The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

Hello there.

I'm Steph, and I like to ramble about nerdy things. 

Today's nerdy thing is The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

I'm going to open this review by saying there is a cat in this book. And the cat lives. For anyone that was worried.

Now, onto the 

Warnings:

violence

blood

Adrienne inherits a house from an unknown great-aunt so her and her cat, Wolfgang, move in. The house, Ashburn House, is located on a hill outside of a small town. And there is something up with the house. People in the town say it's haunted. There was a brutal murder there years ago. But Adrienne has no choice so she stays in the possibly haunted house.

Book was good. Really good. Sucked me in and spooked me. With that in mind, I spent most of the book questioning Adrienne's common sense. It is explained that she moves into this house because she is broke after her mother got sick and passed away. She was living with a friend, which wasn't a permanent solution, before moving. All she had was a few changes of clothes, a book, a set of sheets, and a laptop. And cat supplies and her cat. Which, important. No sarcasm. Cats are necessary for life. What bothered me was the friend she lived with? Never got a name. They are just a nameless entity that she couldn't live with. Which... okay... It also bothered me that she went to a strange house in a town she has never been to alone. I'm surprised the taxi driver didn't murder her. But that's my True Crime brain talking. So many of her decisions left me screaming in frustration. But hey, it's a horror book. Not a How to Survive as a Woman book. So while it frustrated me, it made for a good story.

The friend not having a name still bugged me. Actually, the whole friend thing bothered me. She says multiple times she never really has friends. But... someone let her live with them (and two other people?). And she never gives them a name or lets them know she arrived safely. Nothing. That poor friend could be sitting at home worrying themselves sick about Adrienne's well-being, but Adrienne doesn't give a shit. She has no friends.

And while I spent most of the book questioning Adrienne's common sense for moving to this house and then staying when weird shit started happening, I got it. I got the need to move. And I watch enough spooky videos on YouTube where people are exploring abandoned places or just chilling in a haunted house to say "Yeah, this is believable". 

Overall, enjoyable spooky read with an awesome cat. The cat was the best. More books with cats please. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a spooky read but doesn't mind dealing with a main character that doesn't make the smartest of choices. I also feel the need to say I did not dislike Adrienne. She wasn't a bad character. She just didn't do things I thought were logical.

That's all for this week. 

“I saw a human pyramid once. It was very unnecessary.”

-Mitch Hedberg