What. The. Hell?! 
 That ending...I did NOT see that coming. I think I have whiplash, actually. 
 Summary: 
 When sisters Silla and Nori leave their abusive homelife to go live with their questionably sane Aunt Cath, they have hopes of a new and better life. When they arrive at La Baume, the blood red manor in the middle of the woods, everything is wonderful at first. Cath seems to be just what the girls need, even if she and her ways are a bit strange. But then odd things begin to happen; Cath's obsession with the girls going nowhere near Python Wood, the way the trees seemed to be creeping closer, the people in the nearby village all beginning to flee for no known reason, and Nori has a new friend that only she can see. When Cath's secret is made known, Silla is left to pick up the pieces...but by then, it's too late. The Creeper Man is already there. 
 The Characters: 
 Each character was fleshed out quite well. They each had a distinct personality that lended itself to the story. Silla's character was the most difficult for me to like because of her incessant stubbornness, but after reading the entire book I now understand why she was like that. I loved Gowan. He was sweet, committed, and was the ray of light that this story needed, along with Nori, of course. Nori was special in her own right, unfailingly optimistic. I loved their little unit, even if Silla fought it the entire time. 
 The Plot: 
 Okay, this is where things get weird. I'm not going to lie, I was confused about 90% of the time, and nothing was cleared up until, literally, the last 20 pages of the book. This book was like a psychotic fever dream, but in a good way. The creepy factor is over the book the entire time, with the paranormal incidents starting at the beginning of the book and not letting up AT ALL after that. I think that's why I didn't find it scary. 
 To me, there's a big difference between "creepy" and "scary": creepy, for me, is having a sense of caution while reading the book. You're not sure where the story is going, it's making you kind of uneasy, but you really want to finish it to find out what actually is going on. Scary, to me, is that feeling of wanting to have the lights on when you read the book. It has freaked you out to the point of where you're not sure if you want to even finish it. The book has you genuinely scared: you might catch yourself looking over your shoulder, your heart races as you read the book, etc. 
 This book creeped me out, but it did not scare me. I don't even know if I would have enjoyed it more had it scared me, but I will say that despite the confusion that was present for me throughout the story, I definitely enjoyed it. Each new twist had me surprised, and the ending contains not one, not two, but THREE epic plot twists that had me actually shrieking. I was not able to guess ANY of them, and I'm usually pretty good and being able to tell where a story is going. This had me guessing until the very end. 
 The Writing: 
 After reading The Dead House as an ARC last year, I can see that unusual formatting is a theme for Kurtagich's books, and I LOVE it. It adds a whole new element of horror to her books. In this case: the journal entries, the occasional spaced out lines, the contradictory statements in caps throughout Silla's thought process, the poems, the blown up words; they all enhanced Silla's, and the story's, slow descent into madness. It was riveting to see on the page, and to feel how it added to the story's sense of unease and wrongness. The writing itself is simple in dialogue, but detailed with descriptions that added the disturbing element to the story. I'm definitely a fan of Dawn Kurtagich's writing. 
 What I'm trying to say: 
 This story is insanely odd and eerie. The writing is lyrical, hair-raising, and is sure to keep you guessing; it's nothing like what you believe at first. I've not read anything like it, and I seriously enjoyed it. I never saw the plot twists coming, but I would have appreciated more fleshed out explanations at the end instead of cramming it all in the last 15 or so pages. I will say though, that the hurried explanations aided in the creep factor and the book's general dissonance. I recommend this book to fans of horror/thrillers, or anyone looking for a book that's sure to give you the chills.