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A review by reading_under_covers
Coram House: A Novel by Bailey Seybolt
3.5
An old orphanage sitting on a lakeside cliff and a true crime writer tasked with ghost-writing the events that took place there - seems straightforward enough until the bodies start to fall.
"You can leave Coram House but you can't leave it behind."
CORAM HOUSE by Bailey Seybolt is a debut that has all of the elements of a fantastic atmospheric thriller, but they were laid out in a way that didn't fully make it so.
Starting with the good (the great, even!) - I really loved the police transcripts that flashed back to Coram House and the kids that saw and experienced dreadful acts there. They added a fast pace to a story that often dragged, and added extra characterization (if shallow) to an otherwise single narrator-forward story.
The atmosphere surrounding this small Vermont town with a sordid history was eerie and extremely cold and I enjoyed seeing the lake play as big a role in this story as it did!
What didn't really work for me as hinted at above was the decision-making behind our main character and how her choices felt entitled, while slowing the story down immensely. Alex has obviously been through some stuff, but she very much had that "outsider coming in to shake things up" feel to her while everyone around her seemed to also fall in love with her?!
I genuinely think this story could have hit harder for me if the protagonist was stronger.
Either way, I'm intrigued to see what Seybolt's sophomore novel offers up!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review - out now!
"You can leave Coram House but you can't leave it behind."
CORAM HOUSE by Bailey Seybolt is a debut that has all of the elements of a fantastic atmospheric thriller, but they were laid out in a way that didn't fully make it so.
Starting with the good (the great, even!) - I really loved the police transcripts that flashed back to Coram House and the kids that saw and experienced dreadful acts there. They added a fast pace to a story that often dragged, and added extra characterization (if shallow) to an otherwise single narrator-forward story.
The atmosphere surrounding this small Vermont town with a sordid history was eerie and extremely cold and I enjoyed seeing the lake play as big a role in this story as it did!
What didn't really work for me as hinted at above was the decision-making behind our main character and how her choices felt entitled, while slowing the story down immensely. Alex has obviously been through some stuff, but she very much had that "outsider coming in to shake things up" feel to her while everyone around her seemed to also fall in love with her?!
I genuinely think this story could have hit harder for me if the protagonist was stronger.
Either way, I'm intrigued to see what Seybolt's sophomore novel offers up!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review - out now!