Book Review Wednesday: The Girls of Brackenhill by Katie Moretti

I have been waiting to write this review for months and we are finally here! I received an ARC of "The Girls of Brackenhill" earlier this year and finished the book sometime in the summer. It was finally released last week and I'm so excited to tell you how much I adored this book! 

If I remember correctly, I flew through this thriller/mystery novel pretty quickly and it kept me engaged on every single page. 

Publisher's Summary: 

When Hannah Maloney’s aunt dies in a car accident, she returns to her family’s castle in the Catskills and the epicenter of childhood trauma: her sister’s unsolved disappearance. It’s been seventeen years, and though desperate to start a new life with her fiancé, Hannah is compelled to question the events of her last summer at Brackenhill.

When a human bone is found near the estate, Hannah is convinced it belongs to her long-lost sister. She launches her own investigation into that magical summer that ended in a nightmare. As strange happenings plague the castle, Hannah uncovers disturbing details about the past and startling realizations about her own repressed childhood memories.

Fueled by guilt over her sister’s vanishing, Hannah becomes obsessed with discovering what happened all those years ago, but by the time Hannah realizes some mysteries are best left buried, it’s too late to stop digging. Overwhelmed by what she has exposed, Hannah isn’t sure her new life can survive her old ghosts.

My Thoughts:

The moment I started this book, I knew I was in for a wild ride. The first line is jaw dropping and hooks you... from that first page, you know you're in for something good.

As you read the first few chapters, there was just so much to digest, so much that you knew was coming.  We knew there was a mystery about Hannah's sister's disappearance, something was definitely up with the way her aunt died, and the situation with her uncle seemed a little off. 

I felt like Hannah knew more than she was letting on, which was true... she had repressed a lot of memories but it felt like a little more than that. I struggled with rooting for her and wanting her to just get on with it. The home, Brackenhill, was such a central point in the novel which really adds that extra layer of plot. What happened in those walls? What were those walls hiding? It was extremely intriguing and that's the past that reminded me of another book I recently reviewed, The Last to Know. 

The story was very slow but in a very good way. It didn't bore me, it didn't feel like it was dragging on for no reason. The pace was very intentional and I can appreciate that. Every word counted.

Of course, there was a love story intertwined with the gruesome plotline and that is where police officer, Wyatt, comes in. Wyatt & Hannah had a past and it stirs up some trouble in her current relationship, but also in the investigation into Hannah's aunt's death, and in turn, her sister's disappearance. 

I can't write much more without giving most of the story away but things are discovered, leads are tracked down and secrets are uncovered... secrets about Hannah, Wyatt, Brackenhill, and Hannah's family. 

The ending was intense. I sped through it (in a good way) because I simply couldn't wait to find out how it played out. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat and I held my breath for a lot of it. The ending, for lack of a better word, was creepy and wonderful. 

As I said, I read this book a while ago and if my memory serves me correctly, I felt satisfied at the ending. Questions were answered, mysteries were solved and we got a solid 'The End' feeling. 

I truly loved this book... I'm comfortable putting this in the top five thrillers/suspense/mystery novels I read this year. If you enjoy a slow burn story, with more than one plotline, and a protagonist who has her own secrets you will LOVE "The Girls of Brackenhill."

xoxo

B