Good Morning Everyone :)
I hope you're all having a fabulous December, and looking forward to celebrating our Savior's birthday here in the next couple of weeks.
Have you started thinking about what 2019 book releases you're most excited for?
I knew without a doubt that Jaime Jo Wright's upcoming release would be one of my 2019 most anticipated releases, and so guys I'm not going to lie, I literally squealed when I got the chance to advance read it from netgalley. It was everything I was hoping for, and yet it was even more, and I can't wait to share with all of you what I thought about it.
The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright:
Source: Publisher (Bethany House) Via NetGalley
Publisher: Bethany House
Release Date: January 22nd, 2019
Genre: Christian Fiction/Suspense/Thriller
Synopsis:
Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.
A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother--who is battling dementia--compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns--and with it, Heidi's fear for her own life.
As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
Every time I start a new Jaime Jo Wright novel, I always think it can't possibly be as good as the last one was, and yet she always proves me wrong. In her most powerful story yet, the reader is treated to a spine chillingly scary timeslip novel that focuses around a mental asylum with plenty of unsolved mysteries and legends surrounding it.
In 1908, we follow the story of Thea, a photographer who's grown up traveling to take photos of the recently deceased with the people who took her in after her mother abandoned her. A rumor that her mother resided in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin has caused her to travel to this small town, and she's soon drawn into scary stories surrounding the town mental asylum, and the legendary spirit who's said to haunt both it and the town. In the present day, we follow Heidi, a young woman who's been estranged from her family for many years after their failed acceptance of her for who she is. Strange circumstances have caused her to finally visit Pleasant Valley, the town where the rest of her family came to settle. Soon the rumors, superstitions, and mysteries surrounding the long abandoned mental asylum have Heidi questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, and like Thea before her, she's determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on.
Like Jaime Jo Wright's previous two novels, The Curse of Misty Wayfair is a deliciously thrilling novel with a mystery unfolding in two separate time periods that's all tied in together. However, this novel goes even a step further than her previous releases in the way it tackles the complicated history of mental asylums, and the stigma and stereotypes that continue to to be attached to mental illness. While it's always assumed that we've made such strides towards truly understanding mental illness, Jaime Jo Wright perfectly showcases the struggles that those who are suffering face even to this day with the negative stereotypes and circumstances surrounding such diagnosis.
Right from the first page this hauntingly beautiful novel had me pulled into its pages and the spooky story unfolding within them. It's without a doubt Jaime Jo Wright's best work yet, and the reader will feel like they're experiencing everything right along with Thea and Heidi. I've always appreciated when an author can make the romance in a novel a secondary element to everything else unfolding, and yet still have the story remain interesting to the reader, and that's the case with this one. While Thea and Heidi both have a love interest, it's kept secondary to the mystery, the familial drama and secrets, and the rediscovery of God's never ending love for His children.
This novel is honestly unlike any Christian fiction work I've ever picked up before, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a Christian recommendation that dives way further below the surface than is usual. I can't recommend this one enough, and as always, I will be anxiously awaiting Jaime's next book.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks so much to Bethany House and NetGalley for the chance to advance read this!
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher (Bethany House) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I hope you're all having a fabulous December, and looking forward to celebrating our Savior's birthday here in the next couple of weeks.
Have you started thinking about what 2019 book releases you're most excited for?
I knew without a doubt that Jaime Jo Wright's upcoming release would be one of my 2019 most anticipated releases, and so guys I'm not going to lie, I literally squealed when I got the chance to advance read it from netgalley. It was everything I was hoping for, and yet it was even more, and I can't wait to share with all of you what I thought about it.
The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright:
Source: Publisher (Bethany House) Via NetGalley
Publisher: Bethany House
Release Date: January 22nd, 2019
Genre: Christian Fiction/Suspense/Thriller
Synopsis:
Left at an orphanage as a child, Thea Reed vowed to find her mother someday. Now grown, her search takes her to Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin, in 1908. When clues lead her to a mental asylum, Thea uses her experience as a post-mortem photographer to gain access and assist groundskeeper Simeon Coyle in photographing the patients and uncovering the secrets within. However, she never expected her personal quest would reawaken the legend of Misty Wayfair, a murdered woman who allegedly haunts the area and whose appearance portends death.
A century later, Heidi Lane receives a troubling letter from her mother--who is battling dementia--compelling her to travel to Pleasant Valley for answers to her own questions of identity. When she catches sight of a ghostly woman who haunts the asylum ruins in the woods, the long-standing story of Misty Wayfair returns--and with it, Heidi's fear for her own life.
As two women across time seek answers about their identities and heritage, can they overcome the threat of the mysterious curse that has them inextricably intertwined?
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
Every time I start a new Jaime Jo Wright novel, I always think it can't possibly be as good as the last one was, and yet she always proves me wrong. In her most powerful story yet, the reader is treated to a spine chillingly scary timeslip novel that focuses around a mental asylum with plenty of unsolved mysteries and legends surrounding it.
In 1908, we follow the story of Thea, a photographer who's grown up traveling to take photos of the recently deceased with the people who took her in after her mother abandoned her. A rumor that her mother resided in Pleasant Valley, Wisconsin has caused her to travel to this small town, and she's soon drawn into scary stories surrounding the town mental asylum, and the legendary spirit who's said to haunt both it and the town. In the present day, we follow Heidi, a young woman who's been estranged from her family for many years after their failed acceptance of her for who she is. Strange circumstances have caused her to finally visit Pleasant Valley, the town where the rest of her family came to settle. Soon the rumors, superstitions, and mysteries surrounding the long abandoned mental asylum have Heidi questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, and like Thea before her, she's determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on.
Like Jaime Jo Wright's previous two novels, The Curse of Misty Wayfair is a deliciously thrilling novel with a mystery unfolding in two separate time periods that's all tied in together. However, this novel goes even a step further than her previous releases in the way it tackles the complicated history of mental asylums, and the stigma and stereotypes that continue to to be attached to mental illness. While it's always assumed that we've made such strides towards truly understanding mental illness, Jaime Jo Wright perfectly showcases the struggles that those who are suffering face even to this day with the negative stereotypes and circumstances surrounding such diagnosis.
Right from the first page this hauntingly beautiful novel had me pulled into its pages and the spooky story unfolding within them. It's without a doubt Jaime Jo Wright's best work yet, and the reader will feel like they're experiencing everything right along with Thea and Heidi. I've always appreciated when an author can make the romance in a novel a secondary element to everything else unfolding, and yet still have the story remain interesting to the reader, and that's the case with this one. While Thea and Heidi both have a love interest, it's kept secondary to the mystery, the familial drama and secrets, and the rediscovery of God's never ending love for His children.
This novel is honestly unlike any Christian fiction work I've ever picked up before, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a Christian recommendation that dives way further below the surface than is usual. I can't recommend this one enough, and as always, I will be anxiously awaiting Jaime's next book.
Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thanks so much to Bethany House and NetGalley for the chance to advance read this!
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher (Bethany House) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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