House of Furies by Madeleine Roux
Delightful and Creepy, House of Furies is the first book in Madeleine Roux’s new Gothic horror series filled with a spine-tingling mystery and plenty of twists.
Summary
An all-new gothic horror series from the New York Times bestselling author of Asylum.
After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, seventeen-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boarding house. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house’s mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests. Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved.
Louisa begins to fear for a young man named Lee who is not like the other guests. He is charismatic and kind, and Louisa knows that it may be up to her to save him from an untimely death.
Book Details
House of Furies by Madeleine Roux
Series: House of Furies
On Sale Date: May 30, 2017
Young Adult Fiction, Gothic Horror & Mystery
HarperTeen, 416 pages
Source: ARC from Publisher
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
My Review
I love it when an author brings a setting to life and that is exactly what Roux does with her story House of Furies. Set in the 1800s in Northern England, Coldthistle House, a manor for the wayward and the lost, hosts strange guests, employees, and a mysterious owner - nothing is as it first seems.
Coldthistle House is delightfully weird and sinister with supernatural happenings. Ghost-like apparitions appear around each corner while deathly screams are heard in the night and its owner Mr. Morningside seems to be hiding some dark secrets of his own.
“My name is Louisa Rose Ditton. I work and live at Coldthistle House, a house for boarders and wanderers. A house owned by the Devil.”
”The green door called to me. It sang. Not a song anyone could hear, I’ll wager, but it was as if thin tendrils leaked out from under it, speeding toward me, entering through my ears and coaxing me through whispered melody.”
Birds in locked cages, a strange green door that does not belong, and a journal book with strange magical sketches and entries, all hold clues - twisting and entangling the mystery.
Louisa Rose Ditton is a surprisingly spunky heroine given the fact she finds herself caught up in a rather chilling mystery and surrounded by supernatural happenings. Courageous and determined, she sets out to discover what secrets the darkly captivating Mr. Morningside hides and why all the guest seemed doomed for an ill fate.
Part of the appeal of the story is the fact that each character is a mystery to be unraveled: the employees, the guests, Mr. Morningside and even Coldthistle House. With slow-burn reveals and gothic details, fans of horror can appreciate. Just like Louisa, readers can't help but be fascinated by the brooding Mr. Morningside, yet question everyone and everything.
House of Furies possesses some gorgeous, period illustrations and interior art that beautifully accents this haunting story with rich details. Readers are sure to be captivated by them as they turn the pages.
Fans of reads with unsettling, Gothic atmosphere and creepy settings will find Madeleine Roux’s new series opener, House of Furies, a tantalizing treat of fun and scare.
