Gloam brought me back to the days when I was a child reading Goosebumps and Spooksville, where I couldn’t hang my leg off the bed for the fear that monsters had climbed out of the book and hid under. Mackay’s writing instilled a fear in me that I felt I had lost long ago, and I loved every minute of it.

We follow our protagonist Gwen and the rest of the Clayton-Fenn children as the move to the lonesome Gloam Island, an island that can only be accessed when the tides recede. After their step father appoints a babysitter things begin to go awry, walls start to rot, trees begin to talk, and the children are left wondering what creatures inhabit the house.

Mackay conveys grief to his audience in a refreshing way, showing the honesty of death in its many facades. Fear is also a strong theme throughout with vivid imagery in the shape of deep wells and a Stitchy Man, and while I very much enjoyed these frightful parts as an adult reader, I believe a parent should make sure their child understands the difference between what is real and what is not before tackling this novel to make sure there isn’t too much of a fright.

Gloam is a novel I intend to purchase for myself, I truly loved it. I would highly recommend and I commend Jack Mackay on such a brilliant piece of work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this eARC in exchange of an honest review. Thank you to Jack Mackay on a fantastic story that will certainly live within my head for some time, I couldn’t recommend it enough.

Eery and haunting, this is the perfect book to read on a dark, windy night.
McKay perfectly captured the scariest idea of all: your parents not listening to you.
Equally as heart-warming as it is scary, I'd highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a scary story that won't stop you from sleeping for the rest of your life.