House of Roots and Ruin

HOUSE OF ROOTS AND RUIN is an atmospheric and enthralling YA gothic fantasy. Verity Thaumas is 17 years old and has never ventured very far from home at the request of her eldest sister Camille. She desires to see the world and build her own life outside of her sister and her niblings. When another of her sisters, Mercy, writes to her with a request to travel to Bloem as an artist, to paint a portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Bloem's son, Mercy is excited to accept - though Camille tries to get her to reverse it.

Upset about Camille's declaration, Verity sees something that makes her question everything, and Camille confesses the secret she has been keeping for years - Verity sees ghosts, and she does not even realize that they are ghosts. Upset and worried about being trapped, Verity flees to Bloem where everything seems exceptionally lovely. However, a lovely veneer is sometimes only hiding darkness underneath.

What I loved: This was such an atmospheric read that pulled the reader into a world of gods, monsters, and ghosts. The mythology is well-constructed, and while the reader only learns a small amount of it, it sets the stage for the events to come. Though very different from Salaan from where Verity came, Bloem is filled with its own dangers and evils. Verity has lived a sheltered life, though even she can see cracks in the golden veneer it has. The world-building is focused on the ducal estate and the mysteries of the manor and those who reside within, but there was much to explore with the house seemingly full of secrets and lies.

Verity was a compelling character who wants the bigger world, romance, and love, but who has lived such a sheltered life that she is completely unprepared for it. She is on the precipice of adulthood but not yet fully there, and this in-between feeling is one that will resonate with teens. Verity's sanity is not always clear. Though her sisters believe that she does, in fact, see ghosts, Verity herself is uncertain about what she sees and what she knows, as well as what might be true. Ghosts seem to have their own rules, and these are not so well-defined for the reader, but a particularly consuming element of the story as it is never fully clear who is alive and who is not.

Themes around the relentless search for power, perversion and mistreatment of nature, abuse, death, grief/loss, and family made this quite a thought-provoking read. Family was quite complex for both Verity and Alexander, as Verity has been sheltered by her sisters out of love (which may be misguided), and Alexander also has much to learn about those in his life as well. Power is a heady motivator for several of the main characters, but the gain and pursuit of power have negative consequences that become clearer as the story continues.

The plot was quite dark and twisty, particularly later in the story, with an ending that will leave the reader reeling. While some reveals became clear earlier on to the reader, Verity is frequently in denial, creating a tension between what the reader realizes and she does not. At the end, some of what comes out is quite shocking without clear delineations between good and evil that definitely make it quite the whirlwind finish with jaws dropped.

What left me wanting more: The romance felt quite forced in places, particularly as a type of love triangle seems to form. With what is revealed later in the book, it becomes even more questionable, and it would have been nice to have more emphasis on the relationship for the reader to fully buy into it.

Final verdict: HOUSE OF ROOTS AND RUIN is a haunting and atmospheric YA dark fantasy read that will consume and shock readers. Highly recommend for fans of LAKESEDGE, THE BONE HOUSES, and DREAMS LIE BENEATH.

Haunting dark Gothic fantasy filled with ghosts, secrets, and Gods. This novel takes place twelve years after HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS. Seventeen-year-old Verity longs to leave Highmoor, the haunted manor where many of her family had died. Then she gets a commission to paint the portrait of Alexander Laurent. She leaves over the objections of her older sister Camille only to find that no matter where she goes, secrets follow.

Beautifully written, this is the younger sister Verity's story. Even though it's twelve years in the future, there are mentions of what happened to her sisters, father, and stepmother in Highmoor. Verity has her own secret, one she fears if anyone besides her sister finds out about will land her in a madhouse. The paranormal aspect of her 'curse' is one that she can't tell if a ghost is a real person or not.

I loved the lush descriptions of the estate Chauntilalie and the flora the Duke experiments with. Not all is pretty though. Secrets cloud the truth behind what really goes on behind locked doors. Add to that Verity not knowing if the people she encounters on the estate are in fact real or ghosts. When Verity can't sleep, she travels through the darkened corridors of the estate only to encounter the Duke and his so-called remedies. Behind each door are creepy mysteries. Some more chilling than the next.

I found myself totally captivated by this Gothic tale. The descriptions, characters, and pacing kept me hooked. There were wicked twists and turns and the final reveal took me off guard.

Atmospheric Gothic thriller with a dream-like appeal is a satisfying conclusion to the first book.