About the Book
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Author:
- Michelle Jabès Corpora
Cover Story: Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me
Drinking Buddy: And Bring Your Dollies Three
MPAA Rating: I’d Rate This 13-PG
Talky Talk: Look In My Rain Barrel, Slide Down My Cellar Door
Bonus Factors: Cool Aunt, Curse
Bromance Status: And We’ll Be Jolly Friends Forevermore
Cover Story: Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me
A very freaky take on the old Holly Hobbie character, which I’m pretty sure I remember my sister being a fan of in the early 1980s. I’m shocked that this book didn’t violate any copyright laws.
The Deal:
After her parents’ bitter divorce, Evie Archer and her brother, Stan, relocate with their mother to a remote Massachusetts town and move into the old family home, The Hobbie House. Or as the locals call it, The Horror House. Seems a girl–Holly Hobbie, Evie’s mother’s cousin–vanished from the home in 1982. And maybe there was an earlier girl, who vanished in the 19th century.
Of course, strange things start happening. Older townsfolk start giving Evie funny looks. The odd dreams. Noises in the night. Weird animals.
On the other hand, Evie starts making friends. Tina, the local weird girl. Martha, her aunt who runs the town psychic business. And Desmond, the school hottie. Maybe she can start a new life in Ravenglass.
Forever.
Drinking Buddy: And Bring Your Dollies Three
I’d have to be careful walking in mud around Evie, lest I inadvertently wipe my feet on her. Her father is a philanderer, her mother is a social climber, her brother treats her like garbage, and when school hottie Desmond starts showing an interest in her, she’s immediately cowed by his ex, who warns her to stay away. Holly just accepts all this.
On the other hand, Evie may just blossom in this small town. She sews her own clothes, impressing Tina and Desmond. Everyone thinks it’s creepy that she lives in the horror house…but hey, sometimes people like a girl who’s not afraid. And when the popular girls try to push her around, Evie learns she can push back. With Holly’s help, she might learn to really push back.
MPAA Rating: I’d Rate This 13-PG
Looking at the cover, this obviously isn’t a romantic comedy. A girl vanished from the house many years ago (but not so many years ago that I wasn’t born yet…sigh). And Desmond’s father, as well as a local old woman, keep mistaking Evie for Holly. And Evie keeps having dreams and visions of a girl in a large bonnet, asking her to come and play. Not to mention the creepy talking doll she found in the attic. Living in a haunted house and being slowly possessed by a dead girl…it might be a prom she’ll never forget. In the Carrie sense.
Talky Talk: Look In My Rain Barrel, Slide Down My Cellar Door
As far as ‘house/town with a horrible secret’ books go, this wasn’t bad. Still, it didn’t stand out in the genre. The characters were kind of flat stereotypes. Evie’s brother, Stan, acted so much like a high school student, I was shocked to realize he was only ten. Evie had a huge, paranormal backstory that is not even really hinted at until the end of the book. And it ended on an annoying cliffhanger that we’ll have to wait until the next book to see the resolution.
Bonus Factors: Cool Aunt
Evie’s Aunt Martha lives in Ravenglass and takes care of the old Hobbie place, but refuses to step foot inside. She runs a little tarot card/psychic business. She recognizes that Evie’s problems are not just about fitting in at school. But does Evie really want to know the dark truth?
Bonus Factors: Curse
Now Holly wasn’t the first girl to vanish at that house. So who was the Patchwork Girl? Why does Desmond’s father nearly pass out when he first meets Evie? Why does the local restaurant owner’s mother keep asking Evie (whom she calls Holly) if she’d like to know a secret? What’s in the basement of the Hobbie House?
Bromance Status: And We’ll Be Jolly Friends Forevermore
It wasn’t a phenomenal start to a series, but good enough that I’ll be back.
Literary Matchmaking
Nic Sheff’s Harmony House series also deals with a cursed building.
Something more lighthearted? Margo L. Dill’s Caught Between Two Curses might be up your alley.
Alex Crespo is another promising author in the haunting genre, with Saint Juniper’s Folly.
FCC Full Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from the publisher, but no money or handmade clothes.
