. I wanted to love it but I only ending up liking it.

When I saw this on Netgalley I requested a copy immediately because it sounded like it was right up my alley - drawing on the Australian Gothic, set in an old Queenslander with secrets, focussed on a family trying to make sense of the senseless. Unfortunately, despite this, it did disappoint me. I rated this book 2.5 stars.

There were some things I liked about it. The book was mostly set in Brisbane, and in my part of Brisbane as well, and I found the setting was really well drawn. It was also really cool to read a book set in my city, and have all these places I recognise appear - like the cafe under the State Library and Roma St. That was very fun. Setting is such a big element of Australian Gothic and I do think the author did that well.

On a technical level, the writing is good, but I found that the characterisation and plot really left something to be desired.

This book does offer what you would expect from a literary horror, meaning you have the unsettling ghostly events, but the focus on character and the family's relationships is the heart of the novel. But unfortunately these are also the elements where it fell flat for me.

My main issue was that the daughter, Tilly, didn't sound like a 14-year-old girl. From the first conversation she has with Laura, her mother, she was not believable to me as a teen girl talking to her mother. Her dialogue was clunky and her behaviour just didn't ring true for a teenage girl. There was one line where she admires the wiry tendons on her mother's arm and that was just really strange to me. Laura's descent into madness was not particularly tension-filled or interesting, either. It was all rather surface-level.

The novel really did hinge on the mother-daughter relationship, so Tilly's character not feeling realistic to me impacted the effectiveness of that, and caused a lot of the tension building between Laura and Tilly to fall flat.

The novel also progressed a little too slowly for me - I felt like there were unnecessary details that didn't add to the story or the characters and it felt a little stagnant. The pace doesn't have to be off the wall fast, but we should be moving forward in some way and it just wasn't doing that for much of the novel. I got to the 65% mark and honestly nothing of note had happened yet and I still felt like I didn't really know these characters well enough.

In this genre, atmosphere is such a large factor. The atmosphere of the setting, the place, the history. The tension between the characters themselves, and between the characters and the setting, is crucial. Neither atmosphere nor tension was present for me.

Unfortunately this was a case of the concept being stronger than the execution for me. This is not to say this novel wouldn't work for other people, but it did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Allen & Unwin for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Visitor by Rebecca Starford is a literary horror set in the setting of the mysterious and unknown allure of the Brisbane outback. Our main protagonist and P.O.V’s Laura and her 14 year old daughter Tilly, receive the devastating news of her parents passing under unusual circumstances.

This sends Laura into a personal turmoil of questioning is there more to her parents death that meets the eye ? Eventually leading her to confront her old home-town that she hasn’t return to since leaving after her finishing university and any old spellings of who she once was behind.

Laura & Tilly year in the Brisbane outback involves them venturing into uncharted lands both externally and within their inner selves. Leading them to question what does family actually mean? How are you supposed to accept the truth when left with many things unanswered and unsaid. Lastly who can you trust when nothing seems as real as you believe it to be or what it once was?

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This book took me 2-3 days to read, it was a medium pace read. With content warnings of death, trauma, minimal violence. My overall thoughts on this book was i enjoyed the premise, how the suspense was building, the set-up & understanding the origins of the characters. But once around the 60% mark I felt it for me in my reading experience it started to become anti-climatic and disjointed within the pacing & writing. I do appreciate what the author was writing in terms of correlations between inter generational trauma, fractured family friendships and battling one’s own identity and solace when not growing up with traditional experiences and views of family. I do appreciate also the imagery the author was presenting and the atmospheric tones to her writing.

I would be very interested to read more of her work and always love to support an Australian author. Thank you again to Allen & Unwin for approving this E-Arc for me.

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I'm going to describe this book as Brisbane Gothic, and I loved it!
When Laura's parents die suddenly in outback Australia, she brings her husband and teen daughter from the UK to Brisbane. Ostensibly, they are there to prepare the house for selling, but Laura really wants to find out why and how her parents died.
But something sinister is lurking in the house. Pictures move, books of creepy outback stories keep reappearing, and there are strange noises in the night. Laura becomes more and more obsessed with writing her new novel and following in her parents footsteps.
There is something particularly unique and challenging about writing a *chilling* story in a hot steamy Brisbane summer setting. I thought the house, the setting, and the characters were fantastic and it was a wonderful novel.

After years away, Laura returns to her childhood home in Queensland to handle her parents’ sudden, unexplained deaths and prepare their dilapidated house for sale. Strange events during the renovations raise her suspicions about the neighbour close to her parents and force her to confront her past. But when her daughter Tilly becomes unsettled by Laura’s behaviour and eerie visions of her own, it becomes clear that something far more supernatural may be at play.

This story had a strong emotional premise and evocative setting, and I’m always drawn to familiar settings, so I picked this up straight away. I really enjoyed the Australian touches - little details like the Woolies brochure on the doorstep made me chuckle because all Aussies know about those brochures! - and those everyday references to Aussie life helped me connect with the story even more.

The focus on dealing with grief and the unfamiliar environment gave the story a strong start too, especially as the family returned to unravel the mystery behind Laura’s parents’ deaths. That part truly broke my heart - the idea of two elderly people facing something they couldn’t manage alone, made more poignant by the introduction of the neighbour and the painful distance between Laura and her parents.

Unfortunately, the story left more questions than answers, and the ending felt abrupt and rushed. The lack of resolution to the central mystery was disappointing and I kept hoping for more or some sort of closure.

While it had the elements of a powerful, haunting story, it ultimately fell short of delivering a satisfying conclusion for me. 2/5

Thanks to Allen & Unwin and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Visitor by Rebecca Starford is a psychological horror/thriller that explores themes of grief, teenage angst, and the ripple effects of mental health struggles within a family dynamic.

Readers expecting a fast-paced plot filled with big twists may be left wanting—this is a slow-burning, atmospheric novel that leans heavily into mood and psychological tension. But Starford builds that tension masterfully. I was truly gripped; despite the longer chapters, her writing is so intense and immersive that I hardly noticed.

I was drawn to this book as it was published by Allen & Unwin, whose releases I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the past year. The cover art is also fantastic.

I was hooked from the first chapter and flew through the book. While I found the ending slightly rushed and was left craving a bit more resolution, the journey there was compelling.

Starford’s style is deeply visceral. When the narrative shifts into Laura’s perspective, I felt like I was right there inside her mind—spiraling with her. The oppressive atmosphere of her Brisbane home was palpable through Starford’s writing.

Weather plays a major role in the novel, from the grey, rain-soaked imagery of the UK to the oppressive Brisbane heat and torrential downpours. One scene in particular—Tilly riding her bike through a storm—was written brilliantly and reminded me of a similar moment in Trent Dalton’s Lola in the Mirror.

If I could wish for anything more, it would be clarity around the over-involved neighbour. I need to know the truth! I really empathised with Laura—returning to your childhood home, parents gone, no answers, and a prying neighbour? No wonder she felt like she was losing her grip.

Thank you to NetGalley and Allen & Unwin for the ARC.

The Visitor by Rebecca Starford is a haunting horror / lit fic novel about the ghosts we can’t outrun, both literal and metaphorical. When Laura and her family return from the UK to Brisbane after learning of the unexpected death of her parents, nothing is as it seems.

Renovations begin on the crumbling outback property, and eerie events and unsettling memories start to bleed into the present... is the house truly haunted? Or is something more psychological / sinister at play?

Starford’s writing is deeply visceral and visual. The haunting of the house is just as compelling as the haunting of its characters. She captures the oppressive nature of the house and the heat so well.

But readers expecting a twisty thriller or mystery might be surprised: this novel leans much more heavily into psychological horror, particularly in tone and atmosphere. Think The Babadook more than The Dry. I could absolutely see this as a chilling Australian miniseries or film - with Sarah Snook as Laura.

While the pacing does lag at times (and not a whole lot happens in certain chapters), the long chapters surprisingly don’t drag. There are only 15 of them, but they fly by, even when the plot slows.

Ultimately, The Visitor is an unsettling exploration of the past's grip on the present. It left a lingering impression, but it didn’t fully wow me. A solid read for fans of literary horror with an Aussie gothic twist.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I will share on my BookTok or Bookstagram account before the publishing date: @amiedaniellebooks - stay tuned! Thank you to Rebecca Starford, Allen & Unwin and NetGalley for the eARC.

A haunting exploration of grief, memory, and the shadows we carry, The Visitor is a slow-burning, atmospheric novel that lingers like the sticky heat of a Brisbane summer.

When Laura returns to her childhood home to settle her parents’ affairs after their unexplained deaths, she’s forced to confront more than just a dilapidated Queenslander, she must also face the ghosts of her past, the cracks in her present, and a growing sense that something isn’t quite right. Starford masterfully weaves psychological suspense with gothic undertones, creating a story that is as emotionally charged as it is unsettling.

The novel's strength lies in its layered portrayal of Laura: a woman unraveling under the weight of grief, trauma, and motherhood. Her strained relationship with her teenage daughter Tilly adds a raw and relatable tension, especially as both begin to witness strange happenings around the house. Is it supernatural, psychological, or something more insidious?

The Visitor doesn’t offer jump scares or easy answers. Instead, it builds dread through mood and character, peeling back layers of generational trauma, the unsettling influence of a too-involved neighbour, and the silence that so often surrounds family pain. Quietly powerful and beautifully written, this is a compelling read for fans of domestic noir, gothic fiction, and stories that examine the things we inherit: seen and unseen.

The Gothic is one of my favourite themes to read and ruminate in - and as a Brisbanite, this book was especially exciting to delve into. A wonderful part of Australian Gothic in particular is the way the 'horrors' are often displayed in full daylight, under the unwavering gaze of a unrelenting sun. Queensland Gothic is even more unique in that it features the soup-like humidity, flood-rotten Queenslanders, and a quintessential ocker-ness that is seldom found elsewhere.

The setting felt lived in, like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket; from the depiction of specific streets or neighbourhoods that I frequent to the smells, tastes and sights of the city. It did get a tad exhausting in some instances, with some locations being over explained or described, but Brisbane seldom has this spotlight so I can see how others may find that aspect enjoyable. The 'haunted house' itself being a Queenslander felt extra special, as these houses are in and of themselves a metaphor: gorgeous on the outside with fractured, rotting interiors that are often unseen.

The narrative is told, interchangeably, from the perspectives of Tilly, the angsty teen who has been pulled from her friends and plopped into a city (and country) she is unfamiliar with after the death of her grandparents; and Laura, whose parents have just passed and, because of this, she has to face ghosts from her past. Overall, the characters were layered, all of their motivations were clear (at least on the surface, and (even if you didn't like them all of the time) you were always understood where they were coming from.

The plot of this novel is slow and meandering. Even the spooky parts, though tense, are a sluggish walk on a humid Queensland day. This ease makes it feel like the reader is on this journey with the characters; we're just as curious or unnerved or confused as they are. However, the ending didn't feel totally satisfying for me. I love an open ending, where some things are left unresolved or ambiguous or where the reader questions what was and wasn't real; but I feel like nothing was actually answered or resolved, I just had more questions.

That said, a lot of these elements did feel more cinematic than literary so, while not everything hit for me, I can see this being pulled off quite well in a screen adaptation. I also appreciated the nods to Indigenous peoples and cultures, whose custodianship of and reciprocity with the lands of so-called Australia are continuing. Overall, this was an enjoyable read, it felt very localised and nostalgic, and the Gothic themes were wonderfully done.

I loved the way this was written. It focused in a balanced way on building both the characters and the setting. The description of colours, weather and the environment generally was absolutely evocative. It’s a creepy story, too. For a good part of the book, you’re not really sure what is going on, who is to be believed and whose version of reality can be trusted. The ending seemed a bit rushed but other than that, I just loved this.