Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith
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Web ID: 18496929Fear death by water
Our Wicked Histories was a delightful surprise. Although I’m a fan of horror books, I don’t read a lot of YA horror because I usually find them a bit lukewarm due to the target audience. However, OWH has several chilling moments. The setting—a Gothic mansion in Ireland, isolated from the nearest village and surrounded by trees—is very well crafted, and the inclusion of statues, covered mirrors, and Irish local legends adds even more to the suspenseful atmosphere. The rumors of a banshee haunting the lake at Wren Hall only heighten the sense that the eight friends traveling to the twins Lottie and Seb’s mansion will soon encounter something supernatural—and deadly. I really enjoy horror stories that involve a group of friends—like the game Until Dawn and the movie Bodies Bodies Bodies—but I find it hard to come across books like that which are actually good. OWH delivers on this front too; the group of British friends studying at an elite art school, Greyscott’s, is full of intrigue, secrets, and tension. Since they’re teenagers, some of these intrigues are a bit cliché, like the love triangle between the protagonist Meg (a scholarship student who struggles to find her place among her rich colleagues), Seb (the typical player), and Laure (the typical preppy girl), but this didn’t bother me. In fact, I found it necessary to break the grim atmosphere at times and to better understand and get to know the characters. The only factor that made me give it a 4 stars instead of 5 is that the ending dragged on a bit. The protagonist takes too long to figure out things that become obvious to the reader throughout the story (or at least it is obvious if you're familiar with "The Fall of the House of Usher", which the author says was an inspiration in the opening note) and takes too long to act and fight back. I also felt that some details needed more explanation. But overall I had a great time with this book!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Spooky Thriller Ride
This is the first book I've read by this author, and it was insane! Grabbing you from the start with a mysterious event, Meg needs to apologize for an incident with another student where she pushed her off a bridge and was suspended from her art school. Meg intends to apologize at a Halloween Party she was invited to with her friend and her estranged crush. When she arrives at the estate where the party is at the house and the estate is haunting and gothic, Wren Hall seems to have a haunted history. Then when she enters the house with Lottie she finds out that all the mirrors are covered and the weed-choked lake is the image of nightmares and urban legends. Once the party arrives and all the friends arrive the whole atmosphere is awkward and then they start having the party Laure arrives and Meg apologizes and when she does Laure says she will forgive her but that she has to tell the whole truth about what happened. Then the next day Laure disappears and strange experiences start happening around the house. Wren Hall has secrets and so do the people that are at the party, some secrets are worth dying for. This was an interesting read! It was worth the read and it's spooky and an eerie mystery as well! Very well written.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
gave me the creepy vibes i was hoping for
From the moment Meg arrives at Wren Manor I knew this book was going to give me the creepy gothic vibes I was hoping for. From the outside to the inside the house screams creepy/ haunted/ decrepit and I knew some creepy things were going to go down. Meg is only there to make up with her friend group. There was an incident a few months ago, which we learn about through flashbacks throughout the story, and whatever happened has put not only her friendships in jeopardy but also could cause her to be expelled from her prestigious school. So she is extra invested in making this trip work. The vibes are there from the beginning, we get a creepy house with a creepy lake, her friend Lottie is acting a bit weird and Lottie's brother Sebastian is being a jerk trying to get her to leave. As the other members of the friend group arrive some are friendly towards Meg and others are downright antagonistic. Then this thing happens, (which I won't describe because it's not in the synopsis), the storm starts, the lake floods and there is no way to get home. As the feeling of isolation deepens accusations start to fly, and secrets start to come out. There is a lot going on in this story, and while I didn't love how some of the kids acted, I thought overall this was a well-paced, well-plotted story that sucked me in, it was full of twists and turns and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent reading this. and look forward to checking out this author's other book.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Atmospheric and full of folklore!
Our Wicked Histories is a stunning look at our own personal histories mixed with those who came before us. How places remember that history while our minds try to move on. I loved the Irish folklore with Samhain and the Bean sí. The setting of the Wren’s ancestral home and the incorporation of Britain’s overlooked dark history with the Irish famine added the appropriate horror. I could have done without the school drama, especially Sebastian’s fickleness, but everything else was perfectly haunting and also informative. This had all of Goldsmith’s signature atmospheric writing from her debut, Those We Drown. I love how deftly she weaves mythology and folklore into her modern-day tales. She’s crafting her place amongst YA gothic horror fiction and I cannot wait to see what she writes next! Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Press, and Random House for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
thank you netgalley and delacorte press!
thank you netgalley and delacorte press for allowing me to read and review this book! all thoughts and opinions are my own. when meg receives an invitation to make amends with her group of friends, she quickly accepts and travels to wren hall, a manor with a sinister past and superstitions. nothing is what it seems when someone in their group goes missing, a wailing woman appears in the dark of the night, and you can't trust anyone or what you see... spoiler free review! if you love the atmosphere and complexities of mike flanagan's series like the haunting of bly manor, the fall of the house of usher, and the haunting of hill house, you're going to fall in love with amy goldsmith's sophomore novel, our wicked histories. i haven't been thoroughly creeped out by a book in a long time. amy goldsmith's storytelling is incredible. i was kept on the edge of my seat till the very last page. i love the way she was able to weave the words in such an eerie and deliciously dark way. there are a couple of predictable moments, but i was still entertained by the twists that left me haunted by the end. 4.75
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So Atmospheric
4.5 rounded up! When Meg is invited out to the Wren twins’ family estate in Ireland for Halloween, she sees it as the perfect chance for her to mend their friendship (and get back her spot back at her fancy school Greyscott’s) after falling out over the summer. However, the manor is far from idyllic and screams can be heard in the middle of the night. Will Meg make it out unscathed? OUR WICKED HISTORIES by Amy Goldsmith was such a chilling, atmospheric story. The rundown estate in the Irish countryside surrounding a lake of buried statues…an absolutely wonderfully spooky setting, and the characters were so complex and riddled with secrets. Flashbacks are interwoven throughout the story in a seamless and intricate way, and I couldn’t help myself from being dazzled by the Wren twins. It was such a great YA Gothic Horror that kept me guessing until the end!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An Art School Fall of the House of Usher
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review Our Wicked Histories by Amy Goldsmith is a first-person POV YA horror reimagining of The Fall of the House of Usher. When Meg is contacted by her old friend, Lottie Wren, for a chance to redeem herself and return to the art school of her dreams, Meg jumps at the chance. Not only will her future be put back on track, but she’ll also be in close contact with Seb, Lottie’s twin brother and Meg’s crush. But not everyone is happy to see Lottie and there are secrets hiding in the waters of Ireland. What I really liked about this was the prose. There’s a real beauty to the descriptions in their creepiness but also in how Goldsmith writes Meg’s longing for Seb, leaning into poetic language to create a realistic look at teenage first loves feeling like The One without becoming overwrought and stale. The descriptions of the paintings were just the right amount to set the tone and capture the ideas to help stimulate the imagination. Meg and Lottie’s friendship is complicated by Meg’s secret feelings for Seb and it twists further with the addition of Laure, a long-time member of Lottie’s friend group who is also in love with Seb and has been for some time. Laure is possessive of Seb and antagonizes Meg at every chance when she realizes that not only does Meg have a crush on Seb, but that Seb is attracted to Meg. Lottie remains oblivious to Meg’s feelings but is well aware of Laure’s crush. To further flesh their relationship out, we get flashbacks that slowly peel back what happened on the night that caused Meg to get expelled and what happened between her, Laure, and Seb. There are also glimpses of the legend of the bean si (banshee) and her relationship to the lake outside the Wren mansion as well as mentions of the Irish potato famine. The use of modern Irish for the bean si and then translating it to the common Anglicanized version help draw attention to Irish folklore and the Irish language. It is especially important to do so for minority languages, such as Irish, as they help create more avenues for readers to learn and take an interest in those languages and cultures. I would recommend this to fans of horror set in Ireland with British characters, readers looking for horror related to Irish folklore and traditions, and those looking for a reimagining of The Fall of the House of Usher that is fairly removed from the new Netflix show.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
The Fall of the House of Wren
I read an advanced copy of this book because I loved the cover, and lord, I ate this one up! It has a dual timeline structure that keeps you guessing, characters you will love to hate, and a rich infusion of Irish folklore. But what truly sets it apart is its atmospheric setting- a rain-drenched, scary old manor house with a spooky lake and statues (that may or may not move), making it the perfect read for Halloween.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com