Book Review: The Shadow House by Anna Downes

 GOODREADS SUMMARY:

Alex, a single mother of two, is determined to make a fresh start for her and her children. In an effort to escape her troubled past, she seeks refuge in a rural community. Pine Ridge is idyllic; the surrounding forests are beautiful and the locals welcoming. Mostly.

But Alex finds that she may have disturbed barely hidden secrets in her new home. As a chain of bizarre events is set off, events eerily familiar to those who have lived there for years, Alex realizes that she and her family might be in greater danger than ever before. And that the only way to protect them all is to confront the shadows lurking in Pine Ridge.

TEE'S THOUGHTS:

Alex has left her abusive husband to move, along with her children to Pine Ridge, a seeming long welcoming community. But the area doesn’t stay idlic for long when creepy things begin to happen .
he story has all the elements of a creepy story … a creepy doll ( I gotta tell you I find dolls super creepy ) Bones and blood all over, but the creepiness didn’t seem to hold up for me. Despite the feel of the book, there is nothing supernatural going on- which was fine with me as I am not a huge fan of that genre, I find somethings that humans do are much more creepy. 

The book is told from two point of views, Alex is course, is the main voice of the story. But there is also Renee, who is married to the son of the builder of Pine Ridge. The same creepy things that happen to Alex also happen to Renee, cumulating into the kidnapping of Renee’s son Gabriel. So what is the connection between these two women? I can’t tell you, but it does play I to the mystery. 

The ending of the book wraps up quite well. There are surprises and a few twist along the way, some you will see coming and others … well those are the surprises. For me, the story was very much a slow burn.

I listened to the audio book and enjoyed the reader’s Australian accent, which seemed to bring the location alive for me. It was neither jarring or hard to understand. 

My biggest complaint… there was a gruesome cat killing which I found  totally unnecessary . I think this played into my factor of not giving it a higher star rating .