The Invited

I didn't really know what kind of book I was reading, and I guess that's on me. I tend to avoid too much foreknowledge so I can just experience a book. All I knew was this was a horror novel about a haunting in a house under construction - clever and intriguing premise!

Only, this isn't actually a horror novel. I'd say it's an attempt at a thriller with paranormal elements? I probably wouldn't have picked it up had I known. It's not scary, creepy, or even atmospheric. And honestly while thriller is not my favorite genre, I feel like this wasn't great as a thriller either. The entire premise depends on a bunch of adults believing in buried treasure in a way only little kids or Stede Bonnet would. It's ridiculous. (And it doesn't even make sense that there would BE treasure in the first place - don't get me started on that.) There's a twist of sorts, and it doesn't make sense - this whole book suffers from a lot of Fridge Logic.

But hey, at least the characters are annoying! Olive is actually OK overall - she's a 14yo and being annoying and naive is developmentally normal. Helen, on the other hand, is almost literally Too Stupid to Live, while Nate is sort of a blank slate that does whatever the current scene demands.

Honestly, this still had enough of an interesting premise and engaging historical mystery to be rewarding, if only it had been more efficient. It was very bloated and slow. Shortly after the 50% mark, I just started reading the last paragraph of each page, occasionally jumping back to read a bit more if I needed to fill in some blanks. I was able to follow the whole plot, the twist, and the answer to the mystery with no problem.