This is a YA sapphic horror about Marin, who's moved to Maine after her mother's death to be a nanny for a horror author, Alice Lovelace. Marin's hoping this job will help her feel closer to her mother, who grew up with Alice. Instead, she gets a cold & distant boss, a "townspeople-don't-go-to-the-manor" creepy house, & 2 charges (Thea & Wren) who are way too comfortable around the dead animals that keep showing up in Marin's room. She blames it all on grief for the girls' father/Alice's husband, who's also recently passed, & is determined to stick it out. 

Just when Marin starts to settle in, Evie (the oldest daughter) returns home, because what is a gothic story without a beautiful, mysterious type? She & Marin grow closer, but what Marin first assumes is emotional distance due to grief quickly proves to be a dark secret. Duh.

There are genuinely creepy elements in this book. It's atmospheric, & there are fun excerpts from Alice's horror books interspersed throughout. Relationships between the sisters were well-written; Thea & Wren especially felt like distinct & realistic characters. I wanted this to be something that I could really sink into, though, & it fell a bit short. I wish it was longer, particuarly the last 1/3rd, to fully explore all the twists it delivered.

I also didn't feel the romance as much as I wanted--I was told about the feelings more than I experienced them, but so much of the emotional intensity of this story relied on the bond between Evie & Marin. I think I'd have preferred a slower burn to let the tension of their relationship build with the creepiness of the overall story. Admittedly, (maybe unfairly) I'm comparing to "Such Pretty Flowers", another sapphic gothic horror, which knocked things out of the park for me.

Don't get me wrong, there was nothing WRONG here. I just felt a lot of pieces were just shy of hitting as hard as I wanted. But I had a good time reading it & am interested in more from this author to see if those elements are stronger in future works.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.