"The Daughters of Block Island"

The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen

Amazon First Reads Pick

Pages: 310 Genre: gothic horror

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Blake Bronson travels to Block Island to find her birth mother, and she's convinced she's a character a gothic novel, just like the ones that she used as comfort throughout her traumatic childhood. But before she can figure out the ending, she is found dead in the bathtub of the Bed and Breakfast she's staying at. Thalia Mills is drawn back to the island when she is summoned by a letter from Blake — a letter that's postmarked for the day she died. Thalia is determined to figure out what happened to her sister and uncover all the Island's other secrets.

I was not immediately into The Daughters of Block Island, but by the end I was enjoying it a lot. It reminded me a lot of the Haunting of Hill House (which is one of the referenced works), both the show and the book. I love that story in both formats, so this book itched the right parts of my brain once it really got going. I can't pretend it's the best book I've ever read in terms of quality, but I had a good time.

While the writing was heavily stylized, I generally liked it. My biggest issue was the frequency of certain writing quirks; they were cool in the first use and a little silly every time after that. It didn't ruin the book for me (clearly), but it was the little things that would briefly take me out of the story. Honestly, my least favorite part of the writing itself was the "self-awareness" quirk. I get that it was central and necessary to the plot that both of the sisters were highly aware of the gothic tropes they were falling into, but it never felt natural.

I was also disappointed by how much information was given up at the start. I enjoyed the ride enough (it's not a mystery and doesn't pretend to be one, so I can't complain about it being a bad mystery), but I definitely knew the general story from the start. It would've been nice if Blake's story was maybe woven in instead of just all at the front, or even if she really did open the book as the primary protagonist.

Watching the story unravel was really interesting. I don't know that it was anything innovative, but the whole "decades-long conspiracy" was fun. Plus I was really drawn to the characters, which helped. Thalia and Blake were good main characters that I really truly loved reading about. The amount of nuance and intrigue just really worked across the board.

The main reason this book drew me in as much as it did is because Block Island was as much a main character as Thalia and Blake. It was creepy and unsettling but not entirely foreign (with Thalia, anyway). When Carmen would describe the house and the rain on the island and everything, I really felt it.

Honestly, I wish there was more to this book. A lot of my issues would've been solved if this had been, for example, a solid duology. There was just a lot to unpack with these characters, and I feel like we did sort of have to rush through. I would've loved to just sit in the suspense and the chaos more.

I don't think this book will be for everyone, so I don't know that I'd give it a blanket recommendation. However, I think it followed through well on what it promised and delivered an emotional story in the process. If you're a gothic literature fan, I would definitely say this should be your First Reads pick for the month.

If you want to see some of my comments (I'm very funny) and some examples of the writing, you can click here to see my book highlights/notes on Goodreads.