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Emily Carpenter is an auto-buy author for me. At this point, I've read almost all of her books, but my favorites are EVERY SINGLE SECRET and THE WEIGHT OF LIES. Probably because they both have a distinctly gothic flavor and gothic is literally my favorite subgenre of mystery/thriller fiction. When I found out she was writing a new book called GOTHICTOWN, I was so excited. And I didn't find out through an announcement like a normal person, mind. I was going through her ŷ������ bio like a total stalker, asking myself, "What's Emily up to, these days?"



I have been tracking this book before it even had a cover.



When my begging and pleading for an ARC was rewarded, I started reading this book IMMEDIATELY. And I loved it so much because it was a laundry list of all my favorite tropes: folk horror, is the house haunted or are we actually going mad?, sinister founding families, dark legacies, hot bad guys, cursed towns, and murrrrdurrrr. I also really liked the heroine, Billie. The author struck a nice balance between showing her as a mom but also as a messy whole-ass person who sometimes messes up because she's only human.



Also the ending? *chef's kiss* satisfying (pun intended)



I would recommend this to readers who really enjoyed the two other Emily Carpenter books I've read, as well as Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier, Roanoke Girls and The Familiar Dark by Amy Engle, and Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe. The creepy small town vibes were IMMACULATE and so was the flawed FMC. If this book is indicative of the direction of Carpenter's future projects, I want on this ride.



One reading note: the prologue does kind of give you a heavy hint about what's really going on, so if you're one of those readers who prefers NO SPOILERS of ANY KIND because you prefer to guess yourself, skip the prologue and read it as an epilogue instead. You'll be more surprised.



Thanks to the publisher/author for sending me a copy!



5 stars